Lizard in Tonsai
Flower in Phuket
Sunset from the JW Marriot in Phuket
Tonsai and Railay(This is a long one- if you read the whole thing I'm impressed)
Things in Thailand are coming to an end. As I write this, I'm traveling on a bus through the frontier land that is border area of Thailand and Myanmar (Burma). This is certainly much different than any other part of Thailand I've been to. It is much more remote, much more Third World. Children working the fields, no other tourists. I just watched a beautiful sunset over the jungle covered hills of Southern Myanmar. It is strange to think about the contradiction between the natural beauty here and the genocide and civil war happening just a few hundred yards out the left windows of the bus.
Thailand has treated me well, and I am certain thankful to have come here and experience what the country and the people here have to offer. The smiling faces of the people will stay with me for some time. The food has also been quite enjoyable.
Last time I wrote in, it was from Tarutao I believe? After Taruatao National Park we headed north to Krabi- a journey that took the better part of a day. It may have been ten hours,,,maybe more. We went from a speed boat to a minibus to a full size bus to the back of a truck and then finally to downtown Krabi.
Krabi province is a well known for its beautiful beaches and international renowned rock climbing. We ended up spending several days in Railay and then three nights in Tonsai- another small village and beach just a short distance from Railay by way of a jungle hike. Railay is an incredible place. Sure, it is very touristy, but it has some beautiful beaches and overhanging limestone cliffs up to 400 or 500 feet high, right above the water. The climbing was superb, and Dave and Taylor and I had a good time climbing there. (Tonsai is also known for its climbing, and actually has harder climbing than Railay, but there weren't enough climbs that we could lead to make it worth spending much time climbing there- we just walked over to Railay instead.)
I left Tonsai a day early so that I could be in Phuket in order to pick up Jen at the airport on the morning of my birthday.
Things in Thailand are coming to an end. As I write this, I'm traveling on a bus through the frontier land that is border area of Thailand and Myanmar (Burma). This is certainly much different than any other part of Thailand I've been to. It is much more remote, much more Third World. Children working the fields, no other tourists. I just watched a beautiful sunset over the jungle covered hills of Southern Myanmar. It is strange to think about the contradiction between the natural beauty here and the genocide and civil war happening just a few hundred yards out the left windows of the bus.
Thailand has treated me well, and I am certain thankful to have come here and experience what the country and the people here have to offer. The smiling faces of the people will stay with me for some time. The food has also been quite enjoyable.
Last time I wrote in, it was from Tarutao I believe? After Taruatao National Park we headed north to Krabi- a journey that took the better part of a day. It may have been ten hours,,,maybe more. We went from a speed boat to a minibus to a full size bus to the back of a truck and then finally to downtown Krabi.
Krabi province is a well known for its beautiful beaches and international renowned rock climbing. We ended up spending several days in Railay and then three nights in Tonsai- another small village and beach just a short distance from Railay by way of a jungle hike. Railay is an incredible place. Sure, it is very touristy, but it has some beautiful beaches and overhanging limestone cliffs up to 400 or 500 feet high, right above the water. The climbing was superb, and Dave and Taylor and I had a good time climbing there. (Tonsai is also known for its climbing, and actually has harder climbing than Railay, but there weren't enough climbs that we could lead to make it worth spending much time climbing there- we just walked over to Railay instead.)
I left Tonsai a day early so that I could be in Phuket in order to pick up Jen at the airport on the morning of my birthday.
Railay West from Tonsai
Tonsai Lit up at night**(Taken from an email I sent) My trip from Tonsai was kind of adventurous I guess- I had to walk about 20 minutes down a dirt path in the jungle to get to a beach where I had a longtail boat pick me up- then a 20 minute longtail boat ride to a small town where the taxi drivers wanted 500 (about $15, way, way overpriced) baht for a ride to the bus station about 25-30 minutes away. I joked with them and laughed, "You think I am a VIP or something? I can't afford that! It is 4 times as much as a bus to Phuket!" Normally they would continue to pressure you, but I guess since I was friendly about it, one of them flagged down a truck that I was able to pay 50 baht (1/10th the price) to let me ride in the bed all the way to the bus station. The bus was only 115 baht for the three and a half ride to Phuket town, but Phuket town is about 45 minutes away from the airport and I didn't need to go all the way there. At the same time, the airport is off the highway by several miles. Even so, I talked the bus boy (kind of like a flight attendant in a way) into telling the bus driver to drop me off on the side of the highway. There was no bus stop, no town, nothing, but I was able to sit on the back of a motorcycle that I flagged down to take me the rest of the way to the hotel where I am sleeping in the garden tonight. It was quite a motorcycle ride though, since I had my huge backpacking pack on and it was making it kind of hard to balance on the bike. **
Headed from Tonsai to Ao Nong
The garden where I spent the nightJen got in with no delays or problems to the Phuket Airport on the morning of my birthday- her flying all the way to Phuket (more than 24 hours in the air!) to meet up with me on my birthday was awesome. I told her that she was the best birthday present that I have ever received.
