Thailand

Alright, so its almost been 6 months of traveling, and Im still here!!!

The blog has over 7,500 hits! Ive really got something to party about...

I never mentioned it, but something like 17 years ago (damn Im getting old!!!) I visited Thailand with the fam. This is why I took a sissy picture with Johan below, so relax.

So, from Krabi:

Went from Ko Samui to Ko Tao
Hung out in Ko Tao for awhile
Went from Ko Tao to Bangkok

Ko Tao is absolutely amazing if you are coming from Ko Samui. Its a totally different vibe which is amazing. Its low key, but has a cool bar scene for those who take their partying serious. When we first got there we went out for a night, then started diving. Apparently Ko Tao has the highest number of divers that are certified by PADI than anywhere else in the world. Something like 5% of all divers worldwide get certified in Ko Tao. This means that some of the dive sites can get crowded, but its an ocean out there and giving a friendly wave and passing a couple of fellow divers has never been considered such a bad situation in my book.

I had done something like 12 dives up until this point, so I went for my Advanced Open Water, which involved 5 dives which were all unique on their own. The purpose of the advanced class is to make someone a better diver. There are 2 mandatory and 3 elective modules that you do for this. The mandatory skills are night diving and navigation. The electives that I chose are: PPB (buoyancy control), a dive where you hone skills in recognizing fish, corals, and invertebrates, and a deep dive (18 - 30 meters).

There are other ones for underwater photography, a session just on fish identification, boat diving, etc... They are all found at PADI.com. I didnt get nitrogen narcosis on the deep dive (23 meters max depth), but it was cool. Nitrogen narcosis is something divers think is cool, but its basically when your body reacts to the pressure by acting drunk. Its like the adrenaline, or high that they get similar to skydivers, or any dangerous and thrilling hobby.

If you have never dived, a lot of this may not make sense - so get out there and dive!!! Ko Tao also has pretty cheap rates, and when you consider that you get free accommodation when you or a friend book a dive course, you can see why its so popular. There is also a good set of bars there. You've got Lotus bar, where they have fire dancers with some being as young as 6, Choppers which always has an English Premier League match playing and has really awesome food, and then for late night beats head down to the bar at Banz dive center which keeps it thumpin till 5:30 or so and makes for an interesting next day when you have to go diving early. I wouldn't know anything about that, but so I hear...

Pics we (me + Elina) took during our dives:

Moray Eel

Clown fish and anemone

Butterfly fish

Blue spotted slug

Going deep!

Our instructor, Charlotte is directly related to Gene Simmons

Getting ready to get off this damn seasick boat!

Triggerfish

Beautiful anemone

Lionfish

Red breasted harte fish

Surface on the way up...

The reef at the dive site pinnacle

Clown fish and anemone 2

I will spare all the details about the diving, but it was pretty sweet. I was taking the course with a Dutch girl, who hadnt dived in a long time and our instructor, Charlotte was a real tighfist so she didnt have mutch patience with the Dutchie. It rained for 6 full days on Ko Tao, and one night the rain was so hard that on the way back from the bar at half four, I had to put my wallet in my mouth and hold the umbrella with two hands because the water was above my waist. Just about every day we went out for a dive the boat would hit 2+ meter waves which made a lot of people sick. It was then that I learned I wasnt invincible to sea sickness. I never actually got sick, but when its rocking and a rollin and you see other people get sick around you the natural reaction is to feel a bit sick yourself. When me and Johan eventually left Ko Tao the high speed catamaran ferry was getting tossed so much, nearly 70% of the boat got sick and these Thai dudes just went up and down the aisles passing out and picking up bags of puke. Man, and you thought you had a shitty job!!!

After Ko Tao I was supposed to go to Ko Phangan for the full moon party on the 12th, but because of all the flooding in Ko Samui I figured it would get rained out. Turns out it didnt!!! Nobody knows why the full moon party exists, but around the world it is known as one of the crazier party's out there in existence (and I missed it!). Oh well, looks like I will have to come back to Thailand. Its weird, but a lot of the travellers I have met here, and especially those in Bangkok seem to have been here at least a half a dozen times.

From Ko Tao, the ferry takes you to Champorn where you catch the 9 hour bus to Bangkok. Me and Johan posted up near Khoa San Road, which apparently is pretty famous in England. The road is about two city blocks long, and is packed to the gills with filth and booze. Anything is possible on Khoa San Road. They have bars on the street which are just a small cabinet filled with liquor, and stools so you can buy a drink and just sit down. The area is well trodded by the backpacker crowd, so this is a pretty popular option as opposed to paying more at the actual bars. The cheapest and best way to party there is just to walk up and down the street and go from 7-11 to 7-11 buying beers and drinking them on the street. They sell everything there - booze, cigarettes, patches of all the countries you have traveled to (popular with backpackers), tshirts, wallets, necklaces, tattoos, giant sized zippos bigger than your head, cigarette dispensers, prostitutes, 6 year old girls that sell flowers and bet you in thumb war and rock paper scissors all night long, fake ids, fake diplomas, ping pong shows, piercings, and a partridge in a pear tree... One of my nights as a resident on Khoa San I had the pleasure of witnessing a ping pong show, and I will not elaborate here as to exactly what went down but I will say that they are interesting. There are tons of mafia hawkers who smack their lips as you walk by on Khoa San which is almost the code word telling you he can take you to a ping pong show.

