5/30 - Jungle Trails to City Streets

It's 7pm on Monday and we're sitting in an internet cafe we found in a back alley in Phuket. It's our cheapest access yet - about 50 cents per hour. On Phi Phi it cost about $4.50 per hour.

On Saturday we hiked for about three hours on a jungle trail in Khao Sok National Park. It started as a jeep road and became a single-track trail. The steamy hike was punctuated by some incredible yet sparse wildlife. We briefly saw monitor lizards on three separate occasions before these three foot monsters scurried off into the jungle as we approached on the trail. At one point a monkey howled at us from above - apparently we were encroaching on his/her territory. We think it was a long-tailed macaca; probably the same kind of monkey we awoke to on both mornings of our stay in Khao Sok. Near the end of our hike we were able to observe a white-crowned hornbill at close range. There are 13 species of hornbill in Thailand, and this is one of the more rare types. See the following link to check out this huge bird: http://www.orientalbirdimages.org/images/data/wchornoby.jpg

We went back to the same area with a guide and our two Israeli friends that night to try to spot some additional wildlife. Unfortunately we struck out so we feel fortunate to have seen some amazing stuff on our own. One thing we didn't actually see but were aware might exist were leeches. Ken must have picked up a couple of them as he found evidence of two bites and a surprising amount of blood on his ankle following the night hike.

A number of factors helped us decide to leave Khao Sok a day earlier than planned. On Sunday morning we headed back south to Phuket by our only available means of transportation: public bus. When we got on the bus, we were two of six on the full-size sixties-era bus. The first half of the trip was rather enjoyable with a beautiful rural landscape and few stops. As our journey played out, we stopped frequently and the bus filled to capacity. Needless to say, after four and a half hours we were excited to get off our $2 bus ride at the bus station in Phuket Town.

Geography buffs might like to check out this map which shows several of the places we've traveled including Ao Nang, Phuket, and Phi Phi:
http://www.phuket-guide.net/images/around-phuket.gif

We came to Phuket because we will be flying back to Bangkok from here on Tuesday. This is the first leg of our journey home. On Wednesday we fly from Bangkok to Taipei and on Thursday, after a day in Taipei, we fly to Los Angeles. Phuket has offered us a very different view of Thailand. Phuket province has a resort area, which is probably similar to Ao Nang. However, we're staying in the older city center, on the east side of the island, so we're getting a good urban (less-touristy) experience. What makes Phuket unique is that about 100 years ago the governor of the province created an urban plan. As a result, shopping, government, and housing are not piled on top of each other and an architectural influence (Sino-Portuguese) had a chance to take hold. Apparently our guesthouse, which has distinctive pillars and arches, is a good example of this style. We were lucky enough to find the third floor room that our guidebook recommended, with a huge balcony overlooking the narrow street, available.

When we got here yesterday we were thrilled to enjoy one thing that we haven't seen for weeks: an air-conditioned, surround-sound movie. We paid just $2 apiece to see the new Star Wars movie. However, we were reminded that we're still in Thailand when the theatre ran a video montage in tribute to the King of Thailand after the movie trailers. Good thing Steve noticed early on that all of the other movie-goers (all behind us) were standing and singing along in praise to the King. We quickly followed suit - minus the singing.

While we've found Phuket interesting, the consensus is that we're ready to go home. We'll update you from either Bangkok or Taipei.

Other random items:

"The Man with the Golden Gun" (007), with it's unique limestone landscape, was filmed not far from Phuket.

The scooter situation (especially in Phuket) is out of control. We doubt anyone at home would believe a family of four (including an infant and toddler) could fit on one - oh, but they do. Between left side driving and the lack of pedestrian right-of-way, we're having to use the buddy system to scramble across the road and avoid the insane traffic.

We are told the South of Thailand has two seasons, "hot" in winter and spring, and "hot and wet" in summer and fall. So we are here as the wet season is beginning, although we have been lucky with very little rain.

We have seen a lot of the following in the last 24 hours: concrete, signage, school kids in uniform, mangy dogs, healthy rats, and relentlessly soliciting tuk-tuk and taxi drivers.

DON'T PANIC - More Pictures Below! 

