Back to the Snow!!

The tan has faded, I am finally back on the right sleep pattern and it officially is winter again. We have spent the last 5 out of 6 days skiing/snowboarding. Nik's family has a cabin South Lake Tahoe and we each have a pass to Heavenly, so we have been spending our time up here. Last weekend, his brother, Steve, and his friends, Joe and April, came up and we had a great time. Friday night was spent making up new card games and drinks. We came up with an amazing drink that had cream soda, Seagrams and SNOW. It was like a spiked snow cone. Can you say delicious!!

Ali, my sister, was nice enough to lend me a pair of her skis. Thanks Ali!! So, yesterday Nik gave me some lessons on the mountain. I feel like I improved so much and we had a fantastic day of skiing. I was beat at the end of the day, but it was well worth it. Wanda, my dog, has been with us the entire time. She has gotten very good at pouncing through the deep snow. She stays and guards the cabin while we ski, but gets to go out multiple times a day to chase snowballs. 

Hot to cold

Well, we officially made it to SFO last night, with a great warm welcome by Nik's parents. We stayed the night in the city with his brother and sister in-law because we were in no shape to drive to Reno. This morning we decided to head over the pass even though both of us were wide awake by 4 am. We got about 5 hours sleep. Jetlag has hit us a bit and our bodies are confused of what time it is. Regardless, I really wanted to get home. Unfortunately the Sierra's are getting hit with a heavy winter storm, so we have been making the slow trek over the pass. It is weird thinking we were in the jungle a few days ago and now we are in the snow. Can't wait to go ski!!!

Map of our loop

Headed home!!

Well... we are on our way home. It is hard to believe this trip has
come to an end. It has been such an amazing experience. So many great
memories, pictures, videos that we can't wait to go through and
organize. Sitting in the Bangkok airport I can't help but think of the
huge loop Nik and I did around thailand. Starting in Bangkok, flying
down to Phuket, taking a ferrie to Ko Phi Phi, then another ferrie to
Krabi, a bus to Surat Thani, another ferrie to Ko Phangnan, then to Ko
Tao, one last ferrie to Chumphon, and a bus back up to Bangkok. Talk
about planes, trains and automobiles except we did planes, ferries and
buses. I have no idea how many miles we clocked, but I do know we did
it about 9000 miles from home. Basically the complete other side of
the earth and a day ahead. Yet, we were able to communicate with
everyone when well timed. We leave Bangkok at 5:30 on Monday and
arrive in San Francisco on Monday at 6:30. Because of the time change,
it seems like a short trip, when actually it is about 23 hours of
travel. Yuck!! The price we must pay for seeing some sights of the
world.

Koh Tao = Oh WOW!

We took a catamaran from Koh Phangnan to Koh Tao. One island north,
but 1.5 hrs away on a highspeed boat. No more slow ferries any more,
we decided. This island has got to be the scuba capital of the world.
Every resort, shop, restaurant, etc offers scuba certification and
tours. This was our last stop, so we wanted to get more R&R instead of
paying a bunch of money to get scuba certified. Besides we figured we
could snorkle and it would be just as cool, but cheaper. We stayed at
Ban's Scuba Resort, which happens to be the most respected place on
the island for certifications. Now that we are in the Gulf of Thailand
the land looks completely different. No more cliffs shooting straight
out of the waters, it looks more like Hawaii. Very tropical and green.
The beaches are not nearly as nice as the other side of the country,
but still very beautiful. By this time Nik and I have built up a
pretty good tan. He looks more like a coffee bean (very tan), I look
like well... what Nik looks like without any tan. Earlier in the trip
I got a good sunburn with a tanktop on, so for sometime it looked like
I had a tanktop on under my swimsuit. Typical Erin style!!! Now at
least I look somewhat normal with my light tan.
Ko Tao proved to be our next favorite place next to Ko Phi Phi. Our
hotel room was about 50 m to the beach and we enjoyed laying on the
beach soaking up the sun each day. We even found a rope swing that we
could swing on into the water during hightide. Our last day was spent
renting a kayak and taking turns snorkling from the kayak. The
snorkling was absolutely incredible. No wonder it is the scuba mecca.
I have never seen corral that large. We saw many types of fish, crabs,
jellyfish, sea plants, etc. Also kayaking along the shore we were able
to see all the bungalows. Everything from tiny little huts to nice
private residences. It was definitely the best way to end the beach
part of our trip.