In Bangkok I rode a tuk-tuk, which is the standard touristy thing to do. Tuk-tuks arent for Thais because they are all mafia owned and are a huge ripoff if you ever decide to hire one. They have so many scams, that if you go for a ride it would only be 10 baht ($.2) for three hours of sightseeing, but then they hit you with the gem scam, or take you to a silk, suit, or other factory "only to look", and it wastes plenty of time and money. Me and Johan never fell for it, but they have slick talking non-Thais approach you and tell you they are a teacher or something like that and ask if you need any help. Then they try and give you good advice and tell you that all the temples or whatever you are looking for is closed today and that you need to go to these other ones that are farther away, but that if he helps you that you can get a good rate with a taxi and then next thing you know - boomshakalaka, your toast bud!

In Bangkok I pretty much partied for a bunch of days and met a lot of great people. Since Bangkok is the transit hub of SE asia you get all sorts of characters here that are staying from one day to years. Bangkok also has a really high concentration of sex tourists as well as expats who fancy Thai women. You will see heaps of white men everywhere, and if you approach them and they are married 99 times out of ten they have a Thai wife, and decided to leave their country and make a life new here.

On the third day that we were in town, there was a massive ceremony for the Kings sister. Thailand has a king and queen which are held in the utmost regard. Everywhere you go you will find "long live the king" plastered up, along with pictures of the man with his wife. Nearly every street has a store where you can buy king paraphernalia (posters, paintings, flags, etc.). At 7-11s you can buy wristbands similar to the livestrong ones that supposedly give long life to the king.

The royal family is held in such high regard that when the Kings sister died earlier this year it was decided that they would wait to hold the funeral processions untill a massive temple would be erected. Well, that they did. A 10 acre park was entirely covered in flowers, temporary buildings that held exhibits on the woman, and about 500,000 people showed up to mourn the countries loss. For the most part all of Thailand shut down for three days, and transportation went to a screeching halt. All the TV channels showed the processions, and all streets within a 10 block radius were shut down. Every soldier in Thailand must have put on their dress uniforms, and performed in a parade. It was quite elaborate. It was a pretty massive event, with free food given out at dinner time, and a certain flower with a pungent odor given out in the early morning to keep people awake if they chose.

Temple for the Kings sister. She actually died in January, but it took untill November to complete the building that you see, which holds her cremated remains.

Just to prove that I was there...

Sooo many people paying their respects. It was a sea of black.

People would put flowers in these trays, and there was a ceremony that the police would have to put out new trays for people to place the flowers in.

View from afar

View of mourners just outside Grand Palace

There is no doubt that the Thai mafia are strong. They definitely control almost every aspect of life here in Bangkok. The beggars are owned by the mafia, similar to a pimp they have to hand over all their earnings and are in turn given a small "salary" for their efforts. There are fake monks which go around begging, and these as well are owned by the mafia. Public transportation covers a majority of the city, especially with the introduction of BTS skytrain (like a Tram), but none of it reaches out to Khoa San road or the vicinity. This forces tourists to use taxis and tuk-tuks that are owned by the mafia. All the taxis here in Bangkok have meters, but mafia taxis arent allowed to use them. A normal everyday tourist may not notice all these aspects of control, but if you stay here long enough you see how even your life is controlled by the mafia.

So the main highlights of Bangkok are:
1) Temples - there are tons and tons of temples. Get yourself a good map, and just walk it out between the major ones: emerald buddha, marble buddha, standing buddha, gold buddha, and reclining budda. There are many more, but these are the highlights

Wat Intrararam-

45 meters high - snap, this thing is tall! For good luck you can release birds from a cage at its base for $2, and you can sign roof tiles that will adorn any one of a number of new temples going up across the city.

Wat Arun -

Outside of Wat Arun

cool statue

We saw these queer sailors and they really wanted to take a picture with us, so we let them come over and they were really into it! So much so that this one dude felt obliged to give me a hug around the waist...

Before

After

Temple outside of Wat Arun

Wat Po -

Stone man at Wat Po

The architecture at Wat Po is amazing

Cool war guy at Wat Po

People praying to Buddha

Head of reclining buddha. 46 meters high x 15 meters tall - this guy is fucillo huge!!!

Long ways

Close up of hair

Wat Sakrit & Golden Mountain -

Temple just next to golden mountain. I think Wat Sakrit...

Ceremony for a man to convert to being a monk at Wat Sakrit

This is the most touristic thing ever, but I like how this pic turned out

Cool buddha at golden mountain]

Closeup of golden monk

Wat Traimit -

Golden Buddha. It was originally covered in stucco, untill 50 years ago they went to move it and the stucco came off. It is solid gold, weighing something like 2.3 tons and was covered to prevent its theft from invaders.

Nothing to do with anything, but RB - this one's for you!

2) Take a trip down Khoa San road and revel in the mayhem at the heart of SE asia

Farewell pic. Go AFA!!!

Gavin, Johan, Me - Khoa San rd. crew

3) The Damnoen Saduak floating market. There is a market two hours from Bangkok that requires you to get in a boat, and float down the river to visit all the areas of the market. There are stores that line the waterway, and if you are interested in any of their products they hook you in, and then the bartering begins. A lot of the products can be found in Bangkok, and they are similar from shop to shop, but the experience is more the draw than what you can purchase. There are many boats that linger around that sell anything and everything. You can find the hat boat, the banana boat, the fruit boat, the boat with drinks, the boat making pancakes, the boat making kabobs, you name it they have it. If you can do it on land they can do it sitting down at the convenience of their own little boat.

