"Tigers Love Pepper, They Hate Cinnamon"

There was only one thing on the agenda for today... TIGERS!  Yup, today we went to the "Tiger Kingdom".  There are two "tiger" options as far as I know in Thailand: one is a Tiger Sanctuary just outside of Thailand which is run by a bunch of monks who take in tigers in need; the other, is the "Tiger Kingdom" which is basically a tourist trap where they breed and hand-raise tigers and then send them off to the zoo (they're raised as domesticated as a tiger can be and therefor can't be rehabilitated into the wild).  (I have no idea whether the Tiger Kingdom is part of a rescue or conservation project.)  There are several concerns facing both of these facilities: one of which is the exploitation and capture of a wild animal for profit, another is whether or not they declaw or sedate the tigers, and of course the conditions of their overall care.  I have not been to the sanctuary (because I didn't realize it was near Bangkok until the night before we were leaving and by then it was too late), so I have no frame of reference, only the opinion of the one.

My opinion is that it's pretty cool, and where else are you able to cuddle up with a tiger!?  As far as the captivation of a wild animal for profit, I'm not really going to go into that as that debate as been going on forever between zoos and animal activists and everyone else.  I will say however, that before deciding which tigers to visit Darren and I took a little peak into their living space to help us decide.  What we saw were tourists being qued into an enclosure where they took turns with three different tigers, taking pictures and posing with them.  Darren and I both felt a bit sad for them (the tigers).  There's something about seeing a wild animal subjected to photo shoot after photo shoot when all he seems to want to do is sleep (I realise I do the same thing to Darren all the time).  That brings us to whether or not they are sedated or declawed.  I asked, and of course the trainers and the operators of the facility told me that the tigers are not sedated, that they are nocturnal creatures and like to sleep during the day, especially when it's hot.  It's believable, but still I take it with a grain of sand.  The tigers we saw were fairly sleepy, mostly the oldest and youngest ones, the tigers from 6-10 months seemed rather lively.  That's not to say that the eldest tigers slept the entire time.  They would awake if roused by the trainers and at one point one of them got up to chase a coconut on a stick.  As far as their claws go, they are trimmed but not removed.  As far as their environment is concerned, the concrete and chainlink fences are not the most natural and heart warming place, but each area (the tigers are separated by age) does have its own pool and sizeable grass and tree area.

To be sure, when it comes to the tigers or elephants and such, I try to do my part by doing my research and making sure I'm not knowingly supporting (however indirectly) the abuse and mistreatment of animals.  From what I've read, the Tiger Kingdom seems more reputable than the Sanctuary (monks unfortunately, have a bit of a bad rep when it comes to tourist schemes) with regards to the care and health of the animals.  However, there really is no way to be 100% sure of the conditions of any establishment unless you're part of it.  So, despite some reservations, Darren and I decided to go for it, and I'm glad we did.

As part of the money grabbing, before you can actually enter the park you have to choose which cage you would like to go into.  The "Big" tigers are 23 months old, the "Medium" tigers are 10+ months old, the "Small" tigers are 6+ months old, and the "Smallest" tigers are newborns to 4-5 months old.  Of course, there are stipulations and varying prices that go along with each cage.  The smallest ones are the most expensive for 10 minutes with them; the small ones are the same price as the smallest ones but you get 15 minutes with them; and, the medium and big tigers are a little less in cost and you get 15 minutes with them.  Originally Darren was going to see a Big tiger and I was (of course) going to see the Smallest tigers, but if I saw one and he saw the other we wouldn't be able to go into the cages together.  We would have to stand outside while the other went in, which poses a problem photographically unless we want to pay 300 baht for a photographer (300 baht each).  So, we decided to both go see the Big tigers since they were cheaper and that way we could share the experience together and photograph eachother.  It was pretty amazing and our guide/trainer ended up taking some photos for us which was nice, and I'm pretty sure we were in there for almost a half hour which was a bonus!

The tigers themselves were pretty sleepy and sometimes almost seemed dead!  There were rules of course, you had to approach the tiger from behind and couldn't touch the front half of the body or provoke them to play (play=claws and teeth).  So while the trainers were encouraging you to lay on the tigers tummy or spoon them, it was hard to be nervous since they barely moved anyway... until you get slapped in the face by a tail.  It sounds like it happens to a lot of people.  You're petting the tigers rear and if you don't pet hard enough then it tickles and they react with their tails.  Being slapped in the face by a tail does not feel good.  Though the tail itself is soft and furry, it is also very strong and quick and it will definitely startle you!  The trainers were pretty good at rousing the tigers from their sleepiness (usually using small pieces of meat on sticks or sticks rubbed in meat) and consequently, we even got kicked once or twice but only lightly.  At one point, one of the trainers grabbed a long piece of bamboo with a hollowed coconut on the end and started playing with one of the tigers.  He reacted exactly as you might expect a cat to, chasing it and swatting at it.  Our trainer directed me to a spot near a tree, while the other trainer lured the giant cat towards me with the stick and then into the pool.  It was pretty incredible and seeing such a large animal play in the water like a cub was quite sweet.

After you finish in your designated cage(s) you get to wander through the park peering into the other cages and visiting the various age groups (from outside).  Right next to the big ones were the 6 month old ones and they were pretty playful with eachother and super cute!  From there we went to visit some of the Medium cats who you could tell were a bit younger and less independant than the Big ones.  They still played together and cuddled but were still pretty huge!  From there we went to see the biggest cat!  This particular tiger was the father of the others and was massive!  He had a bit of a beard too!  After that, we went to see the babies, the 4 monthers.  Now, before deciding to go with the Big tigers, I was in serious debate and the decision became both economic and practical.  Once I saw these itty bitty things all thought of price went right out the window.  I went back to the ticket counter and bought yet another ticket and went a snuggled with a very sleepy 4 month old tiger for my ten minutes (it was probaby closer to 15).  Even though he was dead asleep it was fantastic.  There was even a volunteer there who took pictures for me while I sat (unfortunately, the camera was on the wrong setting and all the pictures were super dark.  I managed to salvage them but they're pretty grainy).  The baby tiger I was chilling with was named Ninja, and there was another who really wanted to play.  The trainers wouldn't let him though because Ninja was sleeping on my lap and play time can lead to scratching and biting.

