Safe in Phnom Phen

Here we are in Phnom Phen, landed safely and found a nice place to stay that is quite comfortable...so mom, you can breath. This is a pretty intense experience, I've never been anywhere like it..obviously. I mean, how many people actually visit Cambodia, and Americans? Right.

We got here yesterday morning (flying was a great decision) and Lauren wasn't feeling well so we just hung out all day here, caught up on some sleep. I didn't have the energy to explore on my own for the first day. I started walking down the street and it's sensory overload, much easier to deal with with Lauren there.

I really feel like i can't put what this place is like into words. It's not just the poverty or the griminess or the children, it's a feeling you get here. It feels NOTHING like Thailand, rightly so. Thailand didn't just go through a genocidal civil war 25 years ago. That said, the people here are very open about what happened and seem to have accepted it. They were even showing the killing fields in the dining room at our hostel last night.

So today we walked around taking lots of photos. The photo ops here are endless, it's like every corner is a Steve McCurry photo waiting to happen. We went to the Russian market, I cant even describe it other than it was hot, tight and very overwhelming. We bought a huge bag of candy to give to all the begging children. It's really so sad, they are so adorable and well mannered. They just come up to you and put their hands out and rub their bellys. The candy worked great, we got lots of smiles and some great photos too.

As far as the wackiness goes, Cambodia's got thailand beat, luckily lauren and i can just laugh every time something strange happens. The first tuk tuk we got in begged us to take us (they all do), then drove 2 blocks and said he had to get to a class and told us his friend was going to take us in a taxi. We were insistent on a tuk tuk so we got in another one. Then at the market i bought a copy of Lonely Planet Vietnam for a few dollars from a really sadlooking woman. When i took off the wrapping i discovered that the entire thing is photocopied! It's hilarious! It still works just the same for me, but someone went to a lot of trouble to do that.The tuk tuk we took on the way home ran out of gas and the driver pushed us to a gas station...Oh yea, and the dollars thing. They have their own currency here, but noone really uses it. They use dollars! The thing that was really strange for me was that if you take money from an atm it's in dollars! How did this happen? Maybe during the vietnam war, who knows..but it's really strange. I can't imagine what all the other westerners think about this, using american dollars in Cambodia??? What a nice symbol of why they hate us. The almighty dollar.

Then there's the way we stand out. It's not just how different I feel here, which is more so than anywhere i've ever been. I really feel like such a privlaged westerner, well i am..and if you're reading this you are too. But Lauren and I get starred at, and not like in mexico. They gawk, all of them. We walk down the street and groups of heads just follow us...everywhere we go. So strange.

So tonight we're going to try and get a scary movie on the tv here, they have TONS of dvds you can just watch. It needs to feel like halloween somehow! Tomorrow we'll go sightseeing and the next day off to Siem Reap (home of the Angkor Wat temples). I'm glad we relaxed before coming here, we are very laid back now and can handle it much more easily than we would have before.

Thanksgiving on Halloween in Bangkok

Here we are, back in Bangkok and I got 20 free minute of internet..so why not make a small post. This hostel is fantastic, we were told about it on the plane here today by some other farange (tourists in thai). Its downtown, away from the chaos and harassing tuk tuk drivers...it's real bangkok. Anyway, it's a total european style hostel and the owner, john, makes an all out thankgiving dinner every sunday! Lauren and i shared the giant plate...and of coarse she ate the turkey and i ate the roast beef...it was great.

We opted for the plane to bangkok, which was fanstatic. So quick and easy, we got here in an hour and met lots of people that had really good tips on the plane. We found our place, got some foot massages and are just chillin here since we have to wake up at 4 am to catch our flight to Phnom Phen.

In talking to alex the other day i realized that my posts my have come off like i wasn't having an amazing time at the beach. i can't express how fantastic the beach was...it's just how much is there really to say about laying on the beach drinking pina coladas and eating every time there's a slight urge in your stomach. The food here is just too good not to indulge...the thais do it and they're all so tiny! So, yes, we were absolute beach bums for a month indulging in whatever felt right...yes, I have had 5 massages...and now 1 foot massage. It's all the other stuff that gets in your head, how they live...the customs, the differences in culture and landscape between islands. It was really amazing. We are already going through beach withdrawl. That said, we are really excited for cambodia, it's almost unreal that I'm actually going to see Angkor Wat...like when i went to Rome. Write me if you want, i love hearing from people!

