I’m off to Chiang Mai tomorrow evening after another day in Bangkok. Bangkok is much more lively on the weekends… I saw a small parade tonight and a ton of locals (many students) out on the town. It’s really a whole different experience than the last two times I was here. So I’m taking the night bus… hopefully it’s more comfy than the bus I took from down south… What a nightmare. My long legs just get crushed when the person in front of me reclines their seat. I had to put my legs into the isle and try to sleep with my spine all tweaked to one side. Not exactly sleep really… more of a dream state… Below is a little something that occurred in Koh Tao. Also, I’ve updated my flickr page. Cheers!
*Flying Things Phobia*
Two nights ago I came back to my bungalow from the beach (Koh Tao) to get cleaned up and relax for awhile before going to meet a couple friends for dinner. After a refreshing, but rather uncomfortable, squatting shower in the tiny bathroom, I drenched myself in bug spray and stepped out to the porch to have a smoke and read a bit. The sun had just dipped below the horizon and the skeeters were coming out. As I’m reading I keep seeing these shadows out of the corner of my eye and I decide that they’re simply the shadows of bugs flying near the incandescent bulb above my head. After a few more minutes, however, one of those creepy black creatures called bats just whizzes right next to my head. I immediately threw up my arms to cover my head and decided that I would kill the rest of the time inside. So, I turned off the outside light… with the logic that if the light is off, bugs won’t swarm around it, and bats, therefore, will not fly over the porch. hmmmm…
About a half hour later it’s time to head out so I get my shit together, unlatch the lock, and open the door. I’m trapped!!! All I could see against the twilight beyond the porch was bats! Flying this way and that, back and forth… I pulled the door in so as not to let bats in the room… and I briefly felt like I was trapped in some kind of prison. I had to formulate a plan. OK… I would stay low and position a chair off to my right to block any bats and then head off the stairs on the left. Easy enough… So I crouched down and slowly opened the door. I could still see the little bastards all over the place. I reached out and grabbed the plastic chair and put it into position on my right. A little wider… crawl… a little wider… crawl… AHHHHH!!!! Bats flying right up to me, grazing my head, seemingly attacking me! I got around the door with one arm over my head and slammed it shut. I then threw the padlock into place and jammed it shut with such force that I almost ripped the latches off the door. Still being bombarded, and still crouching, I made for the stairs… and nearly fell down them! But, I caught myself and made it to the trail that leads to the main road. Ahhh… it’s all over… NOPE! More bats! Grazing my head… some literally flying directly up to my face and pulling u-turns at about 3 inches. I ducked and covered as I ran out to the main road. It was all over. I walked over to the main desk to let them know that I was going to stay an extra night.
After the adrenaline rush wore off and throughout the rest of the evening, I told my story to many people… Even people that were staying in the same bungalows… and nobody had experienced any bats. Everyone was like “well, I’ve seen a few here and there, but nothing like what you describe…” I hope I’m not going crazy…
I know the bats were just out looking for their nightly meal, and that they were in control of themselves, but it was simply too close for my comfort. Call me a little girl if you will
PS… I watched The Daily Show ‘Global Edition’ last night. It runs on CNN International once a week. I had no idea this even existed, and it was hilarious as expected. It’s good to see John Stewart Bush bashing in front of a global audience. It would definitely be worth the effort to try and dig up some episodes on the net.
I ended up spending a bit more time than planned on Koh Phangan. The island was gorgeous and the hammock lounging lifestyle just sucked me in. After all of the hectic traveling from place to place in the past month, however, it was really nice to just chill on the beach and relax. A couple of the nights weren’t so relaxed, though. The night of the full moon party was pretty crazy… It was pretty much what I expected and not really my scene, but fun nonetheless. The crowd was diverse and the music was lame. Some parts of the beach were better than others, playing more laid back kind of trance music, but I couldn’t help yearning for a good hip-hop DJ or a good live band. All of the other places on the beach were just playing the regular bullshit top 40 music that you here in every trendy bar around the world. Bikinis and muscles and leathery skin seemingly flapping along with the driving beats.
The highlight for me… hands down… was the fire dancers. I sat for hours watching these guys (and some girls) twirl their Kerosene soaked pois and staffs in ungodly ways. They were also great subjects for photos, which brings me to my next bit. My camera was stolen right off my hip later on in the night so all of my photos from the party are history. This is really more upsetting to me than to loose the camera. If I ever steal someones camera (which I would never do) I have decided that I will take out the memory card and put it in that persons pocket. A moral thief! Admittedly, I was rather drunk… so perhaps I deserved it for not being more ‘conscious.’ Literally. Anyway, that was water under the bridge as soon as I discovered that it was gone. No sense in dwelling…
On the ferry ride to Koh Phangan I met a guy named Glen from New Zealand and ended up sharing a room with him for the week. We rented motorbikes and explored the island quite a bit. The roads were really sketchy in areas… huge potholes, chunks of missing pavement that gave way to treacherous hills, dirt roads with huge ruts carved from water runoff, and VERY steep hills. I heard stories everyday of people crashing all over the place, ending their trips, breaking limbs, losing the skin on one side of their arms and legs… and I actually witnessed one such accident after an Australian guy was pulled into one of the drainage ruts and sucked off the road. I was careful, though, and I didn’t dare get on the bike after drinking… It would be suicide. So my ‘solo adventure’ after Ian’s departure only lasted the bus ride from Bangkok. As of yesterday, however, I find myself completely alone.