Maybe it's cruel to pay money to cuddle with caged tigers, but it was a great experience, an expensive one, but a great one.  To be so close to them and really get to see how magnificient these creatures really are is incredible.  They are so beautiful and so powerful you can't help but have the utmost respect for them.  Darren kept saying, "Can you imagine being hunted by one of those?" to which I replied that the very notion couldn't exist.  I'm sure a tiger would see you, decide it was going to kill you, and then you'd be dead!  They are such amazing and HUGE animals!  I'm glad we got to experience them so close!

Next:  Breakfast at 6am.  7am- Depart for Jungle Trek!  *Spoiler alert:  We've been informed that at some point we will be making rat traps out of bamboo and eating rats for dinner.

Chiang Mai and Cultural Thai

After several more hours by bus we are now in Chiang Mai.  Varying from our usual routine of checking out every guesthouse in town before deciding where to stay, we picked the first one we came to.  It may not be the best one in town or the best one we've ever stayed at but the price is reasonable, it's clean and the bed is comfortable enough.  Done and done!

We arrived early yesterday evening and got going almost right away.  We walked into the old city (a minute or two away) for lunch/dinner, a game of pool (I think Darren's been suffering withdrawl), and then it was off to the Sunday Night Market (of course).  It was actually one of the better markets we've been too in a while, not only because of the variety and reasonable prices, but beause it's a local art and crafts market.  Some of the stuff was pretty basic, scarves, t-shirts, and local, traditional clothing; but, they also had some cool stuff like hand made lamp shades, hand painted book marks, hand-made jewellery, paintings, photos, wooden carvings, etc.  It was refreshingly different and very colourful.  There was food of course!  Everything from local snacks and deserts- calamari, sticky rice, pad thai, sticky rice with mangos and sweet milk, fried chicken, etc- to other cuisines such as sushi, cakes and pastries!  We were really enjoying ourselves just walking amidst the stalls and snacking on the various foods when it started to rain.  That literally put a bit of a damper on our night because it was raining quite profusely.  We came back to our guesthouse to dry up and rest a bit and once the rain let up we tried to go back.  A lot of people had packed up for the night which was unfortunate (welcome to the rainy season I suppose), but we managed to find some of that good ol' banana roti and Darren found some sumai (dim sum).  We finished the night off by sharing a pizza and watching some soccer at one of the local sports/pub joints before calling it a night.

Today was just a planning day.  There's quite a bit we want to do here and it was all just a matter of figuring out what day and which organization, at least until we got to talking to some of the other guests.  There is an agency/organization stationed here at our guesthouse who runs jungle treks.  Let it be known that EVERYONE in town "organizes" jungle treks-every restaurant, book store, mini mart, you name it and they'll organzie a trek for you.  However, according to the guide here the other shops don't acutally "organize" they treks themselves, they just sell them to you and you join the other twenty people who have signed up for the same tour.  Anyway, the other guests that we got talking to had just gotten back from a jungle trek with this company and had nothing but amazing things to say about it.  From what we gather, aside from the difference in price (five times more than the other ones :S), this trek not only takes you hiking through the jungle but the guides teach you about the plants and the animals, everyone in the group participates in cooking the meals, and you stay in hill tribes and participate in their daily lives as well.  There's a lot more that goes on as well, but I'll save that for after we actually do it.  The people we talked to loved it so much that we pursuaded ourselves to join.

The next week is going to be a busy one.  Tomorrow we're going to the Tiger Kingdom, the next day we leave for 3 days and 2 nights into the jungle and minority villages, the night we get back we're going to watch some real Muay Thai, then it's a Thai cooking course for me, and we're down the river to Chiang Rai.  The next week should be pretty exciting with plenty to tell you all about if anyone is actually reading this anymore!  Hope you're all well!

Searching the Ancient Cities

Darren and I left Bangkok a few days ago and arrived here, in Sukhothai.  There seem to be two tourist options for seeing the ancient ruins of Thailand and we chose Sukhothai for two reasons:  it's further from Bangkok and therefor there are supposed to be less tourists; and, because it was a convenient way to break up the otherwise 12-16 hour bus ride to Chiang Mai.

Sukhothai was established in the 13th century and was supposedly the "first independant kingdom of Siam".  The acient royal city is some 900 years old and what remains of them are pretty incredible.  The old/ancient city is only a short motorcycle ride away from the centre of town, so Darren and I made the trip on motorbike, allowing us to cruise around the park on motorbike as well.  It's the first temple we've been to since Indonesia, and those "ruins" were no more than a few stones amid a small creek.  Other than that our impressions of temples were established in China; and as we know, the oldest stuff there was "rebuilt in 1980".  So, to see 900 year old ruins still ruined was pretty incredible.  The Historical Park is a UNESCO sight and there is some reconstruction, but very little from what we could tell (and it's pretty obvious what's new and what's old).  You'd think that being that this is all that's left of the ancient city there'd be red ropes and railings blocking everything off, but other than a few signs asking you not to climb on the monuments you're free to walk amidst the ruins as you please.  I know for Darren especially being able to just wander in between old decayed walls and up crumbling staircases was really a highlight.  It really provokes you to wonder what the city would have looked like in its prime.

At one of the first temple remains we went to, Darren and I both said a little prayer to Mama.  Coincidence or not, but the day definitely started out looking like rain, and after a little chat with Mama it was so hot and sunny that we could've gone for a couple sweat towels!  It turned out to be a beautiful day and such a refreshing experience--there were hardly any people there and it was wonderful being able to experience such a peaceful place... in peace.

Since we were here, we decided to check out another Historical Park not far off in Si Satchanalai.  It's just over 60 km away and Darren and I decided to rent the motorbike and go for a little ride (don't worry parents, the road out is practically empty and we were careful ;)).  It was a beautiful day for a ride, and though there were grey clouds ahead, we didn't worry too much about them.  It took us about an hour to get to the site, and we stopped at the "Tourist Information Centre" to grab a map and make sure we were on the right track.  There were some beautiful pink flowers outside and of course, I went to go take a picture... only to discover that my camera wasn't working... *mental flashback to our hotel room, picturing the camera battery still plugged into the wall above our bed!!!  I was pretty upset with myself, but it was an hour away and there was nothing I could do.  As we approached the ruins however, that sense of disappointment practically turned into sheer depression.  You'd think that one set of ruins were exactly like the next, but these were definitely better than Sukhothai.  I'm not sure what it was about them, maybe that the area itself was more secluded and quiet, but they were amazing.  Everywhere I looked I saw a photograph and it felt so unfulfilling to see an image and not be able to capture it.  We had come so far and didn't have time to turn around and go back to get my camera even if we wanted to... but that didn't stop me from going back the next day though.