Souveneir boat

Restaurant boats

Lemon boat

I own this. When you put it under hot water it pees! A must have!!!

17 years ago when I was in Thailand I went to the cobra show, and it was cool. Unfortunately I didnt have enough cash or patience to see it this time.

Cool temple after floating market

4) The bridge on the River Kwai. I have not done this yet, so I cant say for sure what it is like but apparently there is a stretch of railroad track that was built to link Bhurma with Bangkok and the area was so treacherous that 100k prisoners of war during WWII died trying to assemble that area. More on this in the next post.
5) The tourist thing to do is to take a tuk-tuk. Never do this. Its entirely a scam that is too lengthy to spell out here. It involves silk, gems, suits, and petrol.

Inside of a tuk-tuk. These things suck, and their drivers are even worse.

But me and Johan are Bangkok vets, so we can still smile about it.
6) Chatuchak Weekend Market. This place is cool, and has cockfights...

Making tea at Chatuchak (known as JJ by expats). This guy is really famous in Thailand, and for $.75 you can get an ice cold tea that has defied gravity over a dozen times. At JJ they have cockfights, and all this other craziness. You can find anything there, all you have to do is look.

B

So I think where I left off was Langkawi, Malaysia. From there till now:

1) Headed from Langkawi to Phuket
2) From Phuket to Ko Phi Phi and around
3) Ko Phi Phi to Krabi
4) Krabi to Ko Samui

Phuket -

Phuket is the southernmost city on a small ithmus on the west coast of Thailand. Its pretty well known for having great beaches, and being the tourist center of southern Thailand. I traveled from Langkawi to Phuket with by British friends Tim and Gareth, and my Belgian buddy Johan. We got settled in a clean hostel with aircon (woohoo!!!) which was a relief from the fleabag spot we were at in Langkawi.

When we got to Phuket we did a little exploring and then went out to a bar. For some reason its cheaper to get bottles of Johnny Walker in the bars than it is to buy a round of beers, so its not uncommon for a table to have two or three bottles at a table like they are VIP, but are really the budget drinkers. The four musketeers (Tim, Gareth, Johan, and me) got a bit pissed, and around two we split up. Johan and Gareth went home, and me and Tim went out to another bar.

At the second bar we made friends who drove us on their motorbikes to another bar. It was there that we had our introduction to ladyboys. Me and Tim made a run to the lou, and there was a smoking hot chick standing up peeing at the urinal next to us. It kind of took us aside, but on closer inspection the adams apple was sticking out clear as a bell. The damn ladyboy was pestering us too to check out our junks, which was super weird too. We were pissed so we made friends with him and then partied with his friends. Some were hideous, and looked like a man with a wig and lipstick wide shoulders and narrow hips, and some were so hot there was no way you could tell it was a man unless you put your finger on their adams apples.

Tim and his future wife

I dont really have the skinny on exactly why Thailand has more ladyboys per capita than other countries, but I can say that for those who feel they need to make it happen its a hard and dangerous life for them. The average life expectancy of a ladyboy is 35. The hormones that they take are incredibly hard on the system, and eventually lead to heart failure. To be one of the better ladyboys, they have to pluck their facial hair for about a half an hour ever day, take an insane amount of hormones, and fork out 60,000 baht for a rack of boobies, and 250,000 baht to get their junk tucked. This is all coming from a woman I met on the ferry who had a lot of friends who have gone through it so it may not be 100% accurate, but its as good as any other information I could get my hands on.

Since they dont eat, the price is between a woman and a man

We danced with the ladyboys and were taking funny pictures with them, and were dancing with our buddies, but around 4 we headed out. Im not sure exactly what we did wrong, but after heading a meter out of the bar some dude came out of nowhere and smashed a bottle of johnny walker on my dome piece, and started hitting me and Tim. We boogied out of there, and I have had bottles smashed on my head before so it wasnt all that traumatic, but we weren't taking any chances of those guys finding us again so we must have ran into the next town. Some of them even tried to find us on motorbikes, but we used our ninja tactics to lose them. Our buddies from earlier on in the night came and got us and were so disappointed in their countrymen and were super nice. I think it was just because we were the only westerners there and were making so many friends and maybe some of the Thais got jealous. Whatever it was, we were able to laugh about it all the next day, and now in perspective id say that it almost made the night better.

Legitamate friends who helped us, and drove us around on their motorbikes, and drank with us

Phuket has a reputation for being a bad bad place, and it definitely lived up to its reputation....

The next day the four of us headed out to one of the beaches, and it was really nice. About 15 minutes outside of Phuket are some really cool beaches, and we just laid out and didn't do anything all day. That night we watched stepbrothers, the new Will Farrell movie. Its really funny. Just about on every corner in Asia is a counterfeit DVD store for cheap. You can get anything, even movies that have just made the theaters. I don't know how they do it, but they also have games for Xbox.

After Phuket we headed to Ko Phi Phi, which is just south of Phuket. Phi Phi is super beautiful, and after being wiped out in the 2004 tsunami, the whole island has been rebuilt giving it a fresh feeling. The habitable part of the island is really just a small stretch that is flanked on both sides by huge limestone cliffs covered in forestry. The beaches there are absolutely picture perfect, and the bar scene is amazing. The primary reason to go to phi phi is to party, and if you go there its pretty much impossible to take it easy. The Rock Backpackers, where we all stayed at is a damn mess. I really dont need to go into any details of what went down, but I will say that of all the places I have been and all the parties that Ko Phi Phi is definitely world class in terms of partying.

