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Published: March 6th 2008
Hello all!
I guess it has been a while since we last entered a blog. Much has happened and many miles have been covered.
It sounds like the last update was in Pai. So, ... We rented a scooter and did some exploring around the area. What an amazing area. There was a national park a few Km. away with a hot spring so we headed out to see the sights. The springs were very inviting except it was scorching hot out and neither of us felt like getting in hot water, cool maybe, but not hot. we did however sooth our feet in the stream a bit downhill from the springs. These springs are hot enough to boil eggs in... in fact the sell eggs there for that purpose. Plenty of sulfur in the air to curl your nose hairs as well...lol
John was starting to not feel well so we headed back toward town and checked out the temple on the hill behind our bungalows. We found the Wat (temple) and headed up to the top. It was a beautiful temple with an impressive view, we took a moment to have a monk
bless us with holy water for luck on our journeys. We should have had him add some luck in there for chasing away stomach dissentary oh well hind sight is always twenty- twenty. LOL
Dispite having the runs, the kind that make you want to run far away from yourself. John put on a beautiful performance of FIREWEED ( yes I have video) at the local (Buffalo Exchange) Pub equipped with Thai bassist and Drummer, wow could they keep up! So could John, he was able to barely finish his song 36 hours before projectile vomiting.... into the toilet, luckily!!! Ah but he did finish!!!
The next couple of days our energy levels took a nose dive. We had just barely enough energy to make it from one unsitely toilet to another whilst winding down Pais 762 curves in a minni bus! Wished we were wearing diapers! After finally making it to Chaing Mai we boarded an overnight train headed to Bankok 15 hours away to begin our next venture beachbound. That's when the fever hit like an alien errupting through the base of the brain stem, only without an exit hole for proof!! The only
positive note I can conjure for this wild time was thank god that the sink was so close to the toliet so I could drain both ends simultaniously while rocking viciously from side to side, or else I would have puked all over myself as well.....and have to smell it for the remainder of the jorney to Ko Samui still a day away at this point!
Ok already, so we got better, several days later with the help of antibiotics, a little beach time and some German company, finally we were begining to think Thai food sounded desirable again.......
Ko Samui... Beaches at last! Robert the Germam guy we met on the boat to Samui, had been there before. He suggested Lamai as a great place to stay. As it was our first visit we decided to trust his opinion and headed there together. We arrived late afternoon and found a place for "cheap cheap". Wow, do you get what you pay for. Cute by day, covered with ants and a snake by night. Needless to say we moved to a lushy, but still affordable bungalow equiped with swimming pool and TV with english movies early
the next day. We could have stayed a couple of weeks if we had not needed to renew our 30 day visas by leaving the country to re-enter. So, in the six days we had left, we rented a motorbike and explored Samui. The island is small enough to travel completely around it in about four hours, so that's just what we did. After lapping up a few more days of sun on the beach and generally recouperating, we reluctantly headed for Ranong where we could cross the border to Myanmar (Burma) to renew our visas.
Ranong was pleasantly quiet and culturally diverse. Aside from Thais and tourists, many muslims, Burmese and Chinese, occupy this sleepy port town. Which in turn made the night street market interesting and ethnicaly tasty! The following morning we rose early and headed out to share a boat to Myanmar with a fellow traveler named Benja, from Israel, whom we met on the bus from Samui. It was with reserve that we went there at all given the current political situation of the country. We had little desire to support the current government with any money that contributed to the way thier people
are treated if they disagree with the supression of democracy. So it was no suprise when asked to pay more in Baht (Thai currency) because our US Dollars were not uncirculated, we viewed the border guards as corrupt. However, when we got away from the entry point we found the local people of Victoria Point friendly and welcoming as we wandered the backstreets and temples of the town. We spent a couple more days in Ranong and headed South to Phuket with a fresh 30 day visa.
Phuket was filled with nothern europeans they call ex-pats as they run many of the local accomedations and bars, for this reason the prices all over Phuket are high and surronding dialoge reminisent of northern Europe. At first this was a bit off-putting, but given the beautiful clear tourqoise water and fine white sand beaches we addapted rapidly. In fact, to our surprise we spent an entire week at Karon beach. In order to explore the surrounding area we rented a user friendly motorbike equipped with backpack storage under the seat and a 125cc engine. A good thing too, becase unlike most of the places we had ridden a bike, Pattong
was one of the most hair raising!! Basically if you're obeying the law you're in the way!!
Following Phuket we headed for the imfamous, Krabi... Another pleasant surprise, low key and laid back. We spent the first evening walking around the well maintained boardwalk and sampleing the delicasies at the local night markets. The next day we climbed the laborious distance of 1,237 steeeep stairs up to Wat Tham Seua (next to tiger cave) yielding the well earned view over Krabi and surrounding mountains. At the base of the temple, we caught our breath while being mezmorized by the many monkeys, and their irratic behavoir. Kayaking around mangrove swamps and through sea caves was on the aggenda for the following day.
From Krabi, our journey swept us to the magical destination of Railay where we splurged on some of the best rock climbing in the world. Time at Railay could never be long enough.....but pricey it was indeed... Great hotel with pool, relaxed locals, great lay-down bars and amazing scenery, what more can we say? While on Railay we took a snokeling tour of Ko Phi Phi and surrounding area, this too was amazing.....
Jerry,Annie and us
The owner of the Boost Bar, a great place to stay and hang out in Karon, Phuket.Reluctantly, we sailed away from Railay and headed to the less popular Island of Lanta. Here we rented a charming bungalow with sea-side pool, resturant and bar, a good thing too because the closest service within walking distance didn't exist! Ko Lanta was quiet... really quiet.... Again we rented a motorbike for our three day visit which turned into a four day visit. When we went to return the bike and hop on our awaiting mini-bus we were informed by the neighbors that the man whom rented us the bike had left for Krabi with his entire family as was not due to return until six PM. Thus locking Johns' passport inside the office while our transportation headed on without us.
Needless to say after another day on Ko Lanta, we headed for the long awaited Ko Tao (Turtle Is.) We did our research to find a fantastic rustic, well designed bungalow on the far side of the Island at a reasonable price. We do mean "far" literally as unless you have an ATV, Four wheel drive or dirt bike this area is basically unreachable! (see photo of road Ko Tao and suspension upgrade) This however, was no
Toilet at Tiger Cave
This one is for you Freitag! delema, as it kept us in the remote, serene surrounding of Tanote Bay. Ko Tao, is well known for it's diving and snorkeling so to keep the price at bay we indluged in a full day snorkeling adventure. After the cold rain cleared half way through the day, it was quite enjoyable. Turning into some of the best snorkeling we've EVER experienced. This wonderful Island will be re-visted again within this lifetime.
Which brings us back to Bangkok..... now with more open eyes and a humerous perspective of how Thailand works!!! This time round Bangkok is a fun, exciting enviroment in which to indulge our senses.......
We truly are having the time of our lives, but thoughts travel home to all of you frequently... know you are missed.....
Love,
Justice and John
Lah gorn (goodbye) for now......
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Vice
non-member comment
Hope you didn't excrete anything important.
Sounds like good times - erupting from both ends at once. Dysentery is fun, ain't it? Man, those pix are making me jealous. Couple of hardcore loafers, you two. You both suck, and I love you. Kelley