| QUICK UPDATE Where are they now? |
| Thailand |
| We're not here anymore. See the Vietnam page: 8/25-27/2002 Bangkok 8/24/2002 Bangkok Left the Atlanta Hotel for the comfort of the Marriott just down the street this morning. We're preparing ourselves mentally for the trip through Cambodia and Vietnam. We spent the past two days doing a bit of shopping and sightseeing. There was a tour that ran us to several of the major sights by boat along the river. We have also found a bus that takes us directly to the big shopping areas. Saved us from too much walking in this weather. It is still hot and humid, and Bangkok air is enhanced by the exhaust of 1000s of cars and trucks. This substance they call air coats you with a nasty film after only a few minutes. Still have a lot of wats (temples) to visit in the next few days. The ones we saw yesterday look beautiful from a distance, but up close you realize that they are made of scraps of broken pottery and glass tiles. It is amazing, though, what they accomplished with so little quality material. 8/21/2002 Bangkok, Thailand Left our bags at our budget hotel and headed over to the travel agent to drop off our passports for Viet Nam and Cambodian visas. We'll depart Bangkok for Saigon on the 28th. From there we fly to Hue (where, in 1968, a major battle of the Tet offensive was fought during the American war), then make our way overland back to Saigon. On 10 September we'll fly to Siem Reap, Cambodia, to see the magnificent temple complex at Angkor Wat, then fly back to Bangkok from Phnom Penh on the afternoon of the 18th; then a little after midnight board a 14-hour flight to London, and after landing at 6 am, fly to Romania at noon, finally arriving in Bucharest at 5 pm, at which point we'll both feel like zombies! 8/20-21/2002 Back in Thailand! Arrived back in Southern Thailand at 10 am. The Malaysian train took us about 2 hours into the country, where we'll catch our connection to Bangkok at 5:30 pm. Spent 4 hours in Hat Yai eating and killing time. Our next leg is 15 1/2 hours long. We'll arrive Bangkok at 11 am. We were able to get a private first-class cabin on the train for only $33 each. While the cabin was a bit run down, it was also the correct temperature, didn't reek of urine, and had crisp linens on the bunks. Both of us got a great night's sleep and arrived in Bangkok feeling really good. I got up at 6 am (Monica was still asleep) and went to the dining car where the Thais and other tourists who didn't have at-their-seats dining service were eating, and had a cup of tea. Spent about an hour watching the world go by. It was fun to see the scenery of everyday life in small town Thailand going by. The train rarely makes better than 30 - 40 mph, so you could really see what was going on in the towns we passed through. Kids were playing soccer before school, moms were hanging out and taking down washing - the scenes of everyday life playing out for me to look in on. We both really enjoyed the train ride and recommend it, if you've got pleny of time. For 8/7 - 8/19 see Singapore and Malaysia. We back-tracked, so go back to Singapore and Malaysia, then rejoin the Thailand adventure in a few weeks. 8/7/2002 Phuket We leave Thailand for Singapore today. Luckily, we're able to fly back instead of taking a 20+ hour bus ride. The monsoon really changes the look and feel of this entire area, from Krabi to Phuket. Calm, clear waters are replaced by a churning sea that has the same brilliant colors, but is too rough for swimming, diving and most water sports. The up side is that we spent about 30 - 100% less money on everything, except transportation, visiting this area. We even found decent Mexican food! No refried beans though. I would give your left foot for a big can of refried beans, seriously. The sex industry is alive and well in Thailand, you will all be happy to know. Luckily, I was protected by two vigilant women for most of my time in public. Whenever I ventured outside without a chaperone, the professional ladies from the "New Friends" bar, which happened to be right on my way to and from the grocery store where I was going to purchase drinks/snacks/dinner for the girls, would ask me all kinds of strange questions about my plans for the next few hours. They even said I was werry pretty. :) For some real family entertainment, the girls went on an hour-long elephant ride thought the forest. There were about 10 really big pachiderms hauling smiling American, Japanese and Thai tourists over trails, and sometimes trailblazing new paths through the jungle. They really enjoyed the trip, and we took about a roll of pictures, so there should be some good ones. The down side to the low (rainy) season is that many of the more culturally interesting things that we would have liked to have done, like see a traditional Thai dance/play, were not happening. Some restaurants had shows once a week, but unfortunately we had just missed