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Published: April 3rd 2008
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The internet service and price have been unfavorable for posting blogs but, I have set aside some time now and am sitting in an airconditioned room prepared to update you on what's happened so far.
As I was preparing to leave Krabi, I met an Australian couple who I got along with wonderfully, it all started when I told them about the Malaysian guy I met on the four island tour had three thumbs, yes, three thumbs. The third one was protruding from the knuckle of his left hand. A whole other story all-together. Per my my friend Lela's insistance, I proposed we all moved to a place called Rai Leh, which although not an island is very similar to one because the only way to get there is by boat. The hotels on Rai Leh beach were more expensive than I cared for and I was told another beach, Ton Sai, was less expensive and only a fifteen minute walk away. Those who suggested this beach failed to mention that the walk was more like a trek and involved the climbing of very steep rocks (Ton Sai is climber heaven boasting over 700 climbing routes and sites). Like the
trooper I have become, I strapped my backpack on and lost my weight in sweat, but made it to the other side! The beach was nice and the weather perfect, so we hung out and walked around and had beers.
Not the smartest, I realized I had to extend my thai visa two days after ariving, so I booked a visa-run with one of the local travel agents. For those who are unfamiliar with the process, you take a mini-bus (12 seater converted to 14-seater) for four to five hours to Malaysia, you cross the border, then you get right back on and drive back. Needless to say, the day was a total waist, although now that I think about it, I did get two things out of the run: 1 obviously the extension and 2 what I have decided was a Malaysian pick up line.
This is how it went:
Me: "Hello officer"
Officer: "Where you from?"
Me: "USA"
Officer: "Say Colombia"
Me: "Born in Colombia, but from USA"
Officer: "Young" then a pause, a blatant checking out then, "Big Body" approving nod up and down.
ME: "Thank you", outloud... In my head "what does that mean?"
I was glad when I got back to Ton Sai where I spent another day just hanging out and relaxing. From Ton Sai we, (Lee and Ben from Australia, Mike, from Canada and the new addition to the team, Stuart, also from Australia) moved to Ko Phi Phi. Ko Phi Phi was one of the more Tsunami-affected areas. The hotel we stayed at was awesome, we moved to Long Beach, the next beach over and stayed in huge bungallows with the most amazing view of the ocean. The hotel offered a tour of the surrounding islands and we all decided we wanted to take a look. There was a problem, the tour needed 6 people in order to happen and we were only five so Stuart volunteered to become the tour's promoter and recruited 4 more people from the hotel to join us. Next day we are all ready to go when we notice that the boat was a tiny longtail boat and that the trip did not include any beach time. So we were stuck on a boat with nine people and a lot of open water time, the 4 others were not very happy with Stuart... The tour
left us with a sour taste and we decided we needed another tour, but this time on a big boat. We found the Original Sunset tour and booked it for the next day and we saw the most amazing sunset and two rainbows I have ever seen.
After Phi Phi, Lee, Ben and I moved on to Phuket where we stayed in Patong beach, the dirtiest, most awful place I have ever been. Please refrain from visiting this beach. Smelled like raw sewage and the only people around where middle aged westerners followed by their young Thai whores. The only plus is that we got an awesome air-con room with cable TV and cause we were sharing, we got to rent a little jeep to go around at our convenience. The other beaches on Phulket were nice, but we couldn't be bothered to move and had the car to get around. Oh, and the other good thing was the sea food, oysters, squid, fish, that was great.
We booked a bus back to Bangkok with our hotel which was supposed to take us to Kao San Road wich is the backpackers street. When we arrived near Bangkok, the
bus blew a tire and we were dropped off in the middle of the highway to negotiate with taxi drivers to get us into town. Had I noticed then that my bags had been burglared, I would have called the police right then and there and had those shit-heads arrested. However, I noticed hours later that most of my cash and a credit card had been taken. At least I didn't have other people's random clothing shoved into my bag as some of the others on the bus realized when we all got back to Kao San.
I was pissed, but I still have my passport and my debit card so things aren't that bad and I've moved on to Chiang Mai which is a great city, much calmer than Bangkok and tomorrow I will be taking a Thai cooking class. I'll post again soon.
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nana
non-member comment
Robbed of all but you dignity!
Nenit, que buenas aventuras, manda tips de cocina Thai. Y llamame maldicion!