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.

The dark side of Koh Phangan

As with most places in Thailand, especially heavy tourist areas, there is hardly any organized system for trash collection. Koh phangan is no exception. It is sad to see such a beautiful and remote paradise ruined by trash and broken glass bottles. The tourism industry is the only industry on the island as 90% of the island is inhabitable and unreachable due to such thick and steep terrain. The impact of travelers is a double edged sword, as it fuels the economy buy also destroys the natural beauty. This lawless anything goes island leaves people broken scraped, burned, tattooed but with great pictures and stories to share. As there is no proper place to dispose of common trash; bottles, paper, wrappers, travelers are forced to simply throw it on the ground. The beach most affected is Haad Rin, site of the full moon parties, by the end of the night the beach is littered with bottles and rubbish.

Scooters are the most popular method of transportation through the island, and they are cheap to rent. With no drinking and driving laws, scooter accidents are the most popular form of injury aswell. All over you see people with bandages, crutches and slings, limping and hobbling around. They say in the past 2 years there has been an increase in health clinics from 2 to over 25. That's one opening up each month. I questioned why they don't do something about all the scooter accidents and allowance of glass on the beach. The simplest responce was that if people don't get hurt, they don't need to go to the clinics and the doctors don't get paid...

It gets even more F**ed up...
Transportation throughout the island is run by a local mafia. Especially with the boats, they set the price and keep it high. They control who goes where on the island.

There is no water sanitation or waste treatment facilities. I assume sewage is pumped deep into the ground. My reason for this is if you dig deeper than 16" into the sand on haad rin beach you do not get a pleasant smell.

It's almost 1.5x more expensive to leave the island than it is to get there. With 5 day minimums on a lot of the places, and a limited number of boats, you are sure to stay a while.

Please don't get me wrong though. Koh phangan is a beautiful island with lots of remote beaches and natural beauty. The negativity is primarly focued on Haad Rin beach and the heay impact of the full moon parties. Overall the community is friendly, down to earth and chill. Its understandable the desire for more money as they just want to improve their lifestyle with the simple luxeroes we take for grated. It's just sad that a lot has to be made from peoples pain and stupidity, but that's just the way it is. The unregulated freedom makes it very attractive to young backpackers and travelers, you just have to watch out for the people that can't handle it and keep your flops on in busy places.

Mike Pennington
mike@rhinoconcessions.com
864-320-2306

www.rhinoconcessions.com

Koh Phangan, Thailand

Saturday, my last day in Bangkok was also the day of the famous "Chatuchak Weekend Market" A place with over 8 thousand vendors, and supposedly the ability to find anything and everything. I arrive at 9:30am, most stores didn't open until 10 but I wanted to establish a systematic route, starting at the top and working my way back and forth. Can't miss anything. Booths lined up side by side and row by row by tight ally ways. Some booths only a 8x8 box. I was excited... After a half hour and covering what I thought was a fair amount of ground, I was left unimpressed. "Where was all the good stuff?" I passed hundreds of women's clothing booths, uninteresting trinkets and a ton of jeans. I pressed on, deeper into the market, going off my strategic path and attempted to get lost in the chaos of retail to hopefully find something good. I ending up finding some pretty cool stuff, but didn't find many of the things I was hoping. I called it a day after lunch time and headed back to the hostel to pack up and check out for my night bus ride to get to Koh Phangan. I went to the local post office with my suits and souvenirs to send home only to find that it would take up to 2 months because of US customs issues. I could ship express (for $175) and it would get there in 3-4 days...pretty ridiculous so I said screw it. I'll backpack with all this crap. I wasn't going to pay half the price of the suits to ship them home.

Matt, buddy from SF, snuck a couple brews on the bus to Koh Phangan to hopefully sleep better on the 8 hour ride. Surprisingly the ride went pretty quick and I got a decent nights sleep thanks to my inflatable neck pillow. After a 2 hour wait at the dock, the high speed catamaran arrives, dropping off travelers and picking up the next load. They put our packs on the bow of the boat, a little nerve racking but we had to trust they knew what they were doing. First stop was Koh Samui, which was a lot bigger than I thought. 45 minutes later we landed on Koh Phangan. Taxi to our beach in the south east part of the island and checked into our hostel, The Dancing Elephant.

Koh Phangan has been an interesting experience. As we did more or less a lot of the same, I'm going to sumarize differnt aspects of life on this crazy island.

