Thailand - Day 14-15: Back Home

We took the ferry back to Phuket. We decided to stay close to the airport at a beach called Nai Yang. After some fried fish for lunch, we rented chairs and umbrellas and relaxed for the rest of the day. In the morning we went to the airport, back to Bangkok, then back to Los Angeles. What a trip!

Thailand - Day 12-13: Koh Phi Phi

From China Town we took a taxi to the airport and amazingly it only too half an hour, but it cost 500 baht. We got into the Phuket and went straight to the pier in Phuket Town. We were lucky enough to share a taxi (and the cost) with another couple from Germany. The boat to Koh Phi Phi took about 2-hours and when we got there all of the hotel and boat workers were yelling like crazy at all of the tourists. We decided to call the Natural Resort from Let's Go and they said the price was 3,000 baht ($85). A little more than we wanted to spend, but there didnt seem to be very many other great choices. We hired a long tail boat to take us the the other side of the island. We check all the of hotels around us, but the Natural Resort seemed to be the cheapest. When we finally checked into our room we were very disappointed, so we decided to stay just one night and move somewhere else in the morning. We decided that we would sperge a bit and have a nice dinner at the $500/night hotel next door. We had a wonderful Thai-fusion meal, bottle of wine, and even ordered our desert out on the lounge chairs on the beach. It was really wonderful, I felt like we were really being pampered.

The next morning we moved to a nearby resort, although I think it was owned by the same company, it was so much nicer. After checking in we lounged by the pool all morning. At a quick buffet lunch, that was just so so. In the afternoon we decided to hire a speed boat to visit the smaller Koh Phi Phi Ley. Shortly after leaving it started poring and our driver ducked into a cove in the giant limestone cliffs to try to stay dry. Finally the rain let up a bit and we decided to keep going. Sure enough as soon as we started going again the rain stopped. The first stop was in a small cove for snorkeling. Although the water was not super clear we saw tons of tropical fish, coral, and sea cucumbers. Next we went to Maya beach, where "The Beach" was filmed. It was a beautiful cove, but not very good for snorkeling. The last stop was Monkey Beach, but we didn't see any moneys anywhere. That night we ate at the pricey Holiday Inn resort. We brought a bottle of winde back to the hotel and watched TV until we both feel asleep.

Thailand - Day 9-11: Bangkok

From Lampang we took a local flight back to Bangkok. To save some money we decided to take a shuttle bus to the city center. When the bus left the station it was making all kinds of weird noises, so the driver decided to take us back to the station and change buses. We waited and waited for the second bus to arrive. Then it was a long ride into Bangkok, so after 2 hours we finally made it into the city center. After being dropped off a few miles from Chinatown, where we would look for a hotel, we decided to take a taxi. The traffic was ridiculous, I think I could have walked faster, but we were both too tired.

We checked into the the hotel, which was a bit dirty and had a crazy bathtub that was raised off the floor, but was one of the cheapest hotels we could find in Bangkok. Most of the bathrooms in Thailand have been interesting. They range from bucket flush toilets where you cant sit down and showers with no hot water and no door to pretty modern "American-type" facilities. You really never know what you are going to get.

We set off walking around Chinatown getting lost, so we decided to take a tuk-tuk to Siam Square and MBK for some shopping. This seemed to be where the young Thai's bought all of their trendy clothes for cheap. I bought a pair of jeans and shoes. We decided that metered taxi was they way to go for the rest of our stay in Bangkok, since the tuk-tuk driver really overcharged us.

Day 2: Today we spent most of our time in the Old City. Wat Phra Kaeo was just amazing, it sparkled so much in the sun. This was defiantly the most beautiful Wat I have seen in Thailand. No wonder it was built for the King. The Wat also housed the Emerald Buddha, the most famous Buddha image in all of Thailand, which was much smaller than I had imagined. He sat on top of a HUGE gold shrine, which was pretty impressive.

Wat Phra Kaeo

Later in the day we walked over the the Massage School in Wat Pho to find a room full of beds with student performing Thai massage on customers. We were asked to change into pants that were a lot like mahout pants and were directed to our bed. Thai massage is about stressing and pulling muscles and is not quite as relaxing as a traditional massage. I walked out feeling very relaxed, however there were a few moments were pretty painful.

Reclining Buddha in Wat Pho

Even though we didn't want to stay in the "tourist ghetto" of Khao San Road, we did check out the market and tried some of the street food (Pad Thai and fresh pineapple). It was a very lively place, but just as travel books described, full of tourist. From Khao San we took a river boat to down the Chao Phraya River to the Skytrain. This light rail system was very modern confortable. We stopped a Jim Thompson's to buy some silk presents and a couple items for ourself. You could tell that this is was a very fancy store. We walked thought the Patong Market before getting to the theater for a lady-boy show.

