Rambling on

Penchant

2014-02-20T15:27:00.003-08:00

Vietnam - Saigon (Pictures)

2012-08-15T17:36:00.000-07:00

Vietnam - Saigon

2012-08-15T17:35:00.002-07:00

By the time I got to Vietnam I was running short on time in Asia. I’d stayed far longer in Thailand than initially planned and I was already cutting out places from my trip. But, I had an open invitation from Daniel and Stephanie’s parents to stay with them in Hanoi, that I wasn’t about to pass up. So I was off to Vietnam

My first stop was Saigon. While technically it was renamed Ho Chi Minh City in the 1980s, most residents use either interchangeably. The first thing one will run into here are the motorbikes. In a city of 15 million people, there are 12 million motorbikes. The city doesn’t have much in the way of crosswalks, and when they do, there aren’t any lights. Crossing the street is like playing a real life game of Frogger. At first it’s nerve-wracking, but once you become good at it, it’s actually kind of exhilarating. The actual city itself, however, isn’t all that exciting. It’s just a dumpy major city that isn’t uniquely Vietnamese. But there are several museums I wanted to see, all of which were about the Vietnam War.

All Americans learn about “The War of American Aggression,” yet the only question posed to us in history courses are whether it was necessary for us to be there. Having studied this subject and era extensively in college, I was fascinated with seeing the other side to the story.

The Reunification Palace is one of the most important symbols of the war. In 1975, North Vietnamese tanks stormed the gates, signaling the end of the war and reunifying the nation, hence the name. Prior to that it was the seat of the South Vietnamese government and head of U.S. Military operations during the war. Following a bombing in 1950s, it was rebuilt with a new design. Like most Palaces, the furniture and décor hasn’t been changed since its beginning. Because of this, the Palace looks straight out of the 1960s, which is pretty cool. Hell, a lot of the old U.S. communications equipment is still housed in the Palace bunker.

The other major stop in the city is the War museum, which is one of the best museums I’ve ever been to. The walls are covered with almost every weapon imaginable from the War. From the smallest pistol, to rocket launchers, to fighter jets sitting in the front yard, their collection was incredible. There was also a collection of photographs from journalists killed during the conflict. Some of them are very powerful and very graphic. Including the one of a Buddhist Monk committing self-immolation on the streets of Saigon, which is the most powerful picture I’ve ever seen. However all exhibits pale in comparison to the one on the victims of Agent Orange.

30 years after the U.S. pulled out of the war, the remnants of Agent Orange still linger. Many babies are born deformed because their parents carry as few as one mutated gene from coming in contact with something contaminated with Agent Orange. The American Government knew all too well about its side effects yet chose to continue using it. Yet no one from the government has ever stood trial for war crimes. It’s an atrocity what the U.S. did to those people, but all is not lost. The exhibit ends giving the observer hope by showing how many people despite their physical defects become functioning members of society. Many end up joining the arts, some having to learn to write and draw with their toes. It’s very moving.

Lastly, I got to see the tunnels in which the Vietcong lived. The Cu Chi tunnels are series of 200 miles of underground passages and rooms that surround the outskirts of Saigon. Throughout the Vietnam War, the Vietcong used these as their home base. Because the Vietcong lived on a small portion of rice and tea per day, they were very small. Far smaller than 9 out of 10 American soldiers. So, the tunnels were tiny. No soldier could fit in there. And if they did it was too easy to get lost.

We were able to go through the actual tunnels (they’ve widened them for us fat westerners), and they had on display the homemade traps that were used against the U.S. military. They’re very simple, but highly effective and undoubtedly painful. These guerilla tactics and the inability of the American military to flush out the Vietcong from the tunnels were the main reasons for the eventual pullout by the United States.

By the end of my stay in Saigon, I’d begun to have a better understanding of how the Vietnamese people view the war. It was obviously a tough time for them, but no one seems to harbor much resentment. In fact, as the borders have opened up in the past 15 to 20 years, many of the youth are embracing western culture at an increasing rate. As I would learn throughout my trip, this is a pretty common thing. Especially in places it’s least expected.

Cambodia - Phnom Penh (Pictures)

2012-08-04T15:49:00.002-07:00

Cambodia - Phnom Penh

2012-08-04T15:48:00.002-07:00

I was only in Phnom Penh for two days, but they were chock full of activities. The first day I wandered around the city, stopping in a few museums along the way. They were mostly full of historical artifacts from the Angkor people. I also went to the royal palace. Compared with the Grand Palace of Bangkok, it was quite small. But the craftsmanship was just as beautiful and it was far less crowded. You could explore the details of the palace without being swarmed with hordes of tourists, which made for a more enjoyable experience. But, all the cultural stuff aside, there were two reasons I stopped in Phnom Penh: the firing ranges and the killing fields.

Rumors swirl along backpacker trails about lesser-publicized activities. The mother of which lies in Phnom Penh. According to a rumor there is a firing range outside the city where one can blow up a cow with a rocket launcher. I had to at least check out the validity of this claim.

I hired a tuk-tuk driver to drive me around for the day. Our first stop was the firing range. Several ex-military operatives run the operation in a little concrete building on the outskirts of town. They literally handed me a menu of guns and respective prices. Naturally the one to catch my eye was the RPG. I had to do it. But, I didn’t want to start with something so powerful. I figure: start small and work your way up. I started with a 9mm then try an AK-47.

By now I had to ask: Can you really blow up a cow? Yes. But it costs $150. And they were out of cows. I was offered a goat.

Whether or not I would have blown up a cow, I didn’t have enough money on me. But, what’s the point in shooting something that powerful without a target? A propane tank was far cheaper. And I did have enough money for that. So I bought it.

The handgun was fine. Been there done that. The AK was very cool. Especially when holding down the trigger. But the RPG is almost beyond description.