Overlook of Phi Phi at sunset

The bars are amazing. After the first night we set our nightly routine which started by sippin a few beers at the hostel while getting ready, then going to reggae bar, and then finishing the night off at Apache bar. Reggae bar is so effin cool. They have a huge boxing ring in the middle, and are probably the most well known spot in Thailand for buckets. Thats buckets of booze - not like a sandcastle bucket. What they do is take a small bucket and make a huge drink in it and add a shit load of ice. Its like having 4 or 5 spirits in one portable container. For Bighamtonites, it would be like putting a scorpion bowl (plus red bull) in a bucket. Oh yeah, and to boot - its buy one get one free at Reggae bar. Oh yeah, and when the clock strikes midnight you go upstairs to the dance club for free shots and buckets. Like I said before - the place is a real shit show. They have muay thai boxing in the ring for everyone to watch, and if tourists are up for it they can fight other tourists with pads and gloves on. I have seen some westerners get the shit beat out of them, and all for a free bucket of booze - fools. Oh yeah, and in between the pro Thai guys fighting eachother and the westerners they have 6 year olds fight each other. Its so cute, and they have a 6 year old referee. Since they are so young, they are really uncoordinated and basically punch untill they fall over or spin around and then fall over.

Muay Thai, intoxicated, in front of a huge crowd is the best idea for a bar. Why didnt I think of that?

Apache is just a cool bar thats on the beach with really good DJs. Usually you are so smashed when you get there that dancing untill 6AM becomes the regular. Oh yeah, and it was at Phi Phi that I really got to be intimate with all the energy drinks of Thailand. For some reason red bull has become synonymous with Thailand, but im not really sure why. There is red bull, shark, green buffalo, M-150, and about a million other ones. They come in small medicine bottles which makes it a little weird, but man are they strong. If you have two M-150s your heart goes out of control, and you wont be able to properly sleep for two days. Rumor is that there is amphetamines in it, but nobody knows for sure.

For Gareths birthday same day as halloween, we got all dressed up and had an amazing time. Tim, Johan, and Gareth were 80s exercize guys and I was captain america. I had a bandana with a huge eagle on it labeled "eagle", a speedo over my shorts (in proper superhero fashion), a wife beater with "OBAMA 08" on the back, and these slitted American flag glasses. All the crew from our hostel got tattooed up with rave paint, and we were like a pack of wolves. It was hillarious. When we hit the bars about 30 deep, people wanted to join the Rock Crew, but "access denied" with a giant thumbs down was our response.

I also got a Thai massage at Phi Phi, which was cool but I have always been a little uncomfortable with people giving me massages or touching me so I was a little on edge.

Found this at a piercing studio in Phi Phi. God this is hideous, but is a fine example of what Blakey Holmse's kid is going to look like.

The other cool spot at Ko Phi Phi is Phi Phi Lay, which is a small island just to the south. The island is quite picturesque, and is most famous for being the inspiration for the movie The Beach. The funny part is that it couldnt be further from isolation. All you have to do is hire a longtail boat from Phi Phi for about $4 to take you over for the day, but nonetheless is cool. There is no development that has happened there, and apart from a few walking trails the island is deserted. There are no gonja fields like in the movie, and the actual areas of land that dont make up the limestone cliffs is quite small.

Me, Tim, and Gaz at the beach from "The Beach"

Inlet on one side of Phi Phi lae

Monkey beach. At least a half a dozen people a year get rabies here from the monkeys. Fools...

Cruising around, just before Mayra Bay

In Phi Phi I went for two dives which was quite nice. Thailand is right up there with the big boys in terms of world class diving. With good weather, and plenty of sunshine water temperatures of 30-32C and visibility of 20 meters is not unusual. I had a great time, and going with Johan and Gareth made the experience even better. The highlight was spotting a giant octopus just hanging out in one of the reefs. I already have my PADI open water certificate, and my buddies didnt so our max depth was only around 18 meters, but it still was good. As I am writing this in Ko Tao I am in the process of taking my Advanced open water, which brings me one step closer to getting my divemaster.

From Phi Phi I went with Johan to Krabi, which is a coastal town just south of Phi Phi. The whole point of going there was just for rock climbing. The rock climbing at Railey Beach (just next door) is supposed to be some of the best in the world. They have bolts in the rockface, and for about $30 you can have a full day session with a guide. All the climbs are on the limestone cliffs that flank the beaches. When you are up there, if you have a second or two to catch your breath and look around, the views are absolutely amazing.