5/28 - The Wheels On the Bus Go...

It's almost 6pm on a sticky Saturday evening in Khao Sok, Thailand. Hmmm, where to begin? We had a long day yesterday, so how about a running start into it.

After we realized we wouldn't be able to help out with Phi Phi refugees, we knew we had to move on and try to enjoy some activities in the area. With so much time left, we sort of wanted to keep ourselves busy--we aren't ones to just hangout at the beach and bar to fill our days. On Wednesday, we took a traditional long tail boat over to Railay, a beautiful and quiet little resort/recreation area that is just 20 minutes from Ao Nang and accessible by boat only. Railay is primarily known for its rock climbing. We walked around to see the beaches and then rented a sea kayak for an hour to check out the secluded area by sea.

"The sea was angry that day, my friends. Like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli." - George Costanza

That's one of the many Seinfeld quotes we've found fitting at various times during our trip to keep ourselves entertained.

On Thursday, we decided to take the J Mansion speedboat tour (the same one that got us out to Phi Phi in the first place) to fill the day and explore a number of the islands that dot the horizon from a beach view. The trip included 24 people, including three foreigner male/Thai "girlfriend" couples. These couples are very common in the tourist parts of Thailand. The tour was great, with many stops, great snorkeling, and lunch on an uninhabited beach (the setting for the film "The Beach" staring Leonardo DiCaprio). We spent the evening having dinner at our favorite Ao Nang hangout - Lavinia's. They also have the best breakfast with awesome cinnamon rolls (we are tired of the fried eggs and toast).

Ok, this is where we have to come clean and tell all our anti-multinational megacorporation friends that every night that we were in Ao Nang, we enjoyed a McDonald's chocolate sundae--with its always molten, perfectly processed chocolate fudge on top of cool dairy-like ice cream mounds. They have the chemistry down pat. Sometimes you just need some comfort food.


Leaving Ao Nang 

Yesterday was an adventure! We wanted to head out of Ao Nang and experience a new setting before heading back to Bangkok for our return home this week. We chose Khao Sok National Park, because we heard that it has good jungle hiking and lots of creatures to observe. So we stopped at one of the omnipresent ticketing agents on our block and booked a minibus ride. We were told that we should be ready to leave at 10am and that we would arrive in Khao Sok before 2pm. From Ao Nang we spent half an hour on a minibus to get to Krabi. After a thirty minute wait and some confusion in Krabi, we were the last to be boarded onto an already full minibus. The driver had to clear his front seat of baggage so that we could share the seat. Two hours later, Ken had bad leg cramps and Steve had a much lower sperm count from sitting on the transmission. We expected a short stop in Suratthani, a crossroads for many travelers on buses, but wound up waiting three hours for a 5 min transfer to yet another ticket agent. Once there, we waited another half hour before boarding our final vehicle. The final leg took another 2.5 hrs. Luckily we met two lively Israeli guys on the bus and passed a good chunk of time discussing the Middle East conflict. All told, after four drivers and 10.5 hours, we got to Khao Sok in the dark. By the way, Khao Sok is less than 100 miles north of Ao Nang as the crow flies.

Last night we checked into the "Jungle Huts" and got a bungalow on stilts for 150 baht - that's about $3.75! The accommodations are very simple - a bed with a mosquito net (think Expedia commercial) and a fan. This morning we awoke to some banging and shaking of the "treehouse." We thought it might be a wake-up call, but remembered that we hadn't booked a trek for the morning. We looked out the window to find a small pack of large monkeys "monkeying around" on our front porch - including one in the hammock. These guys weren't 10 feet away from us. But, they just stared at us and headed off into the rambutan trees.

We'll have to tell you about the interesting things we saw on our three hour hike today. But that's for another time.

5/25 - A Couple Responses

Here are a couple more lengthy responses to comments (questions) linked to our most recent post.

Ann: I'm glad you liked the Viewpoint picture--that is a special place. Fortunately, we have more from there that are just as good. As for the vegetation, Viewpoint was planted with many bougainvillea and lantana, so yes, some things are very familiar. There are new things, as well, and we have specifically learned about many kinds of trees (including tamarind, rubber, palm oil, and banyan trees).

