Koh Tao, Thailand

Once I left the warmth of Thailand, I lost my will to live...err...I mean...blog (I know, I'm overdramatic).  But I'm attempting to get caught up here.

The trip from Tonsai to Koh Tao is not a difficult one...unless, of course, you were on your deathbed the previous day.  I took an early morning boat ride to Ao Nang (the next beach over) where I would be catching a shuttle.  That shuttle ended up dropping us on the side of the road to join others waiting for a bus....Eventually the bus took us to the ferry in Surat Thani.  Now, I hadn't heard the best stories about the ferry - so, being in the condition that I was in, I decided to sit on the top (open) level to get some fresh air.  It was actually quite a nice ride despite being super windy and forever long.  Most of the people up there were heading to Koh Phangan for the infamous Full Moon Party (picture a TON of people drunk on the beach, partying through the night).  We ended up having a nice little party up on the top level, with a guy (that I'm sure was destined to get himself killed at the FMP) being the entertainment of the party - stumbling over everyone and everything whenever he tried to move.  So anyways....2 stops and 3+ hours later, the ferry reached my destination:  Koh Tao.

I arrived in Koh Tao at night, met a new friend who happened to be going to the same hostel as I was, and hopped in the cab of the taxi truck.  We arrived at Koh Tao Backpackers, battled the awful smelling bathroom, and hit the sack.  The next day Daisy and I spent a little time snorkeling in the warm, clear waters on Sairee Beach (just a couple of minutes from our hostel).

Koh Toa is covered with dive shops, so we spent quite a while walking around, trying to find a company that would be diving at the location we wanted - before finally settling on Davy Jones' Locker (the company associated with our hostel). 

Day 2 - Me, D, and a new roommate, Monika decided to take a little island adventure.  The plan was to walk to a lookout point to watch the sunset, stopping for some snorkeling on the way.  We set out and walked (and walked and walked) to a resort/snorkeling location at Nang Yuan.

D and I hoped in for a nice, refreshing swim and found ourselves surrounded by fish.  The snorkeling was awesome.  I love the ocean!

A parrot fish:

A sea cucumber:

After drying off a bit, we headed for a lookout point, but we quickly turned back when we realized that life was more important than the crazy hike ahead...so we went back to town.  Now our story gets interesting: We stopped for a snack at a local bakery type of place.  As we walked along, heading for some more sandy fun, D stopped to buy a new snorkel (for the 2nd time).  That's when she realized that her wallet was missing (which had her money, her dive card, and both of her bank cards).  We retraced our steps, stopping and asking people along the way if it had been turned in.  We were directed to the police station (which felt like it was a mile away).  So we finally arrived and there was a guy sitting at a desk.  D asks if a wallet has been turned in.  He says no.  Offers no further help.  D says she's lost her wallet and leaves a phone number, but ultimately this guy is worthless.  Who knows if he even actually worked there.  So now she is stuck with no money.  I offer to help her out for a few days.  We stopped for a swim while we tried to figure out how she (from the UK) could transfer money to me (from the US) or if she can Western Union it without paying a boat load.  A nice view, but no luck with the bank issue.

In the end, we ended up going to the pool/bar across from the hostel (owned by the dive company we were going to use).  She literally walked up to a guy sitting at the bar, asked if he was from the UK (he was), and tells him the story - asking if she can transfer money to his bank account and he can give her cash.  HE AGREED!!! wowza!  People are good.  He ended up being the owner of the hostel/dive company.  Lucky.  So that worked out. :)

After that debacle, we ended up taking a taxi to the south side of the island, where we would hike (in flip flops) to the gorgeous John-Suwan lookout/sunset point.

It was a bit cloudy and overcast, so we didn't have the best sunset...but the views were definitely worth it!

We had some delicious pizza at a place called Farango Pizzeria before having a fairly early night to prepare for the next day's scuba trip!!  Let me just say that the diving in Thailand is incredible.  I have already established that I love diving...but I LOVE DIVING!  I want to go back. Like. Now.  We dove at Green Rock first, where I saw a yellow boxfish!  (super cool)..and then on to White Rock.  Both dive sites had Titan Trigger Fish (very aggressive), which was fun.  

Suiting up:

Dive boats:

And then we wrapped up with a lovely sunset on the beach.