Last Island

We are on Koh Lanta, the last island we'll visit in Thailand...and appropriatly so. We started off with the very developed Koh Samui, fun but not very culturally rich. As we have progressed it seems that the culture gets richer and more real. That said, the 2 coasts are completely different.

To start, the gulf coast is buddhist, this coast is muslim...which creates a very different feel. Geologically they are very different too. This island is by far the least developed and least touristy. It was strange when we arrived, it had a weird air, it felt funny to be here. The first beach we looked at was pretty ugly, so we headed down the coast and found a fanstastic place with a great beach. We even have hot showers, aircon, and a bathtub! All for about $12/night split 3 ways. Anyway, we couldn't figure out why this island felt do weird, until yesterday. I went for a walk down the road to find a payphone to call alex. The walk was very interesting and made everything make sense. This island was absolutely devistated by the tsunami and very little has been rebuilt. You can feel the loss here, it's all around.

So today we hired a taxi for the day to drive us around the island, it was really amazing. This island is not as dramatic as some of the others environmentally. The follige could be from home with palm trees added in. But people actually live here, and not necessarily off of tourists. It really felt like it could have been on the mainland..only with some really great oceanviews. We saw so many interesting people and their homes. The most dramatic part was that it is mostly muslim here, so all the women have saris on..even on the motorbikes. It was really cool to see the entire family on one bike (we've seen up to 5 people on 1 bike throughout this trip). We went in and out of small streets, there would have been some amazing photos in there, but it's not worth offending people. We went to another strange market where there were only a few other tourists. It was pretty intense and claustrophobic. It's weird, I don't know if it's the current events in the world or propoganda being effective...but I actually felt kind of uncomfortable in the market. It kind of made me paranoid about being american. It's hard enough to travel as one, but when everyone around you is muslim...i felt like i shouldn't be there.

This island is definitely more conservative too. For example, at our hotel there is a separate place to sit if you are going to drink with you're meal. Alcohol is not allowed in the restaurant...which totally makes sense. We even saw a sign that said "wearing a bikini on a motorbike here is like going naked in you're home country." The people seem more humble too, less abbrasive.

I feel like i've gotten a well-rounded idea of what the islands of thailand are all about. I'd have to say though, for anyone considering going...the gulf side is where i'd recommend. It just has a better feeling. But you better go soon cause Rachel was right, it's not going to be long before we can't go anywhere. People really do hate us...everyone...they hate us. Fortunately lauren and i are charming enough that we can convince people that we are not representative of those who run our country!

Monkeys!

Today was great...although as i sit here I feel like I'm on a rocking boat, and I got off the boat about 4 hours ago. We decided to go on a snorkeling trip around the island. We left at about 9 am and took a longboat to about 5 spots around the island. I realized that i haven't explained these longboats. They are small long wooden boats that look like they came straight out of the Mayflower times. The only difference is that there is a motor on the back with a long propeller that sticks in the water...you would never see these in the states. They are pretty fun but can be scary..especially night (there is no light on it).

So we went to all these different spots and saw some amazing fish all over. The water here is sooo clear and turquoise blue, it's like out of a fairy tale. All of the limestone cliffs make it even more dramatic. Then we went to this beach on the other side of the island we are staying at called monkey beach...cause there were TONS of monkeys just hangin out, literally posing for people's cameras. I wished i had brought mine but there will be more monkeys. It was really amazing though, i've never seen so many monkeys in their natural habitat. It was also kind of sad cause there was all this trash on the beach where noone lives...obviously from the tsunami. In fact, we saw trash on some other little random sand coves that obviously got there the same way...its kind of mindblowing.

Then we went to the spot where they filmed the movie "The Beach" with good old Leo, it was pretty excellent. It felt magical, like a unicorn was going to jump out of somewhere. So now we're in town, and i really love checking my email and posting to my blog cause I'm a big dork. But i think if i sit here any longer i'm gonna puke from seasickness...so gotta run!

Island hopping

So now we're on Koh Phi Phi, an Island on the Andeman coast...where the Tsunami was. It's kinda surreal that we are where that happened. Tonight the restaurant we ate at had the water level marked...crazy.