Sue: Actually, time doesn't always fly--it depends on the day. Certainly when we are on the go it slips away. But when we are begrudgingly searching out another meal or killing some time while planning another move, it feels like it. As for language, we have been able to use English almost exclusively. We do regularly use a few Thai phrases, such as "thank you", etc. Occasionally we are at an impasse in communication with a local, but that has been rare as almost every where we have been is a tourist area. The locals we talk with often have limited English but have learned enough from tourists over the years to have a choppy yet lengthy conversation. We have had more in-depth conversations with locals the past few days, particularly with boat or taxi drivers. When they find out where we are from, they always ask whether we like George Bush. It’s pretty funny. It's also quite interesting to hear about views of the US government from Thai Buddhist and Muslim commoners. Besides some politics, we have also been able to ask about religion. The idea of karma is pretty clear.

We'll have to share more in person...


Longtail Boat Driver 

5/24 - Timing Is Everything

It's 10:00pm on Tuesday and we're sitting in one of the 3 camera stores within one block of our hotel. We've included some pictures throughout our posts below - scroll down if you'd like to check them out.

Sunday morning was one of the best of our trip. We rented snorkeling gear and hiked back up to Viewpoint, the mountaintop lookout that we mentioned in our previous post. (FYI - Viewpoint is 610 feet above the Andaman Sea.) We met back up with our friend Artie, the store owner and sole resident of Viewpoint, got directions, and then headed down a trail on the backside of the mountain to snorkel. It took us less than 1/2 hour to hike down through the jungle to Phak Nam Bay. The hike included some distant monkey calls and some stretches of deafening buzz from cicadas. When we arrived, we discovered a beautiful beach with a few deserted bungalows. We snorkeled for nearly two hours and saw even more amazing sites than before - including schools of angelfish, an eel, and coral that was pulsing with brightly colored fish.

After snorkeling, we hiked back up to Viewpoint and spent some more time talking with Artie. As we talked, Artie cracked open a coconut and shared it with us. He also opened up about his experience with the tsunami. He told us about his friend William, from Holland, who "never woke up" on Dec 26th last year. William had arrived on the 25th and slept in late that day. Artie showed us a photo of William that William's parents had given him. It was a solemn moment.

That was not the last time we saw Artie. On Monday morning, before leaving the island, we decided to hike back up to Viewpoint to enjoy the view while reading and relaxing. On the way, we stopped at a new restaurant (for us) called The Garden. We were pleased to have some baked goods - a good cinnamon roll and an excellent carrot-raisin muffin. Eating has become a bit of a chore for us so this breakfast was a nice treat. When we arrived at Viewpoint we walked out to the rocky overlook under a large tamarind tree. In typical Thai generosity, Artie brought us mats to relax on and several books to read. He suggested we "relax and enjoy." He read our minds.

After Viewpoint, we packed up our stuff, checked out of the Andaman Resort, took some pictures with a few of our local friends, and walked down toward the pier to buy ferry tickets. With tickets to Ao Nang in-hand, we were told by the dock captain that the ferry to Ao Nang wasn't running today. So, we had to go back to our ticket broker and get our tickets changed over to Krabi. Our trip to Krabi on the ferry was quick and fairly painless although we have christened the boat "The Sweatlodge." We each lost about ten pounds during the 90 minute voyage. When we arrived at the pier in Krabi, we stopped at the taxi desk with several other people who also wanted to go to Ao Nang. We asked "How many people can fit in the taxi?" "Three" we were told. So, we hired two taxis to take the six of us. As the three of us boarded the first minivan, which could easily hold nine people, we knew we'd been had again. Since it was only $2.50US per person, we just smiled and enjoyed the ride.

The objective for our second visit to Ao Nang was to find the "refugee camp" that houses people from Phi Phi who's homes were destroyed during the tsunami and who have not been allowed to return by the government. We hoped that we'd be able to spend some time with the orphaned children - playing games and generally helping out in any way possible. We had to do some work to find the location because our hotel staff wasn't familiar with Nong Kok, the only name we had for the camp. We didn't know if Nong Kok was the name of the school, the street, or the village. We hired a private taxi and after about a half hour and several U-turns, we made it to the camp.

