Tuesday 24 February 2009
"So I'm finally on the move again. We took the night ferry off of koh tao last night, which was pretty great, 11pm to 5am, 9 dollars, and juts crammed into a room with a bunch of mattresses on the floor. I probably got 3 hours sleep. Then hopped on a bus for Ranong on the west coast, 3 bucks, and now I'm sitting around waiting for kyle and cassidy to come back from their run to the burmese border to get there visas updated, I still have a few more weeks before I'll have to run to burma, but I'm curious to see how it goes for them. Hopefully we can get out of here on a ferry for some islands in the Andaman sea today, but I think the last ferry leaves at noon, so it'll probably be close, my guess is the visa thing will take them 3 hours or so, so if we get there it'll be just in time. not the end of the world though if we stay here, at least this is a legit town with legit thai people and more importantly legit thai food. After 10 days in koh tao, I'm kind of sick of the 5 thai dishes that tourist restaurants have decided are westerner appropriate. These islands on the west coast are supposed to be less touristy though, so who knows."
Saturday 21 February 2009
Sat, Feb 21, 2009 at 9:22 AM
"The more time I spend on this island,
the more I think that I could just stay here forever.If I had the
right group of people I definitely could. Just hike over to a random
beach every day, swim, snorkel, read. It's the life, man. But
we're moving on, they gotta extend their thai visas by running over to
burma for a day, then we'll probably go to the west coast. They're
flying to china on 11 march, and after that I can't decide what I want
to do. It's either extend my visa for another couple of weeks and go
up northern thailand and do some trekking while the weather's still
good, go over to cambodia and wander around there for a while, or head
down south to malaysia (and if I do that, I'm figuring I'll just keep
going south forever, until I hit bali a couple months from now.) I
need to research the weather some.
Oh, and we finally jumped off that rock into the ocean. nearly died
trying too. we couldn't figure out how to climb it and the first time
I went the hard way, and almost fell off climbing, which would have
sent me onto a rock 10 feet below, but then adrenaline kicked in and I
stopped worrying about cutting my hands and feet and I shot up the
thing. cut up my hands pretty good too, but ended up going off 3
times, once we discovered the easy way up."
"The more time I spend on this island,
the more I think that I could just stay here forever.If I had the
right group of people I definitely could. Just hike over to a random
beach every day, swim, snorkel, read. It's the life, man. But
we're moving on, they gotta extend their thai visas by running over to
burma for a day, then we'll probably go to the west coast. They're
flying to china on 11 march, and after that I can't decide what I want
to do. It's either extend my visa for another couple of weeks and go
up northern thailand and do some trekking while the weather's still
good, go over to cambodia and wander around there for a while, or head
down south to malaysia (and if I do that, I'm figuring I'll just keep
going south forever, until I hit bali a couple months from now.) I
need to research the weather some.
Oh, and we finally jumped off that rock into the ocean. nearly died
trying too. we couldn't figure out how to climb it and the first time
I went the hard way, and almost fell off climbing, which would have
sent me onto a rock 10 feet below, but then adrenaline kicked in and I
stopped worrying about cutting my hands and feet and I shot up the
thing. cut up my hands pretty good too, but ended up going off 3
times, once we discovered the easy way up."
pictures
Sat, Feb 21, 2009 at 9:02 AM
"I haven't managed to get pictures up yet, but kyle put his and some of
mine up the other day
http://picasaweb.google.com/Kyle.Henderson/KohTao#
the second half or so of that album I'm there, and some of those are
pictures I took."
"I haven't managed to get pictures up yet, but kyle put his and some of
mine up the other day
http://picasaweb.google.com/Kyle.Henderson/KohTao#
the second half or so of that album I'm there, and some of those are
pictures I took."
Koh Tao
Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 1:43 PM
"So I'm on Koh Tao, which is pretty ridiculous on a lot of levels.
