Aw jeez. Well, I'm in Bangkok, and my plan was to have a few nice days Christmas shopping here before I leave on Wednesday. Unfortuately, that's impossible, since getting my flight taken care of has become a big hairy mess. I'm waiting in a line right now with ANA trying to figure out if I'll be able to fly out of a navy base outside of Bangkok on time. I sure hope so, because I am really tired of Thailand right now. The PAD has inconvenienced a lot of tourists, and it feels personal, because we all came to this country [View Full Entry]

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The title is true. I love the Myanmar border. I'm not gonna cross and have food poisoning again, but the Thai side with all the different ethnic groups - definitely the right place to be. I've had a great time getting around this country since I last wrote. But, man, am I getting ready to go home. It's hard to really put my heart into anything I'm doing over here right now, because I keep thinking in terms of a week from now. For example, if I buy something, I wonder if there will be too much weight in my bag [View Full Entry]

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I've been in a town called Mae Sot for a couple days. The population here is 75% Burmese, many of which are from hilltribe communities and have fled Burma illegally to escape the persecution of the military gov't in Myanmar. There are so many more opportunities for people in Thailand, even those without legal status. I traveled to a border town in Myanmar the other day for a visa run. Honestly, I noticed that things look quite a bit different over the border, but the people look the same in Mae Sot and just over the border. Plus, the cultural mix [View Full Entry]

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I don't think I've written anything more about my trip since Koh Tao. Actually, it's been rather uneventful. The south of Thailand, on the whole, is a place where people, 1. sunbathe 2. party 3. dive 4. climb. Out of those four, I'm only suited for one. Diving in Koh Tao was really fun. I got my advanced certification so that I can dive to 30 m and at night. I'm happy about that. I went to Koh Panhang next, and I honestly hated the place. I'm not sure, but it might be my least favorite spot in Thailand. Seriously, a [View Full Entry]

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“American” has been a curse word for the last eight years, used across most of the western world to describe a person with narrow, nationalistic interests. In making my way across Southeast Asia, I’ve met broad-minded people from Europe and Canada who seem unconcerned with my nationality. I’ve also had experiences with other foreigners who make it clear that my reputation as a stupid American precedes me. For once in my life, I am of a minority, a minority whose name evokes such disagreeable attributes that Canadians sew flag patches to their backpacks so as not to b [View Full Entry]

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I've been diving! Horrah! I arrived in Koh Tao after another bus ride during which I acted as lunch meat does in a sandwich. I don't sleep during those, and I don't like them. It was worth it though, totally worth it. Koh Tao is beautiful, and the diving here is incredible. I arrived in the morning of the 23 and did my first two dives in the afternoon. This was the first time I had ever been diving in the ocean, and it was definitely my first time seeing coral reefs, tropical fish, etc. I went snorkling the next day [View Full Entry]

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Saigon, wow. I think stats say there are 9 million people, 4 million motorbikes, and 15-20 fatal accidents everyday. I'm not sure about the population stat, but I'm sure about the amount of motorbikes and deaths. It was incredible how they wizzed around each other. It was like watching a swarm of hornets. Incredible. And impossible to cross the street. The only way to cross is to go when one part of the street is empty and hope the other motorbikes coming from the other direction swerve around you. Every time I crossed, I thought about my parents and how pissed [View Full Entry]

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I haven't written in this thing in a while. Sorry Dad. I'll try to be better. I'll pick up where I left off. The night I was in Hue, after writing the last entry, I went to Catholic mass. I wanted to see it because a lot of Vietnamese people are Catholic, and it was really neat. I saw a Baptism. It was nice and quiet. The girl who was getting baptized wore white traditional Vietnamese garb, along with her parents. After mass, I played kickball with a father and his 4-year-old. Then, I ate dinner at a stall on the [View Full Entry]

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS COOGAN!!! Yay, the Critter is turning 12! I'm so proud of you buddy. Have a great birthday. I'm moved south from Hanoi to Hue. But let's back up a bit to a really strange trip I had to Halong Bay with the Hanoi Backpacker's Hostel. So, I booked this trip knowing that there were going to be a bunch of other twenty-somethings, but I didn't really think of the fact that I am 1. not single, 2. not a drinker, and 3. not interested in general college craziness. The trip to the bay was long, 7 hours long [View Full Entry]

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Veng Viang turned into kind of a bust. The weather was bad, and I developed a pretty serious cold/cough I am just now starting to get over. Might never go back there again. Seems like a place for people who do drugs. I loved Viantienne, though. It was lovely. The bakeries were excellent, and so was the Lao food. The Dutch girls and I went to the Buddha gardens, which house a bunch of statues created by a group of people as fusions of Hindu and Buddhist images. I really enjoy everything here that involves uniting two seemingly separate cultures. Buddhist [View Full Entry]

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