We started on some fairly easy ones (class 5+ with 8D being the highest), but even after just doing one or two 15 meter climbs the forearms and shoulders nearly give out. Its easy to get stuck and just not be able to keep going no matter how hard you try. I really have a new found respect for rock climbers, because it is really - and I mean really hard work. Even the ones that I call fairly easy are damn near impossible, but were nothing compared to what we did in the afternoon. In the afternoon we went climbing through a cave - without a torch for some reason. It was pitch black in the cave, and we had to ascend about 100 meters in pitch black to come out at an opening on the other side. We then abseiled (basically rappelling) down, and then started the afternoon climbs which were all rated at 6A difficulty. You really had to be spider man to make it to the top of one of those climbs. The guides would help you choose your route, but even then you still would get stuck being like "dude, there is no possible way to go up any farther" at which point they would tell you to reach your hand about 5 meters above your head and stick your thumb in a 1 cm hole, and then put your right foot above your head (a bit of exageration), but it was totally ridiculous. There was one brit in the group who was able to get one of the routes, but his buddy got stuck at this area where you could use your legs to do a split in a .5 meter cave, and then there was a huge overhang that you had to jump up and pull yourself up with all your upper body strength. The second brit got stuck and his muscles froze, and when I went I knew I had to make it up. I yelled, and grunted, and gave it all that I had and on about the 7th try I got it. I was so proud!!!

Johan on the last climb of the day. Fuck this was hard...

Me, Johan, and Bus - our guide

View of the beach looking out of the cave that we climbed through. From here you abseiled down to start the afternoon climbs.

Again

Fav pic of Railey Beach

Me on the first climb of the day. This one was duck sauce compared to the others.

Another pic of Railey.

Johan at about halfway up the warm up climb.

Other people on 30m climb

30m climb

The next day me and Johan went around on motorbikes, and we started off going to the National Park. We started a 3 hour trek through the jungle to a waterfall, when about 20 minutes in we saw a huge monkey (or maybe baboon) in the distance attack another one, and I think he killed him. This was all going on right next to us, and there was all sorts of creepy jungle animals that we were sure were going to come out and eat us. So, about 2 hours into the trek my damn flip flop shit the bed, and I had to walk out with one bare foot. I got those sandals at Ron Johns Surf Shop at Cocoa Beach, FL on spring break in 2004 with Peter D. and Jeff K. Those sandals were close to my heart, and I almost shed a tear when I broke them. On the way out was a cool waterfall, and we sat around and took a dip in one of the pools overlooking the jungle.

After about an hour of walking with only one flip flop on jagged rocks, we got to this waterfall which was nice. Never go on a trek in the jungle with flip flops.

Johan on the upper waterfall

Cool temple on the way back from the national park to Krabi

At night in Krabi there was a festival with all sorts of good food, and weird things for sale. It was good fun.

Bug man = Jims Busy Bee of Thailand

Closeup

Started off with the worms. Not bad, but were a tad overcooked

This thing was definately the nastiest. I had the fried version as well, but this thing was just vile. When you bit into it, it exploded in your mouth with some nasty goo stuff. Just the sight of them is nasty.

The fried version which was much tastier

And then the grand finale...... GIANT CRICKET!!! The head was for some reason hollow, and came off before I even bit into it. It was crunchy, and with a little lime was quite good.

Oh yeah, and then the dried squid. For 10 baht (.25 cents) you get 4 or 5 on a stick. They are quite chewy, so the guy runs them through this roller thing to soften them up. With a little lime and some chili sauce they are quite good, although La Parm calamari still reigns champ.

From Krabi we headed off to Ko Samui which is alright at best. If your going to the east coast, id suggest skipping this island in favor of Ko Tao or Ko Phangan. Ko Samui is filled with agressive hawkers, and package tourists which the combination of the two make it a real turn off. Everything is expensive, but for some reason me and Johan were able to score some accomodation with aircon and really clean beds which was nice, so we ended up staying a bit longer than we probably should have. Oh yeah, and Ko Samui is really skeezy. Throughout Thailand you will find proper massage parlors with women who have perfected the drawn out "massssssssaaaaaaaggggggggeeeeeeeeee", and are totally legit. Ko Samui is the type of place where old men go to the massage parlors that have bars inside, and pink lights on. During the day you can see balding dudes toting their young "girlfriends" all around the place and taking them out to eat. There was no love lost once we left that place. Id have to say the best part about Ko Samui was that me and Johan were able to be reunited with Tim and Gareth. At Samui Tim's sister Lauren met up with them after flying from London. Shes a pisshead like the lot of us, so we had a great time going out.

Thailand is nuts. There are ladyboys, super strong energy drinks, booze in buckets, hookers everywhere. I have to say that this place has a super good party scene. After going out night after night it wears on you, but for sure Thailand, and especially the southern islands should be on everyones to do list. Coming from Nepal - Malaysia, Thailand, and for sure Singapore are all in my eyes first world countries. Getting around is a breeze, its not dangerous, and you have all the modern conveniences at a fingers reach (toilet paper, good coffee, air conditioning, tv, etc...). Join the bandwagon - visit Thailand. The rest of the world is jumping on, and you wont be dissapointed.

So I think I left off after the trek in the Himilaya. Real quickly, from there:

- I went to Pokhara (still in Nepal) for a couple of days to unwind, kick back and relax.
- Got my ass back to Kathmandu, and headed out. I took a flight from Kathmandu to Bangkok, then another to Singapore, slept for two hours and then got on a train for Kuala Lumpur
- In Kuala Lumpur (KL for short) I went to the penultimate (second to the last, in case you were wondering what that meens) round of the 2008 MotoGP season at Sepang International Circuit (SIC)
- I spent a couple of days staying with this dude I met on the street, Ridz, and then hung around Chinatown, KL.
- Took the bus from KL to Palau Penang staying at this ladies house who was sitting next to me on the bus. I dont think her boyfriend likes me very much, and im pretty sure he wanted some alone time with her for a quick shag so I wrote most of this while waiting to go back.
- Partied in Penang, and then headed to Palau Langkawi
- Im heading off tomorrow for a ferry to Thailand, and then a bus up to Phuket/Ko Phi Phi

I forgot these pics last time...

