After I finished up my diving trip, I headed to the dreaded Patong in Phuket with my dive buddies and a guy from Quebec. The English guy who dived with us owns a dive shop on Ko Phi Phi, where I was prior to my four-day diving trip, and he was looking for a night out on the town. Despite not really liking town all that much, I was dropped off there with the others, and I shared a room with another one of the divers.
Despite being the horrible reminder of all things bad when it comes to sex tourism, I discovered my first time around in Patong that it's a good place to have a few drinks. After having dinner as a group, 2 people peeled off immediately due to one not feeling very good. We walked up and down the main drag, then ironically enough, when it came to have another drink, we all were completely exhausted. So we went back to the hotel at about 10pm, completely sober. Oh well, so much for a night out on the town. Diving can really wipe you out. (By the way, Uncle Jim, YES I will probably always compare my future dives to my Similan dives...)
However, not drinking probably helped me out with my travel plans. I went to bed not knowing exactly where I was going to go, nor with whom or when.
I woke up the next day with a clear head and decided to get out of Patong as fast as possible. I booked a bus to Bangkok that left at 1pm after finding out that I'd have to travel 3-4 hours to a bus station and could not buy my ticket in advance... I could have had to sleep in ugly Surat Thani, and I didn't want that.
What I did get was a bit of a goose chase. I arrived to the travel agency at 1 on the dot, just after it had started to pour down rain, and I was the first to be picked up. The driver was upset that I hadn't gotten there sooner, but the girl had told me 1pm, and walked up the steps as my watch (which is 2 minutes fast) said 12:59:50.
It took about an hour picking up everyone around the island of Phuket (I don't really understand why I was first, since I was located about the farthest north possible, and that's the direction we needed to go eventually... but I digress. We stopped once about 2 hours in so the driver could buy some pineapples, then again after another hour for a "15 minute" break, which turned into 25 minutes. We finally arrived to Surat Thani in one piece and we were deposited at another travel agency and assured that the bus left from there, but at 7pm (it was 6pm).
So I decided to check out the town for about half an hour. I wandered about two blocks to see nothing more than urban-ness, and so I settled down at an internet cafe. Thankfully another woman from my van saw me enter there because at about 6:35pm, she ran in, tapped me on the shoulder, and told me that we had to go NOW!
I ran out of there after paying and followed the girl down the two blocks to the travel agency. We were piled into a tuk tuk and then dropped eventually at yet another travel agency, this one with a restaurant. Oh, I guess the bus didn't leave until 8pm. How screwy can you get?
Well, the bus probably pulled away at about 8:15pm, and I chatted briefly with the Aussie girl next to me until the haze created by my sleeping pill enveloped me. I dozed pretty smoothly until about 5:30am, just about 30 minutes before we pulled into Bangkok.
Upon arrival, I decided to get the hell outta Dodge and went to the train station to buy a ticket for that nights train heading north. They had a spot in a sleeper train available, so I bought it and dropped off my big bag.
That day was spent picking up my camera, which was getting repaired (long story, don't ask), poking around the 8-floor mega mall named MBK, checking out the Royal Palace and the Emerald Buddha, also part of the same complex. That evening (last night), I boarded the night train and I arrived to Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand, at about noon today. I'm pretty exhausted and quite ready for a good night's sleep (non pill-induced). Thankfully, my train travel was much less eventful than the previous day's travel to Bangkok.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Diving in the Similan Islands
I'm back on dry land after an amazing four-day trip through the Similan and Surin Islands, off the west coast of Thailand, NW of Phuket.
It took a solid half day of travel to get to the dock and to see the Manta Queen II, which was my home during my scuba adventure. There were about 15 other divers on board from France, Canada, Ireland, England, the States, Sweden and Norway - a pretty diverse group. I was put in the group with the most experience so we could maximize the amount of time we were under water (newbies tend to go through their air faster), and I dived with one Englishman, a Canadian girl and 2 girls from Ireland. Our divemaster was Thorston from Belgium. He'd been diving in the area for a long time, and he knew a lot about the sites we were diving.
My first dive was amazing... fabulous visibility and tons of fish swimming around, many of them new to me. That was probably some of the best visibility that we had, but over the four days, we saw some truly amazing things.
Every day, we were woken up at 6:30 or 7am, had a small breakfast of fruit and toast, then were in the water by 7:30 or 8am. After we came up, breakfast was ready. Dive #2 was usually after 2 hours out of the water, and that was always followed by lunch. About two hours after that came dive #3 and a snack. Then around sunset, we got geared up again and hopped in for dive #4 of the day. By about 9pm, we were all exhausted and usually in bed.
