Blogs from Railay, South-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 25

It's Brent's birthday today! In California it's still the 25th of July at approximately 10:30 pm. Here it is 12:30 pm the next day! Wowzerz. Happy Birthday love!!!!! We have been in some of the most beautiful parts of the world I have ever seen in the last several days. The beach is like 10 feet from this Internet cafe. If you have a chance, google Railay Beach: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=railay+beach%2C+thailand Yesterday we spent most of the day laying out in front of the pool, which is about 50 feet from the ocean. I have been learning to slow life down. I love having the time and space to think, reflect, and be introspective. It is really showing me how I have evolved over time... how circumstances have changed my perspective. Sometimes, you cannot see the forest through ... read more

First of all... HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!! It's too bad I'm not at home to party it up with you guys! Quite a bit has happened in the past week - my aunt and I made it to Railey (in Krabi province) and stayed at the Tropicana resort. I have to say that I had high hopes for that place because of last year, but it failed to even come close. It rained the whole time, but it felt like the atmosphere there really changed... the people there weren't the friendliest and the drug culture there must have boomed in the past year. It's too bad b/c that was my favorite place last year.... again, it must be all who you travel with. Auntie and I spent three nights there and then flew to BKK with AirAsia. ... read more

Here are some photos of some of the critters we've seen-- including some puppies. I know puppies aren't exotic but there are 5 newborn puppies outside Becca's bungalow and they're so cute I had to include them in the blog photos. St. Francis 3rd grade wanted to know if most people speak English in Thailand. Thai people speak Thai, a language that has it's own alphabet and sounds very different from English or any of the other asian languages. Thai children often do study English in schools just the way St. Francis students study Spanish but how much people speak really depends on where you are. Here on the beach most people get along in English, Thai people, German people, Israelis. English is the first language people try when they are meeting other new people. That ... read more

Yo! So, I'm back on the beaches, and it's great. The original plan was to jump the overnight sleeper train from Bangkok to Surat Thani, and then bus to Krabi, but since the train was booked solid for a good week in advance, we took the next best alternative - doing the entire trip by bus. I saved a bit of coin doing so, but it also meant that I was stuck on "VIP air-con" busses for the last 16 hours. Slightly less fun. The bus from Bangkok to Surat Thani was.. entertaining to say the least. I'm fairly sure the driver was hopped up on speed, seeing as he spent the marjority for the 11 hour trip on the wrong side of the road dodging incoming traffic. I forgot just how of a eye-opener the ... read more

One of the things that I have learned to do here in Thailand is to spin poi. Poi is an ancient Maori martial art. You hold two strings with flammable ends and spin them in various patterns around you. When you get good at them you can light them on fire. I spun poi with fire for the first time the other night and my friend took these cool pictures. It’s actually not as dangerous as it sounds. Because of the material the poi are made out of it’s hard to burn yourself even if you accidently hit yourself with the poi. If you’re standing on the beach next to the ocean it’s hard to light anything on fire by accident. But still, it's good to concentrate and be careful!... read more