This coast is amazing, huge limestone clifs, perfect clear blue water, tropical foliage everywhere. We take longboats to get around the island, there are no roads. It's pretty quiet here but still a little nightlife. Last night we watched firedancers on the beach..it was pretty amazing...then we did some night swimming in the ocean...my first time! We met laurens friend from New Orleans here so we're all hanging out this week. Today we just relaxed on the beach, but tomorrow we're going on a clipjumping/snorkeling trip. I might even try rockclimbing, lauren really wants to do that..we'll see for me.

So we have a week here, probebly gonna check out a few of the islands. Then head back to bangkok. On monday we're flying to cambodia. We decided to spare me the nausiating drive and spend an extra $10. The tickets were only $30! Helpful tip for anyone planning to go to asia.. airasia.com. We're even gonna check out flying to bangkok from here. You can only do so many truck,boat,van,bus,boat,bus,van trips a month!

Sawadee Ka!

More Photos

From the boat approaching Koh Phangan....rainbow...ahhh!




At the market in town, they love their fried bugs here......ewww!




Walking back to Coconut beach at sunset.




Us in the truck. Sonny, the owner of coconut beach (nicest thai guy ever) stopped at his coconut farm and gave us all fresh coconuts to drink on the way back to the beach!

Photos!

Lauren and I on the boat back to Coconut beach...happy and tan.




The path to town...not a bad hike except its hot!




A restaurant in town, they are drying loads of squid behind us. It was really cool to see but kinda stinky....but the delicous green curry made up for it!

Finally!

I think the rule goes that you only find love when you're not looking for it. Well Lauren and I were ready to say goodbye to the beach, head up north for some real thai culture and some more laid back peeps. One morning last week we were in Koh Tao, the diving island and we went to this fantastic bakery for breakfast. Lauren picked up the paper and on the cover was a huge photo of Chiang Mai, completely flooded. We went on to try and research, although noone was very helpful, and realized that we could not possibly go to anywhere in northern se asia right now.

Sometimes when you're traveling the only comfort you have is your immediate plan. When that falls apart it's hard to know how to react. So we decided that we would spend a couple more days on another part of the island and figure out what to do. I couldn't stand being in the town we were at anymore, everyone kept asking me if i was okay caus i quit diving...but I was fine! It got really annoying.

So we got in a Songethew (truck with benches...main form of transport on these islands) and went to the next "beach" over...it was hardly a beach. Then we got another ride up this tiny hill (swindled yet again) and walked down into this weird somewhat surreal beach area that was completely isolated and had about 3 places to stay. On one hand it was really beautiful, especially from the water. On the other it was sooo dirty and I couldn't wait to get out. I could describe it in great detail because it was strange, but i'll move on because that was a week ago.

So we stayed one night and got outta there and decided to go to Koh Phangan...the only island in the gulf we hadn't been to. We avoided it because it's known for the full moon parties and the last thing we wanted was another party spot. The full moon parties are insane, tens of thousands of people, like a giant rave...no thanks. But that happened a week ago and all those people left...so we decided to give it a try.

On the boat we had a really good feeling about it, and as we approached there was even a rainbow coming from the island. We wanted to go to a beach we had read about called bottle beach but we ended up going to this beach right before it called Coconut beach. We couldn't believe it when we got there. Bungalows built on the side of a mountain overlooking the water and forests of palm trees. They are clean, bright, comfortable, and best of all the cheapest place we have stayed. it's about $4/night each! Then we went down to the restaurant and there were a bunch of young travelers hanging out and watching a movie. It was like our own private living room. All of the anxiety and stress we were feeling was gone...

So Coconut beach is definitely a time warp. It is over a mountain where you have to go in a large 4wd truck over a very bumpy unpaved road. There is only electrity from 4-midnight and nothing is around. All you do is relax, swim, snorkel, kayak, and hang out. It attracts the exact kind of people we've been wanting to meet. I think we've almost been there for a week, we can hardly believe it. The weather's been perfect and we are so relaxed. This island is so amazing too. We hiked to this waterfall the other day and went to the top of the mountain to an amazing view. Palm trees, coconut trees, the ocean..it was so great.

Yesterday we had to go to Koh Samui, the largest island where we already spent a week, to get our visas extended. It seemed so crazy and built up there now that we've been here where it's so undeveloped. So now we have to leave the country by halloween. The tenative plan is to go to the other coast tomorrow or the next day to meet up with laurens friend and from there fly to Cambodia. We have reversed the order of our trip so we won't be in the areas that are flooded now until december. That should give plenty of time to clean up the situation. We feel so lucky that there is even a place like this with such good weather in the rainy season.

