chiang mai, chiang rai

since prolly the worst days of my life on the island of koh tao, god has totally made up for it.  departing the island, i took a boat and a bus back to bangkok and met up with inez again.  we spent a couple of days there then train-ed it to the northern city of chiang mai for songkran, or 'water festival'.  songkran is thai new year and a three day long event where everyone, and i mean EVERYONE, ages ranging from old-enough-to-walk to barely-able-to-walk, was armed with some sort of water projectile thing; squirt guns, super soakers, buckets, you name it, they had it.  so i got a super soaker.  i'm american.

i have never in my life been to a party as big as this.  throughout the whole city (from what i saw) there were camera crews for television stations filming, dj's blasting the worst r&b/hip hop known to man, and thousands and thousands of people running around like chickens with their heads cut off.  i'm surprised i've never even heard about it before.

saved by a starbucks window

at the doors of a mcdonalds there were people waiting for you to leave the restaurant

that was the last time i've partied.

inez had to go back to bangkok cuz her sister was flying in, so i fled to chiang rai to meet up with one of my scuba diving buddies from koh tao, jessica.  the city of chiang rai is pretty similar to chiang mai but there's an 'r' instead of an 'm' in the second part of the name.  ha!  see what i did there??  did you???  ...well, that's what happens when you hang out with only yourself too much.

j/k, chiang rai is awesome and i've been in such great company for the past week.  jessica is from portland and so is her best friend, eric, who is half thai and half white of some kind.  his thai side lives in chiang rai and they invited me to stay with them until i found a place.  from the moment i walked in the door the entire family, especially eric's mom, has been overwhelmingly amazing in every way.  they're letting me stay in a room in the apartment complex they own, they feed me, and they drove me around all day to help me find a muay thai gym (which i eventually did).  it's been awesome.

they took me to two huge landmarks within chiang rai, the 'white temple' and 'black house'.  first was the white temple which the architect has been building for like eight years and he doesn't estimate it to be done until 2070.  it is the most beautiful temple i have ever seen.

the glass made the building super shiny

my favorite part of the temple were the hands that surrounded the bridge, a "walk across hell" feeling

the devil's in the details

this was the bathroom.  seriously.

just as we were leaving a thunderstorm began

the white temple was more aesthetically amazing in person.  i will post more soon, especially on the black house, it was phenomenal.  phenomenally dark...

here's to posting soon!

koh tao... part II

ok, i'll be honest, after looking back at my time on koh tao i realize that it wasn't as all sunshine and rainbows.  in fact, it was more like lightning and thunder, and lots of laughing, mainly at myself.  first let me start off by saying i did have an amazing experience for the ten days i was on that godforsaken island; it was a completely different adventure that i wouldn't trade for the world.  but i should have known what i was getting myself into from the boat ride over...

i was pretty stoked on the bus ride from bangkok down to chumphon where i was to catch a boat to the island of koh tao located on the eastern territory of southern thailand. it was raining pretty harsh once i arrived at the docks at 5:30am.  about 60 cramped, tired travelers waited in the waiting area for the next two hours while watching harry potter 5.  yes, harry potter 5, the worst one of the seven movies.  i figured it coulda been worse.  but i didn't.  i should have.

the boat ride was practically tragic.  the ride was supposed to be an hour and a half but took three with the boat flowing side to side with around 10ft waves.  and of the 60ish passengers, i kid you not, i'd say at LEAST 20 of them were puking, with another 20 blanch as a cloud running from their seats to the upper deck outside.  all you could here was blaghk, oooghk, a@kla**phh, as;dl";a>[`1jk.  it was sick and wrong and totally frickin disgusting, but it was also pretty comical with everyone yaking in unison and victims rushing here and there.  luckily, i was fine tho, as my super powers of meditation and zen mastery got me thru the squalls.

uninjured, i got off the boat and got in the back of a pick-up truck with converted seats along the edges of the bed.  i arrived at my hotel/resort and started my scuba lessons.  this part of the trip was awesome as learning about scuba diving is really fascinating and really enjoyable mainly because i've never experienced anything like it.  i've been snorkeling before and i kinda thought they'd be similar.