Koh Phangan is a small island in the gulf of Thailand and just north of Koh Samui. It is most famous for its legondary Full Moon Parties - Where once a month more than 8 thousand travelers, backpackers, and party goers load Haad Rin beach for a night of partying, debauchery, and endless dancing. The drink of choice is known as "The Bucket." A 5th of liquor, 12oz of soda, a bottle of red bull, poured over ice into a plastic pale you would most likely build a sand castle with. Great to share or just take to the face. Needless to say you dont need a lot. We all know its not a party unless there is fire, and Full Moon is no exception. From fire dancers, jugglers, to limbo and jump roping, the party stays hot and pretty dangerous as many dumb asses get burned. Regardless the music is awesome, the beach is beautiful, the atmosphere is energetic and exciting. Definitely worth the experience.

The Dancing Elephant Hostel, the top rated, and possibly one of the most expensive hostels in the area during the Full Moon Party. It sleeps 19 people... All in one room. There are literary a 10 person bunk bed with 5 mattresses side by side top and bottom. David, the owner sits everyone down and gives them "the talk" a 45 min Full Moon Party 101 crash course of what to do and what not to do, recommended places to go and house rules. Everyone gets the talk. Next to the dancing Elephant is a small open air restaurant named Maddy's, which quickly became the meeting point for all 19 of us. Of the 6 full days I spent on this island, I would say I only ate somewhere else 3 or 4 times. The food was great but took forever, most likely because there were 15-20 of us eating at once. The wait was never that bad, as we entertained our selves with good conversation and connect 4. The community that was established at Maddy's made sleeping next to 18 other people not a big deal. It was pretty cool. We could be anywhere in area, run into someone from the hostel and quickly get reconnected with the group. Going out was fun because we had such a large base we never got tired of a small group. Taking excursions were cheaper because we were able to negotiate a group discount.

"Same Same" is a term you hear almost hourly, usually comparing two products or options - Thais will say "same same" but its really "same same...but different" I have a shirt that says it.

Typical day. Slowly wake up, grab some much needed water and advil, Start to congregate at Maddys and grab a fruit shake and some eggs...Two hours later, after everyone has finally eaten we map out a plan for the day... Some beach...Somewhere. One day we took a truck load of people up to Ao Mae Haad, a beach on the north west corner of the island. Fitting 15 people in one small truck was an interesting challenge. One person had to hang off back by the tailgate. A bumpy but sencic 40 minute ride later we arrived to a remote beach getaway that obviously few people knew about. The beaches were clean and the water felt amazing. 300 yards off shore was a small island you could walk to as the tide went out. We were literally in paradise. We chilled on beach talking, joking and playing games in the sand. The sun was setting on the ride back and it was amazing to see a glimpse atop the steep ocean side mountainous roads then only to plumit back down to sea level. Another long chill dinner we walked down our street to watch a muay thai fight. The fighting was great. It started out with two younger kids about 20 years old but didnt look older than 14. The fighting is a really interesting art and dance as the relentlsly kick and punch the fool out of each other. We go out to the beach to have a good time and eventually call it a night...or morning...wake up and do it again - tough life.

Thats all for now. Again, I'ts been hard to write, even though I have all the time in the world right now, I'ts spent with the people from all over the world... I'll fill in more details later

Boat rides, Tai Chi and one big Buddha

A slow start the next morning. The group finally got together and set out for khoasan road to buy a ticket to kho phangan for the coming weekend. After strolling around and browsing the shops and merch stalls we set off south toward reclining buddah. We arrived after a 40 minute walk to a massive palace looking estate surrounded by 25 ft walls. Admission was 50 Batt ($1.60) and we casually strolled through different buildings, small and large temples, admired beautifully groomed trees and large pyramid type tile structures. In the center of complex is one of the world's largest buddha statues, housing the infamous "Reclining Buddha." This golden statue stands over 100 feet long and 20 feet high, of Buddha laying down. I don't really understand the significance of the immense statue as there were no English translations but it is a beautiful work of art. We strolled around a little longer and headed back to the hostel. Watched a movie "into the wild" saw the group of girls from ucf off and went to my suit fitting. This whole suit process has been kind of shady not to mention very pushy. The jacket felt good though. Good size and length, pants a little tight, so he marked with chalk where to loosen them up and said i could come back the next day at 6pm. I felt more confident I was going to get a good product after the fitting but was still skeptical as to when they were going to try to screw me over. After a quick stroll down khoa San road to gaze at the circus antics I went back to the hostel to call it in early.