We had to go another hour further into the countryside to even shoot it. Nestled in between a secluded series of hills is another military firing range. There I met two Aussies who were doing exactly what I was. They had bought a set of hand grenade and RPG rounds. So we all took turns having fun with each explosion. Because of the topography, there was a tremendous echo every time any round went off. It was awesome.

When it was my turn to fire the RPG, I could not have been more excited. I’d never blown anything up. And it would stay that way. I missed the propane tank. In hindsight it was probably a good thing. The soldiers later told us a story of how someone had blown up the tank and the shrapnel nearly took out some of the onlookers. I’m also glad they didn’t tell us that beforehand.

Even though I missed, the soldiers brought out a belt fed machine gun. This time we made sure to take out the propane tank. Though it didn’t create an explosion like the RPG would have, it was still fun as hell.

By the time we got to the Killing Fields it was late afternoon. I realized there were two reasons the driver suggested doing the firing range first. Most tourists want to do either the grenade or RPG, which takes several hours. Seeing the Killing Fields puts you in no mood to handle any type of weapon. The whole experience was very eye opening.

Cambodia was taken over by the ruthless dictator Pol Pot for the five years following the end of the Vietnam War (or war of American aggression, depending on your point of view). Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge closed all borders and put everyone into work camps. Those who didn’t follow orders or were deemed unfit, were taken to separate camps and killed. It’s an almost exact copy of Nazi concentration camps.

It was not a fun experience visiting this place, but I feel it’s a necessary one. If for no reason other than an awareness of the evil in this world.

Cambodia - Siem Reap (Pictures)

2012-07-31T00:51:00.003-07:00

Cambodia - Siem Reap

2012-07-31T00:42:00.000-07:00

Crossing the border into Cambodia, I met three girls who were in the exact same boat as me: No idea where to go but willing to spend the next two days exploring the ancient temples of the Angkor Wat. Michelle and Druti had met travelling and were following the same path together. Nadia and I were both on our own. We all bonded over the next few days.

The thing to do here is hire a tuk-tuk driver for the day. They will escort you to the different temples. There are nearly a hundred in total. Unless you stay for 5 or 6 days, it’s impossible to see them all. So we focused on the main ones and were able to see a dozen or so. Our first day got off to a late start and affected us rather gravely. The temperature was so hot that after seeing two temples, we were all completely exhausted.

Angkor Wat is technically the name for the main temple with the five honeycomb like domes. This was the first site we visited. The size and scope of this thing is massive. You walk over a long moat crossing, pass through the outer walls and are come into a giant courtyard the size of several football fields. It’s another ten-minute walk just to get to the center. Getting up close to the walls and seeing the carved murals is spectacular. Whole sides of the temple will tell a story through one mural.

Our next two temples, Bayon and Ta Prohm, are well known for being used in the Tomb Raider movies. The first is covered with large facial carvings, which are really cool. The second is nestled a little deeper into the jungle. Much of it has been taken over by the trees that have roots wrapping around all of the toppled over stone. It was one of the best temples we went to. Adding to the atmosphere, as we got there, a cloud front moved in and lightning could be heard in the distance. Before long a tropical storm was rolling through. Luckily for us, we were already on our way back when it hit.

The next morning was one of the most breathtaking experiences I’ve ever had. We were all up before the crack of dawn to catch the sunrise behind Angkor Wat. As approached, the early morning light was just starting to shine over the temple. It was an amazing sight. Over the next hour we sat there watching the sun slowly break rise behind the temple and into the sky. It is one of those sights that you will never forget.

From there we set out to see a few more temples. Two of which really stood out. The first was deep into the jungle. It was early enough that there was no one else around. For nearly an hour and a half it was us and the sounds of the jungle. At times I was the only one around. Couple all of that with the early morning mist and the light peeking through the trees made wandering around here an otherworldly experience.

The last temple we visited was one of the largest and very deep in the jungle. Once you passed over a giant surrounding moat, it took nearly a mile to walk to the entrance. From there you explored room after room of tumbled over stone. In the middle was a giant Buddah stature with a lone monk praying next to it. This was a great one to finish with. I came away with a good positive feeling as we spent the rest of the day basking in the spirituality of what we just experienced.

The next morning I was off for Phnom Penh.

Thailand - Chiang Mai (Pictures)

2012-07-18T02:17:00.003-07:00

Thailand - Chiang Mai

2012-07-18T02:17:00.002-07:00

There is nothing like the train ride from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. The beds face the direction of the tracks so as the train rocks, so does your body. It’s therefore impossible to sleep because you’re constantly rolling around. Then there’s the issue of the bathrooms. They’re little more than a hole in the floor. As you use them, you can see the tracks whizzing by beneath you. 18 hours of this is not all it’s cracked up to be.

But it was well worth it. Chiang Mai is one of the coolest places I’ve ever been. Alex and I packed in three days of awesome stuff. We took a Thai cooking class (cool), we rode elephants (way cool), and we cuddled with tigers (fucking awesome!).

Day one got off to a late start, as we caught up on several hours of sleep. But we signed up for an evening cooking course. After nearly a month of delicious Thai dishes, it was time we learned how to make them ourselves.

Our class was a group of 14 people. We had to collectively decide on two classes of dishes to create with the third being chosen for us (curry). We all easily agreed to create a noodle and a soup dish. From there, each of us got to pick their individual dish. Alex and I split ours up so we could share. I made a green curry, a pad see euw and a coconut milk soup. Alex made the massaman curry, pad thai, and a thom ka-gai soup.

The noodle dish was first. The teacher handed out all the ingredients; we chopped them up and moved to the wok. She then guided us through the process step by step. When we were done, we ate immediately; like an appetizer.

The rest was prepared at the same time. We broke into small groups to grind the curry paste with mortar and pestle. Next we cut up all our ingredients for the curry and soups. We cooked one right after the other and sat down for our meal. Everyone was sharing with each other, so you could get a little taste of everything. All of it was delicious. The lesson learned is that Thai food is easy to make, you just need fresh ingredients and about 20 minutes.

