TravelStream™ news feed for member mdurham1 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/mdurham1 en-us Copyright ©2010 TravelPod.com Tue, 11 Nov 2008 02:23:39 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1224497820/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1224497820/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1224497820/tpod.html Tue, 11 Nov 2008 02:23:39 -0500 Thailand

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Ao Phang Nga National Park, Thailand

Monday Oct 20 6 PM

very difficult day of traveling yesterday....update later...safely on railey beach...

Tuesday Oct 21 8PM

hey, now were on ko phi phi, the main island of the smaller surrounding...the main attraction to ko phi phi, is to visit ko phi phi le, where the filming of "the beach" took place...looking forward to heading there in a few days....anyway railey beach and ao nang was beautiful, and ill post some pics later...the beaches were amazing with limestone cliffs surrounding a cove of about a half mile beach...the only problem with the place was it was centered around rock climbing and resorts...the scenery on the west side of railey was incredible, but due to the prices the backpackers had to relocate to the eastside....now the eastside was hit pretty hard by the tsunami, so as you can imagine it looked rough...alotta construction going on muddy beach and the smells were not too pleasant....the nightlife didnt have too much to offer and after hitting the bars with two british girls i met in ko tao, almost getting into a brawl with two beligerient aussies, and paying way too much for beers, we decided enough was enough...the aussie situation basically went as follows...i was sitting at this table with the two british girls, one who decided to use the restroom...all of a sudden this guy snatched her seat, with his buddy in his hip pocket...they proceeded to ask me where i was from in a very condescending manner, and make insults directed at me for the remainder of the ten minutes they lingered...i wont go into any detail, but we had words, the girls had words, and they basically bailed...saw the two this morning at the hostel and they wouldnt make eye contact, prob didnt even remember..anyway, no worries about that situation, but we milked railey beach for all it was worth...the british were really cool and theyre headed to ko phi phi tomorrow to meet up with us....so we caught a longtail boat this morning back to ao nang, cab to krabi, and two hour ferry ride to ko phi phi...weve arrived at ko phi phi safely and its awesome...about to head to a beach party to hang with these welsh folks we met in ko phangan...ill update here later and post more pics...untill then...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1224324120/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1224324120/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1224324120/tpod.html Tue, 11 Nov 2008 02:21:30 -0500 Thailand

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Ko Tao, Thailand

Written on Saturday Oct 18, it is now Monday Oct 20 6 PM

hey, whats up... weve been in ko tao now for two nights and its been super relaxing and chill, just what i needed....our bungalow is once again directly on the beach and costs around six dollars a night per person...the island itself is very small and has a really chill atmosphere...its basically centered around diving, as dive resorts and shops line the main street..the street itself consists of a cobble stone path approximately 2 miles long...the path is shaded by palm trees with a view of the beach to the left, and restaurants and bungalows scattered along the shore...to the right you can see more bungalows and a jungle scene with mountains and cliffs in the distance...its pretty amazing scenery... we thought our nights of partying had ended in ko phangan, however after an evening of poker and a bottle of rum, we decided differently...as we polished off the bottle we heard music coming from down the beach and decided to go check out the scene...we ended up at this bar with bean bag chairs along the beach, tikki tourches and candles lighting up the place...there were more fire shows for entertainment and the guys putting on the shows were amazing...far better than the armatures in ko phangan...pretty impressive stuff...the craziest part about it was there was this little boy who we later found out was eight years old, in the middle of everything..he was ridiculous...a tiny little thai boy, out there with these tatted up guys around our age, doing as well and in some cases better than the others...it was impressive to say the least, and he was def the show stealer...so, we left the bar around two or so and headed out in search of some late nite munchies...as we stopped at a roadside hut, the little boy standing next to his mother looked very familiar...as you prob guessed, it was the fire boy, and his mother(who was also the chef) informed us, in very broken english, that he performs the fire shows to pay for school, which i assume is private...she also said that he buys his own uniforms with the money as well...now, she couldve easily been telling us all this because we were handing him money like he was the one cooking our food, but who knows...pretty respectable either way...they entire time we waited on our food he continued spinning the fire chains, now extinguished, and only paused to snap a picture...the kids gonna be ridiculous...i also met a dude last night from athens, and surprisingly he wasnt a gigantic dousche...he told me that the country of thailand has fire offs, where all the islanders and mainlanders join together to see who is the best in thailand....i bet its incredible....well anyway, enough of that, the beaches are beautiful here, and untill today we had just explored our part of the island..however, today we chose to take a boat ride to nang yuan, one of two islands separated by a sand bar where you can walk along a white sandy path in between islands....we heard the island was incredible and it would only take a short hike to see the most spectacular areal view of the islands including ko tao...the rumors were true, and the view did not dissapoint...after the hike to the top we were pretty exhausted so we went for a swim, just chilled for the rest of the day...just got back a bit ago, and its about to be nap time and then who knows...thats really all ive got for not, nothing too interesting...thinkin about makin a move tomorrow...ill keep everyone posted...ive only posted a few pics, and im pretty bummed about it...the ones of the thai kid and the party the night before mysteriously dissappeard from my camera...im blaming the canadian girl for deleting them...we traveled with her for a wk or so and she always freaked out about how she looked in pics....she bailed to malaysia the other day, probably in an attempt to cover her picture deleting tracks...hahaha....hope she doesnt read this....ill post soon...good bye for now..
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1224060600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1224060600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1224060600/tpod.html Tue, 11 Nov 2008 02:15:05 -0500 Thailand