Another hour there and another hour back, but I had to!  We had searched for a disposeable camera or someone who would rent me theirs but nada!  I couldn't leave that place without taking a few pictures.  So we made the trip again today and it was excellent.  The great thing about being able to see it twice was that the feel of the place today was very different from yesterday (and not just because it was the second time I'd seen them).  Yesterday, as I mentioned, it was fairly cloudy and there was even a thunderstorm in the distance.  It made for a nice cool day, but the clouds and grey skies really set a great ambience over the ruins.  Today, it was HOT and sunny and it totally changed the feel of the place (not for better or worse, just different), and probably made for better lighting in any case.  We did run into some rain just as we were taking a last photo at the last of the temples and we had to ride back in the last bits of it, but it was well worth it.  Thankfully, the extra trip only cost us extra in transportation.  The ladies let us use our passes from yesterday for today!  (*Do check out the picture though, they do the place way more justice than my words do.)

We've done little else but visit the ruins.  The city doesn't offer a lot and there aren't even really any good restaurants around (we miss Papayas and the cafe in Krabi) despite the giant outdoor food night market.  Both times we ate at the night market we were pretty disappointed.  I had a green curry that tasted like toothpaste (they used mint leaves instead of basil) and Darren's spareribs were, well, sparing in meat!  I had a "tomato salad" another night, and I don't know what I was expecting but tomatoes atop a bed of shredded cabbage with a side of mayo was not it!  There is one redeeming factor of the food here however... Banana Roti!  This wont be the first time we've raved about Roti, but we've always had it with a spicy curry sauce; but, who knew Roti could also be dessert?!  Mmm!  So good!  This woman just cooks these things non-stop all night long on the side of the road and she's so fast!  I like mine with banana and sweet milk (sweetened condensed milk), and Darren likes his with chocolate!  We've been here three nights and had 8 Rotis!  Ya, they're delicious!

Anyway, it's up to Chiang Mai tomorrow where things should really get cookin'... literally actually.  I'm planning on taking a cooking course while we're up there, we're going to visit the Tiger Kingdom, visit some elephants, maybe go pirahna fishing, check out some Muay Thai, some hill tribes, and who knows what else!  Should make for some more exciting posts in any case!

You Don't Know Cheap

The damage is done, and wasn't anywhere near as bad as I was expecting; but then again, neither was the shopping.

Before coming to Thailand, people were constantly warning us of the need to bargain for EVERYTHING and boasting about the great shopping.  Here in Bangkok especially people were recommending all these great places to shop, telling us that the shopping here is great and really cheap.  Well, to those people, "You don't know cheap like we know cheap!"  It's true!  It's no wonder so many people think the Chinese are cheap: they have the cheapest prices.  I guess it's because everything is made in China, but as far as we can tell, it really is the cheapest place for shopping!

We went to this massive mall today, MBK, which we were told has great variety and you can bargain!  I would really love to know what other peoples' definition of "bargain" is, because it's clearly different from ours!  There was one point when I asked a guy (who was on his phone) how much a shirt was, and he just pointed to a sign "199".  Everything was 199, and they're attempt at bargaining was, "Okay, okay.  Discount.  180."  Bu hao!  I say, BU HAO!  I miss shopping in China.

Other than a few articles of clothing (we get bored of wearing the same three shirts) we didn't really buy much.  Not much compared to China at any rate.  It's disappointing, but that's that.  I'm now secretly (and yet not so secretly) planning a trip to Shenzen before we leave HK to come home.  I miss the rush of a good bargain.

All in all, I say that unless you've been shopping in China you do not know the meaning of the word cheap!

Chatuchuk vs The Silk Market

We boarded our bus last night (which was late) at around 530pm. Three horrible movies (“Hellboy 2”, “The Return of Bobby Z” and “2012”) and a five hour nap later, we all awoke to, “Bangkok! Bangkok! Last stop! WAKE-UP!” Ahhh yes. Khao San Rd. 6am. Bah!


Darren and I, along with all the other disoriented, zombie-like backpackers were yelled off the bus and slowly manoeuvred our way through the mud and taxi drivers towards Khao San Rd; which, at 6am was basically deserted but for a few street vendors and one or two bars which seemed not to have closed. The only draw back to arriving en mass as we did, is that the closest surrounding guesthouses seem to fill up pretty quick; and, in some cases, are overflowing with people waiting to see if anything opens up at checkout time (anywhere between 11am and 12 pm). So, Darren and I kept walking, for about an hour. At 7am this morning, we finally settled on a place in the Banglamphu area, a block or two away from the infamous Khau San Rd. Although Bangkok is renowned for its great guesthouse value, we are somewhat disappointed. Maybe all the good places are the ones that were full when we got here, but from what we can tell, Bangkok is fairly expensive and you don’t get much for what you’re paying. In Krabi, for 350 baht, we had a quaint, clean room with AC and a shared bathroom. In Ko Phi Phi we had a nice, clean room with a private bathroom and hot water (a luxury). In Bangkok, the best value we could find is a 280 baht room with a fan, hard bed, and shared bathroom. It’s clean enough but definitely lacks the character and cosiness of the Chan Cha Lay in Krabi, or the Harmony Guesthouse in Ko Phi Phi, and the location is somewhat noisier as well. But it’ll do.

So, what did we get up to our first day in the city of Bangkok?! Can you guess? After a four hour nap, well, we went shopping… sort of. As many of you know I am a sucker for markets, shopping, basically any type of facility that sells stuff. Here in Bangkok there is a weekend market called Chatuchak market. It’s supposed to be one of the best markets it Bangkok, and apparently in all of Thailand, so I had some high hopes. Big mistake! *In order to properly enjoy any vacation in Asia, always expect 50% less than you normally would, with everything, or you’re guaranteed to be disappointed!*

