Chiang Mai

Leaving Koh Tao bound for Chiang Mai, we first took a ferry boat to the main land. A bus met us at the port and took us 8 hours north to Bangkok. After 10 days away u couldn't believe how dirty and smelly bangkok was. I did not miss it at all. On to the train station for a 14 hour ride.
The overnight train ride to chiang mai was an interesting experience, as I have never formally taken a long distance train ride. We were unable to book a sleeper car, so we were forced to sit in the upright seats. The seats offered plenty of leg room but only reclined a few degrees, making sleeping comfortably an difficult task. The train bounced, shook, wobbled and teetered back and forth the whole way. Waking up at about 8am I head to the food cart for breakfast and am startled to hear "rock you like a hurricane" blasted through the speakers. 2 good ole boys sitting down drinking beers, which turned out are from Louisiana, requested the classic rock. Several more hours we arrive in Chiang Mai. A city highly recommended by all travelers. Chiang Mai is probably the cheapest city in the country, with a more authentic and casual thai atmosphere. We find a hostel in "old city" which is the historical district with old temples, museums and plenty of backpackers. The old city district is actually surrounded by a moat. It's pretty cool. There are still walls and remains of defense structures built over 400 years ago.

Restless from the long journey we settled for a wester restaurant for a big meal (one with a logo of a cowboy riding and elephant). With a good protein foundation we stroll around the city and get our bearings set. Later that night we head to the reggae bar littlerally a walls jump from our hostel. After a couple hours of good drinks and good jams, Sam jokingly said we should go to the club. Before he knew it I had a tuk tuk arranged to take us (sam, me, and 2 girls we met from Ireland). Recreating his suggestion, but just finishing reading "Yes Man" he was obliged to go. We were dropped off at an authentic thai club, and we for sure were the only westerners. The music was great but no one was dancing. Everyone was huddled in small groups around a table with a bottle of johnny walker taking shots with little mingling. Feeling ambitious we felt we could liven up the atmosphere. We snaked our way to the middle and started dancing and trying to pull people into our party. Some were definitely not having it while most just laughed and welcomed us to their huddle.

Quick funny story: red trucks, as they are commonly called, are basically taxi trucks that take you around the city for 20-30baht ($.60-$1). We were eating breakfast sitting streetside at a table when we hear a quick beep beep. As we look up. A guy in a red truck popped his head and arm out of the window- smiles and says "Hey, where you go?" this may sound simple and dumb but the fact that we were litteraly sitting down eating and he tried to pull us in, cracked us up. "Where you go?" became a catch phrase for the rest of the trip.

The next day we (Matt from SF and Sam from London) set off for tiger kingdom, a place where you can get into the cage with tigers and pet them. We negotiated a 200 baht tuk tuk ride, what we though was a good deal. We didnt realize how far it was. 45 minutes is too long to be in a hot open air tuk tuk with two other dudes. We arrived warmed welcomed to a clean theme park like facility. As soon as you walk in you see the large tiger cage. Three large majestic striped cats playing with each other and sunbathing. It was already cool to be this close. At the front counter there were several tiger packages: large, medium, small and smallest tigers available to interact with. It was kind of weird how they "packaged" tigers buy I went with the large and smallest combo for 850 baht ($27). We get a quick briefing: no sudden movements, don't touch head or feet, don't approach from behind, don't be stupid...then we entered the tiger den. The tigers were lying down peacefully and the trainers encouraged you to rub their bellies. We had 10 minutes with three large tigers to rub and take photos. The tigers didn't do much more than sleep. There are rumors that sedatives are used but the trainers deny them saying they are born into captivity around people and are use to human interaction. I truly want to believe that. Next was smallest tigers. These were only 3 months old, the trainers said they sleep 18-20 hours a day. They were so cute and cuddly. They literally sat you down and put a tiger in your lap. You could touch the small one's face and feet as they can't bring about much harm yet. My tiger started to wake up and wanted to chew on my finger, I wanted to let him but the trainer insisted not and gave him a chew toy. The tiger experience was amazing, well worth it.

On the way back we stopped by a driving range we happened to spot and hit a couple buckets of balls. Felt good to hit something. My swing wasn't all that terrible making me anxious to play at home when it warms up. The rest of the day we relaxed. I later met up with Jessica, a beautiful girl originally from Canada, living and going to school in Orlando. We met in Bangkok and again in Koh Phangan. Crazy how our trip has been so similar. We grabbed some drinks and roamed around the night bazaar getting lost in all the shops and kiosks. The shopping in Chiang Mai is cheaper with varied authentic products.

Koh Tao

After five nights at the dancing elephant we checked out and 4 of us checked into a bungalow down the road. Splitting the cost and sleeping arrangements, we only had to pay 100 baht each. A sixth night in koh phangan was not the initial plan but ferries and transport boats were already booked for the day. With an extra day we decided to make good of it.