The next day we were off to Bangkok for a couple days before heading
back to the States. This time we took a catamaran to Chumporn (1.5
hrs), then a VIP bus to Bangkok (7 hrs). The boat ride was very wavy
and bumpy. Nik and I did our best to not get sea sick. A storm was
coming in and by the time we got off the boat we were very glad to be
on land. The storm hit while we were waiting for our bus. It poured so
hard I thought the roof we were sitting under was going to collapse.
The bus wasn't so bad, it was long, but I really enjoyed seeing the
land pass by as we headed north. I think Nik would disagree, he kept
smelling stinky feet and he was having a hard time with it. Poor guy
was miserable, it seemed like everyone on the bus had there shoes off
and it doesn't help when the person across the aisle was picking at
there toes. It didn't bother me so much, because I was on the inside
and I was busy looking out the windows. We were glad to be on a nice
bus (meaning it had a bathroom). Last time we were not so fortunate.
Nik had to go #1 about 30 minutes into the 4 hour ride from Krabi to
Surithani. He had to hold it the entire way. He was so miserable and
could barely talk to me. He never complained, I could just see the
pain in his eyes. I felt so bad for him. When we did finally get off
the first thing he said to me was, "I can't think about anything but
going pee." He is a strong man! There is not many things more
uncomfortable.

We got into Bangkok around 8:30 and headed straight for our hostel,
Suk 11 www.suk11.com. This time coming into the city we felt much more
confident with bargoning for a cab ride. We also decided we like
Bangkok much more than we thought we did. It is a huge crazy city, but
it has so much character and diversity. We made it just in time to
meet up with the Reno crew we started the trip with and kept missing
along our journey. It was fun to hangout with them again. They had
some great stories from their travels; drunken fights, scooter
crashes, and lots of alcohol. We all had a good laugh enjoying
eachothers pics and stories. It was fun to hear their tales.
We ate dinner in Bangkok along the streets from the food carts. BTW,
best food in Thailand is from the food vendors. Taste wise anyways,
and very cheap. Then, we headed out on the town for the last night out
with the crew. They headed home on Sunday. We went to a club called
Route 66 and had fun listening to American music and enjoying some
spirits and mixers. We kept thinking about how much eerything was like
a crazy night out in Vegas, except we were the only white people out
of thousands, and bottle service only cost us $60 for a botle of
Johnny Walker and Smirnoff plus mixers (redbull, coke, Ginger ale,
club soda) Not bad considering we split the bill 8 ways and all got
plently of drinks out of it... When the night was done we managed to
fit 6 of us in cab and head home. All of us felt a little extra tired
this morning (hungover). Today we headed back to the weekend market
and shopped around buying gifts and such before we head home. We can't
believe this trip is coming to an end. We are both a little bummed,
but very excited to get back to the snow and real life in San
Francisco and Reno/Tahoe!