Hope i didn't make anyone drool too much, I just had to get all this out of my head. I'll try and post photos but can't promise it'll work.

thats all for now.

Limits

Everyone has em, I think i found mine. I'm claustrophobic, I knew this but decided to take a dive course anyway...not a good idea. I didn't make it past the swimming pool. It was cool to learn everything about diving and experience what it's like to breath underwater...but breathing underwater was what totally freiked me out. I spent all day trying, I didn't want to give up. But I knew that the way I was feeling there was no way I was going to get in the ocean. So it's just snorkeling for me, which is fine. I wasn't really all that excited about diving anyway, I was just kinda doing it cause that's what you do here...it's a diving island. Lauren said the snorkeling was amazing though, so I'm all into that. Everyone here keeps talking about all the cool sharks you see, they are harmless apparently..small ones...sounds kinda scary to me...

So I'm glad I tried...at least I'm not afraid of heights!

Lauren and I have been having a great time adjusting to this culture...it is so strange. Everyday something really bizaar happens and I think, I gotta write this down..then I forget what it is. Our theory is that everything that seems weird is actually not weird at all, because it's Thailand and nothing makes sense! For instance, this island has this tiny little path that you walk down to get to shops or bungelows or whatever, but there are motorbikes contantly on it. There's no room for people and bikes and most of the tourists can't drive them very well. There's no right of way and occasionally there's a truck. Then they have these little "speed bumps" made of rope or wood or whatever they could find. But they don't really slow down the bikes, just make us trip. Together we have triped 3 times! And there are 21 medical facilities on this island that is almost totally uninhabited. Apparently everyone hurts themselves getting drunk and riding the motorbikes! I really think Lauren and I are some of the only people here with some common sense. It's really crazy. Our conclusion is that southern Thailand is to the europeans as Cancun is to Americans.

That said, it's so bizaar that we are constantly amused. It's gorgious here, and pretty peaceful...with the exception of the weird thai radio station that broadcasts really loud in a speaker right next to our bungelow everyday at 5. that's just a sign that it's dinnertime.

We ate mexican food the other night here, sometimes you just don't want curry or noodles. Put it this way, they put soy sauce on the fajitas..we should have known better...but i woke up dreaming about nachos! Oh, holy frijoles...i miss you.

If you are wondering, why are you writing so much in you're blog? This is kinda my journal at this point. I'm so spoiled by typing from work so much that I hate physically writing now..just wanted to get that out there.

So for now we have to figure out our new plan. Probebly stay a couple more days, get some snorkeling in. Lauren wants to check out this spa that has yoga on a mountain on the island...which sounds nice. Then, either to the other coast or up north, depending on the weather. The other coast sounds pretty crazy..you have gorgious beaches and nice beachfront areas. But just a few meters back is still in shambles from the tsunami...really sad.

Thats all for now.

Ang Thong Marine Park

Today was beautiful. We took that tour to the group of islands, it was a nice change from laying on the beach. I was starting to feel a bit useless. On the way to the port I saw 2 monkeys riding on the back of a pickup truck..sitting on the edges. They looked like people.

Anyway, the islands had the be the most picturesque place I've ever been. It took a wihle to get there because we took the cheap tour which included a slow boat, but we didn't care. We hiked to the top of this mountain on an island for an incredible view. The shocking thing was that everyone but us was wearing flip-flops or worse. There is no way this trail would be allowed in the states, it was crazy. Pointy huge rocks to climb on and it was pretty difficult. It's a good thing lauren and i are so cautious, cause noone else here seems to care. I couldn't believe some of the people that hiked this thing in those shoes and skirts!