Now, in size Chatuchak definitely has what it takes to take on the Silk Market (which isn’t the best market in the world but definitely knows how to set a standard I’d say). The Chatuchak market is huge! In variety, Chatuchak knocks the Silk Market out of the park… or at least I think it does. The Chatuchak market is so big that we didn’t even make it through the entire thing. Now, despite its seemingly great variety and its intense size, I must say that only the Chinese can execute something so vast so efficiently. The Chatuchak market is too big and too varied. While there are almost too many repeats in the Silk Market, at least you know exactly where you need to be to find what you want. The Chatuchak market is so haphazard and disorienting that if you don’t buy it when you see it, you won’t be able to find it again, and it’s oh so poorly organised. Things are sort of clumped together in the same area but almost accidentally. The Silk Market is very organised. Even with a map to the Chatuchak market we could barely find our way. Not only is it huge, but it’s laid out in a very crowded maze-like disorder making it hard to navigate and exhausting, especially in the heat. It’s like a sauna in there with all the bodies and tin roofs! The best marketing scheme for any of the shops is AC! The biggest draw back of the Chatuchak market however, is that no one really bargains! On the one hand, it’s nice to have somewhat of a set price and know what to expect, but this also makes for slightly more expensive shopping. The Silk Market really isn’t even cheap (by Chinese shopping standards) because they inflate their asking prices so much for us non-locals but at least you get to have a little fun and enjoy the rush of the game. At the Chatuchak market, you ask for the price, which they tell you, and then they immediately offer you a discount price (which is normal), but that’s it. That’s not bargaining! Bargaining is when they tell you that a shirt is 500, but for you they’ll do 450, and then you counter-offer with 40 and it goes back and forth until you land somewhere between 50 and 60. Nope! Not at this market. Not even if you offer to buy in multiples! Come to think of it, it’s not even just the Chatuchak market it’s all of Thailand so far. I’ve tried bargaining and they just don’t seem interested! You ask for a discount and they either give you one (may 20-30 baht= $1) or they don’t. End of discussion. It’s a little disappointing because bargaining really is a lot of fun, and people told me I’d have to expect it here, a lot, and so far, nothing!

Anyway, we got our taxi to drop us off at Khao San Rd and the street seemed to have done a complete 180 since we saw it this morning. Walking back to our guesthouse I didn’t even recognize the area. The street came alive! Ahhh! Really though, little stalls and shops had opened up all over the place. The road itself was blocked off from traffic and it was basically one large market with a lot of restaurants (if I had read my guidebook more carefully I would’ve noticed that the market occurs nightly). Khao San Rd was a little more pleasant than the weekend market, if only because the stalls were on either side of the street and it was a little easier to move through the crowds. I was a little disheartened when we left Chatuchak (I had mentally prepared myself for some excellent shopping and was let down), but when we got to Khao San Rd my blood started pumping again. Variety is nice, but being able to see the same stuff every couple of stalls makes it easier to walk away if you don’t get the price you want (though with the little to no bargaining maybe it’s all pointless)! Anyway, Darren clearly perceived my elevated pulse and made me come back to our room to take a nap so I wouldn’t be overwhelmed and taken over by all the shiny things and new clothes! Needless to say, I couldn’t sleep and he didn’t feel comfortable letting me loose on my own so he slept and I read. When we did finally head out together it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be (probably due to Darren’s careful preparation). I wanted everything and therefore couldn’t make up my mind on anything. I came away empty handed! Imagine that!? Me, empty handed after wandering for at least two or three hours through endless stalls of clothes! (We do have plans to go to a giant mall tomorrow.) My only purchases after an ENTIRE day of shopping were two pillowcases and a t-shirt!

Darren was brave today, and very patient. I have to be brave and patient tomorrow. We’re going to a giant computer/electronics mall! We’ll see what tomorrow will bring. I predict that I will either snap and come home with hands full of shopping bags or I will have to admit that I do have some sort of self control.

So You Think You Can Dance... Thai Style

Well we've been here in Krabi for a few days now.  We didn't initially intend to stay here at all, but Darren wasn't feeling well (bad Chang) and so we crawled into an air conditioned hole (not really a hole, quite nice actually) and disappeared for a few days.  It's incredibly humid with the rainy season, and it's been really hot and I'm glad we dished out the extra cash for some added sanity!

All we've really been doing here in Krabi is reading (The Lost Symbol is thrilling), catching up on sleep, and planning the next steps.  We're not going to go to Koh Tao or the islands on the east coast at all.  It's kind of expensive and sort of complicated getting to Koh Tao from here and Darren's all beached out for the moment.  So we're heading straight to Bangkok.  Overnight bus.  Leaving tomorrow.

The reason I'm not just skipping this post--the highlight of Krabi--is the Night Market we stumbled upon this evening.  Now, regrettably and with my sincerest apologies, I did not have my camera or video camera with me tonight.  We hadn't planned on going to the Night Market, it just sort of happened, and I was ill prepared.

The Night Market was not the most spectacular shopping bazar we have ever seen.  Intertwined with the clothing stalls were food stalls--everything from cupcakes (which were actually quite bland) to local sweets and fruit shakes.  Despite this ingenious combination of shopping and food however, this was not what I will forever remember of Krabi.  No!  What I will forever treasure about this small city was the stage amidst all the exchange; and, while the karaoke was some of Asia's finest, it was the gang of young boys pulling out all the stops and break dancing for the enjoyment of the entire market.  Now, their talent level wouldn't quite qualify them for national television, or even anything that wasn't pure, free entertainment of the local peoples, but it was FANTASTIC!  The kids were adoreable!  Some of them weren't too bad either, and sure enough they had gutts!  Most of them were wearing what you would expect young boys to wear, jeans, t-shirts and Converse shoes.  A couple of kids were in some sort of school uniform with black pants and blue floral shirts (the uniforms in Asia vary anywhere from classic white collared shirts to fluorescent pink Louis Vuiton look-alikes).  My favourite however, was this cute little kid, at least a foot shorter than all the others, wearing a white short-sleeved collared shirt, tucked into his brown khaki shorts (that looked like they were at least two sizes too big), with brown leather shoes, and brown socks pulled right up to the middle of his stubby little calves!  He was surely not the best of the group but he gave it all he had!  He walked out into the centre of the little dance off they had going and he busted a move as hard as he possibly could, moving his little feet like they had a stutter!  My goodness he was adoreable!  (Ting- Darren and I instantly felt Tanner was missing from the crew!)  We didn't stop and watch for too long, maybe two songs, but it was pure entertainment and definitely my favourite part about Krabi!

So it's off to the "colourful" streets of Bangkok tomorrow.  It's stupposedly a paradise even for those who aren't shopaholics (I'm going to be in trouble).  Our cultural exploration of Thailand should commence shortly and while I'm a little hesitant to leave the white sandy beach life behind and head north, I've heard Laos is a super laid back breath of fresh air!  So I suppose I can sacrifice some beach bumming for the shopping in Bangkok, elephant rides and tiger sanctuaries!  Wish us luck!