View of Koh Phangnan

Koh Phangnan

Arriving in Koh Phangnan we were not too sure how much we were going
to like it. It was more of just a stop over for us on our way to koh
Tao. Koh Phangnan is the island of the infamous full moon party.
Fullmoon is basically Burning Man in the tropics. People get nuts!
They have it every full moon, but they also have half moon, no moon
and quarter moon parties. Basically the island is a party all of the
time. These parties get really crazy. Almost everyone we met that went
to one had some sort of injury (mainly burns.) There apparently is
fire jumproping and fire hoop jumping as activities. Mix that with
alcohol and drugs and you have a recipe for disaster. We of course did
not see any of it first hand because we were inbetween parties. Our
hotel was called the Drop In Club which sounded like a party of it's
own. Neither of us wanted to party, so when we walked into our room to
find a gigantic (concert size) set of speakers on the balcony for the
pool parties all we could do was laugh. While on the island we figured
we should check it out since we were going to be there a couple days.
We booked a tour of the island that included elephant trecking,
snorkeling, a hike to some waterfalls and lunch on one of the beaches.
I think we paid about $30 each for the day.
I was a little worried about the elephant trecking, just becuase I was
affraid of how they treated the animals. Luckily they were treated
very well. Nik and I shared an elaphant (Zamore), she was 40.
Apparently they live to be about 100 years old. Anyways, Zamore was
great!! Her guide would just talk to her in Thai and she would listen
and follow. She had a bench attached to her back that we sat on, but
each of us took turns riding right on the back of her neck. It felt
like I was riding on the shoulders of one of the characters from Where
the Wild Things Are. Her ears would go back and grip my legs so I felt
secure. It felt like she was holding on to me. Elephants are such
amazing creatures. So gentle and kind. We took turns feeding them
bananas and petting her. Afterwards I played with a monkey that was
obviously the owners pet. He was on a leash. It was a baby and he took
turns bouncing on my feet then jumping up on my shoulders. He was so
playful and full of life. Then, Nik fed him a watermellon and we
watched him scarf it down. What a great experience.

We then hiked to a waterfall which proved to be pretty pathetic. This
is the dry season and the streams aren't as full as usual, even though
we have seen buckets of rain almost everyday. Nik swam in the stream
though and we both agreed that was probably the cleanest water he has
been in since traveling. On the hike though, we did go to an overlook
of the island and it was spectaular. Koh Phangnan is about the size of
Maui. The day was finished with lunch at a private beach and some
snorking. Snorkling was a little murky, but we still enjoyed ourselves.
Couple hightlights-
Watching a gigantic bird (not sure what it was, but it looked like a
toucan with a large bump on top of its beak.) mess with one of the
island dogs. The bird sat in a palmtree while the dog jumped
repeatedly to try and reach the bird. The bird would stick its beak
down and poke back at the dog. Then, the bird would fly off to another
tree at a low level with the dog chasing and jumping after the bird.
It was hilarious!! The two had a crowd of people watching and
laughing. It could have been a show at the zoo or something.
Eventually the dog gave up and quit. Our guide told us there were only
2 of these birds on the island and they think both are the same sex,
so they will not reproduce. They also don't fly well so none will come
from other islands.
Our guide was fantastic! Her name was Jay. She was a Koh Phangnan
native and she taught us so many incredible things about the island
and the Thai culture.
Overall Koh Phangnan wasn't so bad, we actually loved the island. We
never saw too much craziness. I think because we came between a full
moon, half moon or no moon. Not sure....

More updates!!

Thai massage is a huge thing around here. We kept hearing about how

sore people were after the massage and how hard the lady was on them.
It didn't sound very appealing, but after I wikipediaed Thai massage I
discovered it is a deep tissue full body massage. Most places charge
200 baht for an hour. That's like $7. Nik and I figured we would give
it a shot. My lady at one point was literally standing on my back
pulling my feet over my head. I was put in so many ackward positions,
it felt like she was making it up as she went. Then, I would look over
at Nik and he would be in the same position. We both would start
laughing. She kept having to ask if I was ok, because I kept putting
out these moans. I really couldn't help it, it was weird. Overall it
was an interesting experience, one I'm not sure I will repeat.
The next morning Nik and I hurried to catch a ferrie back to the main
land to the town of Ao Nang (a small town outside of Krabi). We
decided to take this day as a chill day, basically laying on the
beach. We stayed at a place called Aloha Inn. (I know very American).
The owner was American as well. He was a really nice guy, but he would
talk our ear off. Once he started going it was hard for us to leave.
Maybe he was just excited to see some of his own, there aren't many of
us out here. Really though, I think he might have done to many drugs
in his younger days.
I haven't talked about the rain around here. All of a sudden, out of
no where the rain will come and it will dump. I'm not talking about
pouring rain, I'm talking about buckets of rain. So much that if you
stand in it for a second, you will be drenched. We have had multiple
instances where we get stuck somewhere because it is raining to hard.
For instance, in Ao Nang we were looking for a place to have dinner.
The buckets started coming down and we basically had to choose the
place we we standing next to. It is fun to watch the rain come down
while eating dinner and luckily it stopped long enough for us to leave
the restaurant and head back to the hotel. We haven't been so lucky
with the other rain experiences.
Our goal was to travel from the Andaman Sea over to the Gulf of
Thailand, to the island of Ko Phangnan and Ko Tao. We left early in
the morning taking a tuk tuk to the bus station, then two buses (4
hrs) to the ferrie port, then a 3.5 hr ferrie to Ko Phangnan, then
another tuk tuk to the hotel. It was about a 10 hr travel day, one we
were not expecting to be that long. The buses look like a disco club
from the seventies on the inside and the tuk tuk rides are like a ride
from Disneyland. We were so tired when we got here, but made it safe
and managed to not get to grumpy along the way.