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Ko Phangan, Thailand

Wed Oct 15 4 PM

im alive....still in ko phangan, trying to recover from one of the best nites of my life....full moon party did not dissapoint, and to tell you the truth i was kinda getting sick of this place (ko phangan that is)....too much partying....but i feel like my batteries have been recharged....loads of pics and stories to tell, no time though, or money....ill update when i get to ko tao in a couple days....untill then...

Wrote this on Oct 15 at 4 posting and adding pics on Thurs Oct 16 7pm from Koh Tao

ok, so last nite was the full moon party, starting at dusk and ending at noon the following day....as i said earlier, im over the party, ready to get back to a beach bungalow, and chill....or so i thought...last nite was amazing...a bit apprehensive at first, after hearing about the robberies, drugging, and pickpocketing, i honestly thought i could go without attending this beach bash...however, this was far from the case...imagine a quater of a mile beach lined with bars and filled with about ten thousand people all having the time of their lives....it was somewhat similar to the half moon party but on a much larger scale (obviously), but the location was much better, sunrise beach...we started off the night getting painted up at the bungalow around nine or so, headed to the party around eleven, and i arrived home sometime after seven am.... suprisingly the only thing i was missing was my flip flops...the party was absolutely insane.... the population of this tiny island quadroupled in less than a few hours, as partyers arrived by the boatload, literally......basically when we arrived to the party our group attempted to stay together, which lasted around a half hour or so...there were so many people, that it was impossible to stay intact....the stalls of "bucket" vendors that lined the beach were posted up in little huts side by side and shouted at you the entire nite...each trying to get you to purchase a bucket containing anything from a pint of booze and redbull, to their "special bucket" which i didnt even considering trying...nor did i want to know what was in the "very very special bucket"....needless to say im sure a lotta people found out, as throughout the nite, you had to constantly avoid stepping on peoples faces passed out on the beach, out cold......i couldnt believe it...so, like i said, i lost my crew thirty minutes in, which led to a load of people meeting and quite an interesting evening....once again the drum and baas blared from bar to bar and the there was people everywhere....the beach basically consisted of about ten massive parties, all joined together in one mad beach scene...so, at the start of the night i was dreading staying up still sunrise...after a solid week of partying, its the last thing i wanted to do...but as i roamed up and down the scene, meeting all kinds of people, i looked around in disbelief as the sky begun to light up, and nite turned to day....as i was walking up the beach i spotted two girls still dancing the night/day away...i stopped to talk to them and they ended up being the nicest and most interesting girls ive me thus far...the two were from the netherlands, and we ended up having a great conversation as the sun rose...the sun rise was beautiful and lit up the beach and and the mass of partyers who continued to partake....anyway, the sun was up and it was just me and the two dutch girls, one of whom began to build a sandcastle....about that time the other girl spotted the cutest little thai girl, directly behind me observeing the whole scene...she was probably around three or four years old and was extremely shy, but you could tell she wanted to join us....obviously she spoke no english, so it was very difficult to make her feel comfortable enough venture over..after around half an hour, we gained her trust, and there she was sitting there with us, an american and two dutch girls playing on the beach....at that moment i just sat back and looked at all people passed out on the beach, the sunrise, my new friends, and this little girl, and really appreciated the simple things in life...dont get me wrong, the party was great, but this what is what its all about....sorry to get all sentimental and yes im prepared for the hazing to ensue... bring it on....so around seven or so we decided to head back...i walked them back to a cab, exchanged hugs and we parted ways....they were on the way to malaysia and we were headed to ko tao...i woke up this after noon around three pm, with a pounding headache and a parched mouth, but i felt incredible...kinda hard to describe, but i felt like my batteries have been recharged...hopefully the raging partying part of the trip has concluded and it will be time to relax in a bungalow on the island of ko tao...until next time...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1224780000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1224780000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1224780000/tpod.html Thu, 23 Oct 2008 02:03:46 -0400 Thailand