Day 3: We decided to get out of the congestion and pollution of the city and take a 2 hour bus ride to the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. When we got to the market we hired a longtail boat for a 1 1/2 hour tour. Many of the things at the maket were just tourist junk, however it was fun to ride though the market in a longtail boat and see some of the surround homes. We were also able to stop at a small traditional dance studio and see a performance.

Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

On the walk back into the center of the city from the bus station we stopped at a mall for some lunch. Then we realized that we were still so far from the city center, we gave up and took a taxi to the river boats. We stopped at Wat Arun just before sunset. It was a nice Wat, but I was disappointed that we couldn't climb all the way to the top.

Tonight we decided to have a fancy dinner. We had a Thai salad of mixed vegetables, a shrimp with chili powder, and a fish dish. It was both great food and great service for about 25 dollars.

Thailand - Day 6-8: Elephant Camp

After getting a quick breakfast of pork and rice, we caught a local bus to the Elephant Conservation Center. Local bus drivers are a bit more daring on the road than I feel comfortable with, but we made it to the entrance of the Center in one piece. A small tour bus was nice enough to give Scott and I (and our huge backpacks) a ride to the center of the camp, 1.5 kilometers away. After signing some paperwork we were asked to change into out Mahout suits and were introduced to our elephants. My elephant was a 7 year old girl named Jan-na. Scott's, one of the largest elephants here in the camp, was named JoJo. We got to learn some commands, bath them in the river, and watch the real Mahouts perform with the elephants in the tourist show. In the afternoon we rode one of the "taxi" elephants, which were rescued logging elephants after logging became illegal in Thailand. These elephants were not as friendly as the performing elephants and therefore, became taxi elephants here at the camp. After the last performance, we took out elephants into the jungle for the night to eat and relax.


Our cabins were located amongst the Mahouts and other camp workers. We were told that they have to leave their families for many months at a time and have to build their our cabins in the camp. Back in our cabins we showered (we even had hot water and toilets), napped, and helped cook dinner in the outdoor kitchen. The other guests at the camp included a British couple living in Singapore, and older Australian couple, and two girls from Germany.

The next morning one of the mahouts knocked on our door at about 6:00 am to put on our wet mahout suits and get our elephants from the jungle. It was a lot harder climbing up the hill than it was yesterday on the back of Jan-na. After finding Jan-na pretty close to where we left her (we did chain them up), we brushed her off and bathed her in the river on the way back to the show grounds. When we got back to our rooms we found nice fresh, dry suit to wear. What a treat! We all washed off, dressed, and sat down for breakfast. Then it was back to the show grounds for training and bathing. In the afternoon we went to tour the elephant hospital. The students and some mahouts prepared dinner for us again and we noticed that they were preparing some thing different for themselves. They let us try some frog leg soup, but the rest looked way to spicy for me.


On the last day at the Elephant Conservation Center we were able to help perform in the morning tourist show with our elephants. By this time my legs and rear were pretty sore from riding Jan-na, but it was worth it. I was sad that we had to go. Simon and Alisa, the British couple, let us share their taxi back to the main road so we could catch the local bus back to Lampang. After sitting at the bus stop for 45 minutes I was getting pretty worried, when finally a green local bus came around the bend.

Back in Lampang, we got the same taxi driver to to take us back to the Riverside Guest House. This time they only had air-conditioned rooms left, I was annoyed at first, but it turned out to be totally worth 600 Baht. Our room was much bigger and had a lovely window and off course the air was great. A Crazy taxi man charged us 500 baht to take us to Wat Phra That Lampang Lung. I think he was totally lost on the way back and dropped us off in the middle of a huge street market. We wondered around and realized we were not to far from the guest house. We tried some sticky coconut candy and some other street vender foods. We also found a bowling alley, so we decided to play a game.

Thailand - Day 4-5: Sukhothai

Since neither Scott or I had a watch, we asked the front desk at the Eagle House 2 to knock on our door at 5:00 am. It sort of worked, just an hour late. We were still able to catch the 8:00 bus to Sukhothai, so it all worked out. The ride took about 5 hours and we were able to find a lovely guest house out of the Lonely Planet called to TR Guest House with an air-conditioned room for 350 Baht. We were both sore and tired so we decided to would take it easy for the rest of the day. We asked the owner for a restaurant recommendation and he decided he would just take us in his car. No one in this place spoke English and fortunately a lot of the menu had pictures, so we ordered Pad Thai, chicken soup and a noodle dish (which I think was local to Sukhothai). It was all very good and really cheap. We spent the rest of the afternoon reading and using the internet on the porch of the guest house.