Here's some photos!

here we are

This is the beach we're at now. It's call Lamai and it's a step up action wise from the other beach. We've already much some people and done a little shopping too. The beach is still beautiful and not very crowded since it's low season. We're gonna relax here some more tomorrow and then go on a tour of this group of 41 islands on Sunday. It's the area where the movie "The Beach" was based on, only that was actually shot on the other coast. But it's supposed to be beautiful with waterfalls and a huge hike and snorkeling. We want to go on our own since the tour is expensive but you can't..so we'll suck it up and pay the $. Then we'll head off to Ko Tao on Monday and spend a week or so there. I'm gonna go scubadiving, Lauren's still trying to decide. BTW, for all of those who keep asking, Lauren and I are getting along great. We are fantastic travel buddies and actually have more in common than we ever knew. Anywho...more later. Ciao.

another photo

Me and Lauren on the ferry to Ko Samoi. It was hot, sunny, and beautiful. We felt more disgusting than thought possible though. That train ride did us in. Fortunatly we were smart enough to head inside and watch the movie they were showing, Dick and Jane...which embarrassed us that it came from our country. But anyway, most of the people who spent the whole 2.5 hours on the deck got fried.

...photos...

This is a photo I took in Chinatown in Bangkok. The most insane place i have ever been!

...photos...

This is the Golden Buddha. We ended up going here twice but the first time it was pouring rain and didn't even bother to look at it. We just happened back to it cause the tuk tuk drivers like to take you there even when you don't ask for it. Anyway, it was really cool against the bright blue sky.

...photos..

Here is a photo from one of our tuk-tuk rides, since most people haven't ever seen a tuk tuk. It could be really charming, but in Bangkok it's just insane! The way people drive there is undescribable. Supposedly Chaing Mai is the place to ride tuk tuks.

...photos...

This was really sad. At many of the temples in Bangkok people trap these birds in cages and want you to pay money to let one free. It's supposed to be good luck...whatever. This country is full of scammers!

Finally!

Finally, a internet cafe where the computers actually work and there isn't some crazy woman yelling at me. Seriously, there are some very unhappy people around here. It must be draining to work in an industry where you deal with tourists all the time, but yesterday was crazy. Anyway, I'm going to upload some photos. The last one was a stupid one of me at the beach. I already sent most of them home on CDs, but i do have some recent ones, so here goes...

This first one is of two young monks we saw at the Golden Palace in Bangkok. We walked up hundreds of steps to have a great view and see a somewhat small golden Buddha. These monks were so excited that we wanted to take their picture...so cute.

please work!

a taxi, a train, a bus, a boat, a truck

All in all it took about 17 hours but it was all worth it. Lauren and I are at Ko Samoi, and island in the gulf of thailand. We found the most perfect pristine beach ever, with white silky sand and perfectly smimable water. The food is amazing and the weather couldn't be better. We went around the island today to look at some of the other beach and they are so much dirtier. Thailand has this party thing going on, all the europeans and israelis come here to party...so strange.

So apparently americans don't come to asia. And I can say first hand after a solid week of being here that people just don't like us. EVERY time lauren and i tell people where we're from they just nod and turn their heads...every time. Noone wants to talk to us...thanks to you know who. Jerk. This guy at our hotel told us that this beach used to be 75% americans, then about 5 years ago they just stopped...hmmm, wonder why. Anyway, we are having a great time together but haven't really met anyone since Japan. There was a nice israeli guy on the train and a cool chinese girl on the bus...but that's is. Where's all my cool travelers that I met in all the other countries I went to?

I guess I can backtrack a little too. Bangkok was nuts, I am so glad to be outta there. I thought if i injested any more exhaust i might stop breathing. Our last night there we did go to this amazing club at the top of this hotel downtown called vertigo. It was 360 degrees around the hotel and outside, bangkok looked so beautiful from there. Too bad it took us 3 hours in 2 taxis to get there because of the insane traffic. We ended up getting out and walking twice! And crossing streets there is no simple task...not like japan.

The next day before we got on our sleeper train we went to the market, which blew our minds. If you ever go to bangkok, go for the weekend market. You can get ANYTHING, and it was all great stuff! We spent hours there sweating and shopping. The food they have is crazy and there's even an animal section. We missed that part but we are definitely going back. Apparently they have alligators stacked in a pyramid!

The train was probebly the most intense experience so far on this trip. It was no Eurorail or Amtrack, pretty shaky. Our section was comfortable though, it was when we went on a hunt for the dining car that was crazy. It felt like india. People lying on newspaper all over the floor, flies everywhere. It was really sad, one of those things you just don't forget.

So we'll probebly be at the beach for a couple of weeks. One week here and the next on Ko Tao, a diving island. Unless the weather is no good, we're gonna get PADI certified to scuba dive!

Thats all for now!