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