the performances. I know that Kristen would have really liked to see these things, but that just means she'll know what she wants to see next time, after looking at all the brochures. We will be able to see more in Bangkok and the surrounding cities where the tourist season never ends. We spent a slow 2 days trying to catch some sun in the morning, and shopping in the afternoon. The art of bargaining is hard to develop, and will be harder to put down when we get to Europe. Five dallah to much, 3 dallah! You insult me with your offer! Too much, I'll go next door! 8/4/2002 Phuket (Poo - Ket) Monica experienced a bout of traveller's diarrhea that came on strong on the 2nd. We think that a watermelon juice was the cause of the trouble, and though the effects were severe only for 20 hours, it was really scary. You read about all these horrible tropical diseases (malaria, Dengue Fever, etc.), all of which have the same symptoms as the dreaded poo-poos (mild fever, chills, cramps, fatigue), and hope that all you're looking at is a day of agony on the toilet. Thankfully, they have a small medical clinic on the island, and a nurse diagnosed the trouble and prescribed an antibiotic to kill the nasty intestinal bug. This delayed our departure from Phi Phi to Phuket by a day, but everything went well. The girls both took Dramamine for the crossing, and it was a good thing they did. The seas were quite rough, and though we had good seats and a relatively steady boat, things got a little gloomy for some unfortunates. This is monsoon season on the west coast of Thailand, and the storms that are flooding Bangladesh, India and Burma kick up the seas in this area every afternoon. We are getting a pretty consistent 2 - 3 hours of rainfall each day, but the mornings and evenings are beautiful. Because of the rain, this is low season for tourists in the area, so we get a much better rate on room, transportation and food than we would have 2 months earlier or later. We're staying in Hat Kata, on the south-west coast of Phuket. Just down the beach is a huge Club Med, deserted because of the rain. The ocean is too rough for swimming and diving, but the breezy beaches are ready for some serious hammock snoozing! The three of us fly from here to Singapore on the morning of the 7th, and Kristen flies home to LA on the 8th. It is cheaper for all three of us to fly to Singapore than for us to take a bus back to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (20+ hours on a bus), then buy only Kristen a flight to Singapore from there. Another benefit of the rainy season. Monica and I are looking at the last 5 weeks of our time in Asia still trying to decide what to do with our remaining time. Many fellow travellers have recommended Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos as unique and interesting destinations. This will mean spending some time in Bangkok getting visas to these places, then some long bus rides under trying circumstances; but it should make for an exciting conclusion to this leg of the trip. Southern Thailand is much more commercialized than Indonesia, and we're not hopeful for much change the further north we go. It provides convenience and familiarity that can be comfortnig at times, but when you're not on a 2-week vacation, the lack of anything deeply original about the area makes it less than thrilling. Kind of like spending time trapped in a giant strip mall, they all kind of look the same and they're not very exciting. 8/1/2002 Phi Phi Don Kind of cloudy today, so it is a great time to do this Website update. 7/31/2002 Phi Phi Don Slept in till noon. Ate more chicken. Did nothing all day. Tough life. :) 7/30/2002 Phi Phi Ley We took a boat trip out to Phi Phi Ley, the island where the movie "The Beach" was filmed. A group of 5 of us hired a longtail boat to transport us out to the island for 3 hours. The ride across to the island was a bit rough, but it calmed down as we approached the island. As the boat driver threw out the anchor, we all look around and started saying, "This doesn't look anything like the movie." He then pointed to a small cave on the shoreline with a bunch of people in it. Eventually, we got to the cove where the movie was filmed by swimming into this cave, then crawling through a hole in the back and out onto the island where there is a trail to the filming site. The water was quite rough on the way in, and the rocks very sharp. Monica cut a gash in her foot on the way in. After about 5 minutes on the beach at the site, we realized that our boat driver had come along for the walk, and was making much noise and motions that seemed to indicate that we needed to go back. Everyone was disappointed with the 5 minute visit, but headed back to the cave. By the time we got there, the tide had come up another 2 feet, and the swells were breaking right in the opening that we needed to get through to get back to the boat. I told Monica and Kristen that