If anyone is aware that 70 Baht is about the equivalent to $2.30 Canadian, you can appreciate the fact that I was stoked to find a killer guesthouse (Jollyfrog Guesthouse, right on the River Kwai) in Kanchanaburi for this price. There weren't cockroaches, mosquitos, bed bugs or anything, it has been great! I arrived here, early Monday morning, and spent the day scoping out what I was going to do while in the area. Tuesday I took a Thai cooking class, complete with lady-boy instructor, it was so much fun, and as you can imagine, quite hilarious. We learned to make [View Full Entry]

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After leaving the Rainbow Gathering, one of the Canadians I went to the Rainbow Gathering with (a vancouver islander at that) and I headed further south to Krabi. There, we stayed on Hat Ton Sai for about a week. This place is the definition of paradise. As we rode into the bay by long tail boat, I exclaimed that this is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Surrounded by impressive karst formations, emerald green waters, jungle and mangrove swamps, its definitely on my top 5 list. Hat Ton Sai is only accessible by boat, and you can [View Full Entry]

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Okay, how do I describe my 3 days at the "Rainbow Gathering"?? First I guess I better explain what this whole rainbow culture is all about. From my understanding, it is an international community of people (of the free-spirit variety) that have common thoughts on peace and spirituality. Since first arriving in Thailand I've been hearing about this international gathering, here in Thailand from many other travellers and more or less just kind of shrugged it off as something I wasn't interested in. But then when in Ranong doing my VISA run, I didn't realize how close I was to this [View Full Entry]

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My Christmas holidays, although different, were something to be remembered. After a 16 hour bus ride from Mae Hong Son to Bangkok, I checked into a beautiful 4 star hotel to see what it was like to live in luxury for a couple of days. So, I spent Christmas laying in a big comfy bed watching TV, and lounging pool side. Despite the absence of family, friends, cold weather and Turkey, it was a great Christmas, and given the circumstances I wouldn't have spent it any other way. A big thanks to my family for putting me up in that nice [View Full Entry]

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After getting my feet wet in Bangkok, it was time to head up North. I went to Chiang Mai for a couple of days where I took a day tour that left me riding an elephant, visiting hill tribes, walking through the jungle and bamboo rafting through a suspect looking river. It was a beautiful day and a great introduction to the north of Thailand. I headed from there to Mae Hong Son (North west Thailand), where I was to be teaching English at a Burmese refugee school for one month. The school is actually, just outside the village of Nai [View Full Entry]

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The title says it all. I've been in Bangkok for 4 days now, and so far so good. I've been eating food from street vendors that is so spicy that the teary eyes and runny nose aren't enough to put out the fire in your mouth. You can eat a full meal here for about 80 cents. I'm playing a bit of Russian roulette with the food, and so far my stomach is handling the assault quite well. I had a bit of a scare today, but all is good now! This city is a mass of yellow shirts (Thais wear [View Full Entry]

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Well, the European chapter of this great story has come to an end (I'm so cheesy). Although every European country that I visited was very different, there were also many things that were similar, and became very comfortable for me. But then, it was time to pull the rug out from under my feet and keep on East to the warmer weather. So, what did I learn from Europe, in no particular order: 1. NEVER, EVER, EVER take Peanut butter for granted. 2. If you don't speak the language, just use hand gestures, if you're good at charades, this will be [View Full Entry]

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How do I explain Dubai (especially since I was there for little over 48 hours, and what time I did spend there was mostly at the rugby field)... I was able to change my transfer in Dubai to a stop over and was lucky enough to get a ticket from Robin to watch the IRB Sevens tournament. It was so much fun. I arrived late Thursday to the new experience of a Muslim country. I felt like I had neon flashing lights on me, sticking out even more so than in Europe! I woke up early Friday morning, and made my [View Full Entry]

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It was a bit of a shock, landing in a country where the only place I know any letters of the alphabet from is from math class! To my luck, however, many Greek people speak very good English and most of the signs are also written in the 'normal' alphabet. I spent 3 days in Greece, where I couch surfed with a very cool, un-greek greek, named Kostas. The highlights of Athens were the Acropolis, the Olympic Stadium (from the first modern-day Olympics), and the National Guards in their funky suits with their funky little dance when they perform the changing [View Full Entry]

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I found heaven in Tuscany. The scenery, the people, the food, the wine, aaahhh. I stayed on a farm approximately 15 minutes out of Cortona (where "Under the Tuscan sun" takes place), for my first WWOOFing experience (World wide opportunities on organic farms). I must have picked the best one, because I had such an amazing time. The huge farm house is normally only home to Lucio, his son Jairo and daughter Laura, but more often than not is filled also with friends, family, other WWOOFers and guests to the Agriturismo. When I first arrived, there was another WWOOFer, named Marion [View Full Entry]

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