The next morning, after a great nights sleep I work up and spent a couple hours catching up on the blog, and organizing photos. It takes a while longer because I am doing everything from my phone. The hostel doesn't have a public computer to use, there is an Internet cafe next door but it's always full of kids playing world of warcraft. I met up with a guy named Matt - A firefighter my age from SF bay area. So we set off bound for the river to take a boat ride.  Passing several sidewalk food markets we grabbed a quick bite and went towards a pier where all the boats were taking off and landing. Not 10 minutes later, the chicken kebob sticks I ate made a not so pleasant rumble in my stomach. I walked into the public restroom to find a challenging sight. No seat, no back or reservoir tank, and of course no tp. Basically an elevated circular porcelain hole with an spicket and a bucket. Man did I wish I was back in Japan. I walked back out to find a lady selling tp for 8 batt and the rest you can probably figure out... The thai food is finally catching up with me. I've just about given up trying to eat gluten free as that really doesn't exist here. I mostly eat from the street carts, picking the cleanest most sanitary one I can find. The food taste great and it's so cheap, usually between 35-70 batt - $1-2.30. I fill up for several hours but with all the walking I've been doing I burn that off pretty quick. They don't seem to eat a whole lot of meat. The only meat I see is on a skewer sold from a cart, and I can't begin to guess how long it's been sitting out uncovered in 85 degree heat. Needless to say it's hard to get solid proteins.

Back on track, Matt and I got upsold on a long boat canal cruise for 600b each -$20. We picked up a couple beers for the ride and boarded this long skinny cigarette looking gun boat. The driver sat perched with a massive engine fully open and exposed to his side with long 10' propeller shaft coming out of the stern. The boat could hold up to 20 people but we were the only ones on it. We took off flying through the choppy river that flows south through the city and eventually dumps onto the gulf of Thailand. We toured a small canal with hundreds of homes right on the water. Passing through what appeared to be the richest of rich and the poorest of poor it was an interesting sight. As the canal opened up there were several floating souvenir boats that paddled up to us offering trinkets, water and beer (Thailand a country of true entrepreneurs).  Once back out in open water the driver gunned it the rest of the way to our destination in the business district (non tourist). We got great pictures of the city sky line from the boat. We took the new sky train - above ground metro, back closer to our hostel. It was great to see a different side of Bangkok than the tourist hustle bustle and grungy dirty old streets in our area.  

We regrouped and assembled a large group of people from the hostel to grab a bite to eat in the classier district we were just in. After dinner we shot up a sky scraper 45 floors to have drinks at a very impressive sky bar. Matt and i had flip flops and shorts - not to dress code but they let us slide since we were literally the only people in the place. One drink cost 375b, I could have eaten 10 times for the same price... Oh well it was a cool experience. We then took cabs back up to khaosan road for some buckets and dancing. We ended up clubbing and dancing until 4am. Everyone but 3 of us called it a night. Re a girl in our group, suggested we stay strong till sunrise and head to the park to watch people do Tai Chi. I didn't really know what it was but I went with it. Found a mellow bar and smoked a delicious apple tasting hookah, ate some fruit, and drank tea until sunrise. The park was packed when we got there. People exercising, running, stretching, group yoga and lots of Tai Chi groups. It was a sight to see. We casually joined a group of about 10 older women in the slow karate type step dance. We went a couple rounds, standing in the back of the group mirroring the ladies in front of us. Each set got faster and more involved as we warmed up. The ladies turned around and clapped for us as they were really happy to see us. And what a sight I'm sure we were, strung out and still wearing the clothes we went out in. They invited us for some tea at a near by bench. We talked for a bit and they said that they all were in their 70s which was amazing because they definitly didn't look it. They said they do Tai Chi every morning. The invited us back out to do more, this time with a traditional asian folding fan. The beat of the music was a lot faster and the steps more complex. Every so often they flicked their wrist to pop out the fans, waved and incorporates it into the dane smooth and rhythmically. The whole experience  was really incredible. After 2 more sets they congratulated us on what a great job we did. We took a group picture and set off to explore the park more. It was amazing how many people were out walking, exercising, or just getting outside to be active. It was very inspiring. After being awake for over 25 hours I was exhausted. I felt bad because I knew going to bed at 9am that much of the day would be wasted. However I justify it by the fact that I got two days of activity packed into one... :)


(I will admit- I didnt take these photos, but I have real ones on my camera)

Tuk tuks, suits, and a whole lotta Buddha

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It's been a lot more difficult to keep up with the blog than I remember, I don't have any down time. And when I do I use it to sleep.