The next morning was an early wake up call as we were brought out to an elephant sanctuary far in the jungle. There were only four people on the tour, which turned out to be the perfect number. There were only four elephants there. We each got our own. We were first introduced to them by offering up crates of bananas. In fact we handed out nearly 4 crates over the course of the day. We spent the rest of the morning taking practice runs atop the elephants and learning the commands and directions. You sit atop the neck, clutching behind their ears with your thighs. All of the commands involve applying some form of pressure to their neck. After our practice runs we had lunch and were off for a full hour-long trek.

Alex and I split our time between the largest and the smallest, and most unruly, elephants. I was put on the small one first. His ears are still somewhat small and his head doesn’t rise much higher than his neck. The entire time you feel as if you’re about to fall forward and over his head. Especially when going downhill. While he may be the smallest, you’re still well over 6 feet off the ground and it would be a miserable tumble. The only thing keeping you attached is a rope tied around his neck. I held on to that thing for dear life the entire time I was on him. But at the halfway mark we got to switch. Riding the big one was so much more relaxing. You just plant your hands on the bumps on his head and enjoy the ride. He’s much taller (at least 12 feet) and you feel like you could crush the world below you. It’s an indescribable feeling riding something that big.

Upon our return it was time for more bananas and a scrub down. This is clearly their favorite part of the day. They all immediately lie down and look so relaxed as you wash them. The best part for us is when the trainers got the baby elephants to start playing. It was like a giant water fight, but with elephant trunks instead of water guns.

That night we went to a muay thai fight, and I was thoroughly disappointed. It was clearly set up just for tourists as many of the fights seemed staged. The most telling fight was the “intertantional bout” in which a woman from Switzerland fought a woman from Chiang Mai. The Swiss woman clearly dominated all three rounds yet the woman from Chiang Mai won by decision. On the bright side though, they did have a blindfolded battle royal. 10+ fighters went into the ring swinging blindly. I don’t care if they could see through them (quite likely) or not, it was really funny.

As cool as the elephants were, my favorite part of Chiang Mai were the tigers. Just outside of town is a tiger sanctuary where you can enter the cages with them. There are three sets you can visit: small, medium, and large. Naturally we had to do all three.

The baby tigers (around 4 to 6 months) are pretty mellow and you can cuddle with them for about 15 minutes. Afterwards we wandered around the cages viewing all the 40+ tigers. Most of which you can’t visit but can see from very close. Next up for us were the medium tigers (around 1 year old). These guys were like teenagers. Once in the cage, the trainers got them up and playful. As much as people think the tigers are drugged, I doubt they would be as active if they were on drugs. We spent nearly 20 minutes watching them play with each other. Then lastly we sat in with the big boys (around 1.5 to 2 years old). It’s an exhilarating thrill sitting next to something so powerful and dangerous. Really an amazing feeling.

It had been nearly a month that I’d travelled with Alex and I’d made a great friend in the process but this is where we parted ways. He was off to Laos and I was getting back down to Bangkok and on to Siem Riep. I was once again back on my own.

Thailand - Bangkok (Pictures)

2012-06-23T14:08:00.002-07:00

Thailand - Bangkok

2012-06-23T14:08:00.001-07:00

It was a little past 5 in the morning when Alex and I arrived in Bangkok. The sun was just about to come up as we zoomed through the empty streets in the back of a tuk-tuk. This would be the first and last time we stepped foot in one. The first thing you learn in Thailand is how to haggle. The second thing you learn is that the price of a tuk-tuk, no matter how hard you haggle, doesn’t beat the price of a taximeter. And it isn’t even close. In theory, the tuk-tuk should be cheaper because you could haggle with them. But not once could we ever get them lower than $6 per person. The minute you start haggling, they say “no, no, impossible” – which basically means; I’m not going that low because the next naive tourist will pay this. In the three days we were in Bangkok, we never paid more than $4 total for a taxi. Sadly, this wouldn’t be the only time we were scammed out of a few extra dollars.

Neither of us had gotten any sleep on the bus, so we spent the entire morning playing catch up. When we were finally up, all we did was wander through Khao San Road and Chinatown. Khao San is the backpacker area that is filled with all sorts of knock off goods like t-shirts, bags and electronics. China town is much the same in that it’s just booth after booth of fake goods. However the stuff here is more aimed at locals. Anything from hardware, to clothes, to dvds and big-ticket electronics.

Bangkok is a virtual smorgasbord of fake garbage.

The next day we were motivated to explore the city. One of the things recommended to us was the floating markets. The city is laced with a series of canals all connecting to the major Chao Phraya River that runs through the city and there are several markets that line the canals. We made an attempt at taking the bus out there, but after waiting 20 minutes for the second of four interchanges, we bit the bullet and took a taxi. It only cost us $3. That was the last time we bothered with the public busses.

It was a small market, but there were several boats serving local Thai dishes. All of them were run by little old ladies; one of which welcomed us to Bangkok with a big ol’ smile. She told us to sit down and cooked us some salt & burn fish and grilled prawns. To this day, I have yet to try any fish as delicious as that.

Up next was the Temple of Dawn. Bangkok has many elaborately decorated Buddhist temples and this is one of the most important ones. Wat Arun (literal translation of “Temple of Dawn”) is decorated from top to bottom in ceramic works of art; everything from flowers to little Buddha statues. It quite detailed. After climbing two flights of very steep stairs, the top is wrapped in a five-foot tall cloth. Visitors from all over the world leave good tidings and well wishes in many languages. I also left my mark.

That night we did one of the most quintessential things one can do in Bangkok: A Ping-Pong show.

Now, for the sake of those readers that don’t want to know exactly what goes on at these things, I’m only going to skim the surface. If you really don’t want to know, you can skip the next two paragraphs if you like. For those of you who really want to know? Ask me when I get back. I’ll gladly go into as much detail as you’d like.