Dancing Barefoot in the Sand

I know!  I've been getting lazy.  Even though there was an internet cafe on every corner in Ko Phi Phi, the beach life doesn't motivate a lot of ... well, anything!  That being said, Ko Phi Phi was its own unique beach experience.

We arrived in Thailand in Phuket around nine or ten in the evening.  We shared a cab into town with a very sweet Austrian couple and went in search of accomodation.  Without necessarily meaning to, we ended up staying in the exact hostel they used in the movie "The Beach".  The girl we met was actually really excited about and went in search of room 32, or maybe it was 38 (the exact room used for filming).  She even found out who was staying in the room and asked if she could take a look around and take some pictures!  She awas adoreable!  We spent the evening just lounging around the hotel common area, drinking some local Chang beer*, and talking with our new friends.  It was a late night, and early the next morning (our bus came to pick us up at 745) and we were off to Ko Phi Phi.

Ko Phi Phi is an interesting island, and more or less our first impression of Thailand.  As far as Thai culture goes, the island has little to offer except in the way of food, tattoos, and a sore excuse for Thai boxing, but we'll get to that later.  As soon as we found a hotel room, our first inclination was food!  All we had for breakfast were a two halves of PB & J sandwhiches (which we had made an entire loaf of for our layover in KL), not to mention that the lure of Thai food is almost unbearable for me!  Now, maybe I was just too excited, or maybe it just wasn't the best restaurant, but the red pineapple chicken curry (my favourite back home) I ordered left something to be desired.  Nonetheless, the watermelon fruit shake I had (as suggested by Cynthia) was the most refereshing, amazing drink ever!!!  So good!  (While eating our lunch (it was around noon) we noticed that everyone else was ordering breakfast: this was our first sign of things to come.)  We spent the remainder of the afternoon just wandering around our little stretch of the island and getting familiar with it as always.  The main beach which we eventually stumbled upon also left something to be desired--that something was the beach itself.  We had been warned mind you, but it's still a bit of a shock to walk about onto a beach and not actually be able to see the beach.  The bits that weren't crowded with people were crowded with beach bars, and what little was left was littered in garbage.  The water was murky and overall our first impressions of Ko Phi Phi were not promising despite all the rave of the beauty of the island.

And then there was Papayas.

The infamous Papayas.  We've read about it Lonely Planet and heard about it from anyone and everyone who has been to Thailand before us, and the reputation of the place certainly holds up.  Disappointed with the beach and the food thus far, we headed to Papayas looking for redemption!  Wow!  We found it!  We ordered Pad Thai, and with the reccomendation of the people sitting next to us, we also ordered the garlic pepper chicken.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.  What we got was a huge plate of excellent Pad Thai, and a massive dish of chopped chicken.  The chicken alone was enough to fill us both, and yet we had the Pad Thai to boot!  It was so good and so delicious that Ko Phi Phi had been redeemed in our minds in that one restaurant.  We ate there every night the entire time we were there (save one when I mistakingly thought I'd try something different).  I think our favourite dish was the curry (Panang or Masamun) with chicken and vegetables.  We ended up staying on the island a few nights longer than we had originally intended and I'm pretty sure it was in part because of that restaurant.  As we were walking away our last night there Darren said, "I think I'm going to miss this place", and he wasn't talking about the island.  Just to put the cherry on top, not only is the food amazing but the owner/operator is the kindest man you'll ever meet!  He was so sweet!  He always greets you with the biggest grin and a personal introductory, and when you leave he thanks you for coming and hopes to see you again with the kind of sincerity and genuity that you just don't get at home.  The cats that sometimes sleep in the beer cooler are pretty great as well.

So, our first few days were hindered somewhat by weather and our need to eat constantly, and we didn't get up to doing a whole lot.  One must on my list however, in Thailand for sure and most likely in Ko Phi Phi, was to get a tattoo.  Now, I've taken precautionary measures and already told my mother about this so she's already been fully disclosed.  There are so many "Bamboo Tattoo" shops on the island that I couldn't help but stop and look at every one for just the right picture.  Darren has also been wanting a tattoo, and the more I looked the more he thought about it as well.  While trying to think about what he'd want, it suddenly dawned on him: a Chinese warrior.  I thought it was a cool idea, but I thought it might be more fitting for him to get it done in China.  He spent a day searching the internet and actually found a really cool picture; but I still thought it would be more fitting to get it done in China.  Well, while we were walking back from Papayas we passed this one shop and stopped to take a look.  There's actually a girl named Sharon working there, who is also from Vancouver, and so with a bridge to the language barrier I started asking all sorts of questions, explaining what I wanted mine to look like and so forth.  Meanwhile, Darren went to the internet cafe across the street and printed out his warrior and started talking to some of the artists.  In the end, Sharon said they'd draw something up for me and Darren said he'd sleep on it.

I woke up that morning to a very wide awake Darren.  He had apparently been thinking about it all night and hadn't gotten much sleep.  There were doodles on the margins of flyers and any scrap piece of paper we had lying around and all I can remember is him saying, "I've made up my mind.  I'm getting my tattoo here".  Well, who can argue with that?!  Sharon said that they usually didn't open until around noon, so we grabbed breakfast and headed to the book store.  We walked by the shop and Sharon wasn't there.  They said she'd be in around 2 maybe so we walked around some more, had some lunch and walked by again.  In truth, we were walking by more often than necessary and showing up earlier than they told us to because someone was just a little anxious.  Finally, they told us seven o'clock and we killed some time reading and sleeping.  We decided to go for dinner around 530, but since it was on the way, we stopped by the shop... and there they were!  (By the way, earlier that day Darren had me pull the picture up in Photoshop and clear it up a bit and the save it on a USB so he could show them a proper image on their own computer... he had been carrying around the USB stick all day!)  To sum up, they started the sketches while we went to dinner, and within two hours we were both seated, ready to be inked.

My tattoo took about fifteen minutes, it barely hurt at all and I love it.  We both started at the same time (around 630) and Darren wasn't finished until 4 in the morning!!!  It took about 9 hours for his tattoo.  He was exhausted, the guy tattooing him was exhausted, the guys who were holding his arm (they stretch the skin so its tight) were taking shifts, and I was falling asleep in one of the chairs.  But it was worth every minute! 