For the past week Dave, Taylor, Jen and I have been staying at the Five Star JW Marriott Phuket in a two bedroom villa. It was a great place- the amenities, service, beach, even the landscaping is over the top. I'd even go so far as to say that it was a bit much for us at times- the service was so good that we couldn't even do things for ourselves. Want to lay your towel over you r beach chair? Nope, someone will jump over and do it for you. Thinking about going to get some fresh fruit to eat by the pool? They are already bringing it to you- they heard you talking about it. Want to pour your beer or water into a glass? Ha! What are you? A layman? The help will do that too. It was truly five star.
Birthday Dinner
The dining at the JW was great- we had a great Italian dinner for my birthday, complete with some really good red wine (Lambourgini I think) and some birthday ice cream. Another night Jen and I went out to the Thai Restaurant on the property. Although the food was very expensive by Thai standards, it only came out to about $15 per person and it was five star service there too. I'd say it was on par with the service at the Flagstaff House in Boulder- there were at least three wait staff assigned to our two person table.
The beach at the JW was by far the cleanest beach that we had in all of Thailand and it also had the biggest waves of any beach so far on my entire trip. Maybe four or five foot pounders right on the beach at times. The waves made sailing around (complimentary) quite nerve racking actually. Jen and I took out a 20 foot catamaran by ourselves one day and almost flipped in the waves while trying to get away from shore. I've been sailing a handful of times, but don't really have much business sailing in waves that big and wind that strong. Luckily we made it back unhurt.The waves did make body boarding lots of fun. They were probably proportionally as big to me as the waves I used to body board on in the outer backs of North Carolina as a kid.
Last night I dropped Jen off at the airport so that she could make the long journey home to Colorado. It was a tough goodbye, but we both took comfort in the fact that we'll be together again in two months at my brothers wedding and then we'll be moving back to New Zealand together and won't be traveling apart from each other again. This morning we checked out of the JW and started making our way north to Bangkok.
Our Villa at the JW
Update- I'm now finishing up this entry at roomthe Bangkok airport. Jen has made it back to Colorado, and Taylor is on her way to Laos. Dave, Taylor, and I had a hard night on a train from Chumphon to Bangkok. We got into Chumphun after dark and decided to get a night train to Bangkok. At the train station we were informed that all the trains for the next two days were sold out except for a few third class seats on a train that was scheduled to leave at 10:20 PM that night. The tickets were dirt cheap- only $5.50 for a ticket, but they happened to be in the lowest available class- no air conditioned sleeping compartment like we had planned on, instead a bench with literally no leg room shared with many, many people. To add to the pleasure of last night, the train ended up being three hours late, leaving us exposed to misquotes while we waited next to the train track in Chumpon.
The third class compartment was filled to the brim, with people in every available seat and more people and children stuffed on the floor under the bench. It was a pretty terrible night. The one saving grace for me was that Taylor had a few pain killers that I could take to knock myself out (or “out of it”). After a percocet, a vicadin, and a few beers I was able to zone off for extended periods of time. I didn't really sleep though, and towards the end of the train ride I was on edge. People were running through our train car starting at four in the morning yelling in Thai trying to sell food and drinks. This caused a lot of the kids to wake up and start crying and screaming, which lasted for the remaining six hours of the train ride. All of this coupled with the irritability induced by the pain killers caused me to almost blow up on a a few people who kept bumping into me. We did make it though...finally.