A day of sea kayaking

Sorry, this did not upload from before and we have been traveling a
ton. We are now in Koh Tao and will update soon.
A day of sea kayaking and laying on the beach. Man, Nik and I are
really living the dream right now. After spending the night on The
Beach, we decided we would spend a few nights at a nicer hotel. A
wopping 2500 baht for the night ($70). The place is called Phi Phi
Arboreal Resort www.phiphiarboreal.com and it sits up on the mountain.
Perfectly safe from any szumami. This place was also hit hard by the
2004 szunami, and trust us, it has gone through our head. The view
from our room is of the two beaches on Ko Phi Phi Don and it is
spectacular! It was nice to have a clean shower and bed. We really
feel pampered after the rough nights of sleep we have had.
We decided we wanted to do some kayaking this morning to get a
different view of the island. For 2 hours it was about $8 for a two
person kayak. Wow, where in the US can you do that. We kayaked to a
private beach and were in aww the entire time of the cliffs and the
outstanding rock formations. I feel like I'm traveling through a
picture book. Later we laid out on the beach. There are so many
different languages and accents around, it's fun to try and guess
where people are from. Styles are also interesting. Some people go
topless, some where g-string bikinis and some stay completed covered
up. Also, Nik and I have noticed what amazing shape everyone is in
around here, 6 packs, perfect tans and tattoos are in full effect.

Sent from e's iPhone

Kayaking!!