For those that don’t know, a Ping-Pong show is a type of burlesque show that, as far as I know, is only performed in Thailand. A stripper will use her vagina as a means of performance involving several different objects. As to not go into much detail, I will only include a list of the objects involved in the show I attended: Ping-pong balls, a paddle, darts, balloons, a horn, chopsticks, rings, a bottle, a whistle, and 30 feet of ribbon.

The show itself is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. And it’s not just men who enjoy this. There were numerous couples, young and old, having a good laugh at the ridiculousness of the show. Also, audience participation is highly encouraged. Take it from me – if you participate, you will laugh uncontrollably. Partly from how insane it is and party from being so uncomfortable.

But, all does not always end well. While many of the shows are up front about their costs, some are not. Most shows will be free but include a one-drink minimum – at $25 per bottle. Our place charged $5 per beer, then tacked on an extra $50 per person just for attending. These costs were obviously never mentioned up front. We argued for 15 minutes and got them down some in price but looking back, we should have known better. Oh well. You live and learn. After that fiasco, it was time to get drunk. We went back to Khao San Road and proceeded to drink away our losses. Just like a good gambler would do.

The next day did not turn into anything successful. We were both far too hungover to do anything until well into the afternoon, and by then, we were simply unmotivated. Our biggest achievement for the day came when we purchased our train tickets to Chiang Mai for the following evening. Then proceeded to forget to pick them up when ready.

If there ever was a FAIL day on my trip, that was it.

After that miserable failure, we were up and motivated the following day to actually do something productive. Being that it was our last day in Bangkok, we had to cross two of the remaining major tourist attractions off our list: The Grand Palace and Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha). They are built right next door to each other and are similar in style; huge angular roofs with shimmering patterns of red, gold, and blue adorn the outside.

Wat Pho houses the largest Buddha in SE Asia. It’s 30 feet tall by 50 feet in length and the whole thing is covered in gold. The feet alone stand 10 feet tall and are covered in mother of pearl. This is one of the gems of Bangkok and is quite an impressive sight.

The Grand Palace is the home and political seat of the King of Thailand, and has been for over 200 years. Most of what you’re allowed to see, however, is only the temple section. Nearly three quarters of the palace is off limits to tourists. Having seen Wat Pho I felt like I was seeing the same thing all over again, except with more people. The only difference being this one had more stuff and more colors. One cool thing was the weapons museum. It contained weapons from the past few hundred years; all sorts of guns, swords, daggers and spears.

By now we were done. We’d accomplished that which we set out to do in Bangkok and were ready for another, even better, adventure in Chiang Mai.

Well, after an 18-hour train ride, that is.

Thailand - Koh Phi Phi (Pictures)

2012-06-20T13:58:00.000-07:00

Thailand - Koh Phi Phi

2012-06-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

There are two islands under the Phi Phi moniker: Don (the big island that everyone stays on) and Lei (the small island that contains “The Beach”). The pristine image that people have of the area comes from the picturesque Maya bay. It’s the location of the film adaptation of the Alex Garland novel The Beach. In it, the main character is a young traveller searching for a slice of untouched paradise. Ironically, it’s because of this movie that the location has become a paradise lost.

Upon arrival, it dawned on me that Phi Phi is almost a mirror image of Koh Phagnan. It’s littered with western restaurants, tourist shops and beach bars. While I was after those things on Koh Phagnan, I was not on Koh Phi Phi. I wanted something a little quieter and less geared towards the backpacker trail. Worse yet, the beach on Phi Phi Don served as a good place to party, but little else. The water was shallow, slimy and hot. It felt disgusting.

On the plus side, the viewpoint at the top of island was just a short 15 minute climb from our hostel and offered some of the most spectacular views. You could see for miles in all directions. The first day we went up mid afternoon and would have stayed until sunset had we not been so unprepared. Mosquitos were everywhere and we all got covered in bites. We had come without any repellent and did not feel like dealing with them for another hour. The following day, however, Alex and I timed it right and brought plenty of bug spray. The sunset was amazing and well worth the hike.

Alex, Jess, Martha and I spent much of our time on the island, lying in the sand working on our tans. At night we’d go out and rage at the beach bars. Much like the rest of the south of Thailand – that’s all there is to do. But after two days, the girls were off to another island and Alex and I took a quick tour of Phi Phi Lei before we shipped off for Bangkok.

On our tour were four peculiarly overdressed young Japanese tourists. The girls were in summer dresses and both guys were in jeans. And I’m still unsure as to whether they were two couples or some set of siblings. Only one of the guys went in the water at any point and did so in his jeans. It was odd to say the least. There were three stops on Phi Phi Lei. The first two were coves that we could leap out of the boat (which I did) and swim around in crystal clear water for 20 minutes. The third stop was Maya Bay.

As we approached the bay, one could already sense it would be far different from images you’ve seen before. There were boats lining the outside of the cove and it just got worse as we approached the beach. Speedboats covered nearly ¾ of the shore and there was a tiny little niche cordoned off to swim in. The whole area is swarming with tourists. I assumed it would be like this but it was sad to actually see it. And it was worse for Alex.

Eight years prior, Alex had come to Koh Phi Phi and enjoyed the beach with the company of just twenty people. At that time, there was only one tour group allowed on the island. They came from Phi Phi Don and weren’t even allowed in the bay. They needed to go to one of the coves on the back side of the island and hike down into it. He has pictures of the same beach completely empty. In those eight years, the government saw a goldmine for tourists and has opened it up for all kinds of boats to enter and dock on the beach – some come from as far as Phuket nearly 50 miles away. He hated seeing it this way as it ruined some of the memories he had, but he definitely now realizes the horrible side effects that mass tourism can have.

