After returning from the ski trip I had finally completed my SE Asia adventure. Honestly I feel a little strange coming back. Life is good in SE Asia. You can live very comfortably on very little. People are generally very nice and willing to help you out. During my first week back in the USA all I could really think about was going back. I’m not saying that life in the USA is bad, but I think that SE Asia - and in particular Thailand - has a sort of energy that the USA will never have. The weather is perfect, the scenery is beautiful, the food is outstanding, the people are friendly, and it is all very cheap. Additionally the cities are always alive with people, food, and cars. Asian cities make US cities look incredibly sterile and boring (even San Francisco).
However, SE Asia is in no way the western world. Many of the things we take for granted don’t exist over there. Flush toilets are rare. Warm showers are as common as seeing a Ferarri. There are no refrigerators or microwaves and the cleanliness of the food isn’t always first class.
For those who are going to go to Thailand I have this to say. Don’t always think about things in your own currency. If an item costs $5, it can still be a rip-off. Likely you will always be quoted a price that is much more than the going rate. Always bargain. Next don’t stay at the Bungalow operations that charge 2000+ baht ($50 USD) per night. By doing this you’re just reinforcing the idea that westerners have lots of money and encouraging high prices in touristy areas. The average Thai person only makes about 8000 baht per month. Try to live at the same level as the natives. You’ll get a much more enriched and rewarding experience. The same thing goes with restaurants, eat at some hole-in-the-wall places and avoid the guesthouse restaurants that are full of toned down Thai food and bad western food.
Of the countries I visited I enjoyed Thailand the most (by far), followed by Malaysia, and then lastly Singapore. Malaysia is still very nice and has some wonderful qualities (such as its not very touristy). Thailand just has everything that Malaysia has plus an intoxicating nightlife.
With that I’ll wrap up this blog. I hope all my readers have enjoyed it as much as I have. I invite anyone to come over and see everything I brought back. Additionally I’ll treat you to some stories that I couldn’t fit into the blog.
Happy Travels,
Todd
My flight from Bangkok to Seoul took about 6 hours. On the flight I managed to get about 2 hours of sleep (I'm being very optimistic). As the flight crew prepared to land in Seoul the captain got on the speaker and gave the current weather in Seoul. Cloudy and cold, -4 degrees Celsius. Upon hearing this a cold chill went up my spine. See I was wearing only a t-shirt with some warm-up pants. My stay in Seoul would be a rather chilly one. With no coat or long sleeve t-shirt I discretely put the Korean Air blanket into my backpack. At least I could wrap myself in the blanket while in Seoul.
After landing in Icheon I got on a bus and headed to Seoul. One hour later I arrived at
Ewha Women's University
Street in Seoul
With my mocha downed I headed to a phone booth to call Mark's brother. He picked up and agreed to come meet me near Ewha. However I was supost to call him at 1 pm. With some time to kill I walked around Ewha and the surrounding area for a few hours. When it was 1:00pm I found a phone and looked in my pocket for the dude's phone number. Not there. Second look, not there. Ok, I'm now a bit worried. I look again...nothing. I lost the guy's phone number and he is heading to Seoul, expecting me to call him so that we can meet. Basically I messed up again. To make a long story short I tried to find some guy desperately looking around for the only white guy in Seoul. No luck though. Around 2:30 pm with no one in sight I had some lunch and went back to the airport. I was relieved to be out of the cold.
Back at the airport I relaxed a bit, watched a movie (they have HDTV plasma flat screens everywhere), and then boarded my flight for San Francisco. My flight to San Francisco took about 12 hours and I maybe got 3 hours of sleep. In San Francisco I waited about 2 hours and then boarded my flight to Seattle. Two hours later I was in Seattle.
Back in Seattle I then drove 11 hours to Canada for some skiing. In one day I would go through four countries, leaving the tropics behind for cold snowy mountains. I left Seattle at 6 pm and arrived at the ski resort (Panorama) at 6 am. Talk about a long travel day.
For my final day in Bangkok I walked around "New Bangkok". The newer part of Bangkok is full of skyscrapers, embassies, and shopping malls. After walking among the skyscrapers I came to an oasis, Lumphini Park. Lumphini Park used to be the private property of King Rama VI but was later given to the people. There you can relax, rent a rowboat, or read a book at the first library in Thailand. I just relaxed and read a book for a bit.
New Bangkok
Clock Tower, Lumphini Park
School Kids, Lumphini Park
Around 3pm I left the park and ventured north to the Erawan Shrine. The Erawan Shrine is located right next to a very busy street. In fact the shrine seems way out of place. It is at the foot of a few skyscrapers and almost seems like a made-up tourist attraction. In fact it is quite the opposite. I would say that nearly 70% of the people there were Thais. At the shrine you could find lots of incense, dancing Thai girls, live music, and flowers. It was pretty cool despite its rather strange location.