<><><>

It looks amazing!  The detailing itself is different than the original image.  He did the outline exactly as it was supposed to be and then freehanded eveything else.  It's unreal.  This guy was so talented!  Sharon told me that of all the people on the island, he's been doing it the longest, and was the one who taught some of the other guys in the other shops.  He did such an amazing job.

The next day, and everday following for that matter, hot or cool, Darren was walking around without a shirt on showing off his new tattoo.  If we met anyone and started talking about tattoos, his shirt came of (if he was wearing one at all), and sometimes when we were hanging out at the tattoo shop he couldn't help showing off their work. We sort of made ourselves at home there, stopping in and hanging out with Sharon, just about everyday since until we left.  They were really cool people and we definitely wouldn't have stayed so long if we didn't have that place and those people to hang out with. The night after the tattoo, Darren, Sharon, and I decided to go check out the beach.  The beach at night turns into one large party.  Everywhere you go in Ko Phi Phi, you can buy buckets.  Buckets that come with a micky of whatever or Sangsom (Thai rum), a can of mix (coke, sprite, soda, etc) and usually a small red bull (the non-carbonated type that comes in a glass bottle).  This, my friends, is a recipe for disaster!  The worst part of it is that it's the cheapest thing on the menu.  You get what looks like a small sand pale almost full of alcoholic beverage for the equivalent of $4.  While it may seem brilliant at first, the faces of the people staggering around the morning after suggest otherwise!  Anyway... we found ourselves a nice little patch of beach at a place called "Hippies".  It wasn't as busy as "Slinkys" or the "Apache", but the music was better, and well, less-busy was more or less the point.  We didn't dance in the designated dance area either.  No, we made our own dance floor a few picnic tables back, with plenty of room to less loose without fear of accidentally smacking someone in the face with a stray arm (which I seem have made a habit of doing with conversational arm gestures).  The three of us attracted a small but pleasant crowd and danced the night away!  The next morning... well... We've decided that there is something about the Thai beer that doens't agree with Darren.  It's sad because he really does enjoy a good beer, and the Chang beer is quite nice-- nice tasting, but sort of mean otherwise.  It doesn't matter if Darren has four large beers or one small beer, the stuff makes him sick.  Even now, after only a small can with dinner last night, he's more or less incapacitated!  So, the day after our night of dancing barefoot in the sand, I had a day all to myself! I walked up to "Viewpoint" which was beautiful but rather difficult to get to.  Lots of stairs.  I was told that from viewpoint you can get to "Long beach" which I had heard was much nicer and quieter than the main beach, so I thought it was a practicle route for me to take.  Well, if you've ever tried to take any sort of route/direction with me, you're probably aware that it usually takes me twice as long to get there, mostly because I take a lot of wrong turns.  In fact, from viewpoint, I didn't even get to Long beach.  After walking through trails in the jungle, being frightened by large lizards and with the call of some sort of primate in the distance, I ended up on the other side of what we call "Poo Garden", not five minutes from where I started.  (Poo Garden is a "waste water collection and water garden" that separates the area where our hotel was and the main hustle and bustle.  It smells like poo.)  It was hot, and I was sweaty and a little frustrated that I had done all that walking and all that sweating without the reward of a nice beach and ocean to swim in!  With the help of a rather good looking dive instructor, I was re-directed and I did eventually find the beach--not Long Beach as I later discovered, but a rather nice, rather quiet stretch of beach and I was content.  I read my book, went for a swim, bathed in the sun and felt really good about my day! So, the day Darren was recovering from his allergic reaction of sorts, we were supposed to go see the other islands and go snorkelling, but that was obviously postponed, and so we had decided we'd do it the following day.  The problem was that we didn't get up early enough the next day, and both of us were quite tired and not really up for it.  So, while eating our delicious breakfast (home-made muesli with yoghurt and fruit, and a grainy bagel with cream cheese!--which we ate every morning) we booked a tour of the islands for the following day. Instead, I took Darren and I ended up at another quiet little beach (which we thought was Long beach but again was not), and we took the day easy.  In the evening, we walked up to the viewpoint along with everyone else to go watch the sunset, and ended it all with yummy curry at Papayas.  Overall it was a very relaxing and successful day! That brings us to yesterday and the island tour!  It was a beautiful, sunny day.  Darren and I ate breakfast at our usual spot, and it was also where we were being picked up.  The picking us up part, interestingly, was actually a guy coming around on a bicycle who would wave his hand and say "Okay go!' and then speed off out of sight.  As we walked through town more and more people were joining us from various shops and restaurants, until there was a huge crowd of us following this guy through the streets.  I felt like cattle being herded.  Occassionally he would stop to let us catch up, but there were a few girls who were even running behind him trying not to lose sight of him.  It was a rather strange experience. Well, once we reached the shore, we were all shuffled into various "longtail" boats and handed either a doughnut or tuna sandwhich (which was meant to be our breakfast I think), and fitted for a pair of fins.  All geared up the oil spewing motor was started and out into the ocean we went.  First stop was Monkey Bay.  It was a whole ten minutes on a small coast line where tourists piled up taking pictures and feeding the local monkeys.  A girl we met earlier had actually been bitten while feeding a baby monkey, so we proceeded with caution.  They were cute, and of course they were monkeys, and ten minutes later we herded back onto our boat, off to the next destination, Shark Point.  I'm not sure if it's called Shark Point because there are actually sharks here, but we didn't see any.  Like a lot of other offshore places, a lot of the coral was dead, but there were still lots of bright and colourful fish, though the water was a bit murky.  We snorkelled and swam for about twenty minutes and off we went.  We went snorkelling off the coast of Mosquito Island next and the snorkelling there was much better.  The water was clear, and such a dark shade of blue it was incredible.  The coral here was also much more diverse and lively, and so were the fish.  There were even jelly fish here as well, which scared the begeezes out of me at first, but it's easy enough to keep your distance from them.  They were pretty big and as long as you were cautious you couldn't miss them.  It was actually knd of neat, watching swarms of fish seemingly eating the jelly fish.  One side must have been the stinging part because they only nibbled from one side and it seemed that with so many fish the poor jelly didn't stand a chance.  Next was Bamboo Island, which was nicer than the main beach but nothing special as far as I could tell.  It was a nice place to stop for lunch but no more beautiful than any other island.  Unfortunately, while we sat and ate our lunch a bit of a storm seemed to be brewing across the ocean, and by the time we got going again the wind had picked up and it had started to rain.  The boat had to cross some pretty rough waters and some of the girls on the boat had a rough go of it.  It was kind of like being on a rollercoaster.  I figure, so long as I can look up at our driver and he's still smiling I needn't be too worried.  Anyway, I think from Bamboo Island we went to some sort of lagoon which was absolutely breathtaking (Pileh?).  It was a small inlet surrounded by large karst cliffs, and because the air had become so chill the water was so warm!  It was like diving into a warm bath and it was so peaceful and sheltered from the wind.  It was just what we needed.  After swimming for a half hour or so, we then went around to Maya Bay.  Now, it seems that you can actually bring a boat right into the bay itself, but what they do is park the boat on the other side of the bay, make you jump out into the water, swim across some pretty harsh waves (at least in that weather), follow a rope to the cliff side, either crawl through a hole or walk up some stairs, and then take the short walk to the beach on the other side.  Anyway, for all the struggle it is pretty cool once you get there.  Maya Bay by the way, is "the Beach".  It's the beach where the movie, "The Beach" was filmed.  Again, the water seemed extremely warm and everyone was up to their necks in it as if it was some sort of warm blanket.  We just waded and watched people run from the cold open-air pathway into the warm sea water.  Except, because of the waves the running into the water wasn't very graceful, so people would run about a foot or two into the water and then try to dive in, which ended up looking more like they were falling on their faces.  Everyone was just too eager to cover themselves in the warmth of the ocean.  The tour is supposed to take you out until sunset at which point you park out on the ocean and watch the sun go down, but it was cold and raining and we high tailed it back.  Most of the people in our boat seemed utterly miserable, and I don't know why but Darren and I both had a blast.  We could've done without the cold wind but we otherwise enjoyed ourselves rain and all! So while Ko Phi Phi seemed to have little to offer at first, it turns out there are a lot of little treasure tucked away on that little island.  Whether it's beautiful views of the sunsets, great food, or great people, there is more to Ko Phi Phi than once giant beach party.  Don't get me wrong though, I have discoverd that I do love dancing barefoot in the sand!  That being said, Darren and I are currently in Krabi (back on the mainland) suspended in some sort of limbo.  We have yet to decide whether or not we want to brave the Full Moon Party.  Negatives:  thousands of people on once beach intoxicated beyond belief, all hours of the night, and apparently the next moning, with more than just alcohol to keep them going.  Prices on Ko Phagnan sky rocket and you have to show up several days in advance to get accomodations.  Our time is running thin.  Positives:  more dancing barefoot in the sand (but maybe that wouldn't be so safe).  Hmmm... I think we just made a decision.  Well, a day or two in Krabi to decide but most likely off to Ko Tao next.  One last stretch of beach before we head to the interior and North of Thailand for a little cultural experience... and elephants!  Yay! *Note:  Apparently, the Chang beer (or maybe all Thai beer) has no "quality control", if you will.  Though the bottle/can may say that the beer is 6.4% alcohol (which is still quite strong) it can in fact be anywhere from 4-14% alcohol.  Or so we've been told.