I would go out and tell the driver that we'd wait till low tide to try and come out. A Belgian girl let her boyfriend know that she was not going through that hole. As they were arguing, he was washed off the ledge he was perched on, and tumbled across the sharp rocks. I headed out to see if he was OK, and was promptly dumped into the churning water in the cave. I managed to swim out to our boat and tell the driver that he was going to wait. I convinced the Belgian guy that it was better to have his girlfriend wait with Monica, Kristen, and the other 2 people from our boat than to try and get her out. He climbed into our boat, sent his home, and we waited. After about 20 minutes of talking, he said he was going to get hell from her when they get out, because if she doesn't eat in several hours, her attitude and temper are terrible. Monica is the same way, so we decided to put the food and other supplies that we did have with us in a plastic bag and float it into the cave. I was hoping that the swell and waves would push the bag through the hole so the stranded party could get it. It worked, and the 5 survivors had one package of crackers, 2 liters of water, 15 Aleve and Tylenol, and a pack of dice. When they finally emerged, 5 hours later, they were in pretty good spirits. I spent the 5 hours on our small boat being rocked furiously by the waves and on a small mosquito-infested beach nearby. The stranded ones had explored 'The Beach' and pronounced it a giant trash heap. It really was dirty from what I had seen in my 5 minutes there. The cliffs and the lagoon are very pretty, but the amount of garbage on the beach brought in by sightseers like us, and the amount washed in from the sea was unbelievable. We can't figure out why the authorities don't just charge the tour operators a small fee, and take a group out to clean the beach twice a year. As long as people like us are dumb enough to believe that we'll really see something special, I guess they don't have to. There were other lagoons and coves on the island that were prettier and much less dirty. The area is full of little places to hide if you wanted to camp for a few days, but it isn't anyone's isolated paradise; at least, not anymore. The scenery is truly spectacular, and if you tried hard enough, I'm sure you could find a little piece of paradise here that wasn't crawling with tourists and littered with trash, but we weren't quite up to that. We arrived back at our bungalow at about 6 p.m., 7 hours later, covered in sand, hungry and very sleepy. We all decided that if we went to bed we would never sleep through the night, so we went to eat at the chicken man's shop. This is as close to El Pollo Loco as they have in Thailand. After that, we cleaned up and met at the Apache Bar. By midnight I was ready to go to sleep after spending an hour at the Irish Bar listening to a Thai band cover Pearl Jam and Neil Young, and later the new singer "Nick Jagger" (of Indian descent) cover the Stones. Monica and I scared all the very reserved European tourists in the place by screaming at the band and urging them to "Rock On," which delighted the band to no end. Monica stayed out til 2 or something like that. 7/29/2002 Phi Phi Don island Departed Rai Lay on the ferry to Phi Phi Don island. The ride was a little rough, and Kristen and Monica were a bit seasick. We found a nice new place to stay and recovered from our 2-hour crossing. That night, the girls ate some yummy chicken from the chicken lady. I discovered her in a back alley among the shops with a charcoal grill loaded with marinated chicken breasts and legs on bamboo skewers. I had one, then went to go get the girls. We came back, ate up another 5 pieces, then humored ourselves and watched the beginning of "The Beach" at a local shop. The workers must get so sick of seeing that stupid movie every day, but the farangs (white tourists) just have to see it before they make the trip out to the filming site at Phi Phi Ley. I headed over to a pub to catch the South Africa v. Australia rugby game, and in the process found two other people Andy (UK) and Tara (Australia) who wanted to go along to Phi Phi Ley the next day. 7/25/2002 Rai Lay Beach This morning we took a longtail boat out to Rai Lay Beach. The location is spectacular, but it is more developed (or mis-developed) than Indonesia is. There is unchecked development ruining what should be a beautiful spot. In another 5 years this place will be ruined. We'll only stay here for 2 nights or so, then move on to the Phi Phi islands, where the movie "The Beach" was filmed. We spent some time on the beach and in the water admiring the towering cliffs and rock formations that flank the bay. I've run back to town to retrieve our laundry and visit the ATM, but need to get back to the island before the afternoon rains start. 7/24/2002 Krabi Bus ride, long bus ride. Need sleep! |
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