Remember those elusive whale sharks I wrote about back in Utila? Well, on dive #3, I heard some screams underwater and it was the Canadian girl, who was ueberexcited about the massive whale shark that just swam by her! I turned and saw it, and we swam with it for about a minute or two before it went off into the distance. Amazing! Definitely a diving highlight for me.
I learned a lot more about little things to be found in the the Indian Ocean, like the ghost pipefish, and I even found a normal pipefish on my own! Most of our dives were over an hour, which was fabulous. There was so much to see, I didn't want to come up any earlier. Some other highlights were catching three cuttlefish in some sort of threesome, much like the picture on this wikipedia article. And on our very last dive, as we were waiting on our five minute safety stop, there was a massive school of squid about 15 feet below us just swimming in formation. It was an appropriate farewell from them (the squid). I saw countless moray eels, triggerfish, Nemos, and other really cool stuff. We didn't see a manta ray, which I was hoping for, but there will always be other dive trips.
All in all, it was an absolutely amazing trip, and I'm glad that it was recommended to me. The boat, the staff, my fellow divers, and the sites themselves were fabulous!
It took a solid half day of travel to get to the dock and to see the Manta Queen II, which was my home during my scuba adventure. There were about 15 other divers on board from France, Canada, Ireland, England, the States, Sweden and Norway - a pretty diverse group. I was put in the group with the most experience so we could maximize the amount of time we were under water (newbies tend to go through their air faster), and I dived with one Englishman, a Canadian girl and 2 girls from Ireland. Our divemaster was Thorston from Belgium. He'd been diving in the area for a long time, and he knew a lot about the sites we were diving.
My first dive was amazing... fabulous visibility and tons of fish swimming around, many of them new to me. That was probably some of the best visibility that we had, but over the four days, we saw some truly amazing things.
Every day, we were woken up at 6:30 or 7am, had a small breakfast of fruit and toast, then were in the water by 7:30 or 8am. After we came up, breakfast was ready. Dive #2 was usually after 2 hours out of the water, and that was always followed by lunch. About two hours after that came dive #3 and a snack. Then around sunset, we got geared up again and hopped in for dive #4 of the day. By about 9pm, we were all exhausted and usually in bed.
Remember those elusive whale sharks I wrote about back in Utila? Well, on dive #3, I heard some screams underwater and it was the Canadian girl, who was ueberexcited about the massive whale shark that just swam by her! I turned and saw it, and we swam with it for about a minute or two before it went off into the distance. Amazing! Definitely a diving highlight for me.
I learned a lot more about little things to be found in the the Indian Ocean, like the ghost pipefish, and I even found a normal pipefish on my own! Most of our dives were over an hour, which was fabulous. There was so much to see, I didn't want to come up any earlier. Some other highlights were catching three cuttlefish in some sort of threesome, much like the picture on this wikipedia article. And on our very last dive, as we were waiting on our five minute safety stop, there was a massive school of squid about 15 feet below us just swimming in formation. It was an appropriate farewell from them (the squid). I saw countless moray eels, triggerfish, Nemos, and other really cool stuff. We didn't see a manta ray, which I was hoping for, but there will always be other dive trips.
All in all, it was an absolutely amazing trip, and I'm glad that it was recommended to me. The boat, the staff, my fellow divers, and the sites themselves were fabulous!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Cat in the fridge
I thought you'd appreciate a photo to check out the cat I wrote about a couple of entries ago. Here ya go:
Friday, April 11, 2008
In the beginning...
On my flight from Berlin to Bangkok, the German man sitting next to met tells me that Thailand is a beautiful and wonderful place, but everyone is out to get your money. That's all they're concerned about.
Now, that may be true, but I've found the Thai people to be incredibly friendly and helpful. I haev felt no animosity towards us farongs (foreigners), despite our massive influence on their curlture, beaches, day-to-day life, and even their employment (in the case of the sex workers). Smiles, friendliness and general good-intentions. Sure, taxi and tuk tuk drivers like to pester you to take their vehicle, and then they start off at ridiculous prices, but if you've figured out the system, you're ok.