As I was checking into the hotel by the Airport - at midnight, now a 12 hours ahead of east coast, 2 girls and a guy showed up. The girls were from Illinois, finishing up their trip after 3 weeks in Chiangmai volunteering to help rescues elephants. The guy (olivae), not with the girls, was from France and on a 1 year round the world backpacking trip. All with intentions of going into Bangkok the next day we agreed to meet in the morning to share a cab to the train. The hotel, which advertised itself as a hostel, was small, humble, and had a great view of the airport so you could see all the planes taking off and landing, but more or less in the jungle type setting. It was hard to fall asleep initially because of the 1st class nap I had on the plane. I awoke about an hour to this incredibly loud scratching and movement in the the ceiling. I could only assume it was some kind of hybrid rat dog that could smell me and would stop at nothing to claw to get me. This thing sounded huge. I went downstairs and got another room- upgraded to one with a fan! Woke up, had some fruit and tea watching the jumbo 747s take off to go all over the world. All four of us piled in a taxi bound for the train station. First thing i realize is how crazy traffic is. Motorcycles, mopeds, tuk tuks, cabs and trucks all weaving in and out seamlessly with very little room for others' space. Getting to the train station people are more than happy talk to us, ask us where we are from, and try to help us. We were a little reserved, not sure what they wanted. Eventually some people are genially interested and just want to talk to you in what English they know. A ticket for 4 of us, an hour train into then city was 28 batt (thai currency pronounced bot) the conversion rate is $1 to $30 batt, so the train cost less than a quarter each, amazing! The old rickety open air train took us through some pretty slum areas, everything so far a polar opposite to Tokyo - a challenging transition. We decide to walk from the station to see the city. We ended up walking to my hostel, glad I packed light because it was about a 3-4km walk. Couldn't check in until 2, so I dropped off my stuff and headed back out with the girls, the Frenchman set off to find his own hostel. 

I want to diverge and talk about Tuk Tuks. A tuk tuk is a 3 wheeled motorized cart type taxi with no meter. They are open air with a canopy atop and a bench seat with "oh shit" bars for railings. You negotiate the price before you get it. Minimum price is 30B ($1). Tuk tuks are everywhere, weaving in and out of traffic, guys hustling you to get in and take a ride. Taxis are cheaper but you have to be careful they don't take the long way to your destination. Plus tuk tuks are a lot of fun. Tuk tuks play a key role in the interconnected network of scams and hustles- mostly custom made suits, ping pong shows, and body massages. I havnt seen any drugs , crime or felt threatened in any way. They just want to steal your money in a more "honest" way. 

So we take a tuk tuk to the famous Khao San road to check out what it's really about. Khaosan road is a small side street about a kilometer in length, pack with food, bars, retail, and non stop action. You immediately get lost in the busy yet casual glimmer of everything offered. Food, drink, tshirts, CDs, tons of women's clothing, food carts it's hard to take it all in in one lap. The later it gets the busier. 

So after a couple hours just wondering khao San and the side streets, and eventually loosing the girls, a tuk tuk driver asks me if I wanted to see some of the temples and explains that Tuesday is Buddha day and all are free to get in. He says he will have his driver take me around several temples and wait on me, drop me by the thai certified travel agency for any questions and bring me back for 20B, hell of a deal so I go with it. He wizzes me over first to standing Buddha. A 100 foot gold Buddha statue was really cool. A lot of detail was put into the temple. I don't really know much about the temples because there was no English translations anywhere. The next stop was travel agency which answered some questions on how to get to my next destination : koh phangan. The driver says he wants to make a quick stop by a custom suit manufacturer. Said I was not obligated to buy anything-just check it out. Instantly I was greeted by a sharply dressed guy with good English who was "so interested" in me. I was poured a fresh beer proceeded to get the pitch of how all suits are custom and hand made with the finest of materials blah blah blah. Then he asked if I were to get a suit what I would be looking for. Since part of my Christmas present was some money to put toward an nice jacket or suit I decided to show more interest. He pulled out some fabric and draped it over my shoulder to see how it would look- and it looked pretty sharp... Long story short I got upsold, sized and fit for 2 custom made jackets, pants, shirts and ties for $450. Not exactly what I was looking for but what the hell. I
Haggled him down from $900. I went back the next day for a fitting and its going to be a pretty sharp looking suit(s). I just have to figure out how to send them home... So after a couple more beers i was feeling pretty good, trying not to regret the purchase, the tuk tuk driver took me to golden mountain, a golden temple sitting about 300 feet high with an incredibly commanding 360 view of the city.  It was really spectacular.  Afterwards I headed back to check into the hostel, got situated and met some people downstairs in the common room. 4 girls that just graduated from ucf that were traveling for 2 months.  We buddied up with 2 other guys from northern England. A short 15 min walk from the hostel to khoa san we were back in the middle of the madness. Picked up some beers from a 7-11 ( 47b $1.50 for a 64oz- cheapest on the street) place  and walked down the street just gazing, after a lap and a half and a couple more stops back to the 7-11 and got convinced to see a ping pong show. Next thing I know we are piled into 2 tuk tuks racing down the streets to god knows where. Haggled for a group discount and proceeded to get grossed out for the next hour. A quick cab back to khoasan we found a 3rd story bar to dance and drink buckets of rum redbull and coke. You only need 1. After the group got split up, we eventually reconnected back at the hostel to call it a night.