Then next morning Scott and I were ready to go by 7 am even without an alarm . I guess its because we have been going to bed so early and there doesn't seem to be too much to do here after the sun goes down. For breakfast I tried the famous banana pancakes and Scott had pineapple pancakes.

After breakfast, we took a bus to the Old City Historical Park entrance and decided to rent a moped for the day to see the sites. We rented one from a nearby coffee shop for 140 Baht. Although neither of us had ever driven a moped, it turned out to be pretty easy and and a great way to get around the Historical Park.

After seeing some of the ruins, we found a local street market and decided to have lunch at one of the stands. At the stand we choose, there didn't seem to be any kind of menu and the cook didn't seem to know what to do with two Americans. Finally someone sitting nearby ordered two pork noodle soups for us. It turned out to be absolutely delicious and only 30 Baht total. What a deal!

After lunch we went back to the guest house and decided to catch a bus to Lampang. Once arriving in Lampang we took a shared taxi to the Riverside Guest House, a teak housing with small but adequate rooms. We had dinner at a nice restaurant on the river, bought a watch (finally), and went to the pharmacist for some medicine for the large rash on Scott's leg. Although the pharmacist didn't really speak much English he gave Scott some ointment, so hopefully that will help.



Scott on the scooter we rented



Buddhas in the Old City







Me driving the scooter. It was a lot of fun.



More ancient Wats

Thailand - Day 2-3: Eagle House Trek

We signed up for a 2-day trekking tour to Bong Duet National Park at our hostel. Our guide Montri introduced himself and gave us a couple of day backpacks while we ate our breakfast. We bought had yogurt with tropical fruit, muesli, and honey. It was delicious!

Nine of us, including Scott and I, jumped onto the back of our tour truck and headed for the Tourist Authority to check our paperwork and our passports. Then we stopped at a small market to pick up any supplies that we didn't have with us. I bought a sorang for bathing and Scott bought a water and flashlight. Finally we were on our way to the waterfall. After just a short hike we took a quick dip in the freezing water under the falls. As we traveled further into the hills we stopped at a street side cafe to have fried rice with fresh Thai basil. This was the best fried rice I have ever tasted! After a bit more travel the truck dropped us all off near a hot spring to start off our hike. The first leg of the hike was about 2 hours to a small Karen village of about 10 houses. We rested there then continued on for another hour to the village we would be spending the night in. The house we were staying in was quite large with one large sleeping room, a small kitchen (a small room with an open fire for cooking), a dining area, and a small room for the caretaker. As many of the houses in the villages, ours was raised up on stilts and open air. As custom we were required to take off our shoes before entering. We also realized that the village had only two outhouses with bucket flush "toilets" and bucket baths.

Montri took us on a walk through the village, 20 homes in total. The residents grew rice and cattle for a living. Montri told us that many of the children grow up and move to Chiang Mai for work. They bring back clothes, food, and sometimes motorcycles back to the village. I could not believe the small dirk roads that these motorcycles would have to use to get back to the city. Montri also told us that the Thai government has a program to subsidize solar panels for electricity in some of the houses (ours not being one of them).

For dinner Montri and the other guides cooked chicken curry with fresh basil, pork with vegetables, and rice. Over a wonderful dinner I learned that we were traveling with three people from Switzerland, three Americans returning from the Peace Corp in Ghana. I decided to try out the bucket bath to wash up. The water was absolutely freezing, but at least I was relatively clean. I was totally exhausted after dinner and after chatting a bit with the other guests the mosquito's started to come out, so I went to bed.

Day two of our trek we rose with the sun. For breakfast the guides prepared "omelette's" Thai style and toast. The rain was slowing from the night as we started our one hour hike to the elephant village. The jungle was beautiful in the mist, however it was very slippery and I was defiantly wearing the wrong type of shoes. Tri made us all walking sticks out the bamboo to help us get to the village.

After waiting a while for the elephants we got a hour tour through the river. Scott even got to ride on the elephants neck. I was starving when we reached the next village, but we still needed to travel further down the river on bamboo rafts before lunch. Our guides made two bamboo rafts. A couple us had to sit down in the front of the raft, including me, and we were soaked by the end of the journey. After rafting we had pad thai for lunch and met our truck driver to take us back to the Eagle House. I was so glad that we had reserved one extra night at the hostel because I was totally exhausted when we got back to Chiang Mai.



