TRAVEL TRAVEL TRAVEL!! That's all I seem to be doing with myself lately. Not that that's a bad thing, just doesn't bode well with blog updates. Here's the draft of an entry that I wrote before I left for Hong Kong, so I decided to share it even though it's not done.
I think I've given up trying to write about everything little thing that I do in this blog. It takes way too much time and I'm just doing too much cool stuff to write every day. The last month, though, has been as incredible as the first two. Danny came to visit, I went to an island called Ko Si Chang not too far from Bangkok, and I made another attempt at the full moon party (this time, successfully), and met Unger and Pogue there. We found some cool new places to go in Bangkok, one of which a girl from our school works at, so it's turned into a good, consistent spot for us. I've got a good couple weeks of traveling planned out, then back for exams. More travel in May, and then up to Isan for the next six weeks starting in June. Yeah, life's pretty good right now.
Danny coming here was awesome. It was the first familiar face that I'd seen in a while, and it's always good seeing my boys from home. Living all the way in Cali, I don't get to see everyone as much as I wish I did. Figures I'd see them across the world in Thailand. I showed Danny everything from the seediest to the nicest parts of Bangkok. The ping pong show, obviously, is the lowest. The Grand Palace and the nice clubs we went to are the highest. Bangkok is like that. There's entertainment for every mood, every occasion, and every price range.
The next weekend I went with my roommate Mat and this guy Joe to Sriracha and Ko Si Chang, a vacation spot for Thais that is close to Bangkok. It was cool being on an island with virtually no other farang. I'm used to going to an island and being surprised to see any Thais except the people who work the restaurants and bars. There wasn't all that much to do there, although I did have some of the best sea bass I've ever had. Less than $10 for a whole fish. During the day, we went ocean kayaking and two thai kids jumped on my kayak for a ride. Once we got around the point though, I think they got scared we were kidnapping them though so we went back.
Last weekend was the full moon party, and I met Unger and Pogue there. Once again, it was really good to see some of my boys from home. It had been almost a year since I'd seen Unger. The night before the party me and Abby had a pretty bad encounter with a taxi driver who couldn't find our place (we stayed at the same place as last time), and we ended up wandering through the jungle for a while at 3 or 4 in the morning. Finally we made it to a 7/11 and met a couple of Brazilian kids who took us back to the bungalows they were staying at. We ended up just crashing in one that was open and the owner only charged us 200 baht the next day. It was definitely an adventure and, although it was kind of fun in the end, it was a bad situation that I'd rather not be in again. Her latest blog has a more detailed description of the night if you want to check it out: http://semesterinthailand.blogspot.com .
The full moon party was a blast though. Unlike the scene I described last month, this time the beach was packed with thousands and thousands of people. It kind of reminded me of Halloween in santa barbara but in a more condensed area. Pogue and Unger got there in the afternoon, and we took a taxi up to a nicer beach and hung out there for a while.
That's as far as I've written in the last few weeks, so I'm posting it even though it's basically just description and maybe a little boring. The full moon party, in short, was awesome and everything that I expected out of a party like that. Some of the stuff in this entry already seems SO long ago, which sucks. It basically means that this leg of the adventure is starting to come to an end. I need to start preparing myself, both mentally and physically, for the next adventure: my stay in Isan this summer. More on that later as well.
I got back from Hong Kong last night (I was there for a week and had a blast) and I'm leaving this evening at 6:00PM for Chiang Mai for the Thai New Year, called Songkran, and then Laos later in the week for this thing called the Gibbon Experience. It's supposed to be amazing. Look forward to an extended post with pictures and everything later this month. I just need to find the time.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Man, it's been a while since I last posted. School has finally caught up to me a little bit, so I'm actually busy doing something other than having fun. I'm going to try to catch up a little bit, but I don't really have enough time to do all of it tonight.