I hopped on another ferry yesterday to Koh Tao, an island just north of Koh Phangan. The seas were gnarly yesterday and the wind was stiff. The novelty of the roller coaster ride wore off pretty quick when I was running to the edge of the boat to discharge the salad I had eaten an hour prior. But, once I felt the refreshing blast of sea water drench me from head to toe, the wave of nausea passed and I felt normal once again. I figured it was better to stay on the lower deck and the rest of the trip was smooth. With my sea legs causing me to waver, seemingly drunk, across the precarious platforms on the pier, I arrived to the now normal barrage of locals offering taxis and bungalows and food and pushed my way through to find my own way. I stayed in last night to read, rest and enjoy some solitude. Today should be more interesting as I ran into a group of people I met in Bangkok and a girl I met in Malaysia. It’s amazing to me how paths cross…
First off, Cambodia is an amazing country and has so much to offer. In Phnom Penh, the trip to the killing fields and to Tuol Sleng genocide museum was saddening, but without a doubt a must see. To fathom genocide on that scale makes me ill… I litterally became nautious walking among bones and tattered clothing of human beings.
On the other side of the coin is Ankgor Wat. The ancient ruins of a great civilization are just phenomenal to see and walk amongst. I fully understand now why this is one of the wonders of the world. I was really suprised at how liberally they let you walk around… You could litterally climb all over almost anything if you want to. This is both a good thing and a bad thing, I suppose. Good because I was able to explore what I wanted and also get good angles for photos… Bad because it’s not the best way to preserve such ancient ruins.
So, I’m on my own now. Ian and I parted ways yesterday and he’s on his way back to the states. I headed south by bus and after 18 hours of travelling by bus and ferry, I arrived on Koh Phangan, an island in the gulf of Thailand. I’m back in tropical paradise! I met a guy named Glen from New Zeland on the ferry and we are sharing a room to cut costs. We have a nice place right on the beach and a good distace away from the ‘party beach,’ so as not to go crazy trying to sleep tonight with the full moon party in full effect. Not that we aren’t participating, just not to the extent that I’ve heard some do. I rented a motorbike yesterday and I’ve been exploring the island a bit… It’s a great way to go around here because taxis are expensive and everything is pretty spread out. Some of the roads heading into the island are crazy! Super steep gravel roads… but fun… very fun. I’m being careful, though, many people around here get injured because of negligence. Yesterday, I saw an Australian kid get stuck a water runoff rut on the side of the road. He ended up ok, but the bike was pretty well damaged.
I’m planning on staying here for maybe 5 days, maybe 4 depending on how I feel. I have some decisions to make as to where I’m going to go after this… I’ve finally posted some new photos for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy and cheers!
Arrived safely in Cambodia today after an extremely short filght from Bangkok. It was raining like hell when we arrived and the landing was really rough… Kind of freaked me out. But, the clouds on the way over made up for it… I could see storms and cumulonimbus clouds sprouting up all over the place. We haven’t explored at all yet, but I can say that the people here are the friendliest that I’ve come across thus far… although also the most scandalous… I was absolutely bombarded with people while walking out of the airport. I’ve learned to just ignore everything and find legitimate services, but it’s hard when 10 guys are offering different deals on tuk-tuks and taxis… I want to communicate with these people, but end up beaing a dick because they’re so pushy.
Anyway, when we got out of the airport, Ian went to the first ATM he found and the machine took his card! So… he called the number on the receipt and, much to our surprise, a woman arrived within 10 minutes to retrieve the card out of the machine. phweeeew… I thought we were going to be there for hours. So, once again, things work out… they always do. Of course, Ian still has to call his bank and see what the deal is, but, it’s all good.
Our place is great… right on the river. Gorgeous sunset tonight… Exploration happens tomorrow… then on to Siem Reap.
Well well… so I find myself today in Bangkok. After two really nice days in Vang Vieng, we decided that the best way to get to Cambodia would be to hop a bus to Bangkok and fly into Phnom Penh… sooooo thats where we’re at. We traveled for a mere 15 hours yesterday and will fly to Cambodia on the 10th. I realize that the route I’m taking through Asia is fitful at the very best, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!
I’m pretty bummed that I didn’t get up to Luang Prabang, but I’ll possibly hit that on my way up when Ian takes off on the 19th. Jenn… I tried to visit your favorite place, but Ian really wanted to see Ankgor Wat and if we continued into northern Laos, we wouldn’t have the time.