unbelievably touristy, like, jersey shore-esque stuff. but some of the
beaches and stuff are pretty ridiculous, I've spent the last few days
hiking around going to various beaches, doing some snorkeling, trying
as hard as humanly possible not to get sunburned and failing anyway,
as I knew I would. We even found a big rock in one bay that you can
jump off of. We didn't do it yet, because it was kind of a bitch to
climb up and the only way was this really dodgy looking rope. So we
ruled against it, but then as we were packing up to leave, we saw a
few people climb up and jump off, so we all agreed that if we did
nothing else with our time here, we would not leave this island until
we jumped off the rock (it was probably 25-40 feet, depending on where
you jump from). Then yesterday we rented a kayak (7 bucks for 5 hours,
3 person kayak), and went to this bay that was totally perfect, like
something out of a movie. kayak into this bay with perfect clear blue
water, couple of restaurants overlooking the water, european tourists
laying around topless, 5 dive boats ended up showing up, but it was
still beautiful. We went out to a party last night with some swedish
DJ, apparently he's really big, because thousands of swedes suddenly
descended on the island from nowhere. It was pretty ridiculous, but
too loud and insane to really enjoy if you weren't trashed. Anyway, I'm
taking today off, trying to get over the sunburn (which isn't too bad,
but could use a couple of days rest) and trying to give my legs a
rest.
Oh, and we haven't met a single other american on the island. We
occasionally hear someone who might be, but they always end up being
canadian."
"So I'm on Koh Tao, which is pretty ridiculous on a lot of levels.
unbelievably touristy, like, jersey shore-esque stuff. but some of the
beaches and stuff are pretty ridiculous, I've spent the last few days
hiking around going to various beaches, doing some snorkeling, trying
as hard as humanly possible not to get sunburned and failing anyway,
as I knew I would. We even found a big rock in one bay that you can
jump off of. We didn't do it yet, because it was kind of a bitch to
climb up and the only way was this really dodgy looking rope. So we
ruled against it, but then as we were packing up to leave, we saw a
few people climb up and jump off, so we all agreed that if we did
nothing else with our time here, we would not leave this island until
we jumped off the rock (it was probably 25-40 feet, depending on where
you jump from). Then yesterday we rented a kayak (7 bucks for 5 hours,
3 person kayak), and went to this bay that was totally perfect, like
something out of a movie. kayak into this bay with perfect clear blue
water, couple of restaurants overlooking the water, european tourists
laying around topless, 5 dive boats ended up showing up, but it was
still beautiful. We went out to a party last night with some swedish
DJ, apparently he's really big, because thousands of swedes suddenly
descended on the island from nowhere. It was pretty ridiculous, but
too loud and insane to really enjoy if you weren't trashed. Anyway, I'm
taking today off, trying to get over the sunburn (which isn't too bad,
but could use a couple of days rest) and trying to give my legs a
rest.
Oh, and we haven't met a single other american on the island. We
occasionally hear someone who might be, but they always end up being
canadian."
So I pretty much only write when I'm doing the actually 'traveling', not the hanging out on beaches and hiking and snorkeling etc. that I've been doing the last week or so. So since I don't feel like actually writing something fresh about what I've been up to here on Ko Tao, I'm going to just paste and edit random paragraphs from emails I've sent. It may or may not make sense in the strict sense, but you should at least get a general sense of what's up.
Thu, Feb 12, 2009 at 2:28 PM
"I've been walking around bangkok without agenda for the last couple of
hours, it's totally insane. not sure if I love it or hate it, though
I'd probably need a month to have any idea how to get around or find
anything. and then there's the khao san road, which is basically hell
on earth as far as I can see. Just crazy looking white people as far
as the eye can see. not in a good way. I'm trying to get my cell phone
unlocked, and I haven't managed to do it, so I'm getting sort of
bitter. anyway, I'm taking the night train out tonight, and should be
on an island by noon tomorrow. Also, I've slept about 2 hours since I
left home. I have absolutely no idea how long ago that was. I don't
even know how to ballpark it. basically I'm only awake because I
refuse to eat anything. I read somewhere that fasting fucks up your
internal clock, your body thinks it needs food and stays awake until
you can find it. So I'm gonna stuff my face before I board my train at
530 and hopefully fall asleep. I have no idea though. I could hardly
sleep at all last night, and that was after 30 straight hours awake.
11 hour jetlag is a bitch.
whatever, island by noon tomorrow."
Thu, Feb 12, 2009 at 2:28 PM
"I've been walking around bangkok without agenda for the last couple of
hours, it's totally insane. not sure if I love it or hate it, though
I'd probably need a month to have any idea how to get around or find
anything. and then there's the khao san road, which is basically hell
on earth as far as I can see. Just crazy looking white people as far
as the eye can see. not in a good way. I'm trying to get my cell phone
unlocked, and I haven't managed to do it, so I'm getting sort of
bitter. anyway, I'm taking the night train out tonight, and should be
on an island by noon tomorrow. Also, I've slept about 2 hours since I
left home. I have absolutely no idea how long ago that was. I don't
even know how to ballpark it. basically I'm only awake because I
refuse to eat anything. I read somewhere that fasting fucks up your
internal clock, your body thinks it needs food and stays awake until
you can find it. So I'm gonna stuff my face before I board my train at
530 and hopefully fall asleep. I have no idea though. I could hardly
sleep at all last night, and that was after 30 straight hours awake.