Mersing to Terengganu

I realise that my poor blog has been in somewhat of a static state the past two weeks.  I have a good excuse though I promise.  Darren and I have spent the majority of the last two and a half weeks on fairly remote islands with either no internet acecss, or access that was too slow and too expensive to bother with.  When we have been in the city, we haven't had any wifi and I've been too lazy to copy and paste the posts I was keeping from my lap top.  Sorry!  So, to brief on what's been going on:

While we were in Salang, I kept a daily diary, which I posted previous to this one.  Once we left Salang (which we only slightly regretted) not a whole lot happened.

Mersing
It was some sort of school holiday the day we chose to leave, and getting a bus out of Mersing (where the jetty dropped us off) was next to impossible.  Everything was fully booked, and aside from taking an expensive taxi, we couldn't get anything out until 11 pm.  The next town we were headed to was only four hours away and notorious for being somewhat of a sleepy, quiet town, and we didn't want to arrive in the middle of the night.  So we spent the evening in Mersing... which was far from interesting.  Aside from being the major hub/jetty for getting to Tiomen (the island Salang is on), there really isn't anything else going on.  We spent a few hours in an internet cafe, got our hair cut (more about that disaster in a moment), and then drove each other crazy until it was time for bed.

Now for the haircut.  I must say that I didn't go into the salon wholey unwarned.  I had heard of the atrosities that they carry out in Asian hair salons and I was hesitant; however, the thickness and heat of my hair could not compel me to resist.  Darren went in to get his hair cut (which is safe and straight forward), and when the lady asked me if I wanted to get mine cut as well, I simply told the truth, "Yes!"  The problem was is that I just didn't want to get it cut by them, but that was already beside the point.  With little ability to communicate, we both understood and decided on the word "thinning":  I was going to get my hair thinned out, a middle ground if you will between getting my hair cut and dealing with the heat.  Well... I am not about to argue or dispove the notion that getting your hair cut in Asia is a bad idea, but simply reinforce it... especially if you have curls.  What was meant to be a routine thinning, turned into a hack job.  Darren says it reminds him of Prince, though I don't know if I would go quite so far.  It is pretty awful as far as hair cuts go though.  When I saw the amount of hair on the ground I was mortified for sure!  Easily, without exageration, at least half of my hair was on the floor of the salon.  :'(  She definitely thinned it out alright.  Most of you know that my ponytail is quite a bushy, curly mass... well now it's nothing more than a thin (thinner than the average person's even) rat tail.  To make matters worse, she thinned too close to the scalp, not really close, but close enough that for a few inches, my hair is thick and full as it is naturally, but after that is drastically fades away into no more than a few meesly curls.  It does resemble a mullet to some effect.  I tried to do a little damage control myself, trimming the base piece which a good three inches longer than all the other layers, but I'm afraid it is beyond hope.  I barely wear my air down long enough to dry now, and whether or not I venture to have it fixed is a constant issue for me.  I'm afraid.  Very, very afraid!  Rachel (my hair dresser from ZZ Cuts), if you're out there, I miss you!  So, do I cut again, or no?