Upon arrival, we were introduced to Jan, the camp director, a native of Phi Phi. We also met Amy, a very sweet Aussie who was finishing up her brief volunteer efforts at the camp. We learned that things are well in-hand at the camp. A number of organizations including UNICEF have already provided appropriate assistance and the children are now in school all day. The families have housing (although cramped), a small crafts business, and lots of art supplies for the kids. The few children present were playing and having fun. There was really nothing for us to do. Amy sympathized with our efforts and made it clear that if we'd arrived a month earlier there would have been plenty for us to do. Timing is everything.

On the way back to the J Mansion, we redirected our taxi driver to a well known Buddhist temple that is perched on top of a mountain and climbed the 1,250+ stairs to the top. The view was well worth it!

Now we have a clean state for the next week. We're not sure where we're heading. Stay tuned.


Bye Phi Phi

5/21 - A Three Hour Tour

It's 8:30pm on Saturday. Yesterday we didn't do any volunteer work because HiPhiPhi encourages Friday off. We treated it as a vacation day and had a great time sea-kayaking and snorkeling again. We headed out the same way as the other day with the goal of circumnavigating the West "lobe" of the island - from Ton Sai Bay to Loh Dalam Bay. We stopped at Godzilla cove to do some snorkeling -- again, the sea life was simply amazing. When we finished up and started out towards the high seas, we realized that in the excitement of renting the vessel "Gemini", we left our water on the beach. Just as we resigned to shortening our trip, Ken spotted the J Mansion's speedboat anchored nearby. We paddled over and the gracious crew offered us 4 free bottles of precious aqua. Three cheers for the J Mansion crew! Now back on course, we passed our previous turnaround point and ventured into uncharted waters. The sheer limestone walls of the other side of the island soar hundreds of feet out of the water with no place to moor the sloop except Wang Long Bay (no kidding) - so once you commit, you're committed. On our voyage, Ken got a bit seasick and Steve managed to capsize the boat while climbing back on following a brief snorkeling mission near some spear fishermen. With cat-like reflexes, we managed to grab all of our stuff before it disappeared save a lone bottle of J Mansion brew. In about three hours, we pulled into Loh Dalam Bay, portaged the Gemini across the isthmus, and eased her back into port. Mission accomplished.

This morning, we hiked up to "Viewpoint" on the mountain behind where we're staying. It offers the best view of the island. The scenery was incredible. We met a man who runs the small store at Viewpoint. In this jungle clearing, he has planted an amazing garden. The whole atmosphere is very peaceful and relaxing. Since the tsunami, he has very few visitors - this is a must see for anyone visiting Phi Phi. We talked with him a bit about his tsunami experience. He recounted the successive waves that pummeled the beach. While he was physically unaffected, his family's house and business down on the beach were destroyed. We also asked him about tourists and development: He likes the former, but not the latter - a catch 22.

Post hike, we got lunch and headed over for an afternoon of volunteering. We resumed the project we worked on the first day - picking up small debris. After just a few minutes we were both questioning whether the task had real benefit to anyone. We are finding it difficult to clearly express our thoughts on the subject of the Phi Phi volunteer work via the blog. It's a topic best discussed in person. This coming week, we're hoping to spend time with some of the kids affected by the tsunami at a day-school on the mainland. We're planning to escape Phi Phi under cover of darkness via sea kayak. :-) We'll keep you posted.

More random stuff:

- Restaurants serve food as it is ready - one plate at a time. They never check back and you have to find the wait staff in order to pay your bill.

- Our hotel bathroom is a shower/toilet/sink combo with a drain in the corner - no tub or curtain. The shower and sink dispense saline water.

- The hotel key fits in a slot that turns on power to the room - good energy saver.

- Cost of various items: 1 liter bottle of water = 15cents, candy bar = 75cents, ice cold coke in a glass bottle = 50cents

- The 32% deet bug repellent has been doing the trick.