My first International Football Match

As many of have read below, Erin and I went to Ko Phi-Phi Leh for a
camping trip a few nights ago and had a blast. The people, the food,
the water, the snorkleing, the drinks......... The sports, All
perfect!!! For those of you who do not know me very well you should
know a few things before you read on, I love sports, exercise, trying
new things, and of course competition! Being a former competitive
athlete (tear) I realize these things don't all blend together like
they used to. As we landed on Maya Beach we quickly took a look
around, set our stuff down and headed toward the beach with our new
friends from San Francisco. On our way I was approached by two
gentlemen from Argentina asking me if I would like to play futbol
(soccer) with the guys. I replied "No thanks, I am American," as if
that would explain my lack of respect for soccer and disinterest for
playing. They both tried to get me to play after they laughed at my
comment and still I insisted no. As they went away Erin INSISTED that
I go play. For some reason her encouragment changed my thought process
quickly, and I thought to myself that if anything I could use the
exercise.
I quickly ran to the area where we would play on the beach with goal
posts consisting of two wooden sticks about three feet apart (no
goalies in beach soccer) and about 5 players per team. I asked where
everyone was from as we started and our game started with
representation of 9 different countries! "WOW" I thought to myself:
Argentina, Thailand, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, South Africa,
Australia, and of course, the good ol USA! (me). I soon realized the
company I was in and that soccer or "footboli" as Nemo said, was not
nearly as much my game as it was everyone elses. Great right!?!? An
American Baseball coach trying to play the worlds most popular sport,
with people from 9 different countries, and I haven't played in 17
years. This ought to be interesting!
As the game started I ran up and down the beach observing a bit. I was
on Nemo's team (He was our camping guide from Thailand and a very
funny guy) and he was good at getting everyone on his team involved
"Whered my Phucking team go?!?!," Nemo would yell out! This of course
motivated me a little and after a few touches of the ball I quickly
realized a few things which apply in All sports....... hustle and be
aggresive (Thanks Dad).
As soon as I got over my fear of inexperience I became very involved
and discovered that I had one thing I wanted to do. Score a goal! At
this point, we had more players join the game and it seemed all of
them were on the other team. Plus, it was getting darker and I knew
time was running out. I began running around like a mad mad from end
to end trying to get a hold of the ball. At one point I began to take
breaks and try a little Cherry Picking (when someone waits on one end
and does not play defense) but our soon to be good friend from Italy,
Guido, was on to me. A few attempts and shots on goal and I was
gaining confidence. I was also beggining to ware out because of all
the running. My best attempt came when Nemo broke on the outside to
the right and pushed the ball forward and to the center. Like a one-
timer in hockey, I let one go off my right foot and watched the ball
sail just barley to the right! Grrrr!!! Very exciting though. Again
and again I tried to score and I think most the others realized how
hard I was trying and they soon stepped it up as well. At that point
and after about 6 failed shot attempts at scoring a goal, I had a much
deeper respect for this game. All in all, we added about ten more
players, and although I did not know where everyone came from I did
find out that England, Spain, and Canada were a few.
Pretty cool if you think about one little beach soccer game
representing over 12 countries! I had a blast, found a new respect for
Futbol, and might even follow the USA this summer during the World Cup
in South Africa. I hear the US has a decent team and might even make
it past England in the first round. Until then, I guess we will just
have to wait.
Cheers,
Niko

Sent from my iPhone

Sunset from Ko Phi-Phi

Thought you would all enjoy today's sunset picture I took from our room! We are enjoying an Ice Cold Chang and trying to figure out how we can stay here the rest of our lives!!!!! Jk! We will Update the blog soon, just know that we are here for a few more nights and then It's off to Krabi and Ko Phan Yang, and Ko Tao, then back to Bangkok and then home on the 18th. (maybe) ;)

Niko and Erin

Ko Phi Phi Leh

What is the coolest thing to do while on an island in the middle of
Thailand?
Well, we think we did it. We went on a snorkling/camping trip on the
sister island called Ko Phi Phi Leh. This island is not populated with
people because it is a national forest. It also happens to be the spot
the movie "The Beach" was filmed starring Leo Decaprio. We boarded a
boat yesterday at four and headed to the island. Our guides name was
Nemo, but he reminded us more of Mougaly from Jungle Book. He was very
hyper and full of life and he looked like Mougaly. Everytime he wanted
to get our attention he would say, "Hey white people, phucking
listen." (in a Thai accent) We thought this was funny!
On our way, we stopped and snorkled in a large cove. We saw all sorts
of fish, sea urchins and coral. It was so beautiful and exciting!
Afterwards we headed to "The Beach". This place was the defintion of
heaven on earth. Gigantic cliffs protruding from the water in all
directions. Nik played a game of international futbol with the boys
(which he will write a blog about). We then enjoyed a fantastic meal
of non other than chicken curry and Buckets. Buckets are a popular mix
drink of pretty much whatever you want made in a sand bucket. Meaning
they can be very dangerous and they proved to be to many of the people
in our group. We were fortunate enough to swim in the dark and play
with the phospherecence in the ocean, then sleep on the beach. One of
the best parts was watching the lightning far off in the ocean between
the cliffs we were surrounded by. In the middle of the night the rain
started to come our way, so Nik and I made our way to a covering where
some other people were sleeping. To bad we had to because the rest of
the night we were surrounded by scurring rats and trails of ants. I
didn't see any rats, but apparently it kept Nik up. He said they were
way to close for comfort. Although the sleeping on Ko Phi Phi Leh was
not the best we still believe this was probably the coolest thing we
could have done and definitely something we will never forget.
Quick memories:
- Walking to the bathroom at night seeing a bat with the wing span of
about 3 feet. That's size HUGE!!
-Meeting some American sisters from non other than San Francisco. We
don't see many Americans over here. So to meet ones from our area on
our camping trip was exciting.
-Meeting Guido from Italy. His name fit him to a tee. He kept the
entire group laughing with his crazy antics and excitement for
everything.
- Watching a fire show the guides put on for us. Lighting sticks and
ropes on fire and spinning them around. Guido got in on this and I
think we were all scared for his life, especially since he had to much
to drink.
- Jumping off the top of our boat into the water (about 15 feet). Nik
did a few backflips, I just jumped, but it was fun!! He also was
jumping in the next day in the rain before we headed back and got
stung by a jellyfish. Nothing to bad, there weren't any marks, he
could just felt a weird stinging on his arm and legs.
- Playing with the phospherecence in the water. If you have never seen
it, it looks like lightning bugs or static light in the water. Pretty
amazing!!