Unlike in Latin America, I don't feel that the men see (especially foreign) women as a piece of meat. I was originally surprised to see all of the roles that females take here in Thailand. Sure, I expect them to be street vendors selling food and clothes, I expect them to work in laundry places, and even at hotel reception. But I didn't expect to see them in as many travel agencies, or working as guides, or doing as many things as they are. Perhaps the removal of the idea of machismo is what gives the women so many possibilities. Perhaps that is also why fathers and husbands allow their daughters and wives to leave for the big city to become sex workers.
I am on the beautiful island of Ko Phi Phi at the moment, and sex tourism is either not here, or it's not obvious to the general public. However, it's pretty obvious in both Bangkok, and it's pretty damn hard to avoid in Patong, on the island of Phuket. In most bars in Patong, your server is also there to please you in other ways, if you so choose. Several of the popular bar streets are lined with ladies who are available to you.
I walked into a bar in Patong with a couple of Aussie guys I'd met, and when we sat down at the bar, our server came over to us. It seems that each customer was assigned a girl... now, our girl seemed very happy to see a non-working girl in the bar. She said hi to the Aussie boys but stopped in front of me and asked where I was from, told me she liked my hair and thought I was pretty. Now, I don't think she was trying to hit on me... I just think she's got a limited vocab and wanted to converse with me. She got out a Connect 4 board and a dice game and invited one of the guys to play Connect 4. (I guess if there's a communication barrier, you've got to do something to pass the time.) She didn't seem to quite grasp the concept of Connect 4, but the guy continued to play despite winning 3 or 4 different ways. I think she noticed that we were more interested in talking to each other, rather than her, so she backed off. That particular night, I'd only had about 1 or 2 drinks by the time I walked down the main drag, and the sights were appalling. 20-something Thai girls grinding on white men anywhere from ten to forty years older than them.
I had a conversation with one of the Aussies, and both sides of the picture are quite disturbing - both the degradation that the women put themselves through and the circumstances that have brought the men looking for those women. Thai women are very attractive, but the whole situation is a big cycle that can't be positive for either side.
Anyway, enough on that.
I'm on Phi Phi right now, which is one of main places that was hit by the tsunami back in December 2004. All memories of destruction have basically been erased and tourism is bigger than most places I saw in Central america. It is beautiful here; it's where they filmed parts of the Leo DiCaprio movie The Beach.
But I'm leaving this afternoon... I've decided to splurge on a diving trip that will hopefully be amazing. For the next 4 nights, I'm going to be living on the Manta Queen II (more info here) and will be diving in the Similan Islands, which are meant to have some of the best dive sites around. We shall see! I'm very excited.
That's all for now... kudos for making it this far!
Now, that may be true, but I've found the Thai people to be incredibly friendly and helpful. I haev felt no animosity towards us farongs (foreigners), despite our massive influence on their curlture, beaches, day-to-day life, and even their employment (in the case of the sex workers). Smiles, friendliness and general good-intentions. Sure, taxi and tuk tuk drivers like to pester you to take their vehicle, and then they start off at ridiculous prices, but if you've figured out the system, you're ok.
Unlike in Latin America, I don't feel that the men see (especially foreign) women as a piece of meat. I was originally surprised to see all of the roles that females take here in Thailand. Sure, I expect them to be street vendors selling food and clothes, I expect them to work in laundry places, and even at hotel reception. But I didn't expect to see them in as many travel agencies, or working as guides, or doing as many things as they are. Perhaps the removal of the idea of machismo is what gives the women so many possibilities. Perhaps that is also why fathers and husbands allow their daughters and wives to leave for the big city to become sex workers.
I am on the beautiful island of Ko Phi Phi at the moment, and sex tourism is either not here, or it's not obvious to the general public. However, it's pretty obvious in both Bangkok, and it's pretty damn hard to avoid in Patong, on the island of Phuket. In most bars in Patong, your server is also there to please you in other ways, if you so choose. Several of the popular bar streets are lined with ladies who are available to you.
I walked into a bar in Patong with a couple of Aussie guys I'd met, and when we sat down at the bar, our server came over to us. It seems that each customer was assigned a girl... now, our girl seemed very happy to see a non-working girl in the bar. She said hi to the Aussie boys but stopped in front of me and asked where I was from, told me she liked my hair and thought I was pretty. Now, I don't think she was trying to hit on me... I just think she's got a limited vocab and wanted to converse with me. She got out a Connect 4 board and a dice game and invited one of the guys to play Connect 4. (I guess if there's a communication barrier, you've got to do something to pass the time.) She didn't seem to quite grasp the concept of Connect 4, but the guy continued to play despite winning 3 or 4 different ways. I think she noticed that we were more interested in talking to each other, rather than her, so she backed off. That particular night, I'd only had about 1 or 2 drinks by the time I walked down the main drag, and the sights were appalling. 20-something Thai girls grinding on white men anywhere from ten to forty years older than them.