Erawan Shrine Dancers, #1
Erawan Shrine Dancers, #2
From the shrine I headed north and walked through the shopping districts of Pratunam and Ploenchit. Imagine huge shopping malls, countless street vendors, and tons of people everywhere. It was a challenge to just walk on the sidewalk.
With time winding down I headed back to my guesthouse, repacked my bag, said good-bye to my new friends, and went to the airport once again. Only this time I really would get on the plane. I was sad to leave Thailand, but at the same time I was looking forward to Korea and then my ski trip in Canada.
My sixth day in Bangkok began like many of my days in Thailand. First I woke up and got some breakfast. Next I walked around and did some shopping and sight seeing. I really didn't see too much on this day as my goal was to complete all my purchases before my flight home. After lots of window shopping, a few bought gifts, and a lot of general walking around I decided to check my email. At this point its about 4 pm and I'm starting to think about catching my bus to get to the airport.
While checking my email I instant message my friend Mark Chang (the dude who helped me set up this blog). Our conversation went something like this...
Todd: Whats up?
Mark: Not too much, when you coming home?
Todd: I'm leaving tonight for Seoul, then San Francisco, finally Seattle.
Mark: Cool. You want me to hook you up with my brother in law while you're in Seoul?
Todd: Yea, no prob.
Mark: So when are you supost to arrive in Seoul?
Todd: January 14th, 8:30 am.
Mark: Uh, its 8 pm January 14th in Seoul right now
...
Todd gets up and kindly asks the person at the counter what day it is (the 14th)
...
Todd: Oh ****
Todd: I missed my flight
Todd: Oh man, this is bad
Well you get the picture. I missed my flight. Being away from a computer for several days allowed me to lose track of the days. With no confirmed flight home I still decided to go to the airport that night and see if I could fly standby.
Arriving at the airport that night I got a bit of good and a bit of bad news. The good is that I don't have to buy a new ticket. The bad news is that there was no connecting flight from Seoul to San Francisco. There would be a connecting flight the next day but I would have to either wait one more day or pay a $75 USD connecting fee. I decided to wait one more day and enjoy Thailand a bit more.
My fifth day in Bangkok proved to be just as enjoyable as the fourth. Yo agreed to be our tour guide again, this time taking us to her university and the surrounding area.
We started out around noon and took the bus to her university. Yo's university specializes in food and because of this the vast majority of the students are female. Besides getting a first class tour of the university we also got to sample some of the delicious baked goods from the bakery. Yo told us that they have the best bakery in all of Bangkok. At the bakery we had some sweet-roll like rolls with nuts and mango syrup on top.
After some food we headed east and visited the grounds of the Vimanmek Mansion. The grounds were beautifully landscaped and everywhere you could see Thai's in their graduation gowns. Apparently, many of the universities were having their graduation ceremonies that day.
Grounds of the Vimanmek Mansion
After the Vimanmek Mansion we headed over to the zoo. The zoo was fairly impressive, full of bears, tigers, lions, and many other animals native to SE Asia.
From the zoo we walked over to the national assembly hall. Upon reaching it we noticed that the street had been closed to traffic and there were police officers everywhere. As it turned out the King's son was going to be coming down the road at any moment. A few minutes later came a fleet of cars and trucks bearing the future king of Thailand. There must have been 20 different cars in the escort group.
National Assembly, #1
National Assembly, #2
National Assembly, #3
After the King's son passed life returned to normal. The street quickly became crowded with vehicles. The sidewalks returned to life. Street vendors continued selling their food. All was good.
After walking by the National Assembly we headed south to the Giant Swing and then to City Hall. The Giant Swing is about 500m high. Today there is no swing there, only the two giant poles that used to hold the swing. Back in the day the swing used to be used as part of ceremony. Participants would swing in ever-higher arcs in an effort to reach a bag of gold suspended from a 15m pole.
At the City Hall we witnessed the daily 6pm playing of the national anthem. Everything stops in the square next to the city hall at 6pm. There is even a huge digital clock showing the time. After the national anthem there was some step aerobics put on in the middle of the square. It was rather entertaining and I even participated in it for a while.
After some step aerobics we got a bite to eat and then headed back to Khao San. After a bit of rest all of us went out to the Sushi Pub for some drinks and dancing.
With day 3 also spent at the Weekend Market, it was time to venture out into Bangkok and see the ancient Buddest temples. The previous night I had met a few Thai's who were students living at my guesthouse. They were quite friendly and spoke very good English. After some convincing, one of them agreed to show a few of us around the city. Her name was Yo and she was studying Tourism at the university nearby. FYI, tourism is basically a degree in English and Japanese.