We all piled into the the back of the truck



Inside the market





Hiking through the jungle







Dinner cooked by our guides



Chicken in our house



Our accomodations





Small Village



Riding elephant through the river

Thailand - Day 1: Chiang Mai

After a 14 hour flight from Los Angeles to Taipei, Scott and I were both tired and dirty. I saw a sign for a transit hotel in the Taipei Airport. Unfortunately they they didn't have any rooms left, but we were able to take hot showers for $10 each and use the free internet. Then it was back on the plane for three more hours to Bangkok, a 2-hour layover, and 1 1/2 hour flight to Chiang Mai where we would stay for a couple of days. When we arrived at the airport in Chiang Mai someone from our hostel, Eagle House 2, was suppose to pick us up, however, there was no one to be seen. Finally, we asked the information counter for help. The young guy behind the counter didn't speak much English, but we were able to get our message across and he was nice enough to call the hostel on his mobile phone to send someone to pick us up. We checked in to our very basic room with broken hot water and a pad lock on the door. There was a great courtyard for reading and relaxing and it was only about $5 per night.

November 5th is Loi Krathong, a festival held throughout Thailand on the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. “Loi” means “to float”. “Krathong” is a raft traditionally made from a section of banana tree trunk (although modern-day versions often use Styrofoam) and decorated with elaborately-folded banana leaves, flowers, candles, incense sticks, and etc. The act of floating away the Krathong's is symbolic of letting go of all one's grudges, anger and defilements, so that one can start life afresh on a better foot.

After getting settled into our room, we walked around the Old City, visiting some of the local Wats as we strolled. We stumbled upon a lively night street market as well. When it started to get dark, we called Chris and Erica, two Brits living in Chiang Mai who had invited us to join them on the river for the celebration. As we walked toward the river we found that there were already tons of people, vendor, and fireworks around the river. After crossing a footbridge over the river we found the Brits at a small restaurant right on the river. We had something called "chicken stew" and chicken curry for dinner and enjoyed watching the Krathong's, lanterns, and fireworks. Scott and I even purchased two Krathongs and sent them off down the river. Chris told us that this festival was to celebrate the end of the wet season and they also celebrated the bigging of the rainy season by throwing water at each other. Sounds like a great time, if we ever come back to Thailand.



One of the many Wats in Chiang Mai



One the River in Chian Mai during Loi Krathong



Sending lanterns into the air




And there it goes...



Sending our Krathong's down the river

Ensenada

Tony, Alicia, Henry, Scott, and I decided to drive down to Ensenada for 4th of July weekend. The best things about Ensenada were the dozens of fish taco stands at the fish market selling tacos for $1 and the free wine tasting at Santo Tomas winery. The main shopping street in Ensenada was cute, but sold mostly really touristy stuff. We also spent a day in Rosarito and went horse back riding on the beach. Rosarito seemed like a fun city to spend a couple of days, they had a lot of bars right on the beach and some cheap taco stands.



Jesus on the way to Ensenada



At the blow hole outside of Ensenada. It was a long drive and pretty crowded when we finally made it there. We also stopped at one of the beaches around Ensenada, which wasn't very impressive either.





We stopped in Puerto Nuevo for lobster, you get 1 1/2 perfectly grilled lobsters and all of the rice, beans, and tortillas you can eat.



Everyone after eating a lot of lobster.

Morelia, Patzcuaro, Monarch Sancuary

Scott and I went to Morelia, Mexico to visit our friend Michael who is doing research on indoor air pollution from cooking in some of the villages nearby. Its actually really interesting. Many of the people in these villages are still using open fire for cooking. They are trying to implement a new fire buring stove with a flue so these people dont breath in so much smoke and Michael is testing the effects of these new stoves.

This is the Catherdral in Morelia. Its suppose to be the most beautiful in all of Mexico.

Downtown Moreila

Hiking to see the Monarch's at the Sierra Chincua Santuary

Lots of butterflies

Angangueo, one of the town on the way back from the butterfly sanctuary.

Here's everyone. We were lucky to be able to stay with Michael's friends Cynthia and Alfredo. They were wonderful hosts.

Patzcuaro is a city close to Moreila. It is famous for the hand crafts that they make in the region including wood, copper, straw, silver, among others.

Island close to Patzcuaro. We climbed up to the top, into that giant statue.

Juice in a bag. Jummy Jummy!

While Michael was doing research in Comachuen he came across Dona Nacha's. She runs a small restaraunt in here kitchen. We were lucky to be able to visit Comachuen and eat lunch at Dona Nachas.

Mud Run

I did it!!! I finished a 10K and through the mud and a lake! Go Team Eat Mud Malfoy!



Before the run.



Looking good after the run.