Me at the base of Kalaa Pattar.

Me on the top of Kalaa Pattar (5,600 meters/18,600 feet). On the right is Pumo Ri. There was a Spanish couple there who were super sad, and I asked why. It turns out it was because they had 5 friends die in an avalanche there last year.

I finally managed a mustache. I like to call this one (thanks D) terminator meets CHIPS.

Pokhara -

This sweet ass town is about an 8 hour drive to the west of Kathmandu. You can take a chicken bus (local transport) which takes like 13 hours and costs like $1.50, or cough up the wopping $5 to ride the luxury coach (one step up from the rat and roach infested busses I had in Africa, so not really so luxury - but transport nonetheless). The ride out to Pokhara, or any transport in Nepal is pretty much life threatening. As you are driving along, you are hugging the mountainside with 400 meter cliffs and no railings (not even the dangerous part - lol). The dangerous part is their driving style. When you are going along you will see wrecks, of the likes you have never seen before. Huge trucks, upside down, and twisted in half, busses with all their windows shattered out and crumpled like an accordian - its crazy.

When you get to Pokhara, the main area is Lakeside. Lakeside quite obviously hugs the lake, and is filled with restaurants, cheap hotels and guesthouses, barber shops, internet cafes, bicycle rental places, and souveneir shops.

I dont really get the barber shop thing. There has to be more barber shops in Pokhara per capita than anywhere in the world. Quite literally every third shop is a massage parlor/barber shop. I couldnt even conjure up that in the highest of high seasons that there is enough work for all those barbers. They are all men, and they stand in the opening of their shops, doing their best to get your attention, offering massages. Now I dont know what kind of readers are out there, but Im not particular on getting a massage from anyone, let alone a man, but I guess some people sign up. Pokhara is the starting point (and usually ending point) for people starting the Anapurna Trek (number two in Nepal to Everest Base Camp), and people come off the hills a bit rough - so some people just go straight for a trim and a massage, but sure as hell there cant be enough trekkers for all those barber shops.

So I hung out my first day there, just checking the place out. I went over by the lake and found these guys, who later became my good friends. The leader of their pack, who went by the name Earthquake (born during one) was a bit witty and wanted to learn from my western ways. Man, do I really hate westernizing people, so after playing along for a little time I commandeered the subject away from the ways of the west. Anyways, these guys and I stole a canoe (haha - they promised me that it was ok, but I really knew that we were stealing it; rather borrowing it) and we went out on the lake. We went to this island and walked about 1km through this leech infested water to a waterfall, and then after we went to another island that had a very famous Hindu temple.

Reflection on Lake Fewa

Looking out over Lake Fewa

This is one of the boats we stole!

Israeli hostel/bed chabad on the lake. Man, those guys really do manage pretty well. For such a small country, they are everywhere.

Me and my new buddies at the waterfall on the island. Earthquake is the guy in the middle. Hes putting his hands together which is the custome when someone says hello in Nepal (Namaste).

I gave him my camera, and he took this ultra cool picture of me.

My new buds

We then went and had some drinks at some super cheap hole in the wall place and then split up. Earthquake had to go home to eat Dahl Bhat or his mom would get angry at him so I went and had dinner at his place. His dad (name is House) is a bit of a kook, so I hung out for a lil while with his mom and then boogied out.

Me with Earthquakes mom. She was hillarious.

The next day was productive. I rented a bicycle and went all around. Highlights were the Gurkha and mountaineering museam. The Gurkhas are world renound as some of the worlds toughest soldiers. Nepali by birth and culture, they are recruited every year by the British army and form six brigades. The motivation is that back home in Nepal a soldier could expect to earn around 10 British sterling a month. In the British Army this salary jumps to nearly 1500 quid a month, so every year hundreds of young men flock from every corner of the mountains to try out for selection. Their selection process is rigorous, and just to give you an idea - the first event requires them to carry a 25kg rock in a wicker basket running uphill for 5k (and thats just the start of it). If you have heard the name Gurkha before, but are not sure where, its probably because most recently there has been a lot of controversy over them. In 1997, with the end of British ruling in Hong Kong the main base of the Gurkhas was moved out and all soldiers that served from that point on were given the same pensions as their British counterparts. Additionally, after 5 years experience they were able to move out into regular British units. Those who served prior to 1997 were given the royal shaft. For all their hard work, tenacity, and service, if they did not meet the stringent requirements they were not given a pension, and those who did not have citizenship at the time of the signing of the legislation would not be able to file or get it at all. War heroes, who fought for the UK would not even be allowed to be considered a citizen. How sad. The Gurkhas are well known for their tenacity under fire, ability to handle stress, and are extremely agressive in battle.

Symbol of Gurkha regiment. The knives are called Kukhris and are very effective at hand to hand.

I thought this was funny. "A gurkha using equipment that his father would not have understood"

Pretty good moddo if I say so myself.

This was a cool hindu temple that I went to that had and opening out that went behind a waterfall.

The outlook through the cave into the backside of the waterfall. We all are adults. Norm, dont even think about making any wisecracks about what it looks like.