With Yo as our guide we ventured out into Bangkok and visited a few of the famous temples in Bangkok. On our list of things we visited were:
Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn)
Wat Pho (Reclining Budda)
Wat Arun was the most spectacular of the two temples we went to. It is about 100m tall and is decorated with bits of porcelain which had previously been used as ballast by boats coming to Bangkok from China. It is very ancient and very impressive.
Wat Arun, #1 (place of worship)
Wat Arun, #2
Wat Arun, #3
Wat Arun, #4
Wat Arun, #5
Wat Arun, #6
Yo and Janet
After Wat Arun we went to see Wat Pho. Wat Pho is better known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. The main attraction there is a gold plated reclining Buddha, 46 meters long and 15 meters high. The reclining Buddha is suppost to illustrate the passing of the Buddha into nirvana.
Reclining Buddha
At the feet of the Reclining Buddha
Wat Pho
After seeing the reclining Buddha we hung out on the grounds of the temple. There Yo taught us some Thai, of which I remember very little of. Thai is such a different language than English that most of it goes in one ear and out the other.
With the sun starting to set we headed back to Khao San and got some food. Afterwards all of us went back the guesthouse, had a few beers, and then later called it a night.
Yo, Janet, and Um (1)
Yo, Janet, and Um (2)
Janet, Um, and Me
On my second day in Bangkok I ventured out to the famous Weekend Market. To get there I took the bus. Unfortunately I got off at the wrong stop and had to walk about 2 km to finaly reach Chatuchak Park. Once I finally got there I was blown away by thousands of busy Bangkok shoppers hussling about, buying everything in sight.
The market itself is quite a sight. It is considered to be one of the biggest markets in all of Asia. They say that there are around 15,000 different shops there and you can buy just about anything. The vast majority of shops specialize in clothing and arts and crafts. However, you can also buy pets, car parts, home products, electronics, and countless other things there. The pictures really don't give you the complete picture of this market.
Weekend Market, #1
Weekend Market, #2 (Steet Musician)
Weekend Market, #3
Weekend Market, #4 (Food Stall)
For me the market was a full day experience. Bangkok would be me last city in Thailand so it was time to load up on gifts (for others and myself). Searching for good stuff takes a lot of time (well I think so), so I ended up going back the next day too! I invite anyone out there to come over to my apartment and see the cool stuff I got when I get back. Besides all the sights at the market the next best thing about it was how cheap you can get things. Take note however, one must bargin with vendors to get a really good deal. This can sometimes be a challenge when they don't speak English. Fortunately for me I knew the basic numbers in Thai.
Around 6 pm the market closed and things started to get noticably quiet. At this point I got an unexpected adventure home. I took a different bus than the one I took to the market (It was suppost to go back to Khao San road). After a long bus ride I started to notice airplanes overhead. This is rather uncommon in Asia unless you are near the airport. Well that seemed a bit odd to me and I then quickly realized that I was way north of the city, next to the airport. Not to sure what to do at this point I got off the bus, crossed the street, and waited for a bus going the other way. Long story short, I later got on the correct bus and arrived back in Khao San 2.5 hours after I left the market.
Upon reaching shore in Khao Lak (4:20 ish), I rushed to the bus stop to catch my night bus to Bangkok (leaves 4:30-5:00pm). Fortunately I made it in time and I had an unexpected bit of good luck. One of the girls on the live-aboard dive cruise was also on the night bus. Even better her seat was next to mine.
Her name was Pabst (think Blue Ribbon) and she is from Frankfrut. I really never talked to her on the boat, but being neighbors on the bus for 11 hours, we chatted for hours. The bus ride itself was fairly plesent other than the fact that it was about 40 degrees inside the bus. It seems that Thai people are crazzy about air conditioning. I mean, it was really, really cold inside. They gave you a blanket, but it would of been a lot better if they just turned off the darn AC.
Upon reaching Bangkok at 4am, Pabst became my guide to the city. She had been here before several times, so she new exactly where to go and how much it should cost. We caught a taxi to Kosan, the backpackers district of Bangkok. Once we got to Kosan we had breakfast at her favorite restraunt which would also become my guesthouse for the next few nights. After a lengthly breakfast (5am - 9am) - there really isn't much to do at these hours - we then went to her favorite Thai massage parlor.
Thai massage is really nice. They push and pull your arms, legs, hands, feet, and neck till you're completely relaxed. It really is a great feeling after your massage. They even give you tea afterwards. All at about $4/hr.
After the massage Pabst headed out to the airport to go home and I went back to the guesthouse to get a bit of rest. Once rested I ventured out into the heart of the city. I really had no goal in mind, only to traverse the streets till I found something interesting.
My "something interesting" later became Siam Square. Siam Square is a huge modern day shopping mall/park. It reminded me of Singapore in a way as it was very clean, modern, and orderly. There I window shopped a bit and then saw the film "The Return of the King". The movie was quite good, a bit different than the book, but very good indeed. Watching the movie made me forget that I was in Thailand for a few short hours.