we were supposed to start actual diving in the gulf of thailand on the second day of class but thanks to the "worst weather the gulf has experienced in over ten years" we did some techniques in the resort's pool instead.  meh, i'd make the best of it as we waited for the weather to better.  so of course i thought "muay thai!"  muay thai training was really one of the main reasons i wanted to go to the southern islands.  i had this grand idea of training for a couple of months and living on a beach and riding my rented motorcycle to the gym everyday and life would be great and i would be happy and i would be so awesome.  that didn't work out.  at all.

i rode into the buckets of rain thinking that i was super cool for being so determined to take my first class in real muay thai.  "maybe the instructor would see my motivation," i thought.  maybe he would realize that i rode two miles in the rain and thru flooded streets with water up to my knees to get to class.  maybe he would stand me in front of the class and give a speech of how dedicated and awesome i was, and tell all of his students that i was a shining example of what muay thai fighters should aspire to be.  "you're the son i never had," he'd prolly say to me after his hour long speech.  even tho i wouldn't really know how to respond i'd say the first thing that comes to my mind, "the wise man is the man who knows what he doesn't know."  ...wait, what??  did i just spew one of socrates' most cliched quotes of all time?  oh well, he wouldn't understand me with his broken english anyways, but i'd be able to see the admiration in his eyes.

fuck no.  it was the exact opposite.  i showed up for class, with around 20 other students, half of them foreigners, gassed out in the first hour, and when i took my hand wraps off i had some kind of skin rash all along my arms.  i payed 300 baht for the class, rode off back into the torrential downpour, stopped at like four pharmacies to find a proper medication for the skin hives/welts/rash, and then back to a freezing cold shower in my hotel room where i would die poor and lonely.

at least the medication worked.

the next day: "no scuba diving due to weather."  i had the whole day to myself again.  what should i do...  i ruled out muay thai/skin disease, so i decided it was a good idea to go for a swim even if it was raining worse than the day before.  the last time i was in thailand with jeremy madison, i remember one of the very best times we had was swimming in the gulf while it was raining.  no one was on the beach and we played this game where we would throw coconuts at each other and whoever moved first would lose.  even tho i had no one to throw coconuts at i'm sure i could still have a good time.  "this is going to be awesome," i thought.  well, i was wrong.

i got to the only beach that was accessible by road and made my way to the water.  this particular beach was particularly dirty as it had trash in the water and longboats everywhere.  buuut, there was no one on it.  cool.  so i swam around for awhile enjoying the freedom and open waters.  thinking this was a good experience i headed back in.  i don't know, maybe around ten feet from the shore, for some reason, i noticed taking a really heavy step into the water.  as my foot landed, it came down on a coral.  a sharp coral.  the type of sharp coral that cuts your frickin foot open an inch long and half an inch deep.  well, well, well, mother nature, if you're trying to kill me you're on your way.  it's not like it was devastatingly painful but putting pressure on it was annoying as all hell and i couldn't walk without noticing it.  if i at least had the choice of doing muay thai before, the option was out of the question now.  since that incident eight days ago it has healed quite a bit, but it's still there.

it was a lot worse

after waking up the next morning, the time for scuba diving finally came!  i was excited.  after eight days of getting beat up on, i was gonna scuba dive in the gulf!!  long story short, it was great but not without injury.  the fins i wore on the first day were way too small so the top of my heals got really cut up from the constant friction of kicking.  the cuts weren't too bad after the two dives on the first day but the next day of scuba-ing i obviously had to wear fins again.  sooo, the second day of wearing them made the cuts twice as bad and for the past four days my heals have been covered in puss, then light scaring, then the scars would reopen from walking and get all pussed-over again.  they've come to the point of almost being unnoticeable, almost.  they were only a little more painful than the cut on the bottom of my foot, but with the powers of the coral incident and fin fiasco combined they have made walking a damn nightmare.  so i've been limping around for the past week looking like another tourist who can't handle thailand.