Sumo, karaoke and Bangkok

Getting up at 6 for the second day in a row wasn't as bad as the first. It was a very cold morning on the 20 minute walk to the sumo stadium. It paid off getting to the stadium about an hour and a half early because the line ended up wrapping around the building. So then we had our sumo tickets at 8:05 am, and another whole day to see the city. We got some breakfast in akihibara and walked around until we got hungry again and went for the Turkish Kebob sandwiches again. They are so good. As I was not initially impressed with akihibara, I warmed up to the city the more time I spent there, plus it wasn't as sleezy and touristy as others. A variety of interesting shops, restaurants and bars all packed into several blocks. We traveled south down to Shiodome to have a beer of the 42 floor of a skyscraper with an amazing view of the city. Then back up to see sumo at 2:30. We stopped by a 7-11 to stash some beers and snacks to sneak into the stadium until we saw people bringing whole grocery bags with food and drinks. Completely different stadium concept than in the US. The stadium was really nice and there were about 6-8 thousand people there. I picked up a radio and tuned to an English commentary station which gave me a lot of info. Sumo is interesting, a lot like bull riding. You wait and wait and wait only to see 8 seconds of action. The guys were huge and the action got more exciting as the day progressed. We were lucky that the emperor and empress of Japan attended the tournament.

After sumo I split up with the guys, as they were headed to another hostel. I had intentions of catching up on my blog and pictures and etc until I met a group of people in the common area. We started taking about sumo and other things to do and next thing I know we are headed to get some rotating sushi in akihiabara. After that we walked forever looking for "Nomehodai" all you can drink. Finally found one in a back ally near our hostel. 2 hours of all you can drink for about $15-$20 USD... I don't remember lol. After we were cut off we set out to find one of the famous japanese karaoke bars we kept hearing about. we found one just down the street and got a private room for 2 hours, a dictionary of songs and 2 tambourines. We started off a little weak but after some more drinks we warmed up to it and it was a blast! They had every song ever. We were all really into it. After that I went back to my capsule and crashed

Monday 1/10, was the first day I've had a chance to sleep in in several days. I got cleaned up and got caught up on some things Travel plans, Emails etc. Forecasting the day flight at 5, airport by 3, train to airport at 1:20. Got all packed up and checked out. I sat downstairs to get caught up on some blogging. Shortly after I got started the guys from New Zealand walked and we started talking about the night before of all you can drink and karaoke. We shared pictures and videos we took the night before and decided that we were hungry. A 20 min walk later we were back in Akahibara and I was in line for another turkish kebob sandwich, to fill myself up for the next 12 hours of travel. I start to head back at 12:40, thinking I had plenty of time. As I get to the beginning of my street 1:10, Shit!! So with 10 minutes, run to hostel, grab my pack, double check train directions, run to the subway terminal, down 3 flights of stairs, buy my ticket (1280 yenn $15) down more stairs and escalator, and to the platform, no train, oh no! Was I too late? It's 1:19... 1:20 train flys in. Whew. Doors closed and train started moving before I even had a chance to sit down. That was too close. The train out of the city was very scenic, cool to see the outer city limits. Monday is a holiday, celebrating 20 year olds - the age you become a legal adult. The parks were packed with people playing sports, waking dogs etc. Got the the airport with plenty of time. Waited by the gate, reading my lonely planet and mentally preparing myself for a big culture shock. As they called standbys to get their boarding pass I waited anxiously in line, wondering if I would be in back for the 7 hour flight to Bangkok: 14C... "I don't know where that is" boarding the plane I count the rows with coach coming up close... Last row in business class elite... 14!!! Fully reclined seats in individual pods, personal tv, amazing! I felt bad for everyone that had to walk through first class and see us pampered with champaign and hot towels. Had a good conversation with the guy next to me, newly wed heading out on their honeymoon, also flying standby. Wife was nice to give him first class. Interesting enough we were on the same flight from SF to Tokyo. 
After touchdown (at midnight) and going through customs, I got a cab to my airport hotel for the night.