thailand

is absolutely amazing. the people are friendly, the food is spicy, the weather is balmy. it's been great.

in the beginning, not so much.

flew in december 17th expecting to take an overnight train down south the same day. couldn't get tickets and had to spend a night in bangkok. next day tried to buy train tickets leaving in the morning, but couldn't get a sleeper train til 3 in the afternoon. bought that and spent a day wandering around bangkok. took a river trip and went to a few temples. the grand palace was spectacular. very shiny.

december 18th. train down south to surat thani. arrived at train station at 4 in the morning. played rummy with hisa and the locals. good fun.

december 19th. took bus/ jeep thing/ boat taxi to our first and VERY overpriced bungalow hotel. that was one of my major mistakes. booking hotels ahead of time. if you go and just wander around thailand it's possible to find hotels for 200 - 300 Baht. but booking ahead of time, i got one for 1,750 Baht!! yikes. and it wasn't even that good. went to a cave and laid around on the beach for a bit. the scenery was amazing. karst formations along the coast and lots of people rock climbing. beautiful sunset.

december 20th/21st. boat taxi to Phi Phi Island. Where the movie The Beach was filmed, I believe. reputed to be the most beautiful beach in the world. I don't know about that, but it was pretty fantastic. hisa and i went on a snorkelling/kayaking/swimming full day boat cruise. almost got stranded in the middle of the ocean kayaking because we were dumb and kayaked away from the bay and into open water where the waves where too strong for us to navigate. fortunately, a boat taxi picked us up and dumped us back to where our boat was moored. man that was exhausting. and the fishies were purty.

december 22nd. boat taxi to Phuket. got ripped off taking a taxi between town and beach when taking the bus would have been just a fraction of the price. stayed in Patong Beach, supposedly gorgeous with good night life, but wasn't that impressed with the beach. We watched muay thai boxing (accompanied with traditional thai instruments. where can i get a cd, i wondered) and went clubbing. the club was packed and thirty minutes into it, the cops came and tested all the thai girls for drugs. they had to pee into cups and get OKd. party killer. we left after everyone started ditching the club. came home. slept.

december 23rd. hisa leaves for home. meanwhile, am still in phuket and i spend the day looking for a place to get my hair cut.

>>>> to be continued. when i find cheap internet again <<<<<