The Royal Hotel Hatyai Hat Yai

... little English and the signs were almost all in Thai. I felt pretty safe though. Edgardo's travel book recommended a hotel called the Cathay Guesthouse. I don't know why anyone would recommend this place though because the room was like a prison cell. The beds were rock hard and the bathroom was disgusting. I still managed to sleep really well though. Thank you sleep deprivation.

... in from everywhere, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand. Men came from everywhere just to see girls in bikinis. Actually, after a while of meditation, seeing this kind of thing made me wanted to puke. Yes, there's a fifty-sixty looking man being kissed (or harass?) by a teenage girl. Women tried to earn their money in their prime, as much as possible. They would do anything, EVERYTHING, like surgery, sexy dances, wearing cheap ...

... Aah.. Aamukuudelta perilla. Lonlyplanet ehdotti yhta hyvaa mestaa juna-aseman lahella ja mentiin tsekkaamaan se. Taynnahan se oli. Ehka muutaman tunnin paasta vapautuu jotain. Kaytiin rappukaytavaan pitkakseen kun viela pienta vasymysta oli ilmassa. Ei varmaan varttia ehitty nukkua kun jo tuli emanta hatistelemaan ylos. Oli yks vapaa kolo. Aika laava, mut ei oo eka kerta. Hyvin ansaitun paivalevon jalkeen lahettiin ...

... in Spanien(Mann gegen Ochse) sondern die Kaempfe werden nur von Ochsen ausgetragen. Sie kaempfen aber nicht bis zum Tod sondern nur bis einer der beiden aufgiebt bzw. weg rennt. Was sehr lustig zu beobachten ist wie die Thais Ihre wetten abschliessen. (Gluecksspiel ist in Thailand verboten, da es aber keine Polizei in dem Areal gibt gehts rund)Die Thais bruellen durch die Gegend um in letzter Sekunde ein Tip abzugeben...Wie auf der Boerse!

... gear, so we borrowed them to get in the water. There was this fantastic cave he told us about, the emerald cave in which you just kayak in, do not see anything for about 10 metres and end up on a paradise beach. We had to wait a bit until the tide went down so that there was enough space for us to get in and also because the waves were quite big at the time, which made tremendous, scary noise while in the cave in the dark. It was absolutely breathtaking ...

... in time to see one of the beautiful things giving itself a bath. Being that there are four of us, we were hooked up with two elephants for the 30 minute walk through the hills. Ascending a complete flight of stairs to get on, Kathryn and Jon-Jon along with their guide climbed aboard one and then Julian and I sat atop the second. Slow-moving and meticulous foot placement along a clear but uneven path gave us quite the unique experience ...

... and said, "Helllllllllooooooo" so I wanted to take his picture...he was a bit scared but mother held hiom in place.... Then he looked at the pic on my digital camera...and said in Thai to his mother" ooo! I like that take another...without mother!" Of course I obliged! Here is a ...

Due to it being a Sunday, i got to the Krabi bus station to find that they only had air con buses (much more expensive) and that they were all full, so i had to pay much more than usual for a ticket, then stand in the aisle for 3 of the four hours. Also, as I'm taller than the average Thai, my head was touching the roof, thus avoiding any benefits of the air con. Not the best midday bus ride I've done ...

... a/c minibus for a two hour ride to the pier. Hel got a seat right in the back corner and got to know the Germans and their frustration with Thai transportation better. They said they would never come back to Thailand but we liken it to waking up with a hangover and vowing to never drink alcohol again, Thailand is a great place but not without it's painfully frustrating shortcomings.

... to close at around that time...I guess it would have something to do with the sun going down :). I am so used to the late night hours and the 24 hour places in the US its just hard to imagine anything else. The mosquitos are starting to get me already. As long as I don't get sick. I am still taking my neem leaf extract pills every day since my first bite in Penang (many of you may chuckle but I found at least one paper where in-vivo and in-vitro ...