11 hour jetlag is a bitch.
whatever, island by noon tomorrow."
The Waiting Game
February 13th 3:44 am
If you'd asked me to picture my life now five years ago, this probably would have been it. I'm sitting in a train station at 3:45 in the morning reading lonesome dove. Some crazy man convinced me they I should wait in front of his shop until my ferry leaves in a few hours. So it's just me and a few Thais sitting around. There's also a lady selling the most delicious rice congee. I may just need to get another bowl before I leave. It cost 20 baht, but I can live with the expense for something so exquisite.
If you'd asked me to picture my life now five years ago, this probably would have been it. I'm sitting in a train station at 3:45 in the morning reading lonesome dove. Some crazy man convinced me they I should wait in front of his shop until my ferry leaves in a few hours. So it's just me and a few Thais sitting around. There's also a lady selling the most delicious rice congee. I may just need to get another bowl before I leave. It cost 20 baht, but I can live with the expense for something so exquisite.
Day one: Bangkok
February 12th 4:12pm
Day one: Bangkok
The first thing you need to know is that my jetlag plan failed completely. I got about an hour of sleep last night. Which brings me up to about two hours since I left home. God knows how long ago that was. I've lost the ability to think that hard. But that wasn't going to stop me from exploring Bangkok some. So I walked around aimlessly for a couple of hours. Ate a few things from street vendors, which seem to be by far the best thing about this town. I paid about 30 cents for a small meal of some sort of fries rice balls and cabbage. I paid the same for a green coconut to drink and a bag of pineapple. Two hours of that (with all my stuff) left me pretty dazed and drenched in sweat. Since I'm incapable of navigating right now, I just flagged down a cab and had it take me back to the train station in it's (poorly) air-conditioned glory. The city is complete chaos, having never been out if the first world before, I have absolutely nothing to compare it to that makes any sense. The driving is crazy, the walking is crazy, the whole freaking system is crazy. If there was a system, and believe me, there isn't. Oh god, I'm so tired I'm not putting commas in the proper places.
Anyway, I'm on a train from 530 pm to 230 am. I do have a bed of some kind on the train. What happens at 230am when I arrive at chumphon. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Oh, I forgot the best part about the train station. They have a giant tv screen and have been showing Thai music videos for the last half hour. Imagine watching a soap opera with the sound off. Then listening to bad Thai pop at the same time. It's like a dream!!!
Day one: Bangkok
The first thing you need to know is that my jetlag plan failed completely. I got about an hour of sleep last night. Which brings me up to about two hours since I left home. God knows how long ago that was. I've lost the ability to think that hard. But that wasn't going to stop me from exploring Bangkok some. So I walked around aimlessly for a couple of hours. Ate a few things from street vendors, which seem to be by far the best thing about this town. I paid about 30 cents for a small meal of some sort of fries rice balls and cabbage. I paid the same for a green coconut to drink and a bag of pineapple. Two hours of that (with all my stuff) left me pretty dazed and drenched in sweat. Since I'm incapable of navigating right now, I just flagged down a cab and had it take me back to the train station in it's (poorly) air-conditioned glory. The city is complete chaos, having never been out if the first world before, I have absolutely nothing to compare it to that makes any sense. The driving is crazy, the walking is crazy, the whole freaking system is crazy. If there was a system, and believe me, there isn't. Oh god, I'm so tired I'm not putting commas in the proper places.
Anyway, I'm on a train from 530 pm to 230 am. I do have a bed of some kind on the train. What happens at 230am when I arrive at chumphon. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Oh, I forgot the best part about the train station. They have a giant tv screen and have been showing Thai music videos for the last half hour. Imagine watching a soap opera with the sound off. Then listening to bad Thai pop at the same time. It's like a dream!!!
Running Diary
So I do most of my writing on my ipod, but then I can't really post it until I get some free wifi somewhere, which is spotty in thailand. Anyway, I just got it for the first time today, so I'm gonna post some of my backlog of stuff. starting now.
February 10th-11th
10:23 Chicago time
I'm going to attempt to write a running diary of my day. Just a few notes every once in a while to mark how it's going, since I've never been on an airplane so long. Plus the time change thing this direction is a little crazy for me. It's 1023 am and my flight leaves at noon. For Tokyo.
