After leaving Jon in Trat, I headed for the border hoping to get across before closing. I decided to change course and enter from the coast, the Swedish gals said the road most directly to Siem Reap took 7 hours but only a distance of 150km! I chose the vomit class high speed ferry instead. This baby was shaped for pain, around 90 feet long but only 15 feet wide and loaded with several hundred crates of questionable food at the back it didn't take much to realize this boat's front end would shoot out the water if there was any [View Full Entry]

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So we are back in the night train feeling proud that we arranged a smooth time table to be sipping a beer by noon on the beach. Overnight train, 5:50 get off the train right at the airport, catch flight at 7:30, ferry over to the island, grab a cab, easy. Four guys staring at me in that scary kind of way, (Italian guy in Eurotrip)in the train for 3 hours got us off to a strange start. We missed our stop (supposed to stop at airport at 5:55am, somehow the train was EARLY, though we were awake at 5:30) [View Full Entry]

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Good Hell! Cook, Eat, Lie Down, Cook, Eat, Lie Down, Cook, Eat, Lie Down. What a class!! We read that in the comment book just into our first day of cooking class from a Kiwi who had completed the course earlier. Disgusting, I ate everything from my first day, of course it was the best Thai food I've had since I've been here, I cooked it! A wonderful two days, all the little things I've missed trying to cook Asian food at home were shown and explained. These ladies were on their marks too, if you emptied a small bowl with [View Full Entry]

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If you are completely unoriginal you do two things in Chiang Mai; northern Thailand's gorgeous capital, go on a Trek to the mountains and hill tribes and take a cooking class. Upon checking into our guest house, we set off on a fat man's quest on the Sunday 'walking fair' Chiang Mai's equivalent of Walmart outdoors, low low prices and stuff you really don't need. But the 'food court' kicks ass, Jon and I set off on a mission, see how far 10 dollars will get us on food we mostly haven't tried. Turns out 10 bucks is more than enough [View Full Entry]

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Viagra! Viagra! Not something you hear everyday when you enter a new country. After leaving Krabi I had a date with the border and a visa run in Burma, an altogether forgettable activity. Involving 6 hours and just about every method of transportation; motorbikes, buses, longtail boats and even a pedal bike I entered and left Burma in a matter of minutes. That wasn't before being offered every kind of pharmacy stimulant on the market, I'm told that 50 cents a pill is quite a good deal though. During my visa run I met an expat from New Jersey with a [View Full Entry]

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Limestone cliffs shooting several hundred feet straight out of the sea, everyone has seen those pictures right? What better fun could be had than climbing them instead of tanning under them. Southwest of Krabi town sits several shores, Tonsai, Railay east and west and the gorgeous Phra Ngam beach. Even better though are the over 700 bolted sport routes scattered through out the area reaching out to every ability level. Here you can safely start climbing, a small population of Jamaican, dreadlocked Thai climbers expertly teach climbing techniques and roll joints in the evening. You had better l [View Full Entry]

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I arrived in Khao Sok with Rebecca and Kerstin by way of an overnight ferry and an ordinary bus. On both we had some interesting travelmates, a group of monks were across from us complete with a pack of smokes, a cellphone and cokes. On the bus we had an unnamed Thai sit next to us on an otherwise empty bus, through much hand motions we discovered that I was King and carried a pistol because I was American. He gave the girls candy and when he didn't have any for me he insisted on giving me 5 baht so I [View Full Entry]

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I just finished with my dives in Ko Tao, the conditions were amazing with an average 20 meter visibility and very warm water. I look forward to diving around Krabi in the next week or so. It was very easy to get a little too comfortable here, since its my first real stop I think eight days is plenty of time and will be visiting Khao Sok national park next. Every night ended at around 3 in the morning and the Large Chang is the backpackers staple, right up there with rice and pad thai. On the scuba boat I learned [View Full Entry]

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Ko Tao is an island known for its wonderful scuba diving, I'm no exception, I start my open water dives on Sunday. The island was not populated until 1933 when it was used as a political prison. It stayed that way until 1947 when the prisoners were given a pardon and people moved to the island by staking out land as their own. Getting around the island isn't difficult but for the stay dog lying in the middle of the road, glad I got the insurance adder because traffic laws do not exist. 21 km2, the best way is to rent [View Full Entry]

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I arrived in Chumphon this morning, this town has a ferry to Koh Tao, a small island know for Scuba Diving in the Gulf of Thailand. Tday is my first slow day as I'm waiting for the Midnight Ferry to Ko Tao. Chumphon does have a large fish market which I had a peek at. Hopefully my photography will get better, Jon any tips are appreciated. I'm hanging out at the Farang Bar and plan to do a bit of reading on dive operators, there are around 40 on Koh Tao, it looks like a full PADI certification and 4-5 nights [View Full Entry]

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