Viewpoint 

5/19 - Op Thailand meets Godzilla

It’s 9pm on Thursday, and we are in our usual spot across the path from Hippies Bar and Grill. While others are winding it up at this point, we tend to wind down and get up with the sun. Oh yeah, just a point of notice, the blog posts have been a joint project by us. Two more days have passed since the last post. We definitely have a routine going around here and are recognized by many as familiar faces. It has been nice to be greeted with a knowing smile, whether it’s from “Slim” our bungalow manager, “Chop” the grillman at Hippies, “Jack” the jack-of-all-trades at one of our restaurants stops, “Sean” the boatman, many of the regulars on our work team, and a number of the other travelers. Yesterday morning we set out to take a break from the work and enjoy what the island has to offer. We rented a two-person kayak and snorkel gear from “Sean” for 2.5 hours for just under $9 US. We had a blast. We set out toward the west end of Ton Sai Bay. We found a cove and decided to beach the kayak and get in the water. As we approached the backyard-sized beach (with nearly sheer walls straight up a few hundred feet), a 4+ foot lizard scurries up the wall to a higher perch. Wow! We went into the water and found schools of incredibly colorful fish, indescribable really – see link for one example: http://www.pbase.com/ravenoaks/image/37498060. Everything we did up to that point was pretty tame, so we decided to take the kayak around the bend onto the open sea. It was great! We will be heading out on the kayak again, so there will be more adventure stories coming soon. We spent yesterday afternoon finishing our work on Monkey Beach (have we mentioned that we actually saw some monkeys!?) with some tree and brush clearing and burning (fire! fire! fire!). Today we tackled a new project. A number of the “roads” around here are made of brick pavers, and one section by the water reservoir needed repair. We worked with a team of guys from Colorado who were really cool. The project was nice because our progress was very tangible. However, it was unclear why this road repair needed to be done, and we continue to question much of the work being done on the island (priority, importance, value, efficiency, strategic planning, project leadership). One thing is for sure, it is amazing to see HiPhiPhi draw people of all different nationalities and traveling intentions together to work collaboratively despite tough conditions. Here is a list of random items to close out today’s post: - We enjoy a custom, off-the-menu peanut butter, nutella, and banana sandwich at least once a day. - There are few children on the island. We have seen less than a dozen. - The majority of travelers here smoke. - There are lots of cats. - Internet access is the best island business going…

Cool Cats 

5/17 - Monkey Business

It's 1:30pm on Tuesday the 17th. We're headed back to our bungalow after a morning of work at Monkey Beach on Ko Phi Phi Island. We arrived on Sunday via speedboat from the J Mansion. When we booked the ferry ticket through the hotel front desk we expected to be on a 300 person ferry that would take a couple of hours to reach Phi Phi . When we showed up to leave for the ferry we learned that the J Mansion's speedboat had 2 extra seats for their 4 island tour so we were getting an express ride to Phi Phi . The trip was only 50min and the J Mansion made another 500B - good deal for all of us. You never know where your money is going to end up. The views on the boat ride over were amazing.

So, why are we here? As most of you know, Phi Phi Island is/was our main destination for this trip. About 1000 locals and tourists died here on Dec. 26th in the Tsunami so we're here to help with the rebuilding effort. Phi Phi's unique geography made it susceptible to terrible damage. To see a map of the island, check out http://andaman-island-hopping.com/maps/aih_phiphi.jpg As you approach Phi Phi by boat, the devastation isn't immediately apparent unless you'd been here before the tsunami and know that you couldn't previously see from one bay to the other. After we took a few steps on land we instantly became aware of the huge trash piles and random swaths of rubble - reminiscent of a tornado's aftermath.

The isthmus is very developed - again, everything you could ever want is for sale in every store which are lined up one after the other. Libby, they don't need any pens. : - ) The population is about 2/3 travelers and 1/3 natives. Most of the travelers are young backpackers. Most are not from the US - we've met many from the U.K., Canada, and from down under. Many of the travelers are not here to volunteer. They're here to scuba dive, sunbathe, and party. The unique thing about the HiPhiPhi volunteer organization (see link to the right) is that they are very visible here and many backpackers end up lending a hand for an afternoon or more while vacationing.