3:50 am Tokyo time
I've switched my watch to Tokyo time, since it makes no sense at all. 15 hours ahead. 9 hours behind and plus a day. No idea what's better to think of. In any case I'll only me there for 3 hours or so. The tv screen says it's less than 6 thousand miles away. I'm not sure I believe that. We'll also apparently be 45 minutes early. I love the feeling of being on an airplane at the start of something long. All the worries of your past life are gone, and no worries have begun yet for your next life. The time change adds something nice to it. It's as if this time doesn't exist at all. As if you don't exist at all. If you think I'm getting philosophical now, wait till the 7 hour flight to Bangkok.
4:58 am Tokyo time
I just finished my first meal. We get two, both of which are being called lunch. I don't know, maybe I should have waited till the middle of the flight to change my watch. Or maybe estimate the time where I am at every moment.
I've been trying to figure out the guy next to me fir a while. My first guess was that he was a retired army guy going over to visit some of his old haunts. I don't think he's quite old enough to be ww2 or Korea and probably too old for 'nam. He's also not particularly friendly. A 70 year old guy traveling to Asia alone,,, you worry that this is the guy who is gonna be talking to you the whole flight. Not this guy though, not a word. So who is he? He's dressed for warm weather. Not Tokyo or Korea. So maybe Bangkok like me, maybe hong kong or Singapore. So I have only one theory left, and the more I think about it and look at this guy, the more I'm creeped out and think it's true. I'm sure there is some perfectly innocent explanation for the guy, but i'm gonna go ahead and refer to him as 'the sex tourist' till I find one.
8:03 am Tokyo time
A couple of entries ago I talked about time on planes existing outside of the world. I think my explanation for that earlier is really only part of it. Maybe the bigger explanation is that being on a plane is really mostly about survival. You're stuck here with no control. No way out, no control over the movie, I can't even go to the bathroom until this sex tourist wakes up. So you focus on survival. How long will my book hold my interest until my mind starts to wander? Can I actually sit here and watch city of ember for two hours? Is this guy next to me even alive? These are the cares you have on a twelve hour plane ride. There's not much room to worry about the past or the future.
10:29 Tokyo time
Well the sex tourist just went to the bathroom finally, which meant I got to go too. So I got to get up and stretch a bit. Worked some of the kinks out, but i'd sat it's about fifty/fifty my back holds up today. I've been looking out the window a lot and watching the flight monitor when they show it. Passed through Canada and Alaska, both of which were pretty spectacular, particularly because I've been to both enough that I was able to follow along decently without the screen. Then we passed what must be the northern pacific. Which means, I guess, that these mountains I'm seeing now are Siberia. Mountains beyond mountains. Mountains I've never seen. Continents I've never seen. It's a good feeling for someone like me.
4:09 pm Tokyo time
I'm in f*****g japan. Not really, it's just the airport, I'm not gonna count it or anything, but still. Japan. Going through security here was fantastic. Imagine airport security as you know, but with twice as many people and the people are exquisitely polite, wearing white gloves, and are Japanese. Oh, and the sex tourist just got wheeled up to the Gate here where I'm waiting for my flight to Bangkok.
8:38 Bangkok time
So let's talk jetlag. There are two basic theories for jet lag. One, any sleep is good sleep, so for at least the first few days just sleep whenever you can get any. I've used it, it's slow, but painless if you've got the time. Two, what I'm going with now. Just stay up, at all costs till it's "bedtime" where you are. I could sleep now on the flight I've gotten about twenty minutes in 24 hours I could use it, but every minute I sleep now is one I will lie awake I'm bed later. It's a risk, I my well lie awake in bed anyway. But I won't sleep, I can't. There's two sleeping people between me and the bathroom. And I really have to go. That'll keep ya movin.
1159 pm Bangkok time
I have arrived. In more ways than one. Smooth as silk just standing waiting for my ride.
February 10th-11th
10:23 Chicago time
I'm going to attempt to write a running diary of my day. Just a few notes every once in a while to mark how it's going, since I've never been on an airplane so long. Plus the time change thing this direction is a little crazy for me. It's 1023 am and my flight leaves at noon. For Tokyo.