Vang Vieng was absolutely gorgeous… The view across the river was magnificent, ancient mountains completely covered in jungle (even the seemingly vertical cliffs!), dense puffs floating through the peaks and the river meandering by. The occasional cock-a-doodle from a rooster and thunder roaring in the distance. Really a magical place. We took a small tour by kayak down the river and visited a couple caves and, of course, a bar… right on the river… complete with a massive rope swing/diving platform. What a blast! One of the caves we went to was really great, but rather disapointing at the same time. The river actually runs through the cave and during the dry season, we would have been able to swim into the cave with light helmets and float around on tubes. Since the water is so high, however, we were only able to swim in about 5 meters and look up into the dark… So I couldn’t see much in the way of the cave, but it was really great swimming under water into a cave. The only thing I really didn’t like about Vang Vieng was the amount of young people that were there just to get absolutely wasted… Don’t get me wrong, I definitely took part in my fair share of the fruits, but some people just take it too far… and wind up being entirely disrespectful toward the locals. It probably makes them wonder what the hell kind of youth the west is breeding…
We hopped on a bus yesterday at 1:00 pm and made our way back down to Vientiane. From there, hopped a shuttle to ‘Friendship Bridge,’ which is the border of Laos/Thailand where we went through exit customs and hopped on another bus in order to get off and go through entrance customs into Thailand where we hopped on another bus that took us to Bangkok. We arrived here at 4:30am.
So here I am in another big city and I’m not very impressed so far… only two days here, so whatever. I really wish I was still in Laos… Photos on my Flickr page. The tags are a bit of a mess… I’ll fix them later Cheers.
So we made it into Laos yesterday after a very relaxing flight from KL. The flight was about half empty so I was able to grab an entire row of seats to lay across and sleep the entire way. By far the best plane sleep I’ve ever had… and also the most sparsely peopled plane I’ve ever been on.
My first impression of Laos is ‘laid back.’ Also, the money is pretty confusing… 1 Lao Kip is about 8,700 US Dollars and furthermore the bills all look similar. I’ll get used to it… There is a different pace of life here then anywhere I’ve been thus far and the people are extremely helpful and friendly. Vientiane is pretty nice… right on the Mekong, but the Mekong is super low right now… so there is a vast flood plain reaching way out to the banks of the river… must be a half-mile away. It not at all what I imagined the Mekong looking like.
We’re going to get out and explore on some bikes today, so I’ll have more to say about the area later on.
Wow… that was absolutely beautiful. Tioman Island was just about perfect… Very friendly locals, beautiful beaches, beautiful jungle scenery, all kinds of wildlife, cheap, the list goes on. We stayed in a chalet perched on a hill overlooking the ocean. It’s amazing Ian and I didn’t fall in love… hahaha We pretty much relaxed the whole time we were there, and went out to socialize with the intimate group of backpackers and locals at night. We met a lot of great people. We also did some light snorkeling, and a lot of walking. The area we were in was called ABC and it was really nice and enchanting. Butterflies fluttering around and little springs draining from the rain forest into the ocean and creating little coves. Huge puffs of clouds rising through the sky from the immense moisture… eventually dumping brief showers of refreshing rain. We had to peel ourselves away. A light painting photo below… see the rest on my flickr page.
So we are back in KL now for a couple days and then its off to Laos.
We had a great but very hot day in KL today. The morning started off with Ian and I both waking up at almost the exact same time for emergency trips to the bathroom. We ate some pretty gnarly food yesterday… i think it was the curried chicken from the dirty street vendor. SO good though! And well worth it considering I haven’t been very ‘regular’ since I arrived in Asia.
So today we went straigh away to the bus station to buy tix to Mersing, which is on the east coast of Malaysia. From there, tomorrow we will be heading out to Tioman Island(Pulau Tioman) in the South China Sea for a couple days of tropical ocean sweetness. We’re getting a chalet on the beach which is going to cost us just as much as the hostel we stayed in last night! About 25 bucks… From what I hear, Malaysia is pricier than other SE Asia locations. Alcohol is definitely expensive because of the primarily Muslim culture. Anyway, our bus leaves at 6:00 pm and the trip is about 6 hours, so we have another night of travelling… Hopefully the seats on the bus weren’t designed for torture We plan on spending three days on the island… relaxing a bit, hiking a bit, and whatever else. The island is supposed to be one of the few that have yet to be totally taken over by resorts, etc. and is also supposed to be one of the most beautiful. Waterfalls, coral, beaches, and the mosquitos are non-malarial! Sounds pretty great to me! We also hopped on the monorail and went over to the KL tower (not to be confused with the Petronas Towers), and wandered around in the financial district. It was much cleaner than where we are currently staying, in Bukit Bintang.
So, its off to the east side… I hope the weather holds up for us on the island… a crazy storm is coming through KL as I type… Until next time..
Keith – legend has it that Tioman island is the resting place of a dragon princess… I’ll let you know if I come across her!