When we arrived, we immediately set about getting a hotel room. We're staying at the P.P. Andaman Resort. We have a nice air conditioned room just 100yds from the beach. After dropping our packs off, we walked down to the HiPhiPhi volunteer area and chose a project to work on. That afternoon we worked in the Pee Pee Pavilion area. The entire swath of land in that area (2 football fields in size) was completely wiped out. We kept busy picking up surface debris including broken tile, building materials and general trash. We couldn't dig down below the surface sand and dirt because the land seemed to be made up entirely of debris. The idea here was to clean the area well enough to discourage people from piling additional trash, prevent current trash from being swept into the only waterway/river on the island and back out to sea, and finally to prepare the area for grass seeding meant to prevent erosion. The work was painstaking, tedious, dirty, and hot. There were about 15 other volunteers working on the project with us. While the task looked insurmountable when we arrived, we were comforted after a few hours because it actually looked like we'd made a difference.

Yesterday and this morning we cleaned "Monkey Beach" which is on the West side of Lohdalum Bay. This project, while more strenuous, is much more rewarding than the first. Here we are picking up much larger debris - clothing, furniture, bottles, cans, - you name it we found it. Everything is strewn about here and half of it is in shallow water and filled with sand. When the sun isn't shaded by cloud cover, it is blazing hot - we feel like we're going to ignite despite sweat pouring off of us. We're working with about 20 volunteers (1/3 local) and are totally amazed by other traveler's choice of clothing/sun protection. We know that we're overly sensitive about this, but yesterday we watched a couple of volunteers donate their skin to the sun god in all of it's possible glory. We're not kidding. One guy had bright red hair and fair skin - after an afternoon of work, his back looked like someone had taken a cheese grater to it and then doused it in Tabasco.

If anyone has questions or comments about our trip please let us know. It would be great to hear from you. We're heading back to our bungalow to clean up from this morning's work.


Easy Rider 

5/14 - From the Andaman Coast

It's 6pm, Saturday the 14th and we're in Ao Nang a "suburb" of Krabi on the Andaman Sea in Southern Thailand. We wrapped up our stay in Bangkok with an hour taxi ride to the airport. Bobby the taxi driver was the most animated conversationalist we've met on the trip - so, we decided to try some of our new found linguistic talent (10 Thai phrases) on our new friend. That's when we found out that our pronunciation for the phrase "excuse me" is actually the slang word for transvestite or hermaphrodite. It was hard to get him to stop laughing at us - and then with us. Undaunted, we continued with the rest of our phrases and Ken actually impressed him with his Thai accent. When we get back, Ken will marvel you with his pronunciation of "I want to go to the bathroom."

The $65 flight to Krabi on Thai Airways was really nice - much nicer than a US domestic flight - with incredible views of Bangkok and the coastline. The Bangkok airport is huge so we were not surprised when we boarded a big plane - a 737 maybe? However, it was only 1/2 full (how do they make money?) and when we arrived in Krabi, we were surprised that it was a 1 runway, 1 baggage claim, 5 taxi airport. It was a welcome site.

The "information booth" at the airport hooked us up with a place to stay in Ao Nang called the PK Mansion. We knew we were likely settling for a high price ($600 Baht - $15 US) but we wanted an easy way out--no thinking or bartering. When we got to Ao Nang, we found that virtually every building here is a hotel/internet cafe/bank/restaurant/gift shop/ and travel agency. The next morning we were ready to find a better deal. Now we are across the street at the "J Mansion" with a nicer room, better view, and more comfortable surroundings, at 2/3rds the price.

The Krabi area is a lush, green, beautiful place with huge limestone monuments that jut up from the landscape - incredible. We thought Bangkok was humid, but this area brings new meaning to fully saturated. In addition to the humidity, the authentic Thai lunch (curry) created a river down Steve's face. Hopefully the picture Ken took captured the moment:


No Spicy Please! 

Today is the first day we've unwound and it feels good. We decided to put the brakes on our rush to Phi Phi while on an early morning run. We continue to wake up early and today we went exploring on a run/slog on the beach at sunrise. It was beautiful. We finally feel like the environmental elements that were out of our control (jet-lag, new food, Bangkok pollution) are behind us. We spent the rest of the day sitting, reading, and chatting in our open-air hotel lobby, open-air restaurants, and on the beach. We're getting a chance to reflect a bit on what we've seen. We'll manage to get that into words in future posts...