However, all was not lost. Our tour had one more stop: Monkey beach. We stopped for twenty minutes to interact with families of monkeys chilling along the beach. They were accustomed to people, as the tour companies come by multiple times a day, and were very friendly. It was a lot of fun.

Phi Phi was far from my favorite place in Thailand, but I wouldn’t call it a bad experience. It was definitely eye opening and has given me a greater appreciation for the places that are still untouched by man as true paradise.

Thailand - Ao Nang/Songkran (Pictures)

2012-06-10T09:18:00.001-07:00

Thailand - Ao Nang/Songkran

2012-06-10T09:14:00.002-07:00

With insane hangovers in tow, Alex and I made the trek back to the coast. Neither of us were in the mood for doing anything more than lying around the entire day, so while he slept it off, I lay out on the beach for a few hours. Working off those hangovers is hard work. It was well-needed rest because, although we didn’t know it at the time, the following day would be a busy one.

Since my arrival, everyone had been touting Songkran (Buddhist New Year) as one of the best events in Thailand. I had no idea when it was or what to expect, but all I heard anyone ever say was “giant water fight.” I was sold. When we got up that morning, we noticed a few people with water guns chasing each other around. There was also the occasional family sitting on the street with a hose and bucket of water. It didn’t take long for us to realize today was Songkran. We haggled for the biggest water guns we could find and joined the fray.

For Thai Buddhists, the ritual of cleansing their statues with water has gradually transformed into dousing others with water as a way to escape the heat. April is a notoriously hot month and getting soaked with ice cold water is a highly welcome feeling.

We wandered up and down the streets hosing down anyone between the ages of 2 and 90. Periodically we would stop at someone’s storefront to refill our guns from their water source. The only cost being a bucket of ice-cold water poured down our backs. By noon, everyone had come out of the woodworks to join the festivities. The streets were brimming with people and most storefronts had stopped selling and started dousing. It was an all out war between locals and tourists roaming the streets, entire families in the back of pickup trucks and the either well prepared or otherwise idiotic motorcyclist.

The crowds didn’t begin to die down until the sun set nearly seven hours later. It was an exhausting but highly entertaining day. I felt like I was seven years old again.

The following day we were back on Rai Ley to meet up with Jess and Martha. Like nearly every other day the past two weeks, we did little more than lie in the sand for hours on end. We had such a good time that we decided to move on together the following day. Our destination: Koh Phi Phi. The “picturesque” location they filmed Leo’s titanic disaster The Beach.

Keep in mind those quotations.

Thailand - Ao Nang/Tsunami (Pictures)

2012-06-07T05:52:00.003-07:00

Thailand - Ao Nang/Tsunami

2012-06-07T05:41:00.003-07:00

After spending five days with a drink in your hand, the only thing your body wants to do is recover. Alex and I both were in this state when we left Koh Phagnan. Our next destination was Alex’s favorite place in the world: Rai Ley beach. It’s on an isthmus situated between two massive limestone cliffs and is virtually impossible to access by land.

Because of the limited accessibility, many of the people stay in Ao Nang and visit Rai Ley very briefly, instead staying on the beach in town. This creates a highly crowded and dirty beach in Ao Nang and by comparison a seemingly untouched beach on Rai Ley. Upon arrival there, I immediately realized why it was Alex’s favorite place; the sand was soft, the beach was clean and practically empty. The water, much like a hot bath, was fantastically warm and relaxing to sit in.

To save money, we stayed in Ao Nang and took a long tail boat to Rai Ley each morning. The first day was calm and peaceful lying on the beach. It rained for about an hour while we had lunch, but the rest of the time was spent soaking up the sun. Our second day, however, turned into the craziest experience of my life.

We were back on the beach by noon and spent a good two hours doing absolutely nothing. It was blistering hot today, which must have scared off some tourists because the beach was less crowded than the previous day. After lunch we retook to our same spot in the sand and lay back down. A few minutes after putting my headphones in, it felt as if there was a slight rolling underneath the ground. I’d been in earthquakes before, so I thought it might be something of that nature. However sometimes you can often feel the rumble of a boat as it passes close to shore and I thought nothing of it. I closed my eyes and began to doze off

About twenty minutes later I could hear Alex talking to someone. I looked up to see a Thai man speaking with him saying things like “Phuket! Phuket!” or “you must go.” With his accent and limited grasp of the English language, its was very difficult to understand what exactly he was trying to say. After a few minutes of trying with us, he gave up and went along to the beach to another group of people.

Alex and I looked at each other, thinking, “that was weird.” It was at this point we noticed the beach was practically empty and a lot of the boats were leaving. I mentioned I thought I’d felt an earthquake and we started joking about the idea of a tsunami. Alex made the off-handed remark that “You don't have to panic until the water goes out 100 meters in a matter of three minutes.” That’s when we realized the water had receded pretty far out over the past few minutes. We both got a feeling of unease and decided we should probably go. We packed our things and started walking towards the boats.

And the siren went off.

Our unease turned into full-blown panic and we started high tailing it. All the locals were screaming – especially the boat drivers. We leaped into a boat with a few other people as many of them chaotically started ditching port; some completely empty. During a tsunami, the two safest places to be are as high as possible or way out at sea. We picked the latter. Our boat went screaming through the waves, passing all the other outbound boats. It was complete chaos. The look in the driver’s eyes said it all. If there ever was a time to panic, this is it.

I kept staring out at the boats dotting the horizon, waiting for an incoming wave to swallow them up. The scenarios playing out in my head of our little boat trying to make it over a massive wave did not bode well. I put on a lifejacket thinking, if I needed it, it would do me some good. But all I could think of were two things: That wave is gonna hit and I’m going to die a horrible death or that wave is gonna hit and I’m gonna somehow live and have an awesome story to tell.

I kept telling myself it was going to be the latter.

The boat touched down to an evacuation point and there had yet to be a wave. Alex and I quickly ditched our lifejackets and ran to a waiting pickup truck. We jumped in the back and turned to see the other passengers slowly waddling up the beach. We began screaming at them to “hurry up.” Time nearly stood still as they worked their way to the truck; eventually climbing in the back.