After the movie I caught a bus back to my guesthouse in Kosan. Ariving after dark I found Kosan street completely alive with people, food, and music. Kosan is normally pretty active in the day, but at night it really comes alive. Thai's and Foreigners alike flock here as there are a ton of bars and clubs along Kosan Road.
A bit about Kosan.....
Kosan is really Kosan Road. A road blocked off to traffic, full of food, bars, street vendors, and other random things. Nearly all the signs are in english here, with very little Thai script present. Lots and lots of tourists stay here. The accomidation is cheapest in Bangkok and 1 of 4 shops are either a tourist booking agent or a internet cafe.
After some dinner and a nap I walked around the district for a bit, drank a few beers, and then went to the club next to the guesthouse. I was expecting to find tons of foreigners there, but I was nearly the only one. While at the club I found that Thai's (well at least the ones in Bangkok) are obsessed with Lincon Park. Yup, they played a ton of it at the club and later on you'll hear it everywhere. After a bit of dancing, I made my way back to bed.
On the night of the 4th I departed Khao Lak for my four day/ four night "dive safari" in the Similian Islands. The boat was a bit larger than the last one I went on (Ko Phi-Phi), and thus there were a few more people. In all there were probably 28 people on board (24 divers, 4 crew) and the boat seemed a bit more crowded than in the previous trip.
The group of divers was quite interesting. You could pretty much split the divers into two groups. The english speaking ones, and the german speaking ones. The two groups never really talked to each other even though the germans speak perfect english. I thought it to be rather funny.
My dive group consisted of four people. The dive master, an italian couple, and myself. I was by far the least experienced diver and at times I really struggled to keep up with the rest of the group. We were led by a Canadian lady who could definitely kick my butt. She was definitely hard core, and not super friendly. Oh well...
While on board I did the rescue diver course. In between the dives I did a bunch of academics and activities related to first aid and rescuing divers. The climax of the training was a rescue secenario where I had to put on my gear as fast as possible, search underwater for an unconscious diver, and then tow them back to the boat. It was really exhausting to say the least. My unconscious diver drifted about 60 meters from the boat making the search really long and the tow very tiring (all while everyone on the boat is watching me in action). In the end the course was a success and I am a certified rescue diver.
Now for some highlights of the 14 dives I did.
Manta Rays (they are absolutely huge, probably 6 meters across)
Devil Rays
Sting Rays
Lepard Sharks
The visibility underwater was pretty good during the trip. Probably around 20 meters consistantly. Add to that beautiful weather, making the dive trip fantastic. I saw countless numbers of fish and some really beautiful coral (all colors: red, blue, purple, green, etc.).
I was a bit sad to get off the boat. Life on the boat is really nice and relaxing. The only downfall is that my ears always hurt when I do a lot of diving. Diving thickens your eardrums, making it hard to hear really well. Even today (the 11th), my hearing is still messed up from all the diving.
Similian #9
Similian #7, 1
Similian #7, 2
The Dive Boat
Me
Sunset, #1
Sunset, #2
Sunset, #3
Sunset, #4
Donald Duck Point, #1
Donald Duck Point, #2
Donald Duck Point, #3
My Dive Master (Kathy)
My Dive Group
I'm currently in the small village of Khao Lak. Khao Lak is the point of departure for trips to the Similian and Surin Islands. There really isn't very much to do here other than sit on the beach and hear tons of German being spoken. The perdominant tourists on Khao Lak are middle aged German couples. Therfore Khao Lak is a bunch of high priced resorts geared for people on one to two week vacations. For this reason Khao Lak is very expensive for Thailand and not very cultural or exciting. I was really lucky in that I got the last cheap(er) bungalow in Khao Lak when I arrived. Normal accomidation goes for 500+ baat. I got my bungalow (which is on the beach) for 250 baat ($6.25 USD).
Ferry to Ao Nang, #1
Ferry to Ao Nang, #2
My Bungalow in Khao Lak
Happy Lagon Bungalow
Little kids on the rocks
Khao Lak Beach (looking north)
My purpose for comming here is simple, to dive. Tonight I'll be boarding a live aboard boat and heading to the Similian and Surin islands for four nights/ four days. These islands are suppost to be unreal for diving and snorkeling. Hopefully they don't disapoint.
While on board I'll be doing a rescue diver course. With my new found knowledge I'll be able to rescue people out of the water who are in distress. The course is mainly a bunch of reading/theory and some CPR training. You don't do very many special dives. This is nice as it will give me something to do while on the boat and it won't interfear with the fun dives.
Once I get back from the dive trip on the 8th I'll be heading to Bangkok on a night bus. Upon getting into Bangkok in the morning I'll only have about 5 days left in Thailand. Its strange to think that I've been in SE Asia nearly two months.
Taxi ride leaving Happy Bungalow