Dave and I are spending the night sleeping on the floor of the Bangkok airport to avoid any further complications with the thai overland transport system. We leave at 10:30 in the morning on a four and a half hour flight to Kathmandu. I'm looking forward to Nepal with lots of anticipation. I feel like there is a reason that the opportunity to go to Nepal has entered my life and I can't wait to get there and start trekking and climbing. A year ago I never could have imagined all of this. Now it seems pretty routine to me- I feel comfortable and confident with all the traveling right now. More than anything, I'm excited to see what the Himalayas hold for me in terms of climbing.
For the past week Dave, Taylor, Jen and I have been staying at the Five Star JW Marriott Phuket in a two bedroom villa. It was a great place- the amenities, service, beach, even the landscaping is over the top. I'd even go so far as to say that it was a bit much for us at times- the service was so good that we couldn't even do things for ourselves. Want to lay your towel over you r beach chair? Nope, someone will jump over and do it for you. Thinking about going to get some fresh fruit to eat by the pool? They are already bringing it to you- they heard you talking about it. Want to pour your beer or water into a glass? Ha! What are you? A layman? The help will do that too. It was truly five star.
Birthday DinnerThe dining at the JW was great- we had a great Italian dinner for my birthday, complete with some really good red wine (Lambourgini I think) and some birthday ice cream. Another night Jen and I went out to the Thai Restaurant on the property. Although the food was very expensive by Thai standards, it only came out to about $15 per person and it was five star service there too. I'd say it was on par with the service at the Flagstaff House in Boulder- there were at least three wait staff assigned to our two person table.
The beach at the JW was by far the cleanest beach that we had in all of Thailand and it also had the biggest waves of any beach so far on my entire trip. Maybe four or five foot pounders right on the beach at times. The waves made sailing around (complimentary) quite nerve racking actually. Jen and I took out a 20 foot catamaran by ourselves one day and almost flipped in the waves while trying to get away from shore. I've been sailing a handful of times, but don't really have much business sailing in waves that big and wind that strong. Luckily we made it back unhurt.The waves did make body boarding lots of fun. They were probably proportionally as big to me as the waves I used to body board on in the outer backs of North Carolina as a kid.
Last night I dropped Jen off at the airport so that she could make the long journey home to Colorado. It was a tough goodbye, but we both took comfort in the fact that we'll be together again in two months at my brothers wedding and then we'll be moving back to New Zealand together and won't be traveling apart from each other again. This morning we checked out of the JW and started making our way north to Bangkok.
Our Villa at the JWUpdate- I'm now finishing up this entry at roomthe Bangkok airport. Jen has made it back to Colorado, and Taylor is on her way to Laos. Dave, Taylor, and I had a hard night on a train from Chumphon to Bangkok. We got into Chumphun after dark and decided to get a night train to Bangkok. At the train station we were informed that all the trains for the next two days were sold out except for a few third class seats on a train that was scheduled to leave at 10:20 PM that night. The tickets were dirt cheap- only $5.50 for a ticket, but they happened to be in the lowest available class- no air conditioned sleeping compartment like we had planned on, instead a bench with literally no leg room shared with many, many people. To add to the pleasure of last night, the train ended up being three hours late, leaving us exposed to misquotes while we waited next to the train track in Chumpon.
The third class compartment was filled to the brim, with people in every available seat and more people and children stuffed on the floor under the bench. It was a pretty terrible night. The one saving grace for me was that Taylor had a few pain killers that I could take to knock myself out (or “out of it”). After a percocet, a vicadin, and a few beers I was able to zone off for extended periods of time. I didn't really sleep though, and towards the end of the train ride I was on edge. People were running through our train car starting at four in the morning yelling in Thai trying to sell food and drinks. This caused a lot of the kids to wake up and start crying and screaming, which lasted for the remaining six hours of the train ride. All of this coupled with the irritability induced by the pain killers caused me to almost blow up on a a few people who kept bumping into me. We did make it though...finally.
Dave and I are spending the night sleeping on the floor of the Bangkok airport to avoid any further complications with the thai overland transport system. We leave at 10:30 in the morning on a four and a half hour flight to Kathmandu. I'm looking forward to Nepal with lots of anticipation. I feel like there is a reason that the opportunity to go to Nepal has entered my life and I can't wait to get there and start trekking and climbing. A year ago I never could have imagined all of this. Now it seems pretty routine to me- I feel comfortable and confident with all the traveling right now. More than anything, I'm excited to see what the Himalayas hold for me in terms of climbing.