One and done

We flew into Phuket from Bangkok Monday and once we arrived in Patong we realized it was a smaller version of Bangkok on the beach. This town was busy, loud, and party central! Perfect for two people who were looking for a good nights sleep and a quiet meal! (note the sarcasm) Anyways, after walking around searching for a place our Lonley Planet guide book described as a must have for food, we soon discovered how hungry we were and sat at a sidewalk cafe for a great meal! It is really hard to go wrong in this country with food. The best part is the bill. 2 cokes, 2 beers, delicious springrolls, and two main entrees cost us a total of 380 baht, which is a little less than $11U.S. So although we were ready to go to Ko Phi Phi island as soon as we got here, it was a wonderful dinner, right by the water. On a side note, this town was devistated by the 2004 Tsunami that hit the Eastern Seaboard of the Adamen Sea. It was strange walking near the beach knowing that all of the places near us were destroyed by a single wave. Nonetheless, the town has bounced back and is in great condition (for Thai standard).

The next day we took the hour and a half long ferry to the island of Ko Phi Phi Don for some beach time and snorkling. Apon arriving we realized there were no cars, just small streets made for walking and bikes. Our Lonely Planet said to book a place ahead of time, because in peak season travelers get turned away because everything is booked. Nik and I decided to try anyways. I was stressing the entire ferry ride over while Nik made friends with a couple from Finland. As soon as we arrived we scurried to find a place to rest our heads. Luckily, we did, but we both decided it was the biggest dive we had ever stayed in. To make things worse the owner was a German lady who obviously did not like Americans. At $15 a night we didn't really care, we just made an effort to not spend any time in the room. 

Nik's top five rules from Bangkok

Although Erin and I have been writing the past few blogs together, She has allowed me to make a post from a subjective point of view. That is not to say that we are not seeing things from the same vantage point, I just thought it might be fun to write while we wait for our flight to depart from Bangkok to Phuket and share a little humor from our experiences since I know my friends and family are following Erin's blog as well. So, as I sit in the domestic terminal in Bangkok (which is the first time either of us has flown in a foreign country domestically) drinking a Singha, and eating a bag of chips, I am recalling some of the things we have learned along the way. Here are the top rive lessons so far.

1.) Yum-Yum is NOT a way to describe good food!!! As a matter of fact I learned it means you want something sexual, although I lost the true meaning in translation. Also, ping-pong shows have nothing to do with the sport the Chinese and Forest Gump do so well. Enough said.

2.) Although we are thousands upon thousands of miles from the U.S.A., it is a very small world and you run into neighbors, friends, and celebraties from home. Case in point;  We are traveling with some very old friends from Reno High and Roy Gomm Elementary, and we ran into Rick Fox, the retired ex-L.A. Laker who was a part of the great Shaq/Kobe days. Funny stuff.