On my last night we went out with a big group of people from the hostel (they were on vacation from a study abroad program).  I was out long enough to not finish a beer, before the SE Asia bug reared it's faceless, deviled little head again.  I went home. And I barely made it there.  Of course, as it goes, I had to catch an early(ish) morning ferry the next morning to get back to Bangkok.  I was surprisingly well and ready for the trip the next day.  

Goodbye to Koh Tao.  It goes down in the books as one of my favorite places and will be greatly missed.

Diving in Thailand, check

Swim in Indian Ocean (bonus: Gulf of Thailand), check

Survive infamous SE Asia stomach problems, double check

~Jac

Tonsai, Thailand - a paradise.

The South of Thailand is full of gorgeous beaches and clear blue water.  Needless to say, I was extremely excited to get down there!  I started off in Krabi, spending only one night walking around the town before catching a long-tail boat to Tonsai beach.  In the morning, I walked to where the boats leave Krabi, but had to wait until there were at least eight people for the trip.  After about 45 minutes, we had everyone loaded and were on our way to Railay, the beach adjacent to Tonsai.

 

 

Even though you can see one beach from the other, there are no roads between the two.  The options are a 45 minute jungle trek, a 20 minute climb, or a 5 minute long tail boat.  Since I had my backpack on, I shelled out 50 baht ($1.50) and climbed into the boat.  Once there, I walked around Tonsai finding a small private bungalow (for about $5 a night) just a short 5 minute walk from the beach.  The electricity was off between the hours of 6 am and 6 pm, so I "had" to spend my days on the beach.  It was rough.  My first night in Tonsai happened to be the night of the big beach cleaning party...people got together in the morning to clean the beaches and then carried on the day with competitions and a massive party at night (ironically, leaving the beach trashed).  The competitions included rock climbing (did I mention that this area has world class climbing?), beach volleyball and fire shows.  Fire shows!  So...during the day I hung out with some new friends, attempting to avoid the sharp coral while swimming.  As night fell, booths began to pop up on the beach.  Every local business had their own - selling food, drinks, and shirts.  We grabbed some food and sat down to listen to the band that was playing.

As it got later, winners of the day's competition were announced....finishing up with the finalists from the previous night's fire competition.  So hundreds of people gathered around to watch the finalists twirling fire around to their own soundtrack.  One guy was doing nothing less than head banging while spinning the fire around.  It. Was. Incredible.  So what if he accidentally threw one into the crowd...it was pure talent!  

After a nice relaxing morning, the girls and I decided to rent a couple of kayaks and check out some caves.  They weren't quite as big as I expected, but they were still fun to explore via kayak.

We did a little snorkeling near by...

...and then settled on to Phra Nang Beach for a bit of relaxation.  Then we discovered something...well...interesting.  We knew there was a cave of this sort in the area, but we thought it was  quite far away.  We were wrong.  It's called the Phra Nang shrine.  It's dedicated to the spirit of a drowned princess and it's full of...well.  Phalluses.  Literally.  Everywhere.

So we finished up there and began to kayak our way back to Tonsai.  

The next day, the German guy I met while in Chiang Mai met me out at Tonsai.  We took the long way around to Railay, stopping in Diamond Caves on the way.

The plan was to get up to a look out point with gorgeous views of the area.  We crossed paths with a few monkeys on the way.

We sat at the bottom of the path to the lookout (an extremely steep climb) changing into regular shoes.  People had been feeding the monkeys - even giving them water bottles.  So I sat there, innocently changing my shoes with my backpack and water bottle on the bench next to me.  I noticed a silly little monkey slowly making his way toward me.  I stood up with him on the bench and my stuff between us.  I could see him eyeing it.  We both lunged for it at the same time....I knocked it to the ground and he swung at me, barely hitting me in the chest.  He turned slowly and wondered off...Luckily he didn't get my bag, and I didn't get bitten.  Cheeky little brat.  Anyways - so we started our climb, which wasn't as rough as I expected.

We made it to the lookout point and were not disappointed with the views:

On the way back down we ran into some more monkeys...this time at a comfortable distance.

We settled onto Phra Nang Beach for a much needed swim (bath) and a little sun.  

We headed back to Railay where we parted - he had to catch a boat back to Krabi, and I had to climb back to Tonsai.  I foolishly thought I would be leaving for Koh Tao the next morning.  My stomach had other plans.  I woke up extremely early, barely able to make it to the bathroom (thankfully I had my own place with a bathroom)...travelers sickness had hit me.  I made it six months without anything too bad, but Tonsai wasn't letting me off that easy.  I spent the entire day sleeping, reading, puking.  It was not my favorite day, but luckily only lasted a day.  The following morning I was just about back to myself, a little scared to eat, but ready to take the journey to Koh Tao.  I said goodbye to the rocks of Tonsai, but I'm already looking forward to my next visit.