seeing how much i've written so far i realize there probably aren't many people still reading this, so i'll sum up the rest of the trip right here: the thai navy came to the island and 'rescued' people to their battleship along with helicopters picking folks up on soccer fields and transporting them to the ship; my computer wouldn't start at one point and i couldn't have it fixed until i got to bangkok (the service guy told me an ant was stuck in the fan); spent waaay too much money in the ten days i was on koh tao; and ate the worst food i've had since i left the states.  whaaah, whaaah, i know.  but in all honesty, i was laughing the whole time.  it was just too damn funny that one incident kept appearing after another, and it all happened on this godforsaken island!  it was quite a ride and looking back i'm really glad to have lived it, and i wouldn't trade it for any other experience.

buuut i wouldn't do it again.  one and done :)

happy traveling everyone!

p.s. i forgot to add that the right side of my bottom retainer broke off in my mouth, too.

koh tao

sooo,

i left the island of koh tao (turtle island) off the eastern coast of the gulf of thailand.  it was interesting weather wise.  apparently while i was there the whole gulf experienced the worst storms in over ten years.  along with lightening and streets and buildings flooding, the thai navy came and 'rescued' people from the island.  there were also helicopters picking people up from soccer fields to get them to the navy ship.  to be honest tho, the precipitation was about as bad as washington in february, and it was the first time since i left the states that i even saw rain.  i kinda secretly enjoyed it.

the whole purpose of me going to the island of koh tao was to learn how to scuba dive and now... renton has a new member of the 'open water scuba diving' club!!  the conditions were like 5 meters (16ish feet) visibility which i didn't think were too bad but all the instructors were complaining like it was the worst time of their lives.  whatev, i'm certified!  and it was fun!  saw tons of different fish, turtles and the like.  i'm definitely gonna do it again, maybe in vietnam or australia.

i didn't take too many pics during while in koh tao mainly because i was too busy diving.  i should've taken one in my scuba gear tho cuz i totally looked really cool... maybe.  i also took a muay thai class while on koh tao, learned some proper technique and had some fun.  and then i cut the bottom of my foot  when i was swimming the next day.  doh.  but it should be healed by the time i reach chiang mai in northern thailand for the thai new year, and i'll definitely take pics of the gyms there.

talk in a bit :)

i'm scuba certified!

a really cool resort i found on the northern part of koh tao in the middle of a forest 

udaipur, jaisalmer, jaipur, delhi

fam and friends!

i've been on the road quite a bit for the past two weeks, stopping in four major cities for a few days at a time.

first was udaipur, a small city with unrivaled beauty in its location and architecture.  originally founded in the middle of a dessert, about 10 years ago a massive rainstorm so severe (or promising) created a lake in the middle of the city.  this was the first time in india that i felt like i was in a foreign country; i know that sounds weird but with the 'aladdin' style buildings and a gorgeous body of water flowing thru the vast sands, i have to say this is one of the most aesthetically pleasing places i've ever seen.  and it doesn't hurt that the sun is always shinning (it's a dessert after all!).  it made me think what paris may look like, although without the indian people and the indian buildings and the dessert sands and the cows everywhere.  actually, i don't really know why i thought of paris.  but!  i did smoke out of a real indian hookah for the first time on my birthday!

udaipur

indian hookah!  (not much dif from any other hookah tho, lol) 

i just liked this pic

next stop inez and i took a 12 hour train ride to spend two nights in jaisalmer specifically for a camel safari.  it was totally worth it.  we rode camels all day to come upon a sand dune in which we slept under the stars.  besides a few ants eating me during the night, sleeping with the moon and stars overhead kinda makes me want to become a dessert hermit, if only for one night.

my camel was a pain in the ass.  he was always groaning (do camels groan?) whenever one of the drivers would conduct an order, but i sympathized thinking he just hated his line of work, as i was the same way when i was working back home.  so i tried to free the bastard in the middle of the night, but he got pissy at me for that, too.  dumb camel.  maybe he just likes complaining...

our little group of 11 (3 drivers, 8 riders)

my stubborn-ass camel

damn tourists...

small village along the way

the dessert dunes

after the camel stint, we went to jaipur to join in on the annual 'holi festival'.  'holi' is renown for celebrating all religions and castes throughout entire india, and is known for throwing powder and liquid forms of color everywhere and on everyone.  people were literally covered head to toe in the stuff.  it was a messy, beautiful day.

