Kickin' it

Tonsai is a really sweet place. Apparently it's some sort of mecca for rock climbing. Easy to see why, nothing but limestone and basalt cliffs all over. The whole place is just a bunch of bungalows and restaraunts weaved throughout the jungle/beach. Got here yesterday after a night in Ao Nang at this real divey bungalow. The place we're in now is supertits, all up on stilts and whatnot. I believe there was a rat that came out of our shower drain though, because all of our food wrappers were neatly arranged near it when we got home last night. I put a large rock over it, and I'm confident that I've outsmarted the beast. Now......pictures!!

Sunset at Ao Nang.

Beach from Ko Yao Noi

Rocks!

These things looked pissed! They were all grazing, then stopped abruptly to stare at me when I walked up.

Motor-scootin!

Anne lookin fine on the kayak today.

Sweet view of the mainland from the kayak.

Me, chillin. Badass travel hammock, no? Thanks bro.

View from inside the bungalow we're currently staying in. NICE.

fightin 'round the world

2/11/09
Having heard tell of a tribe of monkeys nearby, I set off alone into the jungle. As they are notoriously easy to spook, I stealthily crept through the thick brush with a pocket full of camera. 'Twasn't long into my excursion when I happened upon a few unsuspecting primates. "Monkeys!" I thought silently. I locked eyes with one of the rowdier of the bunch, knowing that losing a staring match is a direct sign of weakness among their kind. Approximately 2 minutes 55 seconds into the competition I felt my legs being swarmed. The monkey had somehow summoned a formidable pack of wild mosquitoes, and I quickly realized that I forgot the DEET! Instinctively I abandoned the gaze to defend myself. I was haggard, dirty, welting. I decided to return to the bungalow and hose down in glorious chemical deterrent, but not before catching and dealing this little bastard a solid noogie.

Welcome to Thailand, now speak English.

So it turns out that while niether the sun nor the whiskey probably helped my situation, niether were direct culprits. Traveler's Diarrhea, caused by any number of bacteria foreign to our sanitized American digestive systems. Man, what a pain in the ass. Get it? I was pretty much bed-ridden with no appetite for two solid days in the midst of a tropical paradise. I thought long and hard whether the deal was better or worse than a good day in the office, but remained indecisive. I'm now on a steady diet of 500 mg Ciproflaxin tablets procured from ol' Doc Li in P-Land and some rehydration powders that taste vaguely like a sweetened salt lick. I'd say, with confidence today, that I'm running at about 92% juice. I feel as though I've earned to right to carry on vacationing!

Enough of that crap... Get it? We left Ko Phuket yesterday via a taxi from Mai Khao to Bang Rong pier, then a ferry boat to Ko Yao Noi. Pretty sweet here. Rented a quite motor-scooter (it's quite masculine, honest) for about $8 for the day and stayed in a hut with electricity, bathroom, and teli. All things we didn't really need, but it doesn't cost very much.

We're quickly learning that if you don't have any idea where you're going when you get to a new place, you should probably at least be prepared to lie about it. Otherwise, you just cave under the pressure of seventy-five dudes all like "Hello, where are you going?" and jump in the back of one of their taxis. Then you just end up wherever they take you. My biggest problem so far is getting over the Hollywood notion that everyone is tryin to F us in the worst way. Most people seem decent, even though they are all trying to make a buck. You can't really blame them. Even when it seems we might be getting ripped off, it's only a difference of about 2 or 3 american dollaz.

It's absolutely amazing everywhere we go. We'll probably tool around and look like tourists for another couple of hours today before we hop a ferry to the next picturesque beach. Pictures soon maybe. I'm taking a lot, but still haven't mastered getting them uploaded to the web through an internet cafe.

Only met a couple of Americans so far. Most white people are European. We kicked it with some real cool English folk at the last place we stayed. People speak some English all over the place, but there really is a striking barrier sometimes. Usually you can get the point across. I feel like I've won a small victory, as I can now fluently say "Hello" (Sawatdee Khrap) and "Thank You" (Kawp Kun Khrap). I feel pretty foolish when I do, so usually I just rely on repetitive English at increasingly slow speeds.

phuket

thailand is basically amazing. just ask any tourist! got in on wednesday night and thought we'd try walking from the airport to this beach, which we heard should only take about 15 minutes. the only locals around to give directions were cab drivers, who seemed pretty content to not understand why we'd want to walk, and assure us that they could take us in their taxi. after walking past the same cab stand three times, one of the dudes offered a good price. he said the only accomodation in mai khao was the swanky marriott resort. clearly he doesn't know about the internet and my addiction to it. dropped off at he marriott, we found a little tiki bar on the beach where this south african dude was chillin. explained that we could walk about a mile down the beach to some bungalows. we were very excited to see some lights after trekking all of our shit down the sand in 90 degrees. we've been staying there, in a bamboo hut ever since.

the plan to move on keeps getting pushed out. it's cheap and everybody is friendly, so we decided to spend a couple of nights there. sort of had plans to figure our way out today... enter whiskey and sun poisoning. i've been completely useless all day today, and it's taking maximum effort not to fall out of this chair. hopefully it's just the sun/drink combo and not some exotic strain of flu-ski. should be able to find out by tomorrow.

today we caught a lift into the village with malcolm, the english dude who we're staying with. dropped off some laundry at the 'mat, now kicking it in an internet cafe. absolutely beautiful beaches and whatnot. i think i need a little bit more than 15 of the spfs.

this is the place we're staying, in one of the "new for 2008" bamboo huts. 500 baht/night, or about $14.31. highly recommended. the dude's wife is an amazing cook. hit up some curry, noodles, and tom yum soup so far.

some pictures

ships in the ocean.

pretty much sums it all up...

rooftop swimming pool. that's right.

shittsburgh

i'd like to talk about an interesting phenomenon that i observed in philadelphia. there are two phenomena in fact. first, and most understandably, i probably only saw three pieces of eagles paraphernalia during my entire stay in the region. second, i saw probably seventy five a-holes wearing brand new combinations of black and gold. it's clear that the steelers maintain one of the largest fan bases of the nfl, probably something to do with the city's inability to provide anything else meaningful to the world at large. it's upsetting to see so many people intently flaunting gear o' the burgh in a city with a perfectly good, although championshipless team.

ran into some stillers fans here in singapore, all wasted and excited about today's results. hammed it up with them, even though it hurt just a bit. i'm just jealous.

gum..................gum

luckily, chewing gum is now legal in singapore. apparently there was a free trade agreement signed recently with the states, and wrigley wanted their share. therefore, the entire nation gained (or regained) the right to blow rasberry-flavored bubbles. love them dollars!

sitting in an internet cafe in little india right now. by far the strangest place in the city. odd odors abound.