3:50 am Tokyo time
I've switched my watch to Tokyo time, since it makes no sense at all. 15 hours ahead. 9 hours behind and plus a day. No idea what's better to think of. In any case I'll only me there for 3 hours or so. The tv screen says it's less than 6 thousand miles away. I'm not sure I believe that. We'll also apparently be 45 minutes early. I love the feeling of being on an airplane at the start of something long. All the worries of your past life are gone, and no worries have begun yet for your next life. The time change adds something nice to it. It's as if this time doesn't exist at all. As if you don't exist at all. If you think I'm getting philosophical now, wait till the 7 hour flight to Bangkok.
4:58 am Tokyo time
I just finished my first meal. We get two, both of which are being called lunch. I don't know, maybe I should have waited till the middle of the flight to change my watch. Or maybe estimate the time where I am at every moment.
I've been trying to figure out the guy next to me fir a while. My first guess was that he was a retired army guy going over to visit some of his old haunts. I don't think he's quite old enough to be ww2 or Korea and probably too old for 'nam. He's also not particularly friendly. A 70 year old guy traveling to Asia alone,,, you worry that this is the guy who is gonna be talking to you the whole flight. Not this guy though, not a word. So who is he? He's dressed for warm weather. Not Tokyo or Korea. So maybe Bangkok like me, maybe hong kong or Singapore. So I have only one theory left, and the more I think about it and look at this guy, the more I'm creeped out and think it's true. I'm sure there is some perfectly innocent explanation for the guy, but i'm gonna go ahead and refer to him as 'the sex tourist' till I find one.
8:03 am Tokyo time
A couple of entries ago I talked about time on planes existing outside of the world. I think my explanation for that earlier is really only part of it. Maybe the bigger explanation is that being on a plane is really mostly about survival. You're stuck here with no control. No way out, no control over the movie, I can't even go to the bathroom until this sex tourist wakes up. So you focus on survival. How long will my book hold my interest until my mind starts to wander? Can I actually sit here and watch city of ember for two hours? Is this guy next to me even alive? These are the cares you have on a twelve hour plane ride. There's not much room to worry about the past or the future.
10:29 Tokyo time
Well the sex tourist just went to the bathroom finally, which meant I got to go too. So I got to get up and stretch a bit. Worked some of the kinks out, but i'd sat it's about fifty/fifty my back holds up today. I've been looking out the window a lot and watching the flight monitor when they show it. Passed through Canada and Alaska, both of which were pretty spectacular, particularly because I've been to both enough that I was able to follow along decently without the screen. Then we passed what must be the northern pacific. Which means, I guess, that these mountains I'm seeing now are Siberia. Mountains beyond mountains. Mountains I've never seen. Continents I've never seen. It's a good feeling for someone like me.
4:09 pm Tokyo time
I'm in f*****g japan. Not really, it's just the airport, I'm not gonna count it or anything, but still. Japan. Going through security here was fantastic. Imagine airport security as you know, but with twice as many people and the people are exquisitely polite, wearing white gloves, and are Japanese. Oh, and the sex tourist just got wheeled up to the Gate here where I'm waiting for my flight to Bangkok.
8:38 Bangkok time
So let's talk jetlag. There are two basic theories for jet lag. One, any sleep is good sleep, so for at least the first few days just sleep whenever you can get any. I've used it, it's slow, but painless if you've got the time. Two, what I'm going with now. Just stay up, at all costs till it's "bedtime" where you are. I could sleep now on the flight I've gotten about twenty minutes in 24 hours I could use it, but every minute I sleep now is one I will lie awake I'm bed later. It's a risk, I my well lie awake in bed anyway. But I won't sleep, I can't. There's two sleeping people between me and the bathroom. And I really have to go. That'll keep ya movin.
1159 pm Bangkok time
I have arrived. In more ways than one. Smooth as silk just standing waiting for my ride.
Sunday 8 February 2009
Soon
I'm leaving soon. I don't really have anything else to report. I just test packed. Managed to get everything in my bag, if barely. much of that stuff is consumable, toiletries and such, in any case, and nearly all of that stuff is disposable if I want to lighten up. Only 23 pounds of stuff though. Not bad for 6 months or so, if all goes according to plan.
I fly out on Tuesday at noon chicago time. Arrive in Tokyo at 4pm the next day (although the sun will never set on me during that flight) Then I leave Tokyo for Bangkok at 630. So I will arrive in Thailand at 1145 on Wednesday night. Maybe then I'll have something to report.
I fly out on Tuesday at noon chicago time. Arrive in Tokyo at 4pm the next day (although the sun will never set on me during that flight) Then I leave Tokyo for Bangkok at 630. So I will arrive in Thailand at 1145 on Wednesday night. Maybe then I'll have something to report.
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