In Pokhara I also went to the mountaineering museam which highlighted the feats of all the great mountain climbers throughout the world. I was there that I realized I have to climb Mont Blanc in France, and Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina. Those are next.

I hung around Pokhara for a bit, then headed back to Kathmandu for a night, then the long haul to make my way to the MotoGP race in Sepang. I had to take a flight from Kathmandu to Bangkok, then after a layover take another flight to Singapore. I crashed for about an hour or two and then took the train in the morning to Sepang International Circuit. I hustled hard from Nepal to the race, and went straight from the train station to the race track with all my bags. I looked pretty retarted, but I was really hustling to make qualifying practice on saturday. It turns out I was like a half an hour too late but nonetheless.

Anyways, after the first day at the track I headed back to Kuala Lumpur (the city closest to Sepang circuit). Being so exhausted from traveling from Nepal I couldnt work the ticket machine for the subway, and I told this guy that I didnt understand and then he made fun of me because it was in english - there should be no reason for not understanding. We chatted for a minute and I asked to stay at his house and he agreed, but only on one condition - that we would have to cook togethere some Malaysian food (score!).

Petronas towers are the most significant land mark of KL.

I dont think that I have properly described anything about MotoGP in any of these posts, despite ranting about the details of it week after week. MotoGP is the class of international motorcycle riders that are the best in the world. There are roughly 20 riders in the MotoGP class, and race at roughly 17 circuits that are dispersed throughout the world. Younger, and less experienced riders race in the lower classes (125 and 250cc two strokes) untill they either fail to suceed, break their bodies, or move up to MotoGP.

A MotoGP motorcycle is nothing like what you can buy off the street. They are purebreed racemachines that are one off million dollar prototypes. They weigh 326 pounds and have four stroke 800cc engines that produce something like 220 horsepower (the actual number is closely guarded by the bike manfacturers). The circuits that are raced at year after year are Qatar, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Catalunya, UK, Netherlands, Germany, USA, Czech, Misano, Japan, China, Australia, and Malaysia. The principal bike manufacturers are Honda, Ducati, Yamaha, Kawasaki, and Suzuki with most manufacturers operating a factory team of two riders, and another satelite team of two riders.

The races are short, at just around 45 minutes, which is the optimum length of time which it takes to empty a fuel tank and fry the tires of the bike. Going around a circuit at a maximum speed of 335 km/hr the tires take a real beating and are specifically designed for each circuit and each rider. The rules have changed slightly most recently, but the way that they used to do it was that the rider would test drive a few sets of tires on friday, and on saturday, and then on saturday the tire manufacturers would take their data and formulate a specific compound that would be made for a few sets of tires and those would be flown directly to the racetrack for the race on sunday. In addition to this specific diagnostic data is examined to determine at any given point and time nearly every aspect what the bike is doing. In short, its an extremely competitive sport from the rider as well as bikes perspective. There are huge stakes at risk (not only the lives of the riders, but also the ensuing bike sales that fluctuate with who is winning).

In the history of the sport, interestingly enough only one rider has died. Japanese rider Daijiro Kaito died from a brain stem fracture that occured from a crash at Suzuka racetrack (his home circuit). The bikes are pushed to the absolute limit (tires are on the verge of shredding to pieces, engines scream at 20,000 rpm are ready to blow if there is any flaw in their manufacturing, and the riders are utterly exhausted at the end of the race). Why am I explaining all this - because nobody back home knows about it. You go anywhere in the world and you will see the number 46 (Valentino Rossi) plastered all over everything and anything. The Doctor is about as well known as any other international athlete superstar (schumacher, jordan, woods, etc.), but nobody knows about him or the motorcycle racing at home. Even the American riders are not all that well known. The 2006 world champion, Nicky Hayden is more well known overseas then he is back home. With the winning of the championship, Dorna (the people who put it all together) thought that the sport would gain popularity back in the states, but im not convinced that it really happened. You wont ever see ESPN to talk about it, and speedvision sometimes doesnt even air the races.

If you really want to learn more, there are two great documentaries you can get on DVD that will explain it all. "Faster", although a few years old is narrated by Ewan McGregor gives a good overview of the sport. The Doctor, Tornado, and the Kentucky Kid gives some insight into the introduction of an American race (Laguna Seca) on the calendar. You should check them out.

I am pretty ignorant on most sports, but I really have a special place in my heart for MotoGP. The reason is that for me, I find it to be the ultimate test of who is the best. It is an individual sport (usually teamates are the most vicious of enemies) which requires man and machine to be stronger and better than the competition. The engineering aspect of it is really interesting, but when you couple that with the skill that is required of the rider it becomes an interesting mix. F1 is much more imbalanced to sucess depending on the car, and isnt as physical as twisting and turning and flicking a motorcycle down the track. F1 = duck sauce compared to MotoGP.

So, on race day I was able to get some good seats that were right above the start/finish line, and had some good chats with other fanatics while I was there. On race day the front row was Dani Pedrosa (Spain), Valentino Rossi (Italy), and the rookie Jorge Lorenzo (Spain). I was probably the only American there, so I was in full force in support of the US riders. I was yelling at them, rooting for them, and trying to convince the other fans of how good they were. The Aussies and the Brits all had huge flags and banners in support. I was well out numbered.

Aussies were out in full force.

Layout of track. I was sitting in the grandstands on the upper part of the sideways V.

Then there was this guy doing stunts. Kind of cool, but I have seen better.

same guy

125cc starting grid

Valentino Rossi's pit.

