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Lawrence Stevens
I am a 54 year old single American man from Connecticut travelling for one month in Thailand. This is my second trip to Thailand, having spent 17 days there last year in Bangkok and Koh Samui. Larry in Thailand
This year I plan on getting some dental work done at Bumrungrad Hospital and then spend the remainder of my time travelling throughout Thailand. This blog will be a record of my journey.
Travel Blog Posts
January 14th 2006
This is my last entry of my December 6, 2005 to January 6, 2006 Thailand journey. I have been back home now for for several days now and almost totally recovered from my jet lag. Even though I enjoyed my journey, it's great to be back home. It's nice having my own computer, high speed internet, and hdtv again. Not to mention being able to sleep in my own bed! I have gone through most of my mail that I had held while I was away. It's surprising at the amount of junk mail I get! The only real loss of the trip was that my Creative Zen Micro mp3 player stopped working. I sent it in for repair today and should get it back in about 2 weeks. It was still within warranty but there ... read more
January 6th 2006
I am here at the Incheon airport in Seoul waiting for my Korean air flight to New York. There is a nice Yahoo internet cafe here that I am using to check my email. Last night I went out to dinner with Will and one of her girlfriends at a nice Chinese restaurant. Her girlfriend is working on her master's degree in linguistics. We had a nice time. After leaving them, I called Wan and asked her to meet me for a final goodbye drink. We ended at a place called Radio City where they had live entertainment and a disco upstairs. Stayed there until about 2:30 am. Wan stayed there and she gave me a call when she left. I was hoping she would come over personally, but she never made it. Went back to ... read more
Last full day in Thailand for this trip
Published: January 5th 2006Asia » Thailand » Central Thailand » Ko SametJanuary 5th 2006
Well, this is my last full day in Thailand for this trip. I left Koh Samet this morning, took a ferry to the mainland and a minibus back to Bangkok. About 4 hours total to Bangkok. Tonight I am having dinner with Will. I am meeting her in about 30 minutes so this will be short. I will add my pics when I get back home. Took several nice shots of the Kai Saew, the beach where I stayed. The Kai Saew Villas were very nice, but a new place called Samed Villa looks good too. Back at the Asia Hotel again. This is my third time staying here. I have a 7:15 am flight tomorrow morning and I need to leave for the airport at 5 am. I am going to try to stay up ... read more
January 2nd 2006
I arrived this afternoon from Pattaya. This place is the antithesis of Pattaya. Beautiful beaches, soft white sand, and very peaceful. This is a place to relax. There are a limited number of bars and restaurants, not like the bar girl places in Pattaya at all. A Thai woman who worked at the Asia Hotel recommended this place to me. This is where she goes for vacation. I will only be here for 3 days. Then back to Bangkok for my flight home. I will take some pics tomorrow. Today I just unpacked and did a nice walk along the beach. Had a nice lunch near the beach. Very laid back. I won't be writing too much since internet access costs $1.50/hour compared to $0.50 in Chiang Mai and a $1.00 in Bangkok. I did find ... read more
January 1st 2006
I arrived in Pattaya after a 2+ hours bus ride from Bangkok. The town itself is very sleazy. It seems to be full of bars and bar girls. You see all these fat old European men with these young petite Thai girls all over the place. It gets disgusting after awhile. What makes all these young Thai girls into prostitutes? I can't believe it is all due to the lack of other opportunities. The beach here is very poor. Only a small sliver of sand before you get to the road. Hardly worth it. I went jogging on the paved path next to the water this morning and that was very nice. There is supposed to be a nicer beach south of here a short distance but I haven't gone there yet. Don't know if I ... read more
Back in Bangkok for the night
Published: December 30th 2005Asia » Thailand » Central Thailand » BangkokDecember 30th 2005
I took the train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok today. The ride took 12 hours but I got a chance to see a lot of the countryside you don't see on a plane. But now that I have seen it, I will take a plane next time that takes about 1.25 hours. The train trip only cost about $12 so its hard to beat. Trading off time for money. Tomorrow morning I leave for Pattaya, a beach resort only a couple of hours from Bangkok. It has a sleazy reputation. But I read that 1/3 of all foreign tourists in Thailand go there so I thought I should at least check it out. That's it for now.... read more
December 29th 2005
Yesterday was very interesting. In the early evening I went to a wat where they had a gathering called "Monk Chat." Farangs(foreigners) have a chance to talk to monks in an informal manner. It is good for the farang because it gives you a chance to meet and talk to the monks. The monks get to practice their English. It's a win-win for everyone. I learned many things about Buddhist monks. First, they are not necessarily monks for life. They are always free to leave the wat and many do leave after getting their education. Poor families often send their sons to the wat because the wat will provide their education, including their college education. The monks I met yesterday all were attending the university. Two were studying English and the other was studying psychology. The ... read more
December 28th 2005
Yesterday I took a local bus to Lumphun, a town about 6k south of Chiang Mai. There are two very famous wats there that i visited. Also went to a great vegetarian restaurant for lunch. This was one of the best meals I had in Thailand. I received 4 vegetarian dishes with rice and soup, all for 30 baht, or $0.75. The restaurant was written up in the Lonely Planet guide to Thailand. There was no name on the restaurant, and it was just called Thai Vegetarian Restaurant in the guide. I met two men from Singapore who were searching for the same restaurant, one a Brit. They were survivors the last years' tsunami. They were in Krabi when the tsunami hit. The one year anniversary was commemorated on Dec. 26th. There were many stories in ... read more
December 27th 2005
I didn't write a blog entry yesterday because I went on an all day tour to the golden triangle area. Left at 7am and didn't return until 8:30 pm. This is the area north of Chiang Mai about 3.5 hours by tour van where Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand meet. I went on a longboat tour on the Meekong River and we saw a gambling casino on the Myanmar shore and went to a small tourist village in Laos. I also saw the hill tribe peoples, in particular the Karen people. The Karen women have these brass rings around their neck to lengthen them. The longer the neck the more beautiful they are considered. I have a pic included. On Christmas Day I went on tour of a wat on the top of a mountain here. These ... read more
December 25th 2005
Chiang Mia has been quite a pleasant surprise so far. First of all, my hotel room is the best I have had in Thailand so far. It is a 4 star for certain as my travel agent told me. Nice sofa in the room, choice of bathrobe colors, a comfortable king sized bed, and it includes a great outdoor breakfast buffet. There is a swimming pool that I will have to check out later today. Chiang Mai is a bit cooler since we are in the mountains, but not too bad. I bought a nice polartec type sweater for $5. I will also be looking for a pair of jeans since I will need some casual long pants for the evening. The city is very nice. My hotel is near the old city wall with a ... read more
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