Alright, so where I left off last time. I took the ferry from Ko Phangan to Ko Samui, a 45 minute ferry that is ridiculously overpriced, at least by Thai prices (I always have to justify that it's only expensive by Thai prices. The ferry cost me 200 baht, about $6, instead of a dollar like it would in less touristy areas). When I got off, I had no clue where I was going to go or where I was going to stay. Luckily I had a guidebook with me, so I decided to go to the beach closest to the airport since I had to be there at 5AM and just look around for a cheap bungalow. A motorcycle taxi took me to Big Buddha Beach and I started walking down the beach looking for a cheap place. I sat down with a couple Thai women who were trying to learn english for about 20 minutes, but their english was way worse than my thai (which is saying a lot) and the conversation quickly began to fade away.
I finally got up and told them I needed to find a place to stay, and continued walking down the beach. Everything seemed really expensive. It's a quieter beach, so most of the people staying there were older and could afford to spend 30 or 40 bucks a night for a hot shower, air conditioning, and a pool to read by. All I needed was a bed and some sort of shelter that locked. I finally walked up to the street and asked a motorcycle taxi driver if he knew of anything around 300 baht per night. After a couple places, he took me to the same place where the two Thai women were staying and, low and behold, they had a room for 300 baht per night.
So like I said in my last post, I thought that the night was going to be an early to bed night. I had been going out pretty hard the last few nights in Phangan and Danny was coming the next day, so I was kind of looking forward to it having to get up so early. I went and got some dinner, chilled in an internet cafe for an hour or so, and then headed back to the bungalow. Then, I had to break a 1000 baht bill to pay the motorcycle taxi to take me to the airport in the morning, so I walked down to a bar. It was probably 8:30 or 9:00 at this point.
On my way back to my bungalow, I passed a guy about 3 rooms down from mine sitting by himself on his porch. I had seen him a couple times already walking around, and I think we had acknowledged each other at least once. He was older, but he didn't really look old. He had long hair, and looked like the kind of guy that had spent his entire life traveling. I figured, what the hell, it's still early and I have nothing to do, so I decided to go up and introduce myself. Turned out I couldn't have been more right.
We quickly got into a conversation that seemed to go in every direction at once, but always seemed to come back around. He had spent most of his early life in England, so we talked about the differences between British and American culture, politics, economics, etc. I learned that he is 46 and has been living on either Samui or Phangan off and on for the last 20 years or so. He used to work for a big global marketing company and was making tons of money, but when he got demoted by a new boss, he decided that was it, quit, and has never looked back. He had a serious accident a couple years ago that, if it wasn't for a great Thai masseuse, would have put him in surgery and his leg may never have been the same again. We talked for maybe 45 minutes and then 2 other Brits joined us on the porch: a 41 year old guy all tattooed up who plays music for a living and a 29 year old woman who I think is just taking time off between school and work. None of them had met each other until they met at these bungalows a few days before.
It's the epitome of traveling. Being in a situation like this is what traveling by yourself is all about. They said that they were going to go get some whiskey and asked if I wanted to join in on it. At first I declined, but they said they just wanted to have a chill night so I obliged. The band member told jokes, Jon (the first guy) told some of his crazy traveling stories, and a couple pints later it was pushing 3 in the morning. We all said our goodbyes and retired to our rooms. I exchanged numbers with Jon and said I would call him if I ever come back down to Phangan. Turns out I'm going back to the Phangan for the full moon this month too to meet Unger, Pogue, and Kramer.
I don't know if writing this really captured the night. It would obviously take a lot more than a few paragraphs to describe the whole night. But there's nothing quite like sitting out on the porch of a bungalow on the beach under the Thai moon with people I never knew and may never know again. Everyone is eager to tell their stories, not because of some loneliness or desperateness, but because they want to share their adventures with whoever will listen. It's hard to find people who will listen to endless stories back home where there's little cultural connection, but when everyone has that common goal of finding the next adventure and experience in the same place, the conversations open up. Some stories were personal, some were scary, others were fun, and still others seemed boring if you looked at them individually. But when you see them as a continuous life, as one long adventure, they are all stimulating and exciting. Our stories and experiences are what mold us into who we are, and I bet they know me as well as a lot of people who have known me for years. I feel like I know them pretty well, that's for sure.