colored power was sold eeeeeverywhere

a painted elephant

another painted elephant

two painted elephants

in the color scheme of things, i got off easy compared to most

my last stint in india consisted of delhi for a night, which isn't really much to type home about, as i saw it as just another crowded, tourist city.  i just went there to catch a flight to bangkok, as i am now in... THAILAND!!

talk with you guys soon :)

hi grandma and grandpa!!

india in general (very general)

hey fam and friends!

i've been on the road a lot the past couple weeks.  i have tons of pics to show but no wifi to post them.  so instead of posting events without pics i'll try to tell of how i've seen india thus far.

it's definitely a cool place to visit, explore and learn a completely different culture.  the people are smiley, nice and friendly, but very agressive in terms of sales and profit.  as for the atmosphere there is poverty everywhere, even in the upscale areas.  trash is on the streets (some places knee high) and in the gutters and sidewalks, and cows and livestock of all kinds eating and sleeping in it.  because of this, tourism may seem like a huge market (and of course it is) but not in the way i initially thought.

india is impressively unique.  the sellers and locals may cater to the tourist when it comes to making a dollar but they don't integrate themselves to the western lifestyle.  when it comes to entertainment, for example, as much as they love hollywood, their movies are completely filled with singing and dancing, like frickin live-action disney films.  their television shows are no different.  the appearance of a typical indian is what you would see in a western film: red dots on the forehead representing different castes of beliefs, turbans for the muslims, curry on every menu.  blah, blah, blah.  and so many people are singing and dancing all the time, whether in public or in a tuk tuk.  it's kinda refreshing to see people maintain their culture regardless of outside influences.  except for the toilets, damn they need to get on board with the crappers.

as far as relaxation goes, goa was prolly the only place i visited that one could really get r&r.  it's totally hippie-ville and the streets are definitely tourist, but one could relax (it has tons of beaches).  everywhere else is pretty fast paced.

as far as pricing and costs go i find them to be interesting so maybe some of you guys will as well.

$1 = 45 rupees

-2 star hotel: rupees 300-400
-5 min tuk tuk ride: 40
-hour of internet: 40
-pop: 25
-1 liter bottled water: 20
-small pack of cigarettes (10): 38
-curry meal (average cost): 80
-hour helicopter ride: 2200
-long sleeve shirt (average cost): 200
-12 hour bus ride (sleeper): 800

so that's my weak attempt at trying to stereotype india.  all in all, it has been just frickin awesome to see and i recommend it to anyone looking for a change of pace.

laters!

navsari and umbar

hey!

since our little group met in goa, we've been to hempi and now navsari ("no-sorry"), where kish's family's place is.  we've met his relatives on both his mom and dad's side, eaten in their homes (two separate villages) and stayed with his autie and uncle and cousins at their house for a night.  it's awesome here, definitely different... eating with your (right) hand, squating toliets (sucks), and livestock everywhere.  everywhere.  and i milked a friggin buffalo on their farm today!  please don't ask about that one tho, definitely weird.

so kelly and diego had to take off yesterday. diego northeast to delhi to fly back to argentina (he travels every february for a month, and his time was up), and kelly is off to thailand to get settled in for thai new year (april 13-15).   and now inez, kish and i are figuring out what we want to do before kish heads back to england next thursday...  i think they want to go to some super, awesome, super club in mumbai.  hmmm, sure, i'll try it.

i think i'm gonna head up north to nepal, maybe.  or fly to burma.  not really sure yet, but i'm sure i'll find something.  but one thing for certain is the GIBBON EXPERIENCE in laos.  i won't go into detail (gooooogle ;) , but it consists of tree houses in the middle of some laotian jungle and they have zip lines to all of the tree houses around the jungle.  it's like a three day exploration, and you stay the nights in the tree houses!  it's like $250 american, so you can see the seriousness of it's awesomeness.

i'll post pics where/when i can (i think kish took a picture of me milking that ram), although i think i've said that before, but i haven't had wifi since goa.

hope you are all well :)

-paul

                                                                         kish's family

diego, me, inez, kelly

on the way to kish's family farm

eating on the floor, indian custom

buffalos!!  and they're everywhere

clockwise: me, inez, diego, kish, kelly