It wasn’t until we were well inland when I had the consciousness to check my phone and find out what was going on. Twitter was blowing up with reports of an 8.2 earthquake off the coast of Sumatra. The exact same spot as the 2004 earthquake/tsunami that killed 250,000 people. But, while there were tsunami warnings in effect, there were no confirmations. We kept looking out at the locals evacuating around us and noticed they were becoming increasingly less worried. By the time we got to Krabi (about 10 miles inland) I’d read numerous reports saying “due to the type of earthquake, there is no tsunami expected.”

Still, Alex and I didn’t want to take any chances. We to make sure it was confirmed there was no tidal wave coming before going back to a coastal city. So, we plopped down in a bar with wifi, had some food and a drink and waited it out.

That’s where we met Martha and Jess; two English girls that had gotten stuck in Krabi on their way to Ao Nang. We all hit it off and kept drinking while we awaited word that it was safe to go back. However, by the time we got anything it was not only pissing down rain but well past the last bus. We all knew we’d survived a tsunami scare and it deserved a celebration.

Tsuanami Party 2012 was on!

We spent hours celebrating our second chance at life by doing the same thing we’d always done; doing stupid shit under the influence of alcohol and living to regret them the next day. And we were successful yet again.

After this whole experience, I looked into the 2004 tsunami. I'd heard nothing about it since it happened and was curious as to what we could have been faced with. On Wikipedia, the main picture says it all. A bunch of people are fleeing a wave that dwarfs over them as it crashes into land…

…that picture was taken in Ao Nang.

Thailand - Koh Phagnan/Full Moon Party (Pictures)

2012-06-06T11:32:00.002-07:00

Thailand - Koh Phagnan/Full Moon Party

2012-06-06T05:09:00.001-07:00

The rush through Singapore and Malaysia had been for one reason: Full Moon Party. There was a beachfront bungalow in my name booked for 5 days surrounding the festivities and I couldn’t wait to get there. From Kuala Lumpur, I flew up to the middle of Thailand and took a ferry over to Koh Samui to meet up with Alex. We had met all the way back at the beginning of February in Buenos Aires and he’d been in Australia and SE Asia since then. Two months later it was like we’d never parted. We were immediately up to the same old antics.

After a little bit of catching up, the two of us and some friends he’d made on the way, went out for a few drinks. On an island like Koh Samui, those few drinks turned into a melee of booze and God knows what else. The night became a giant fog that didn’t clear up until the next afternoon when we were on the ferry to Koh Phagnan. We spent the afternoon exploring parts of the island and doing the three things that would consume just about all of our time there: lying on the beach, lying in a hammock, drinking.

Later in the day I met some people along the beach who we would spend much more time with. Louisa, Tom, and Jen were all friends from England and great people. We met because they offered me some freshly cracked coconut (Tom had climbed a tree and spent nearly a half hour trying to split this open). I hung out with them for a few hours, sharing stories over a case of beer. Louisa even told me a remarkable story about her grandparents that sounded like something out of a movie. If I get my way, one day it will. I wrote it all down.

They all went off to watch a Muay Thai fight, so Alex and I went to the beach to get our drink on. The actual Full Moon Party wasn’t for another two nights, but the evenings leading up to it get wilder as more people arrive on the island. The big thing about the party (and much of Thailand anymore) is the way they serve alcohol. In many places it’s a bottle of beer or a shot of liquor or a glass of wine. Here it’s a sand pail filled with four things: ice, a 375ml bottle of liquor, two cans of soda, red bull. One of these things will put you in a haze, two will knock you off your feet, three will make you hate life in the morning and four, well….DONT. DRINK. FOUR.

But, pushing limitations is what I’m good at. So what did I do? I drank four.

Idiot.

All I wanted to do the next day was lie in my hammock. And all morning, that’s what I did. Still to this day, all I want to do is go back and lie in that hammock. The lapping of the ocean waves at my doorstep, the crescendoing sound of cicadas and the warmth of the sun created a place so tranquil that I will be hard pressed to find anything else like it.

Alex had different plans, however. He wanted to get wickedly tan. Who was I to blame him? What’s the point in migrating to warmth for months on end, only to return home as pale as snow? So we did what all good travellers do: we got insanely tan.

This took us much of the next month to complete, but more on that later.

That night brought us out to the beach again, however as we were pre-gaming at Alex’s hostel, I started getting nauseous. I’m not sure if it was the food I ate or remnants of the previous nights blitzkrieg to my body, but I called it early. It meant Alex and Jen were left up to their own devices. Which was fine. I got to prep myself for the onslaught of the following evenings massacre, and those two could handle themselves.

Having gone to bed early, I woke up just as early. 4am early. I was able to watch the moonset into the ocean. If you’ve never seen one of these, it’s worth doing once in your life. It’s like a sunset in the middle of the night. After watching something like that, I was unable to get back to sleep. So I did what seemed most natural. I lay in my hammock until Jen and Alex got up about 7 hours later. Again I enjoyed simply tuning out and getting lost in the sounds around me.

That afternoon we were back on the beach for a few hours of more tanning. By this point I’d gotten so dark I’d given up wearing sunblock. Towards the end of the afternoon we went back and enjoyed the sunset from my bungalow. We did this nearly every night as not only did my porch look directly out to the sun dropping into the water but they were some of the most spectacular sunsets I’d ever seen.

The Full Moon Party is one of the craziest things I’ve ever been a part of. Much like Carnaval, there were hordes of people dressed up in bells and whistles all there to get completely shit faced. Well, except for the couple that brought their toddler.

Seriously – I don’t get hippies.

The thing to do here is cover yourself in glow in the dark paint. Everyone starts drinking and starts painting anything and everything on each other. As the only American in the group, I got covered in stars and stripes…of the neon variety. Everyone else gets all sorts of swirls, moustaches and vulgarity…or anything that might signify your nationality.