Alright, so where I left off last time. I took the ferry from Ko Phangan to Ko Samui, a 45 minute ferry that is ridiculously overpriced, at least by Thai prices (I always have to justify that it's only expensive by Thai prices. The ferry cost me 200 baht, about $6, instead of a dollar like it would in less touristy areas). When I got off, I had no clue where I was going to go or where I was going to stay. Luckily I had a guidebook with me, so I decided to go to the beach closest to the airport since I had to be there at 5AM and just look around for a cheap bungalow. A motorcycle taxi took me to Big Buddha Beach and I started walking down the beach looking for a cheap place. I sat down with a couple Thai women who were trying to learn english for about 20 minutes, but their english was way worse than my thai (which is saying a lot) and the conversation quickly began to fade away.
I finally got up and told them I needed to find a place to stay, and continued walking down the beach. Everything seemed really expensive. It's a quieter beach, so most of the people staying there were older and could afford to spend 30 or 40 bucks a night for a hot shower, air conditioning, and a pool to read by. All I needed was a bed and some sort of shelter that locked. I finally walked up to the street and asked a motorcycle taxi driver if he knew of anything around 300 baht per night. After a couple places, he took me to the same place where the two Thai women were staying and, low and behold, they had a room for 300 baht per night.
So like I said in my last post, I thought that the night was going to be an early to bed night. I had been going out pretty hard the last few nights in Phangan and Danny was coming the next day, so I was kind of looking forward to it having to get up so early. I went and got some dinner, chilled in an internet cafe for an hour or so, and then headed back to the bungalow. Then, I had to break a 1000 baht bill to pay the motorcycle taxi to take me to the airport in the morning, so I walked down to a bar. It was probably 8:30 or 9:00 at this point.
On my way back to my bungalow, I passed a guy about 3 rooms down from mine sitting by himself on his porch. I had seen him a couple times already walking around, and I think we had acknowledged each other at least once. He was older, but he didn't really look old. He had long hair, and looked like the kind of guy that had spent his entire life traveling. I figured, what the hell, it's still early and I have nothing to do, so I decided to go up and introduce myself. Turned out I couldn't have been more right.
We quickly got into a conversation that seemed to go in every direction at once, but always seemed to come back around. He had spent most of his early life in England, so we talked about the differences between British and American culture, politics, economics, etc. I learned that he is 46 and has been living on either Samui or Phangan off and on for the last 20 years or so. He used to work for a big global marketing company and was making tons of money, but when he got demoted by a new boss, he decided that was it, quit, and has never looked back. He had a serious accident a couple years ago that, if it wasn't for a great Thai masseuse, would have put him in surgery and his leg may never have been the same again. We talked for maybe 45 minutes and then 2 other Brits joined us on the porch: a 41 year old guy all tattooed up who plays music for a living and a 29 year old woman who I think is just taking time off between school and work. None of them had met each other until they met at these bungalows a few days before.
It's the epitome of traveling. Being in a situation like this is what traveling by yourself is all about. They said that they were going to go get some whiskey and asked if I wanted to join in on it. At first I declined, but they said they just wanted to have a chill night so I obliged. The band member told jokes, Jon (the first guy) told some of his crazy traveling stories, and a couple pints later it was pushing 3 in the morning. We all said our goodbyes and retired to our rooms. I exchanged numbers with Jon and said I would call him if I ever come back down to Phangan. Turns out I'm going back to the Phangan for the full moon this month too to meet Unger, Pogue, and Kramer.
I don't know if writing this really captured the night. It would obviously take a lot more than a few paragraphs to describe the whole night. But there's nothing quite like sitting out on the porch of a bungalow on the beach under the Thai moon with people I never knew and may never know again. Everyone is eager to tell their stories, not because of some loneliness or desperateness, but because they want to share their adventures with whoever will listen. It's hard to find people who will listen to endless stories back home where there's little cultural connection, but when everyone has that common goal of finding the next adventure and experience in the same place, the conversations open up. Some stories were personal, some were scary, others were fun, and still others seemed boring if you looked at them individually. But when you see them as a continuous life, as one long adventure, they are all stimulating and exciting. Our stories and experiences are what mold us into who we are, and I bet they know me as well as a lot of people who have known me for years. I feel like I know them pretty well, that's for sure.
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