So...after meeting up with Tara last Monday, we made it to Bangkok and finally arrived on the island of Kho Tao after a 15 minute tuk-tuk ride, a 13 hour train ride, lots of drinks with friend Joe and girlfriend Ae in Bangkok, followed by a mile walk with all of our bags, an 8 hour bus ride, a 2 hour ferry boat, wrapped up by a 6 minute ride in the back of a pick-up truck to our skanky-ass room. We were too tired to look at any other places, so took the shitty place for 2 nights. Yesterday we started our scuba certification class, and as long as it all goes well tomorrow, we both should be certified. I'll post pictures once i get a new camera. sadly, my G-10 is dead due to a very unfortunate push into the gulf of thailand by a very drunk british guy. more on that later...
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Sunday, February 21, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
So I've met up with my friend Tara, we're in Bangkok and in a few hours we'll be taking an overnight bus followed by a 2 hour speedboat ride to the island of Ko Tao where we'll indulge in beach time and scuba certification classes. I wasn't going to post this next little story, but Tara is forcing me to do so...
This happened about a week ago.
I was sitting at an outdoor bar with some friends in Chang Rai. To our backs was the street. Two of the girls that worked at the bar had gone out to get some food on their scooter. After 20 or so minutes they pulled up behind us and promptly fell over with the scooter practically on top of them. Being the man of action that I am, I jump off of my stool, stand in front of the scooter (so it is facing me head on), with the intention of grabbing the handlebars and pulling the bike to an upright position. While I begin this action, I'm lifting the bike upright, but unknowingly when i grab the handlebars i also inadvertantly twist the throttle. As the bike is almost upright, it is also starting to come straight at me. At this point I understand what is happening, but my mind cannot react quickly enough to let go of the throttle. So yes, I run over myself with the scooter. The bike bashes me out of the way and I go a tumbling down the street and the scooter again falls over about 5 ft down the alley. Luckily the bike is unscathed, and Derek ends up with a few cuts and bruises on his left leg, and a giant bruise on his ego. Not sure if anyone here is familiar with monty python, but i definitely could have won the "twit race."
This happened about a week ago.
I was sitting at an outdoor bar with some friends in Chang Rai. To our backs was the street. Two of the girls that worked at the bar had gone out to get some food on their scooter. After 20 or so minutes they pulled up behind us and promptly fell over with the scooter practically on top of them. Being the man of action that I am, I jump off of my stool, stand in front of the scooter (so it is facing me head on), with the intention of grabbing the handlebars and pulling the bike to an upright position. While I begin this action, I'm lifting the bike upright, but unknowingly when i grab the handlebars i also inadvertantly twist the throttle. As the bike is almost upright, it is also starting to come straight at me. At this point I understand what is happening, but my mind cannot react quickly enough to let go of the throttle. So yes, I run over myself with the scooter. The bike bashes me out of the way and I go a tumbling down the street and the scooter again falls over about 5 ft down the alley. Luckily the bike is unscathed, and Derek ends up with a few cuts and bruises on his left leg, and a giant bruise on his ego. Not sure if anyone here is familiar with monty python, but i definitely could have won the "twit race."
Sunday, February 14, 2010
The next 20 or so photos are from my journey between Chang Mai and Chang Rai. I know there's a lot from the boat trip, but it was just so beautiful...The rivers are very low this time of year and the boats go down them like a pin ball, or a drunk Florencia if you will, to ride atop the deepest parts. You knew it was going to be an interesting ride when the final thing you saw the boat pilot do was throw an extra propeller into the boat. bon voyage
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So our boat rounds a bend, and this is the scene that unfolds in front of us. This is an elephant camp at one of the hill tribe which exisits to take people, mostly westerners, on elephant rides through the village and river. I saw about 30 elephants in all. It's amazing how gentle a happy elephant is. You literally can go right up to one and "pet" him, and they just tap you with their trunk. You also don't realize how big some of these guys are until one walks right up to you and stops a foot away. That is called trust.
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Monday, February 8, 2010
Ok, here's a few photos from my 2 day motorcycle trip outside of Chang Mai to the mountain village of Samoeng. As i look back through these posts, i realize that i've been spelling "Samoeng" differently almost every time i type it. so be it, i'm not fixing them. This was a thrilling 2 days, full of beauty and adrenaline. Sometimes the adrenaline was from the awe of what i was seeing, or the thrill of riding corners on such a great little bike. Sometimes, it was from other...
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The following pics are from my day with Napat and a 200cc Honda cruiser (Phantom). I had met her and her friends the night before at a live music venue with the Thai bands doing some pretty impressive covers. Everything from "the eagles" to "no doubt." Anyway, she told me she would take me to some places I wouldn't know about...and she was right. Some beautiful mountain roads, to a temple hanging off the side of said mountain, to partying with her famous friends later that night. It was a great day, and the funniest part is she took all the pictures, telling me that as a solo traveller I wouldn't have enough pics of myself. True and true.
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Wednesday, February 3, 2010
These next series of photos are from my time in Kanchanaburi post-floating house excursion. The pace in town was a nice change from Bangkok. I ended up meeting some pretty cool people (even a cool French guy), one of whom, Jiji, took me on a beautiful day trip on her scooter to some of the areas outside of town.
I also spent an hour or two one night playing a drinking game with some thais and some french called, and pardon my language, "1, 2, 3, Fuck!" Bascially, everyone was in a circle, and you had to take turns counting upwards in order starting from 1. On every multiple 5, ie. 5, 10, 15, 20...instead of saying the number, you had to yell "Fuck!" If you messed up, you had to drink from the "whisky bucket," which was a giant bucket filled with coke and whisky with 15 giant straws poking out of it. This is a very simple game as a native english speaker to play against a bunch of drunk thais and frenchys. I only had to sip from the bucket once.
I also spent an hour or two one night playing a drinking game with some thais and some french called, and pardon my language, "1, 2, 3, Fuck!" Bascially, everyone was in a circle, and you had to take turns counting upwards in order starting from 1. On every multiple 5, ie. 5, 10, 15, 20...instead of saying the number, you had to yell "Fuck!" If you messed up, you had to drink from the "whisky bucket," which was a giant bucket filled with coke and whisky with 15 giant straws poking out of it. This is a very simple game as a native english speaker to play against a bunch of drunk thais and frenchys. I only had to sip from the bucket once.
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