I had a conversation with one of the Aussies, and both sides of the picture are quite disturbing - both the degradation that the women put themselves through and the circumstances that have brought the men looking for those women. Thai women are very attractive, but the whole situation is a big cycle that can't be positive for either side.
Anyway, enough on that.
I'm on Phi Phi right now, which is one of main places that was hit by the tsunami back in December 2004. All memories of destruction have basically been erased and tourism is bigger than most places I saw in Central america. It is beautiful here; it's where they filmed parts of the Leo DiCaprio movie The Beach.
But I'm leaving this afternoon... I've decided to splurge on a diving trip that will hopefully be amazing. For the next 4 nights, I'm going to be living on the Manta Queen II (more info here) and will be diving in the Similan Islands, which are meant to have some of the best dive sites around. We shall see! I'm very excited.
That's all for now... kudos for making it this far!
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Tee hee
Last night, I looked into the beer fridge at the place I was having dinner at, and there was a cat lying down in there. After about an hour, it pushed the door open and made its way back outside. Apparently, it sometimes prefers the fridge to the stifling heat of Phi Phi Island. Not a bad idea.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Thailand!
I don't have much time to write at the moment, but I'm in Thailand! I survived my first three days in Bangkok, then I flew down to steamy Phuket, where I've been for the last two nights. Next stop: Ko Phi Phi! It sounds like the hotels are a bit pricey, so I may only be there for a couple of nights.
I'll write more about everything later, including a mega-mall in Bangkok and the in-your-face sex tourism here in Phuket (one of the reasons why I'm leaving...). In the meantime, happy Tuesday!
I'll write more about everything later, including a mega-mall in Bangkok and the in-your-face sex tourism here in Phuket (one of the reasons why I'm leaving...). In the meantime, happy Tuesday!
Saturday, April 5, 2008
The rest of my time in Rome
I was going to do a day-to-day synopsis of my time in Rome, but seeing as I'm already in Thailand, I'm going to speed things along.
My time in Rome was really good! During the days, I usually slept until about 9 or 10 and left the house at about 12 after taking my time over breakfast, reading, etc. I took off on my own (Francesca loaned me her keys for the week) and explored the touristy sights with the help of the buses, metro and trams of Rome. My shoes sure got a workout while I was there!
I went to check out the Vatican one day and was shocked at the number of people there! The line to get into the basilica was stretched clear across the plaza. I decided to pass on that, seeing as I'm not even Catholic, but I did want to head to Vatican museum to see the Sistine Chapel and all of the other stuff around there. I saw a massive line when I arrived, but I wasn't aware of just how massive it was because it went around the walls of the Vatican, and you couldn't see around to the front of it. Forty-five minutes after joining up in the line, I finally entered the museum to join the other million people already inside. It was worth the wait. The frescoes and paintings on the ceilings and walls, not to mention the great mosaic work on the floors were amazing! The Sistine Chapel was pretty impressive, but I also found the map room to be amazing. (This is a shot of the awe-inspiring ceiling.)
Before I'd gone to Rome, I think it was Derek who was saying that it's a city that is a walking museum, and he was so right! If you're not into the architecture from between 1600-1900, then there's the stuff from the ancient Romans. If you're not into that, there are museums. If you don't like those, it's fun to just walk through the narrow alleyways that snake through the historic center to see what's behind the corners. Then there's the shopping, the food, the parks, and the friendly people.
As you can probably tell, I really enjoyed my visit. I think I especially had an amazing time because I had Francesca to introduce me to her friends and to show me around to her favorite places in Rome. The Saturday that I was there was especially nice. We were invited to lunch at her friend Valerio's place, which is kinda in the outskirts of Rome. We were supposed to be there at 3, but that's when we were leaving the house, so we arrived close to 4:15 or 4:30, but it was just in time for lunch. Enjoying the sun, we plopped down on the grass with another 5 or 6 people to enjoy some risotto, fabulous pasta and wine, then cookies for dessert.
Post our massive feast, we went indoors where I hopped in on the backgammon play and had a few hours of that before I let one of Francesca's friends cut my hair. She'd just cut Roman's (Fran's boyfriend) hair and had done a good job, so I let her at mine. She did a decent job and restored it to its shortness from a few years ago.