3.) Never trust a Thai  in Bangkok wearing a "Tourist Police" shirt who claims to be a professional guide. As we were trying to find a particular temple Sunday, a man wanted to "help us along" and proceded to tell us the Grand Palace area and Wat Pho were closed on Sunday. He then began telling us while drawing on a map that the shopping was better for us to go to and he could take us there. Wow! We had a good laugh when we discovered how full of shit he was when we arrived at the home of the giant reclining Buddha and the vast space of Temples and brillant architecture in this area. Although we were exhausted it was truley breathtaking.

4.) Never thumb wrestle with a 9 year old Thai girl selling flowers on the street while she calls you a "ladyboy!" Also, avoid the follow up flower girl who wants to play Rock, Paper, scissor for 200 Baht. Once again, enough said!

5.) . Although this may seem weird, the drivers and motorcycle riders down here are unbelievably good at getting to were you want to go safely and FAST!!!! If I was looking for the next Jeff Gordon, or Dale Ernhardt to drive a race car, I would come to Bangkok. Cabbies are fearlous and yet the chaos is very controlled, and very exciting.

And for a bonus #6, Never, ever trust anyone in Thailand and ALWAYS negotiate prices!!!

I will be a great salesman once again, especially after being in Bangkok!!!!

Cheers,

Niko

Updating as quick as we can!

 

Suk 11 with the Reno crew


Quick note: Sorry we have not updated the blog, we have been traveling  
so much it has been hard to find time. We are now in Ko Phi Phi and  
will be here for a few days, so we will be able to catch up.

Chatuchak market or the JJ market

The JJ market is a weekend market that goes on in Bangkok every  
weekend. This was the largest farmers/flee market I have ever seen. It  
had everything from clothing to live animals and much much more. Thai  
food, furniture, art, clothing, jewelry, dogs (that was to much for  
me) you name it, it was there. Nik and I spent the day shopping  
around, eating incredible foods and sweltering in the hot weather.
We both had a hard time finding things that fit. Around these parts of  
the world we aren't exactly small. Nik's size is an XL (in Thailand)  
and they hardly have any of those. Most places just told him, he was  
to big and they did not have his size. We got a good laugh because  
when we wanted a size in something we would ask if they had a size  
HUGE. Inside joke with Mom. But now Mom, I am not the only size huge.  
Nik is part of the crew. It was a fantastic day of bargaining for  
goods, eating pad thai with a Canadian couple, having the best (and  
strongest) hand made coffee and enjoying the best 15 cent waffles on  
the BTS (skytrain).

I haven't mentioned our hostel yet. It's called Suk 11. It's basically  
like staying in the ride, Pirates of the Caribbean. Our Lonely Planet  
guide book describes it as an oasis of woods and greenery in the urban  
jungle. It truly is and we only pay about $25 a night. Gotta love  
Thailand!!

Saturday night we met up with Nik's friends. We took Tuk Tuks to  
dinner. Tuk tuk is a three wheeled scooter (on steriods) that holds as  
many people as you can fit. We fit 4 plus the driver. Driving in  
Thailand is like Exite Bike from the first Nintendo. The tuk tuk or  
cab drivers drive insane. It is like controlled chaos, but you never  
see any wrecks. They really know how to work it. Plus they drive on  
the opposite side of the road, so I think we are constantly confused.  
Anyways, we played a game of cat and mouse when the driver was trying  
to keep up with the other tuk tuks that held our friends. We held on  
tightly, but of course found them. We had a great dinner of red curry  
and pad thai. This seems to be the main meals Nik and I eat.
Afterwards we headed to the tallest building in Bangkok that has a bar  
at the top. We actually can't remember the name of it. At the elevator  
to the top, we were stopped and they would not let me proceed.  
Apparently I was not dressed nice enough (I had flipflops on), but I  
was dressed nicer than most the people going up and Nik also mentioned  
that I was clearly the best looking as well.(Nik added this  
part!!!! :) Nik's friends went ahead and we stayed behind. After  
watching about 10 people pass that had dirty converse, t shirts, or  
jeans, Nik and I decided we were going to get to the top. We just took  
a different elevator, bypassing all the hoopla. At the top the view  
was amazing, you could see all of Bangkok. The drinks were  
rediculously expensive and they wouldn't let us take pictures (we did  
before they told us not to). It was like a Vegas club. Not really what  
Nik and I wanted to do, but it was fun to see the view.
On our way home we took another Tuk tuk. I remember Nik saying, "It's  
1am, nothing good happens in Bangkok after 1." A few minutes later, we  
turn a corner and there were a bunch on police waving at us. The  
driver pulled over and the police waved us out of the tuk tuk. They  
asked for our passports, which we had, but our friends Alex and Lauren  
did not and they searched everything we had. I kept thinking the  
worst. Mostly, they are going to take all of our money, or they will  
pin us for something terrible. It turns out they were looking for  
drugs (of course they did not find any). They sent us on our way and  
we headed back to Suk 11. Nik and I decided lesson learned for this is  
nothing good happens in Bangkok past midnight, so we would not be  
staying out that late again!

