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My View in Haad Yuan
Not bad for $10/night. To take a line from Jim Hawkins, that is exactly how I felt. While I knew I would miss all my family and friends, I was all smiles as I said goodbye to my parents and walked into my terminal at LAX ready to start my journey (after all, the journey is the goal, right?). I don't think many people look forward to arriving at LAX and I was quickly reminded why as I found out my flight was delayed and that I would miss my connecting flight in Tokyo. I knew things would work out (which they did) so I took a deep breath and found the closest bar.
About 36 hours later, three plane flights, two boat rides, one bus ride, and zero time in Bangkok, I found myself on Haad Yuan in Koh Phangan. It was well worth the traveling and anticipation. My next couple of weeks were filled with the following itinerary: eat, drink, read, swim, talk, sleep. It was rough, but somebody had to do it. While I know my trip will be filled with ups and downs, crazy adventures, and horrible bus rides, I took this time to chill (surprise, surprise). It felt so
Big Buddha Boat
Koh Samui in the background...almost there. good to unwind and acclimate myself with living out of a backpack the size of my socks drawer for the next 9 months or so.
For those of you that don't know where Koh Phangan is (I am sure if you don't, you just "googled" it), it is in the south in the Gulf of Thailand. It is a beautiful island. Haad Yuan is a very cool and unique "town" on Koh Phangan because it is basically only accessible by boat (I say "basically" because you can take a 4-hour taxi ride through some very sketchy roads or a 10-minute long-tail boat ride from Haad Rin). Koh Phangan is most infamous for it's Full Moon Parties and it is definitely something to see. People from all over the globe infiltrate Haad Rin and some party from 10am until 10am the next day and beyond.
Aside from the Full Moon (which happens once a month), the coolest thing I got to witness was Songkran (which happens once a year). Of course, Songkran and Full Moon are the two things I don't bring my camera to. Songkran is the Thai New Years. I felt so lucky to be able to
Bamboo
Me and Nick at Bamboo on Haad Yuan. Best place to eat so far. partake in it's festivities. A group of us headed to Thong Sala and I had no clue what I was getting myself into. It is basically a huge water fight involving the ENTIRE COUNTRY that lasts for three days (supposedly for two weeks in places like Chiang Mai). From 4-year old boys to 60-year old women, locals to foreigners, people have their hoses out, water guns, buckets of water, and anything and everything that can get somebody wet. We parked ourselves in front of some bar and cars and trucks full of people drove in circles getting each other wet and putting brightly colored paste on each others faces and arms. I never thought I would be covered in bright pink and orange paste/paint twice in the same month, but I guess Songkran and Full Moon can do that to you.
A couple of days before the Full Moon, Nick came out to Thailand. While meeting a bunch of people from England, Canada, Ireland, Thailand (obviously), and other parts of the world has been amazing, it was nice to see a familiar face. After the Full Moon, we headed off to Koh Tao for a week to check out
Eddie's Boat
Coolest boat and person to date. It is hard to tell, but the bottom flag is a pirate flag. I think he stole that from the Hot Spot since I can't find it anywhere. the diving and for me to get PADI Certified (for those of you who were a little confused in my email responses, I got my DIVING license, not my DRIVING license; not sure I want to be a tuk tuk driver, haha). Diving was amazing. I saw so much underwater life such as angel fish, porcupine fish, anemonefish (aka Finding Nemo), barracudas, a hermit crab the size of my head, some sting rays (which are so cool to watch glide through the water), and a 25-foot whale shark. Seeing the whale shark was amazing. It was my last dive before getting certified and I got to get within 5-feet or so from it. Some of the Instructors said that they have never even seen one.
After four plus weeks in paradise on these islands in the Gulf of Thailand, I headed up to Bangkok to get ready to take off for my next destination. I think my 36-hour stint here in Bangkok will be more than enough. It has been great receiving emails from everybody and I hope they continue.
Signing off for now. Next stop, Nepal...
[Sidenote #1: The King of Fruits are abundant in this
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Onto the Big Buddha Boat. country and I am loving it. No, I am not talking about the "lady boys" (which there are also so many of), but PINEAPPLE. Everywhere you go they serve pineapple and it is extremely good and cheap. If you can't tell, I love pineapple. Even in between dives, we had pineapple and tea breaks while my Instructor "grabbed a dirty fag" (aka a cigarette and yes, he was smoking while diving and yes, this Instructor was from England).]
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Aunt Susie
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Casey you look like you are having a great safe trip. Keep the news coming. We are following you!!!!!!