On the beach it’s absolute mayhem. Drunk, dancing, glo-paint covered bodies meander up and down the beach traversing from bar to bar. Each bar has something unique. Some have fire-twirlers, some have giant slides, and all of them sell buckets. And if you’re really feeling up for it you can walk all the way to the end of the beach and up to the cliff side bars to enjoy your fill of mushroom shakes.

And if you’re one of the many people to find someone special for the night, you don’t go back to anybodys hotel room; you just strip naked and run into the ocean.

The next day was my 100^th day on the road. Everything that happened at that party couldn’t have been a better way to celebrate such a milestone.

But, that also meant the next two days were recovery days for me and Alex. Along with Louisa, Tom and Jen, we spent the next two days doing the exact same thing we’d done the previous two days – minus the drinking. There were countless more hours lying in the sun, plenty of time lying in the hammock, and a couple more picturesque sunsets. While our next destination was just as picturesque – and had an even better beach – there was something about combining the perfect party atmosphere with the perfect location that made Koh Phagnan special.

Singapore & Kuala Lumpur (Pictures)

2012-05-31T00:57:00.001-07:00

Singapore & Kuala Lumpur

2012-05-31T00:56:00.001-07:00

My time in Singapore and Malaysia was little more than a stopover on my way into Thailand. I had originally planned my flights to get me up to Singapore and I would work my way up the Malay peninsula. However when I realized there was a full moon party in Thailand just a few days after my scheduled arrival in Singapore, I made it a point to get through this area quickly. In retrospect, I don’t feel I missed much. Singapore itself is a rather boring place for tourists and Kuala Lumpur isn’t much more interesting. There’s more to Malaysia outside of the capital that I’d like to see, but I think most of it is similar enough to Thailand that I don’t hold any regrets.

I arrived in Singapore late at night, having two nights booked at a hostel. The next day I woke early and started exploring the city. I quickly realized there wasn’t much to do. I explored Chinatown and their main harbor, including the Sands complex (which is a major shopping mall/convention center/hotel/casino complex). Afterwards I went back to the hostel to see if there was anything else worth checking out the following day. There wasn’t. I’d spent my entire time walking around and the only other activities to do were go to Universal Studios Asia or the zoo. Neither of which I cared to see.

About the most excitement I had, came when a Buddhist man approached me on the street and gave me my fortune. I’m a heavy skeptic when it comes to things like these, but he had a few “magic” tricks in his act and I was entertained for a good 5 minutes. However I was taken aback when he asked for $100 as a “gift” to his temple. I’m all for giving money to street performers, especially ones that are talented and entertaining, both of which he was, but $100 is outrageous. I gave him a few dollars and he looked at me as if I’d just slapped him across the face. He had a hissy fit about how money should mean nothing to me and stormed off.

This was the first of many experiences with the street hustle of SE Asia.

At this point in my travels, my passport was close to filling up. It was time to stop by an embassy for an extension. It was a Saturday, so I had one of two options: stay in Singapore another two nights and go straight to Thailand or get to Kuala Lumpur and stay two nights there before leaving for Thailand. But, there really was only one option. The embassy in Singapore didn’t accept walk-ins and had no reservations open. Kuala Lumpur took walk-ins. I got to experience another country too.

My two nights in Kuala Lumpur were spent doing almost the exact same thing as Singpore. I wandered around exploring the city, especially Chinatown, and had seen enough to be satisfied after one full day.

Far and away the best thing about these cities is the cuisine. I feasted on delicious and cheap meals for four nights. In Singapore, it was the Chili Crab. The messiest and time-consuming meal I’ve ever had, it’s nothing more than boiled crab covered in sweet chili sauce. I spent an hour cracking open this crab with my hands and teeth – no they don’t give you anything to break it with – all while my fingers are dripping in orange slime.

In Kuala Lumpur, it was the street restaurants that swept me off my feet. One street in particular had a row of restaurants on either side that set up plastic tables and chairs outside at night.

The street became so overwhelmed with these restaurants that it was virtually impossible for cars to even get through. Their cuisine was a mix of Asian food from Chinese to Thai and everything in between.

After a quick few days I was off to central Thailand, where I would meet up with Alex. For those of you who don’t remember, we became friends way back in Buenos Aires. I wound up spending the next month travelling through Thailand with him.

Australia - Cairns (Pictures)

2012-05-28T08:02:00.000-07:00

Australia - Cairns

2012-05-28T00:56:00.000-07:00

There was one and only one reason we went up north; The Great Barrier Reef. This is an absolute must-see when visiting Australia and we weren’t about to miss it. I had initially thought about taking this as a scuba lesson, but RJ preferred to snorkel and I didn’t really care either way. There was definitely no let down with this choice.

Each boat in Cairns holds a few dozen people split into divers and snorkelers. We travelled about an hour and a half out towards the edge of the reef where we parked at our first of three stops. Once we were in the water, it was impossible to tell who anyone was. Everyone was wearing stinger suits because in Australia everything is out to kill you and the same goes for in the water. There are jellyfish about the size of a fingernail whose sting is said to be excruciatingly painful and requires instant hospitalization. And it can be fatal.

The reef itself isn’t quite as colorful as one might expect (parts had a somewhat greyish tint) but the parts that are, dazzle in the water filtered sunlight. Then there’s the fish. They’re absolutely everywhere. They range from tiny to massive and come in all sorts of colors; everything from radiant yellows to dull greys.

During our three stops, the highlights for me were; the massive fish about the half the size of a full-grown human male and the clown fish. Yeah, I found Nemo. The others I was on the lookout for were turtles or reef sharks, but was unable to see any of them. RJ on the other hand did. At the third stop he saw both within a few minutes of each other. It’s too bad I didn’t give him the camera for that stop.