We are having a blast and even though we consider ourselves rookie  
travelers in Thailand, we are getting around well.

Bangkok - city of great stench and great food

It's funny to think the first thing we ate in Bangkok was a bag of  

potato chips from the 711. That's right there are more 711s in this  
country then there are in the entire USA. We were a little skeptical  
to eat, even though we were really hungry. Not that we don't love Thai  
food, we just kept smelling these rechid smells and it was a huge  
turnoff to eating. Finally we found a cute place to settle and we  
ended up having the most fantastic Thai food ever. I had a red curry  
with chicken and Nik had a rice noodle dish. By the end of the meal  
jet lag had hit us and we could barely keep our eyes open. Keep in  
mind we are 15 hours ahead of west coast time.

Even though we are a day ahead, we realized this morning this is a  
small world. Eating breakfast at our hotel a man walks by with a Reno  
balloon race shirt on. Of course, Nik strikes up a conversation with  
the man. We find out he lived in Reno for a year and now lives here in  
Bangkok. He said if he ever went back to the states that is where he  
would live.

Happy New Year from Bangkok!!

We made it to Bangkok safe!!!! Just in time to ring in West Coast New Year with a cold Singha beer and a big grin on our face. We had a great trip overseas, and it has already been a very eventful 24 hours since we left the states. First and foremost, we left for Taipei, Taiwan from SFO last night at midnight and flew right threw Asias new years. When we landed after a 13 hour flight it was already 6 a.m. in Taipei on January 1st, with another 6 1/2 hours of traveling until we arrived in Bangkok, Thailand. We ran into our travel friends from Reno in Taiwan and it was very cool to look around and realize that most of us were from good ol Reno, NV.

A few lessons so far...... First, we learned quickly that "Polk," is "Pork." Erin learned this when the flight attendant asked whether we wanted "Phesh ol Polk," for our dinner. Subsequently, we both had a good laugh when we made her repeat the question.....5 times!!!!! Next, our friends shared how to get from the airport to downtown Bangkok near Sukumvit by making sure the cab was on a "meter," as apposed to a flate rate, and lastly but most certainly not least, we know our families want us to look out for eachoher. Well... Nik was saved already. In a scurry trying to find a place to celebrate the New Year for the West Coast we watched a cabbie pass us into a nearby hotel as we were about to cross the road. After he passed we proceeded to cross the road and look around in amazement of Bangkok. Unbeknowest to us, the cabbie tried to reverse. Nik was looking the other way, but Erin saw Nik's foot was about to be run over, she quickly gasped, grabbed him and pulled him out of the way. WOW!!! We were both startled, but realized we were too focused on the end result instead of what was right in front of us, and although Nik was embarassed about having his girlfriend save him, we both had a laugh about it. However, it would have been a quick ending to a fantastic trip. Lesson.... Keep your fricken eyes open;-) Both Ways!!!!

Cheers everyone and Happy New Year!!!

Erin and Nik