Marco Simoncelli on his way back into the pits after victory as the 2008 250cc world champ!

Front row of the MotoGP grid

Everyone around me got a kick out of this one.

The boys laying it down on turn 17.

The tornado, Colin Edwards (US) smokin down the front stretch

Jeremy Burgess giving his rider a hug. Hes a very famous man in racing, and has worked with Doohan and Rossi.

Rossi giving his fan club a big wave in thanks of their support

Final podium

Champagne celebration on the podium

Fuck the police!!! Even their scooters...

Me with Denso girls. Theres like one million girls who just stand around and look pretty. Jolly good entertainment.

I have never seen a Kawi looking so good.

Ducati girl on 1098. This bike is like $25,000 which is huge for a streetbike.

Final scoreboard

About halfway through the race, Valentino Rossi made the pass on Dani Pedrosa to take the lead and never looked back. His bridgestone tires took him on for the win 4 seconds (an eternity) ahead of Pedrosa. Rookie Andre Dovizioso (Dovi for short) went on to take the third spot on the podium, but not after having to fight off Hayden (US). It was so close, and I wanted Hayden on the podium so bad I was going nuts every time he would come by. All the people around me could see that I wanted him to get on the podium, and I was so excited that they started to get excited with me. I had these Japanese guys who couldnt speak english yelling at the top of their lungs in support of him, and we were jumping around and hugging eachother when he would make a pass. It was hillarous. Anyways, he just couldnt do it which was dissapointing but showed grace and later congradulated Dovi and commented on how good the fight was.

In the lower categories, I got to see the crowning of Marco Simoncelli as the 250cc world champion which was cool. He had a lot of fans there, including this group of like 15 Korean girls who were going even crazier than I was about Hayden. There was a shitload of Italian fans that flew there, and almost an equal amount of spanish fans which I thought was cool.

After the race I stayed in KL for a couple of days. The place is really cool. Coming from Nepal, it made me feel really weird to be back in civilization. The roads were paved, the place was clean, there was transport, there was cold drinks, etc. The subway system in KL is waaaaaay better than anything back home, and way cleaner. The petronas towers are by far the centerpiece of the city, and are really cool. The humungous tower in Dubai beat it as being the worlds tallest building, but nonetheless I think the petronas towers are the aesthetic champions.

From KL I took the bus to Palau Penang, which is an island in the North of Malaysia. On the bus I met Ling, who offered for me to stay at her house (Malays are so friendly). She gave me my own room, a set of keys, and cooked for me! Im not so convinced her boyfriend liked me, because he couldnt figure out why Ling would take a stranger in, but by the time I left he was cool. She also had a kick ass pad on the 17th floor of an apartment building that had a swimming pool.

I did some exploring in Penang, and went to get a coffee and met this cool Belgian guy, Johan, who has been on the road for two years, mostly living in Australia. We rented motorbikes and went all around, especially to Penang Hill, and this cool chinese temple. Then we got absolutely pissed, and the next day I nearly missed my ferry when I headed to Langkawi where I am now. At like 3AM me and Johan went to get some late night snacks, and when we were ordering pancakes we started chatting with these two American girls. One asked me where I lived, and I told her upstate NY and that she didnt know where. She pressed me to find out the town, and when I told her Binghamton, she told me she lived in Binghamton also. She said she lived at 5 Seminary Ave, so I asked her what her name was, and she said she was Ashley Cornelius. As soon as I heard that I burst into laughter, and nearly fell to the floor. She couldnt figure out why, so I jumped up and told her that one of my best friends is Ashley, and that I knew she was lying.

Ko Si Lok Chinese monastery in Penang

Ouside of monastery

These guys were cool!

Im addicted to motorbikes in Asia!!!!

In Penang, for some reason there were these guys weedwacking a drainage ditch, and then they took a picture of it. Id say one of the most random things I have ever seen.

Always remember - dont turtle, monkey corn, or basketballs.

Lousy picture, but one of the beaches in the North. My buddy Johan from Belguim in pic.

Dude, these were the sickest 4AM pancakes I have ever had!!!! As a matter of fact they are the sickest anytime pancakes I have ever had.

The girl on the right pretended to be Ashley. Looks nothing like her.

We eventually worked it out, but she for some reason has Ashleys ID (this girl is underage), and memorized the address in case a bouncer asked where she lives. When I told her I was from Binghamton she just pretended she was Ashley. What are the chances???

I was supposed to go to Borneo to meet a guy I knew from Nepal and then down to Indonesia but with heavy rain likely I scrapped the idea and am going to head up to Thailand.

At Langkawi I met these cool Brits, Tim and Gareth and with Johan we have just been tearing this place up at night. There are some really cool bars and clubs here. In Penang, and here there has been heaps of Americans that are doing semester at sea. There is something like 650 of them, and partying with them was cool, but weird. Thats the most I have seen or hung out with Americans in my whole travels.

Sunset in Langkawi. The picture doesnt even do it justice.

Another 5 minutes later. The shades were amazing.

We convinced this girl to donate her bra to Raggae Cafe. They had a bunch already on the wall, so we had to add it to the lot. In honor of the new addition, the owner gave us all free shots! We all signed it (like 10 of us from the hostel), so if you ever are in Langkawi you should check that place out. That was only the start of a crazy night out.

I went from Langkawi to Phuket where I am now. Till next time - stay classy San Diego.