Planes, trains and automobiles

I have taken almost every form of transportation while in Thailand. Plane, taxis, taxi boats, ferry. But my favorite so far have to be the train and Tuk-Tuk.
First let me talk about the train. I have taken buses everywhere that I have traveled, so the thought of taking a train was exciting as I have only been on a train once in my life. And it was so much better than any bus that I have ever taken. A sleeper train where I get to lay down and actually sleep for 12 hours? Amazing. I can get up and walk around when I get bored of sleeping? Super. But actually arriving to a new city rested is the best. They do sell crappy food on the trains, but that is okay. I can get the already mentioned food for 30 bhat and be good for the night.
This is called a Tuk-Tuk. it is basically a motorcycle with two seats in the back that are covered. They are everywhere in Thailand. And usually they are cheaper, but sometimes it takes haggling to get the price somewhere near where it should be. I did not want to take one at first. Too hot, I needed something with air conditioner. But then I realized that the wind would be good enough to cool me down. Now, I like the Tuk-Tuk.
This is my last day in Bangkok and Thailand. There has been something that I had wanted to do since I got here, but couldn't because of the curfews. So we will see what happens later.

Uhhm, food

One of the best things about Thailand has been the food. Extremely inexpensive (curry for about 45 baht, or $ 1.50) and very delicious food. I have eaten more curry almost every day. I even learned how to make my own curry, if I ever wanted to make it at home. I have had Pad Thai, red, green, and yellow curry, fish soup, fried crickets, squid jerky, and many other things that I could not name. Here are a couple of pictures of the foods that I have eaten, but this is not nearly a comprehensive list because usually I am more interested in eating than taking pictures.

Chaing Oh Mai!

I have been in Chiang Mai for about four days now. I have a hard time remembering what day it is though, so I could be wrong.

Chiang Mai is a relief from Bangkok. Mountain air in a smaller city (pop. about 150,000), less traffic and a slower feel. I like this place. a small list of what I have done since I have been here: Thai cooking class, rode a zip line through the jungle, saw a Buddhist temple on top of the mountain overlooking the city, tiger petting zoo, waterfall hike, and downhill biking today.
The down hill biking was interesting. I thought, "I am from Utah, I have been mountain biking my whole life. I even downhill biked the world's most dangerous road. I can't be that bad". It was and I was. I think that I wrecked on almost every steep downhill part at the beginning. I was really bad. It was a good thing that I was by myself, because if there had been other people they would have gotten very mad about how slow I was going. The whole time I kept thinking how mad my mom would be if she saw me crashing someone's bike.

Today is a day to relax, maybe get a Thai massage (not that kind of massage you pervert). I leave for home in about three days. Let's hope that some of the cool weather is hanging around Salt Lake, because it might be nice to walk around outside without instantly sweating.

Farewell southern Thailand

Tonight I make my way north, to the mountains of northern Thailand. Specifically Chiang Mai. I have had fun on the beach. I am getting over my sunburn, I ate a lot of seafood and I enjoyed my time just relaxing.
Yesterday I got to go rock climbing on a beach outside of Krabi. Because I did not have any of my own gear and I do not have enough experience to go myself, I paid a guide to take me around. We started out on one beach with some beginner climbs, then we hiked through cave with flashlights, that was full of bats, to another side of the cliff where I got to repel down a ledge to another beach. Then we spent the rest of the day on another beach, climbing the whole time. It was nice because I was one of two people in the group with any kind of experience, so the guides would put up routes just for me.
Only 10 days left in Thailand and I get to go home and work. My degree has posted, so all I have to do now is wait until I get a date to test for the NCLEX.
The first picture is the beach where I was climbing. The last picture is the sunset with a couple of fishermen that I passed in the boat on the way back to the hotel.

Beaches and more beaches

I spent the last couple of days on a small island in the Indian Ocean called Koh Phi Phi. I feel that this is what people think of when they think Thailand; limestone cliffs jutting out from green water, where a person can see the reefs 15 feet down in the water. It really was amazing, but almost too much. I think that it got to the point where I was overloaded on awesomeness. A person can only take so much of said awesomeness before it just becomes ordinary. I mean I was on a boat yesterday for 8 hours. I did do snorkeling and got down to see the reefs. Awesomeness. What was not awesome was all the tourists that would get really drunk, throw their trash every where and think that it was a good idea to jump through rings of fire. I feel that my inner granola is starting to come out. I have to admit that the only thing that I could think about walking through the town on the island was how much damage people are doing to this environment and how I was going to walk away if anyone needed medical treatment for severe burns.

Ahh... Paradise

Beautiful beaches amid tropical jungles in the middle of the Indian ocean. I wish that I could enjoy all of this, but I cannot. The reason: a giant painful sunburn that I have been complaining about for the past two days. I thought that being under a large umbrella would protect me from the harmful rays of the sun. Sadly this is not the case. A very sassy old German woman informed me today that it only blocks 10 % of the sun. This means that I was without sun screen for two hours in the direct rays of the sun, burning the whole time.

But life is not all bad. I am on beautiful Koh Phi Phi. Beachs, babes, jungles, and lots of relaxing. I think that this is exactly what I signed up for when I came to Thailand. Tomorrow I am going on a tour around the island, snorkling and hanging out. I have to be at the pier at 0930, but that has not been a problem, as seeing that I cannot sleep past 0630. I just guess I am not over my jet lag yet.

Bangkok

This place is not all it's cracked up to be. I mean really, does your airport have to THAT big? Haven't you ever heard that it's not about the size of the airport? And what is with the heat and humidity? It's like walking through the worlds biggest sauna. It's a good thing that I am eating so much food, because I think that I am sweating off as many calories as I am eating. I think I have discovered why the entire country is skinny.

The plane ride was long, but I made it sans DVT. There is something about the last six of twenty four hours on a plane that makes life interesting. It is that semi-coherent, half-asleep time where everything is either really funny, or it does not make any sense. It was during this period where I experienced the Tokyo airport. I was mesmerized by the people mesmerized by the sumo wrestling on T.V.

The hostel that we are staying at is impressive. A mix of open air house meets fancy modern where it takes a key card to turn on the lights (don't ask, it's hard to explain and even harder to figure out).

And just to try to alliveate fears, there are protests, I am staying far away from said protests. I did not bring either a red shirt nor a yellow shirt. And I am leaving today. I don't think that people protest on the beach. That would ruin the laid back, to cool to care culture, right?

We went to the Grand Palace today. 10 dollars for foriegners, free for Thais. I had a hard time enjoying the place. Too hot. But here are a couple of pictures that I took. Tomorrow I will be enjoying the beach and the Indian ocean.