Koh means island...

Viewpoint
Originally uploaded by Shaggy Z.

Yikes! Been quite some time since I've gotten around to updating this blog. I got back from Chiang Mai on Saturday the 15th. On Sunday at about 6:30, Colleen, Devon, Emily, and myself headed to Kao Sarn road where we bought tickets to go to Koh Tau. We took a double decker bus to Chumpon. The bus ride took probably about 8 hours. They showed Peter Pan which looked really lame so I didn't watch that. I snoozed on and off a bit. At 2 am it stopped for a half hour for supper etc. Met a teacher from London Ontario who teaches in Chonburi province. His name was Brad and he was travelling with his girlfriend Anne. We got to Chumpon at about 5 am and waited a couple hours for the ferry. The ferry left at around 7. The ferry was very comfortable and they showed Starsky and Hutch. We were on the ferry less then 2 hours. Some of the slower, cheaper ferries can take up to 6-8 hours! Koh Tau is a small island about 60 km from the mainland. Tau means turtle. We arrived there at about 9 and rented motorcyles and drove to the Blue Wind Bungalos. They were pretty basic. Pretty much a bed (no sheets of course) and a bathroom (no flushing toilet and cold water). I spent the afternoon by myself biking around the island. The main "road" is paved and the rest of the roads are gravel/sand and are often very steep. Some roads were so sandy and steep that on my way down I would have the brakes on and just sort of slide down, cause the wheels didn't have much traction. Going up a couple, I had to get off and push my bike up the sloop cause my wheels kept spinning. After supper (ate supper at a restaurant that showed The Italian Job) the 4 of us drove around in the dark which was pretty fun. We went up to the viewpoint and then to the end of the island where Devon and I climbed around on giant rocks. Tuesday morning we went to a travel agent (the 3 of them were getting tickets to go to Krabi). We ran into Brad and Anne there and decided to go sign up for a snorkelling tour of the island the next day. The four of us did some snorkeling on our own that afternoon. It was amazing at how many fish you see under the water! We met up with Brad and Anne for supper. After supper the 6 of us rode around awhile then came across a bowling alley. It had four lanes (shorter and skinnier then normal bowling lanes) and had people at the end that would set up the pins (I accidentally nailed one in the leg). We didn't really know how to keep score so we decided that strikes were worth two points and spares were worth one point. Strikes and spares ended up being quite difficult to get because the lanes were not very level and the balls were not very good. I ended up taking the game with four points, next highest score being two points. The next day we returned our motorcyles and went on the snorkelling tour (Emily stayed behind). The water was pretty rough that day, and we were in the boat for about a half hour before it finally took off. By that time I wasn't feeling so hot and soon lost my french toast breakfast over the side of the boat. The first stop we made to snorkel in was the same bay we had driven to the day before. I wasn't feeling so hot by the 2nd stop, and for the 3rd stop I swam over to a rocks to sit down on something that wasn't moving for awhile and was joined by Brad, Anne, Devon, and Colleen came too. After that we were taken to a tiny adjacent island called Koh Nangyuan which is actually 3
islands joined by strips of beach during low tide. We were there for a couple of hours, then it started to pour, so we took shelter in a restaurant. The gutters going started overflowing and water poured into the restaurant. We got back to Koh Tau around 5 or so and then I rerented a motorcyle and headed back to the bungalo. We met up with Brad and Anne again for supper. After supper Emily, Colleen, and Devon headed off for Krabi (they had an 8 hour ferry ride to get there) and I moved to a different restaurant with Brad and Anne to watch The Wedding Crashers (pretty stupid movie, not recommended). After that Brad and Anne headed back to there bungalo. The next day they were heading to Koh Phangan and after that planning to head to Koh Samui. I head seen a pamphlet advertising a sweet music and a DJ and a bar so I decided to go check that out (I'm big into techno and stuff), but walking in the waiter wanted to sell me marijuana so I decided it would be best to head back to my bungalo and read a bit. Before heading to bed I walked along the beach under a full moon...pretty sweet. The next morning I got up around 9:30, checked out, then headed to a café for breakfast and coffee. I stayed there and read till about 1:30, then returned my motorcycle and headed to the pier to catch the 2:30 ferry back to Chumpon. It ended up leaving around 3 (Starsky and Hutch again). Got back to Chumpon at about 5 and got on the bus at about 5:30. The bus wasn't quite as nice as the one we had taken up but the trip was still pretty nice. They showed Batman begins which I had seen before but nevertheless was still fun to watch. Bus stopped for supper at about 8 and I got back to Kao Sarn road at about 1:30 Thursday morning. Bummed around Friday-Sunday (found a sweet tank game game and played that with Craig for quite awhile). Sunday night I saw Wallace and Grommit and the Curse of the were-Rabbit with Craig and Michelle. Monday morning left here at about 5:45 am with Craig and Michelle for Ko Samet (island southeast of Bangkok). Trip went very smoothly. Got to the eastern bus station at about 6:30 and got on the 6:30 bus for Ban Phe. There was only like half a dozen people on the bus so we all got our own seets. I had taken a couple of gravel as well as my pillow so I slept for pretty much the entire 3 hours. Got off the bus and the ferry was just about to leave so we got on that and headed for the island. The island is only a couple of kms from the mainland but the ride still took 45 mins. We were gonna check out Jep's bungalos which was about a half hour walk away. Ran into Carmen, Karen, and Melisa who had gone there the day before. It was a Thai holiday on Monday which meant the island was packed. They had trouble finding an available room and ended up sharing it with 9 strangers from various parts of the world. We ended up staying at a place called The seabreeze. Craig, Michelle and I stayed in a room and the girls in another. On Monday we hung out by the beach. During supper the restaurant played a movie (I can't remember which one, must have been good). At about 10 o'clock. A nearby bar had a DJ and were playing sweet music, then a guy came and started doing this fire baton thing. The two ends of the sticks were dipped in fuel and then he would swing it around really fast and it looked pretty cool. Then he did something similar with two sticks on the end of chains. Then there were these contraptions made of some sort of cloth or paper that was maybe 3 feet high and in the shape of a cylinder. At the base they light a flame, and then the things fills with hot air and takes off into the starry night sky. Hung out, listening to music with Craig till about 2:30 in the morning. Tuesday and Wednesday were similar with us hanging out by the beach. At about 5 on Wednesday (yesterday) we chartered a speedboat to take us back to Ban Phe (maybe 10 min boat ride). Took a pickup taxi to the bus station in Rayong. Got back home at about 10 or so. Played some tanks with Craig then headed to bed. This morning I headed to Snow White's (laundromat) with Craig at about 9:30 or so. We went out the back way to avoided being recruited to teach the last day of summer school (I'm not sure why they call it summer school, since its not summer, but they have "summer school" during the 3 weeks between semesters). Later I headed to Post Cafe for coffee and reading. In case your wondering what I'm always reading, I am reading Lord of Chaos, book 6 in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. Headed back to my room and started tidying up. At about 5 headed back to Snow White's with Craig to pick my laundry. Just been bumming around this evening and decided it was time for me to update my blog and hopefully respond to a couple emails. I'm very bad with returning emails; I always put it off for later. So that's been the last couple of weeks. If you made it through all of this with falling asleep or quitting, congrats! You should leave an "I made it through this blog entry with falling asleep" comment so everyone knows about your sweet blog-reading skills. Girls only want guys with skills (sorry, but I had to throw in a Napolean Dynamite line)!