After the haircut, we were invited to dinner at Valerio's neighbor's house (at about 10:15pm). My slowly-expanding belly protested, but then I stuffed in some polenta and cheese.
Then the discussion started about what to do later that evening. Bar, club, what? It was decided that we were going to head to a drum and bass party (that's electronic music). I was hoping for a bar because it would mean I would get to bed sooner (I'm feeling so old!), but I wasn't the one driving. At about 12:30, we took off. After we arrived, I found out that the party was at an old club that had been abandoned and was now an underground club that is being squatted in. This is fairly common in certain parts of Rome, as far as I understand, but it made the story more interesting. At first, I didn't really know if I enjoyed being there or not, but eventually, I started dancing and we left when they turned the lights on, which was right around when the sun was starting to peek out over the horizon. The best part was that I hadn't had much to drink, so I was only just very tired and after some sleep, I didn't have to battle a hangover!
Anyway, Rome eventually came to an end, but it was great seeing Francesca, meeting her friends and getting to know one of Europe's more famous cities.
My time in Rome was really good! During the days, I usually slept until about 9 or 10 and left the house at about 12 after taking my time over breakfast, reading, etc. I took off on my own (Francesca loaned me her keys for the week) and explored the touristy sights with the help of the buses, metro and trams of Rome. My shoes sure got a workout while I was there!
I went to check out the Vatican one day and was shocked at the number of people there! The line to get into the basilica was stretched clear across the plaza. I decided to pass on that, seeing as I'm not even Catholic, but I did want to head to Vatican museum to see the Sistine Chapel and all of the other stuff around there. I saw a massive line when I arrived, but I wasn't aware of just how massive it was because it went around the walls of the Vatican, and you couldn't see around to the front of it. Forty-five minutes after joining up in the line, I finally entered the museum to join the other million people already inside. It was worth the wait. The frescoes and paintings on the ceilings and walls, not to mention the great mosaic work on the floors were amazing! The Sistine Chapel was pretty impressive, but I also found the map room to be amazing. (This is a shot of the awe-inspiring ceiling.)
Before I'd gone to Rome, I think it was Derek who was saying that it's a city that is a walking museum, and he was so right! If you're not into the architecture from between 1600-1900, then there's the stuff from the ancient Romans. If you're not into that, there are museums. If you don't like those, it's fun to just walk through the narrow alleyways that snake through the historic center to see what's behind the corners. Then there's the shopping, the food, the parks, and the friendly people.
As you can probably tell, I really enjoyed my visit. I think I especially had an amazing time because I had Francesca to introduce me to her friends and to show me around to her favorite places in Rome. The Saturday that I was there was especially nice. We were invited to lunch at her friend Valerio's place, which is kinda in the outskirts of Rome. We were supposed to be there at 3, but that's when we were leaving the house, so we arrived close to 4:15 or 4:30, but it was just in time for lunch. Enjoying the sun, we plopped down on the grass with another 5 or 6 people to enjoy some risotto, fabulous pasta and wine, then cookies for dessert.
Post our massive feast, we went indoors where I hopped in on the backgammon play and had a few hours of that before I let one of Francesca's friends cut my hair. She'd just cut Roman's (Fran's boyfriend) hair and had done a good job, so I let her at mine. She did a decent job and restored it to its shortness from a few years ago.
After the haircut, we were invited to dinner at Valerio's neighbor's house (at about 10:15pm). My slowly-expanding belly protested, but then I stuffed in some polenta and cheese.
Then the discussion started about what to do later that evening. Bar, club, what? It was decided that we were going to head to a drum and bass party (that's electronic music). I was hoping for a bar because it would mean I would get to bed sooner (I'm feeling so old!), but I wasn't the one driving. At about 12:30, we took off. After we arrived, I found out that the party was at an old club that had been abandoned and was now an underground club that is being squatted in. This is fairly common in certain parts of Rome, as far as I understand, but it made the story more interesting. At first, I didn't really know if I enjoyed being there or not, but eventually, I started dancing and we left when they turned the lights on, which was right around when the sun was starting to peek out over the horizon. The best part was that I hadn't had much to drink, so I was only just very tired and after some sleep, I didn't have to battle a hangover!
Anyway, Rome eventually came to an end, but it was great seeing Francesca, meeting her friends and getting to know one of Europe's more famous cities.
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