cokiesownz

Well last night was epic. Every year for some reason I think New Years Eve is the night. Putting such pressure usually makes it end in disappointment so I made sure this time around to kind of just let it happen. Prior to arriving in Singapore I had met many Singaporeans randomly in parts of Malaysia. I asked them all "What goes down in Singy for New Years?" Most people either said one of the many club parties, at $40 a head, or "if you don't know anybody, it won't be that great." Really reassuring I tell you. Some also mentioned a huge party on one of the islands sponsored by MTV. I'm not usually the one for organized things like this because they are usually way over priced and never as good as advertised. I ... read more

I just had to do it. It's back on the road again up to Chiang Mai. The first time around, i spent 3 weeks here. That is second non-only to Bangkok in places that I have spent the most amount of time in. Well, there were a few reasons why I decided to return. I think the best time to be in a place is when there is a festival going on. The first time I experienced this to the max was when I was in La Paz, Bolivia back in the summer (winter there) of 2003. It was a day dedicated to students and there were massive parades, music, costumes, and loads upon loads of street food and beer. I also think I enjoyed it because I was one of the only ones who didn't ... read more

Well childern...we left off from our last adventure in a little place we call Nong Khiaw. Northern Lao has been a pretty chilled out time the past two weeks that I have been here. I have kept a low profile, mainly because there is no real night life, there aren't many tourist, intermittent power, and I am still recovering from the intensity experienced in Thailand. However with two weeks of R&R now in the reserves, it time to go out and spend that hard earned sleep. I'm going to Vang Vieng baby! Vang Vieng is both a treasure and a person's own worst nightmare, although I don't understand the latter. People either stop here and enjoy or move straight on with a look of disgust. Mainly this comes from those self-righteous, vegan, i hate mass commercialism ... read more

I was forced to leave Thailand due to those stupid 30 day visas. However it was getting a little too comfortable and I had at this point only seen just a small piece of what I set off to do. It was off to Laos next. I headed up to the north of the country where there is a boarder crossing at Chiang Kong. From here I would catch a two day slowboat to Luang Prabang in northern Laos. In Chiang Kong I had met three other people, 2 British girls and a German guy who were planning on doing the same trip so we stuck together. I really had no idea of what to expect from the slowboat, just something that everybody making this leg seems to do. Its a bit frustrating sometimes here because ... read more

So treking trips from Chiang Mai are a popular thing. Every shop, guesthouse, tour agency, or noodle hut will offer them to you, and they are all quoted as "non-touristy," go figure? "So what makes your trip different than the guy next door?", "Well...ours is non-toursity." It wasn't that bad. There are may areas to go to and we only saw 2 other groups with ours that followed in the same path, even though almost everybody starts off and ends the adventure at the same spot. The trip consisted of 3 days, 2 nights hiking through the jungle, a night stay at a hilltop village, an afternoon dip at a waterfall, elephant riding, white water rafting and floating down on bamboo rafts. It was a value let me tell you. All for roughly $35 including all ... read more