Back to Bangkok...

Waterfall
Originally uploaded by Shaggy Z.

Thursday morning headed up the nearby "mountain" with Emily on the back. After we got out of the city I had her drive. The road up the mountain is maybe 15 km long or so and is a series of switchbacks. We made it to the wat in one piece, but we did have a close call where Emily drove into the opposing lane with a truck coming as she was making a particularly sharp turn. At the wat there was a small market. A lady named Linda wanted to sell me a painting for a 550 Baht but I said maybe later. We came across another lady selling paintings but hers were 200 Baht. I decided to get one, but then Linda came and suddenly her paintings were also 200 Baht. They two ladies started arguing with eachother so I decided to by one from each of them. Moments later 2 more ladies selling paintings came, but there paintings were 100 Baht. So I bought two more. Then 1 more. Finally got out of there with a lady grabbing my arm and following me out, mad that I hadn't bought any of her paintings. We headed back down the mountain and after lunch Emily rented her own motorcycle. We headed north on the same highway that I took the evening before. We went for maybe 50 km, then I had to head back cause my bike had to be back by 4:30. At the spot we turned around, there were some elephants hanging out beside the road so I took a couple pics. I renewed by cycle for another day, then we met up with Colleen and Devon, and they decided to go rent motorcycles also. Then it started pouring so we all got soaked, but it stopped raining soon so we headed for supper. Friday morning Devon and I got up at 5:30 and headed out of the city to the mountain. At that time of day there is very little traffic, so we pretty much owned the streets. At some points we were maybe doing 100 km in the city. The red lights did not bother us, because they gave us a chance to squeeze to the front of all the vehicles and then race off down the road as soon as it turned green. We drove up the winding road like maniacs and made pretty good time. We went to the wat and climbed the big set of stairs, but noone was really around cause it was only a bit after six. We decided to continue up the mountain some more to the palace. We decided to coast the entire way back down, although we made a few detours. I noticed a small dirt road going off to the side so we took that and it led to a basketball court in some sort of village. We then took a rock/dirt path that led to another part of the village. Headed back down again and took another road which led up to some building with a gate around it. There were a bunch of dogs barking at us, but we didn't care since they were all on the other side of the fence. But next thing we knew they were on our side of the fence so we took off pretty quickly. Another side road led us to the Chiang Mai University observatory. We got back to Chiang Mai at 8 or so and got the breakfast buffet at Smiley's. We ended up going back up to the wat with the girls, then Devon and I got tickets from the train station. Our train left at 4:45, but about 15 minutes out of Chiang Mai the engine broke so we sat for almost 2 hours waiting for another engine to come. The ride back was fairly uneventful. We were supposed to get back to Bangkok at 6:30 am but we didn't arrive until 9. Tomorrow we are headed south to Koh Tau.

Home of the U-Turn...

Got up yesterday at around 8 or so. Went to a breakfast buffet then did a few laps around the moat because I had some time left on my motorcycle rental and wanted to empty the gas tank. Spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon reading. Walked over to 7-11 and ran into Carmen and her sister and friend, who came up to Chiang Mai on Saturday. Rode around on the back of Carmen's bike for a bit, then went for lunch. After that I rented another motorcyle and we headed up north to check out some waterfalls. We never did make it to the waterfall. They had to get there bikes back by 6 so they turned back and I kept going for a while. Very nice countryside to go driving in up here. I watched the sun set 45 km north of Chiang Mai, then headed back to Chiang Mai. Devon, Emily, and Colleen arrived a few minutes before I got back. Went for supper at the Riverside Restaurant then checked out the night bazaar. This morning I got up at 5:30 and took off on my motorcycle. My goal was to watch the sunrise from a big hill that overlooks Chiang Mai, but it was kinda cloudy so I didn't see much. The view was nice, however. On the way back saw maybe a hundred monks collecting food in their orange robes. Devon and Colleen took off for a trek so I might go motorcycling with Emily if she feels up for it (she's never driven a motorcycle).

Chiang Mai...