One of the coolest places to visit and get away is a small remote beach on the north side of the island called Bottle Beach. Only accessible by boat this small tucked away paradise has beautiful white sand, clear water, beachside bungaloos and a couple chill restaurant bars. With a group of 13 we had some buying power and negotiated 300 baht ($10) round trip. The boat was driven by a kid that couldn't have been older than 15. The boat was weighed down a good bit with a total of 15 people in fiberglass dinghy about 19' in length. On the back was the traditional thai open engine long propeller shaft prop. It was so loud, you couldn't hear anything else if you were seated in back. A long aluminum tiller came out to steer. A small string with a finger loop was used to contol the throttle. Very simple and interesting mechanism. The kid let me drive for a bit. It was a lot of fun. We hung out on the beach for 3-4 hours (still with little concept of time). We laid out, ate lunch, played ultimate frisbee in the water and explored the beach. It was a very pretty ride on the way back as the sun was setting. Steep rock formations and interesting remote cliffside houses spotted randomly along the way. Bottle beach, a great day trip in koh phangan.

The last night in koh phangan I "took off", detox mode from the past few days. I went to an Internet cafe and got caught up of some emails and finally posted a few pictures for the world to see. The next day we (about 8 of us from dancing elephant with same travel agenda) took a ferry north one island up to Koh Tao. From what Ive read and what Ive heard, Koh Tao was suppose to be a humble island plenty of opportunities for aquatic excursions including diving, snorkeling, and what I hoped was sailing.

We arrived on the small pea shaped island, and waking off the rickety wooden dock we were met by dozens of taxi drivers, hotel and diving resort reps. Same same as any other place we got off, vultures... With no place to stay yet, we figure we could try our chances at finding a place by walking up. As we traveled north through the narrow densely commercialized street backed up with cars and scooters I thought this is worse than koh phangan. We eventually get out of the hustle bustle and settle on a small set of bungalows south of a more chill backpacker beach area. The beach is a cool area as there are dozens of restaurants, bars, and bungalows built right on the white sandy beach. One main road/path, only about 10' wide, connects everything beach. Keep an eye out for scooters and bike carts as they go whizzing past you with out any warning. A lot of people are in Koh Tao from Koh Phangan as I recognize familiar faces walking down the path.

No big agenda for the first day except to get out bearings and find some good food. We book a snorkeling tour that looks entertaining, taking up most of the next day with lunch included. The rest of the first night was spent beach side chilling on bean bags with a private fire show and hopping around other beachside music spots finding wherever the action was. The next day we woke up early to get ready for a good day of snorkeling. Packed a day pack with water, snacks, towel and sunscreen... I was ready to go. Next thing out of the blue sky the bottom dropped out, pouring rain and thunder and lightning. Luckily we were able to get our money back for the trip. The next few hours we were all undecided about what to do for the day, as we were up so early nothing was even open yet, and the skies began to clear up. I browsed through a small used bookstore and finally settled on The Alchemist, recommended by Laura, part of the group from dancing elephant. I settle down
sitting beach side reading, drinking coffee, not really wanting the sun to come out so I don't feel bad about being so productive. Everything was so still as pine needles peacefully dropped on me... And unfortunately a bit of bird droppings too. But the bird was very pretty red with yellow eye liner and beak, pretty friendly, as he hopped up close to me, almost to say "sorry" or "haha gotcha!"

Just as I started to get into the book the skies threatened rain again so I went in search of the perfect quiet covered beachside reading spot, and I found it. Seashell restaurant, about a mile north from where I was staying, the humble restaurant offered a large covered porch, fans to keep the flies away, and plenty of pads and cushions to get comfortable. Five or so hours later I end up finishing the book. It was a great tale about travel and following your dreams, I highly recommend it. I grab a bite to eat and search for the rest of the group for some social interaction after a much needed peaceful afternoon.

The next day we met at the dive shop to attempt the snorkel tour. We were a little skeptical as it had already rained once earlier in the morning. We got sized for fins and masks and set out on an old boat to the south tip of the island, shark bay! The sea was very rough and the visibility was low. I pulled out my camera, which is waterproof up to 40 feet, turned it on underwater and instantly blue and white vertical lines then the screen goes black, not turning back on. Oh no!!! No camera! I try not to stress too much as I don't want to be shark bait. Kicking and flipping along someone says they spot a shark below. I'm having trouble seeing anything, as waves keep splashing water into my snorkel and I can't get my breathing consistent. I was a little nervous at this point. I finally get the hang of it as the boat whistles to come in so we can head to the next spot. Still bummed out about my camera I try to stay positive and enjoy the day, as the sun is trying to come out. The next spot was great, calmer waters and better visibility, I could see a lot of fish and coral. The next few stops were amazing. I found my self swimming in the middle of large schools of orange and black tiger looking fish. They were very curious and interested. My confidence was high as I was one of the first to jump off the boat each stop and last back in. I worked on my fish like body flip and holding my breath and swimming deep to get a closer look at the marine life. Snorkeling was great, it made me want to scuba dive again, but it was pretty pricey to dive on the island.