5/13 - First Impressions

Well, it's 9am (on Friday the 13th!) and we have one complete day in the bag. We felt like we covered a lot of ground yesterday and learned a great deal. We are forming our first impressions of the people, the economics, the food, the government, and the situation involving tsunami recovery. But we are trying to refrain from making big generalizations about the culture. We need more experience and sleep.

We were happy to meet up with an American living in Thailand on the plane flight over here. Cliff, the phrases and ideas of what to expect have been very useful. We have already busted out some Thai on shop owners and tuk-tuk drivers. The response is very positive. Last night, we hung out and had dinner with Ansley, a new friend that we met at the airport. It was nice to be able to share thoughts with another traveler.

The weather is hot and muggy, with a general cloud cover and dim sunlight. The surprising thing is that the temp doesn't change much from day to night. It's never really too hot, just consistently sweaty.

We have a lot to learn about bartering (which you do for virtually everything). We'd love to say we are on the steep part of the learning curve, but when we bartered our way into a higher price for not only our next night's stay at the hotel but also for the night we already spent, we couldn't help but just laugh at ourselves. I guess in that sense, we haven't changed--we continue to joke around with each other even in the haze of pollution, jet-lag, and anxiety.

Based on the few Thai we have met and spoken with, (Mr. Pat, the hotel manager, Mr. T, our tuk-tuk driver, Chaiyong, the government paid temple volunteer and teacher, and Ram, the clothing salesman) we've found it hard to discern whether their friendliness is genuine or just a front to somehow get more from our pockets. We oscillate between feeling welcomed and feeling like prey.

The commerce here is incessant. It's tough to navigate the streets because vendors are set up one, after the other, after the other - with street vendors just 5 feet outside retail shops. Everyone wants to sell you something. And speaking of streets, what IS a street? Everything is a street here! We'll be walking along a 6ft wide "alley", with tables and food stands on either side, and here comes a 125cc motorbike (with two guys on it) picking their way towards us. Taxis somehow manage to navigate unbelievably tight quarters.

We are catching a flight to Krabi this evening. Once there, we'll look for lodging and figure out our plans for the next 24hrs - which should include our travel to Koh Phi Phi. We're really looking forward to getting to work on the island.


Khaosan Road at Night 

5/12 - From a cafe in Bangkok...

We made it. It's 10:30am Thursday 5/12 in Bangkok. We got in early this morning without incident. After 30hrs of travel we were wiped out and got a few hours of good sleep. This message is coming to you from a cafe porch at the intersection of a couple alleys in the Khaosan Road area of Bangkok. We are alive and well - and sweating!

This is just a quick note to let everyone know we made it safely, but here's a couple of nuggets from our long journey:
- China Air rocks!
- I don't feel short here! (Steve)
- Sleepwalking down Khaosan Road at 3am looking for a hotel is a sureal experience. Bangkok doesn't sleep.
- The Thai people are wonderful hosts.

More to come.

- Steve and Ken

5/9 - Leaving Tomorrow

Ken and I leave for Thailand tomorrow for 3 weeks. We're flying from Tucson to LA on Southwest. After a three hour layover in LA, we fly to Taipei on China Airlines. Then we switch planes and fly from Taipei to Bangkok. We arrive in Bangkok at 1:00am on Thursday the 12th.

We don't plan to spend long in Bangkok. On Thursday, we plan to look for a flight to Phuket - a short flight. We'll spend a day in Phuket and then take a boat to Phi Phi Island.

If you're on Central Time, Thailand is twelve hours ahead. So, when it's 1pm in Chicago, it's 1am in Thailand - the next day.

Last night we had a kick-butt Bon Voyage party at Libby's house. Stacie, Leah, Cortnie and Doug were there. Thanks guys for a great send-off. The food and company were awesome. Libby and Stacie - the backpacks rock! Good luck to Doug in your upcoming race.

Today, we're running around tying up loose ends - packing, photocopying passports, buying snacks and getting some reading material to keep us entertained for the long flights.

We'll update again from Thailand.

- Steve

PS - We get back on June 2nd.