On the bright side, we inadvertantly agreed to having our hair washed, and that was a whole new experience as well.  You know that two or three minutes when you get your hair washed at the hair dressers and they lightly massage your scalp?  Think that but for a good half hour!  Except instead of laying back in a sing, you're sitting in a regular salon chair, with your hair (or what's left of it) piled on top of your head, lathered in some sort of minty, aromatic shampoo.  They massage your scalp, your temples, your neck, your shoulders and some of your back.  The majority of the time is spent on your scalp, but it feels pretty amazing!  They do it twice too.  A five minute hair cut turned into about an hour and it's a good thing for it, because if I hadn't been so relaxed and drunk with pleasant perfumes, the shock of my new hairdo would've made me furious!  There are worse ways to pass the time.


Cherating
Cherating is a bit of a hiccup of a town.  It really is one of the places that you'll miss if you blink.  The beach is about two blocks of the highway and if you weren't inclined to look for it, you'd never know it was there.  There was enough going on there, with internet access, restaurants and stores, but it was sleepy and quiet and even the beach seemed empty.  I think to really appreciate Cherating, you'd have to go during Monsoon season when the storms kick up a bit of decent surf, otherwise it's a little boring.  We only stayed two days, and spent those two days planning ahead for the next leg of the trip.  We booked tickets and made arrangments, but didn't go swimming (the weather wasn't great) and only went to the beach to walk and get out of our room.  It was a stop that probably could've been avoided.

Pulau Kapas
Kapas.  Kapas.  Kapas.  We had heard from some people we met in Salang that Kapas was a great, beatiful beach definitely worth a visit.  We were going to go to the Perhentians, which are supposedly a bit touristy, and settled for the serene beaches of Kapas instead, and serene they were.  When we bought our bus and ferry tickets to Kapas, the woman told us to make sure we bought our snacks and stuff before we went to the island.  We didn't think much of it and only bought a few bottles of water and shampoo.  Well, Kapas is definitely an isolated quiet island.  It's only fifteen-twenty minutes of the mainland but other than the resorts themselves (maybe five or six) there is no store and only one restaurant.  There actually was a store, but it was closed the entire time we were there, and all the resort restaurants were way overpriced!  We ran out of toilet paper within the first day, and resorted to stealing napkins from the local warung.  We only had enough sunblock for one day and had to dilute the rest with normal lotion to try to make it last, and it we had to ration our toothpaste as well.  We had originally intended on staying on the island for eight or nine days, but left a few days early.  There were few English books Darren was interested in reading and by the end of the week we were going a little crazy, and trying to portion out napkins for toilet paper sucks.  That being said, Kapas really is amazing.

Even if there was little to do, the beaches are beautiful, the water is crystal clear, and the snorkeling is amazing.  It's amazing how a beach can seem so completely deserted of life, while not even two feet below the water's surface it's just beeming with energy, colour, and clownfish!  Yes, clownfish!  Just like Nemo!  There were tons of anenomes and at least two clownfish in each, sometimes four or five, and I can't even think of how long I just floated there watching them.  It's actually quite entertaining watching them swim and wiggle in and out and through the anenome.  It's fascinating, and they're so small.  We even saw a few baby ones that couldn't have been any bigger than my thumbnail.  There were also loads of sea urchins, which was  little daunting, but still pretty cool.  We had to make sure that we swam with our arms tucked in to avoid accidental contact.  There were tons of fish though and so many different colours.  Because I don't have an underwater camera, I've posted some pics of the internet to give you an idea of the things we saw.

These pics are actually from Pulau Kapas:

We stayed at a place called the "Captain's Longhouse".  It was an interesting place, raised longhouse fashion with private rooms along the outisde (four on either side) and a dorm room through the middle, and two shared toilets/showers at the end.  There were beds and cussiony chairs and hammocks throughout, as well as strange sailing artifacts and netting, and the owner actually had us call him Captain.  It was a little eccentric but cosy enough.

It was more or less a week of observing various creatures foreign to our colder climate.  There was a viper snake in one of the trees at the KBC down the beach which stayed there for days.  The guests there named it Kiki.  There was a tiny tree frog that got comfortable on the light switch box near our bathroom.  Not sure if it was the right move or not, but after the third day I took it to one of the trees.  We saw a few praying mantises, lots of cool crabs, and some very colourful, though loud, birds.  I guess when you're sitting around not doing a whole heck of a lot, you tend to observe things a little better. 

It was a beautiful island with plenty of life, though not always apparent.  If ever go though, stock up on toilet paper and sun screen before hand!

Kuala Terengganu
When the quiet became "too quiet", Darren and I opted to head to Terengganu earlier than planned.  Our only reason for going there at all was to fly to KL, but the book seemed to have a few nice things to say about it so we thought it'd be worth a look.  We were wrong.  Not to say that it was a horrible trip and that there was nothing to do, but there certainly wasn't much.  We spent a decent amounttime in internet cafes, in part to kill time, and in part to take advantage of their AC.  At least when you're on a beach you always have the option of hopping into the ocean.  In the city, it's just hot.

We did venture to the neighboring island to check out the traditional boat making, but after being there for ten minutes, all we saw were deserted playgrounds and a lot eery quiet.  So we got right back on the ferry and went back to the mainland.  We walked through China town (a block of semi-Chinese shops and restaurants) and went back to the dark air conditioned hole called the internet cafe.  These aren't just regular cafes though.  In fact, they're not cafes at all.  They're actually gaming zones where masses of prebuescant teenagers go to play shoot-em-up video games and listen to a combination of harsh rap music and Justin Bieber.  The first time we went in there, we walked to our designated computer, only to find a guy passed out, practically drooling on himself.  Needless to say, we had to switch computers.  He was still konked out when we left an hour later.

One of the beautiful things about Terengganu though, and of Malaysia in general, is in their religion and mosques.  Some people might find it annoying to wake up and go to sleep to the sound of prayers being aired over a loud speaker across the city, but the langauge and the way they practically sing the prayers is quite beautiful.  Today is the begining of Rhamadan.  Last night, between prayers and such, they had a few fireworks and it was actually quite nice to hear the prayers, watch the fireworks and see the lit up mosque from the roof top cafe of our hostel.


Now we wait.  We are currently at the KL International Airport.  We flew in this morning just before 9, and we don't fly out again until 8pm.  (The cheapest flights are always really early or really late).  KL has two airports, as I may have explained before, but because KLIA is so much bigger, and with more ammenities, we're waiting here, and not at LCCT.  It's off to Ko Phi Phi next, via Phuket, and I for one am super excited for Thailand.  It'll be yet another whole new ballgame!  I'll do my best to keep up the posts from the islands!