6/16 - Pictures Are Here

After reflecting on our trip, we have nothing more to say. Just kidding, but our thoughts are probably best conveyed in person. Feel free to post questions on this site or send us an e-mail.

If you'd like to see a bunch of our pictures, here's the link:

http://www.loopsoffury.net

Just click on a thumbnail to see a large version of the picture and a brief caption.

We're glad that we were able to connect with people through this blog. The time we spent blogging was both frustrating and cathartic. It is tough to combine two voices and two perspectives into one story, but we feel it captured the best of what we saw and felt. When we were a bit down or feeling lost, working together to tell our stories helped remind us of the crazy scenes and fun adventures. It also gave us a sense of connection with home.

Thanks again for your interest.

- Steve and Ken

6/11 - Home Again

This is just a quick post to let everyone know that we arrived home safe and sound on the evening of June 2nd. While the service on China Air was excellent, the flight was uneventful. Unfortunately, Ken picked up some sort of a GI "bug" on the way home that put him out of commission for much of our first week back. He's well along the road to recovery now.

We plan to post a better wrap-up and a bunch of pictures - sorry it's taking so long. We're trying to figure out the best method to post the pictures. If you have any suggestions, feel free to comment.

Thanks for checking our blog and for your interest in the trip!

6/2 - Earthquake

It's a bit after 3pm in Taipei, and we're in the airport's private business club. We pleaded for a few free minutes of access, so here it goes.

We left Bangkok successfully yesterday and sat a few rows behind Miss Bolivia (of the Miss Universe contest). We didn't have to guess where she was from as she was still wearing the sash.

We somehow got to a hotel last night without using much English. Just as we were going to turn out the light to retire, a strong earthquake (magnitude of at least 5.6) shook northern Taiwan. It was quite a ride on the 5th floor of the Taoyuan Holiday Hotel.

We checked out the tallest building in the world this morning (Taipei 101) and are leaving shortly for LAX (and looking forward to China Air service!).

Got to go...

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