I left the school at about 5 Monday evening. Took a taxi to the subway and then the subway to the train station. Got there at about 6:15 or so. Read while I waited for my train. Boarded at about 7:25 pm and it left at about 8. It was a pretty nice train ride. When you first get on the only thing you notice is the diesel exhaust, but once you get going its not as bad. I read for a bit on the train then went to bed. Woke up a couple of times throughout the night and looked out the window. At about 6 I woke up at looked out to see that we were surrounded by hills, and you couldn't see far because of the fog. Went back to sleep and got up for good at around 8. Did some more reading. Train was supposed to arrive at 8:55 but it didn't get there till about 10, which means I was on it for over 14 hours. Took a Tuk-tuk downtown Chiang Mai. The downtown part is surrounded by a moat and used to be surrounded by a wall, of which there are some parts remaining. Rented a motorcycle and took that to the Chiang Mai Inn. A very basic room, but good considering it costs $6 a night. After lunch I headed out to check out Chiang Mai University. It took me about an hour to get there, cause I kept getting lost, and they don't necessarily put the street names at every interesection. Whenever you get to where you wanna be going it ends up being a one-way etc. etc. Navigated a traffic circle and then finally found the university. I went over to the faculty of science and checked out the department of chemistry. Seemed pretty quiet. There was one class going on, and some chemistry labs with people working in them. I went inside the organic lab and talked to a guy there for a bit. I think it is the break between their semesters, because the whole campus was pretty quiet. Then I headed to Highway 106 and took it to Lamphun. Went down a bunch of random highways etc. etc., got a bit lost then found the highway again and got back to the Inn at 5:30. Gonna go find something for supper, maybe check out the Night Bazaar if I'm feeling up to it, then I'll probably head back here and do some reading. Tomorrow Devon, Colleen, and Emily are gonna meet me here and we'll hang out in Chiang Mai for a few days.

Red Eye...

Week went by dreadfully slow. On Tuesday I went to Post Cafe and read awhile then watched this sweet Thai movie called "Dear Dakanda". About this guy at some university in Chiang Mai who like this girl etc. but she isn't really interested in him the same way so he takes off for an island and falls off the deck and breaks his leg and hooks up with this sweet nurse etc. Sounds lame but I really enjoyed it. On Thursday I went bowling with Craig, Michelle, Mike, Melisa, and Ben. After we decided to check out a movie so I ended up seeing Dear Dakanda again. Yesterday was the last day of school so right now I'm pretty happy. Got up this morning at about 8 and met up with Craig at about 9 to get pedicures. After lunch we went and with Michelle and got Thai massages. After that Craig and I took off to the train station to buy train tickets. I'm headed up to Chiang Mai Monday evening leaving at 7:40 and I'll arrive in Chiang Mai at 9 the next morning. (Craig's going the week after). I'm gonna meet up with Colleen, Devon, and Emily who are flying to Chiang Rai on Sunday night and then bussing to Chiang Mai on Tuesday or Wednesday. This evening I went and saw "Red Eye". Pretty interesting flick. Coby from Survivor: Australia was a security guy. That made me laugh. Looking forward to the next three weeks to relax and stuff. I hope to get caught up with a few emails etc. etc.

4-Wheelers

4-Wheelers
Originally uploaded by Shaggy Z.

Got up Saturday around 8:30 or so. Headed over to Mike's at about 9 with a couple packs of bacon. I started frying up the bacon while mike made pancakes. Melisa came by and then Craig and Michelle. Had a nice breakfast together (with Tim Horton's coffee). Went back to my place and hooked up two more speakers to my subwoofer. I want to buy some speaker wire so that I can put a speaker in each corner of the room. Nathan asked if I wanted to check out the 4-wheeler track with Tim. We went there and did a couple laps of the track. Came back here, worked on report cards awhile. Mike rented "The Interpreter" so I watched that with him. Very nice movie, you should check it out. This morning I went to CCC. They have an interim pastor now, but are searching for a pastor, so if any pastors out there are reading this and wanna preach in Thailand, you should give them a call (http://www.churchjobs.net/jobs/listings/1572.html). Went swimming after church and then headed over to Que Paso's.