The next day, and RJ’s last in Australia, we went into the Daintree rainforest. The trip lasted all day and was split into two very distinct sections. The morning was filled with nature hikes and trees and whatnot. The afternoon took us to several lakes and waterfalls. The latter was much more entertaining. We swam in a crater lake and underneath two waterfalls. The first waterfall was a 30 foot drop off a cliff and was so powerful that you could really only swim around and behind it. The second was a river that poured over a series of boulders. You could swim up and lie flat against the rocks, letting the water stream over you and give you a nice massage.

The next morning, RJ was scheduled to fly out really early. I woke up to him having missed his taxi and also his flight. Fortunately it was only a connector to Sydney and he was still able to make the international flight home. My day didn’t truly start until the afternoon. I took a bus north of town to their tropical zoo. It’s a small, but very well run, wildlife park and they encourage being hands on with the animals. You can walk through wild bird sanctuaries, get extremely close to crocs, feed kangaroos, and even hold a koala. Which is the whole reason I came to the zoo. It was like holding a stuffed animal. They’re so cuddly.

From here I was off to Brisbane and the surrounding coastline. I had four more days in Australia and I wanted to do little more than lie on the beach. Especially since it was my birthday.

However, I’m saving all birthday stories to myself. Some things are just better left unsaid.

Australia - Sydney (Pictures)

2012-05-24T12:27:00.002-07:00

Australia - Sydney

2012-05-24T12:27:00.001-07:00

For the next week I had a travelling companion. I met RJ in Sydney just as St. Patty’s day was starting to get into full swing. We dropped our stuff in our room and immediately went for a beer. RJ had just gotten in after nearly 40 hours of travel, so we both rested after lunch in preparation for a big night of partying: A night that never really came. We were staying in Kings Cross, a well-known party district in Sydney. However what we didn’t realize was that it was almost all clubs. Everyone was dressed to the nines while we were in tshirts, shorts and flip-flops. We were expecting drunken bar tomfoolery like in the States. Instead we got every other Saturday night. So we called it an early one.

The next day we took an early stroll through the Botanical Gardens and along the harbor, finally stopping at the Opera house and Harbour bridge. The previous day an guy from our hostel had brushed off the Opera house as ugly from up close and not worth your time. Both RJ and I agreed that his opinion sucked. While it’s impressive from a distance, especially with the bridge in the background, the Opera house is even more amazing from up close. The arcs are covered with hundreds of thousands of white ceramic tiles and the contours of the building are so unique that it’s hard not to be impressed.

What stuck most with me is its ability to stand the test of time. It was designed in the 1950’s, built in the 1960’s, and completed in the 1970’s. Looking back on much of the architecture of those time periods, there are a lot of works that look extremely outdated. Contrary to this, the Opera house is as progressive now as it was when it was built.

The rest of the day RJ and I hung out with Lina and Madita, the girls I’d met in Auckland. We watched the St. Patty’s day parade. Oddly enough it was the day after St. Patty’s day (on a Sunday no less). Later we went to Manly beach on the north side of Sydney and watched the surfers. It was a pretty relaxing day.

The next day wasn’t so relaxing. We began by asking the girl at the front desk to call the Harbour bridge climb to put us down for late morning. She responded by telling us “it’s probably fully booked. Today is the 80^th birthday of its completion.” I asked her to call anyways. Sure enough, they had some spots open. By sheer coincidence, we got to climb the bridge on a pretty special day. The climb began by getting in these special suits and harnesses that you attach to a cable running the span of the bridge. You know, so no one falls off. Unfortunately you’re not allowed to bring your camera. It sucks you can’t take your own pictures; the views up there are absolutely stunning. But it makes sense. I can’t imagine how much damage you could cause if you dropped it on the bridge.

By the time we finished, RJ and I were starving. Our guide had recommended a restaurant just down the street that served both kangaroo and crocodile pizzas. Both were very good. The kangaroo was very gamey, not unlike venison, and the croc was slightly chewier, and saltier, version of chicken. Yes, sometimes “it tastes like chicken” is the best way to describe something.

We went back to the hostel to change into something more presentable because we were going to an opera. Neither of us had ever seen one live before, or at least that we could remember, but we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see one in such a legendary building. It was a great decision because both of us were blown away.

The performance was of Turandot, an Italian Opera of which we’d never heard. We went there thinking: if we don’t like it, we can always leave at one of the intermissions. But by the end of the first act, we knew we were staying for the entire thing. I was a powerful love story with a stunning array of costumes and stage design with some very intense singing.

Our third day took us well outside of Sydney to the Blue Mountains. We took a two-hour train ride to the small town of Katoomba, which put us on the edge of the mountain range. We walked about a mile and a half towards the edge of town and there we were on the edge of a giant plateau overlooking the range. The area was covered with dense greenery as far as the eye could see. The range gets its name from a distinct blue haze that can be seen at a distance rising up from the valley. RJ and I hiked along some paths around the edge of the canyon and took in the foliage around us. Some recent rainfall gave the whole area a lush feel and the mud kept away swarms of other tourists. It was a real peaceful way to spend an afternoon.

Our last day in Sydney involved an early morning surf lesson and a late afternoon flight. Bondai beach is well known to surfers around the world. However it doesn’t have quite the best of reputations. It has become highly touristy and, to many Australians, not worth the trouble. But, we’re tourists, so what the hell.

You’d think that being from California would mean that at one point in my life I’d picked up a surfboard. Wrong. That waters too damn cold. So the first time RJ or I ever took a board into the water was in Australia. Having boogie boarded when I was younger, I already had the feel for catching a wave. However the problems started when I was supposed to stand up. I got halfway up a few times but couldn’t keep my balance and would almost immediately fall off. I don’t think RJ fared much better. Although after the initial group briefing, we were more or less on our own. I definitely had fun and could see myself taking it up back home. Although braving that water still seems unappealing.