~Jac

  

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Cambodia was not initially on my agenda, but I figured I couldn't come THIS close to Angkor Wat without visiting.  I booked a super cheap flight from Chiang Mai and was on my way.  

The temples around the Angkor Wat Archeological Park are basically set up in circuits. On day one, I rented $2 bikes with another traveller from the hostel and we biked the small circuit.  Biking along side cars, elephants, and countless tuk-tuks is a little intimidating, but apparently a completely legitimate mode of transportation on the highways around here.  We picked up the 3 day pass on our way to the temples for $40.  I'm still kicking myself for forgetting my camera this first day!!!  Luckily "S" was nice enough to let me take pictures with his phone that he'll be sending me (ahem!!).

  

We started our bike journey - traveling about 7 km to get to our first destination - Angkor Wat (the "main" temple).  It was absolutely stunning!  

After spending a good amount of time here, we rode to the ancient capital city of Angkor Thom.  Bayon - one of the more recognizable temples - was one of my favorites.  There are 54 tall towers...each with a face on each side.  Guys!  That's 216 faces!!!  Walking through, you feel like all of their eyes are following you.  

We actually intended to come back here for sunset, but that didn't work out for one reason or another.  We visited a few other small places in this area.  We actually climbed up the back steps of one we came across....only to climb back down, walk around the front, and see the "Do Not Enter" type of sing.  oops.  (maybe we should put a sign on each set of stairs)

So anywas...we continued on our bike ride, visitng several more temples along the way.  Amond those was Ta Prohm.  This temple has trees left braided into the stone work.  It's gorgeous!  I'd show you pictures, but perhaps you remember that I forgot my camera that day.  Go watch Tomb Raider.  You'll see what I'm talking about.

Back to bike riding.  Awesome bike ride.  Very sweaty, mixed with dirt.  At least 30km.  So, there's that.  

We came back dirty and exhausted...but not too exhausted for a 50 cent beer.  Cambodia uses US dollars, which really makes the exchange rate easy to figure out...But if you need coin change, they use their currency.  50 cents is equivalent to something like 2,000 Cambodian Riel.  That's a pretty thick wad of cash.  So, obviously, it's easier to just have 2 beers.  See my logic?

On day two, we hired a tuk-tuk for the day to take us to the sunrise over Angkor Wat and on to the larger circuit.  We got up early for the sunrise over Angkor Wat...I'm talking EARLY (before 5 is early for me).  Our tuk-tuk driver took us to the temple where we walked to find a good view.  We were approached by several people trying to get us to come have breakfast at their stand.  One guy showed us the best spot for the sunrise, so we agreed to have breakfast at his place (Spiderman and Lady Gaga's..no joke) after sunrise.  The sunrise was a little anticlimactic, as the cloud cover was blocking the sun.  We did still get to sit and watch as it went from being pitch black, to slowly being able to make out the outlines of the temple.

So on to breakfast.  I had something normal and breakfasty (banana pancakes), while C opted for something not breakfasty (chicken fried rice)....a decision he would come to regret in a few hours.    After breakfast, we hopped back into the back of our taxi and ventured out to some of the farther temples.

Preak Khan in all it's disrepaired beauty:

Neak Pean (really a tower in the middle of a pond):

Pre Rup with it's stunning views:

By the end, S was starting to not feel very well...we got back to the hostel around noon and both had a good nap.  The difference was I woke up eventually and went on with my day, while he was stuck in bed (and the hospital) for days.  Poor guy!!!  Moral of the story:  Don't eat chicken fried rice for breakfast.

While there, I also had the chance to meet up with a couple of the leaders from a fantastic organization called EDventure.  The organization takes groups of young people on trips to various countries, volunteering in the communities and promoting leadership.  I was able to have dinner with the group one night...we talked a lot about the program and their mission and I must say, they've got a great thing going!  I was also able to head about to a small school with a few of them and watch the volunteers in action.  It was very motivating!  I love seeing people trying to do their part to help make the world a better place!

My time in Cambodia came to a speedy end, but the sites and experiences were extremely rewarding.  A lovely country with amazing people!  

Angkor Wat, check!

~Jac