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Ko Phi Phi, Thailand

Thurs Oct 22 1 PM

hey, whats up...so we have now spent two nites on the isand of ko phi phi...we left ao nang/railey beach on tuesday oct 20 around 10 am and arrrived on the island shortly after 5 PM...we took a long tail boat from railey beach to ao nang, a taxi to krabi, and then a ferry to ko phi phi...we talked to the welsh girls we met in ko phangan and they suggested these simple bungalows to the left of the pier at the very end of the beach....the bungalows are the simplest weve had thus far, with thatched roofs, walls and floors...it really feels like youre going to fall right through....the scenery makes up for the housing though...theres an enoumous cliff directly infront of our front porch, that wraps around the cove of the crescent shaped beach..its pretty cool...as for the nite life here...wow, the biggest spider ive ever scene just dropped down from his web and behind the computer, im backing my chair up...anyway, the first nite we arrived here there were three beach parties we decided to check out...wouldve been a great idea if i had chosen to familiarize myself with the island first...after hitting a really chill bar called the hippie bar, a more dance scene called cancun bar, and finishing up the night at the tiger bar, everyone in the initail crew split ways...i found myself on the other beach opposite our end, and unable to navigate my way home...luckily this beach was as nice if not nicer than ours, so needless to say i couldve been in a much worse situation....i snagged some nearby beach chairs and decided to set up a place to crash for the night...after consturcting my beach front fort, i decided to go in search for some food....at this point in the evening, it was about 3 or 4 so naturally everything was closed up for the night...i walked up to a now vacant open air beach bar/restuarant and stumbled upon an ice cream cooler...now, these ice cream coolers are everywhere, with every kind of cone and popscicle imagianable...its kind of running joke between myself and the brits because i seriously eat around three cones a day...so to me this was hitting the jackpot...usually the coolers are locked up after close, but as i slid the top door open this was obviously not the case.....i looked around in disbelief, this was def too good to be true....my sense of paranoia soon set in and i came to the conclusion that this was all a set up...i used my better judgement and in an effort not to obtain any bad karma i closed the cooler and retreated to my fort...i woke up around sun up, found my way back to the bungalow and told my ice cream story....no one could believe that i excercised such self restraint...haha...anyway, its been kinda rainy since weve been here, and were waiting on the first clear day to check out the island ko phi phi le, home to the famous beach in the movie "the beach" ...i just tried to upload some pics but the usb connection shocked me pretty badly, so no dice today...ill get around to it soon...thats about it, nothing too interesting this go round...the sun is out now though, so think im hitting the beach...thats all for now...bye...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1223891820/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1223891820/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1223891820/tpod.html Mon, 13 Oct 2008 06:55:02 -0400 Thailand

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Ko Phangan, Thailand

Monday?? Oct 13 5 PM

hello all....sorry its been a while since the last update...internet is crazy expensive over here, and havent had much time to write a whole lot....but anyway, we're still on the island of ko phangan, waiting for the full moon party, which has finally arrived, and will be tomorrow nite oct 14....we've pretty much been partying like its been the full moon every nite...this place is insane, theres literally sometihing to do every nite....the beach parties are wild, with tons of bars lining the shore, and intense fire shows...my favorite place is the drop in bar, where two guys stand on plat forms about twenty yards apart, spinning an enoromus jump rope, thats on fire...needless to say its pretty hillarious to see the wasted meatheads get about two hops in before the thai guys give the nod, speed it up, and trip the poor bastards...watching these guys scramble from the flames is priceless...one of the two british guys im traveling with is pretty athletic, and the rope burns out everytime he jumps, hes like a local celebrity on the beach and always gets free drinks from randos...everythings cool here but always super crowded, with drum and baas blaring from every beachside bar, each place trying to out do the other....if youve seen the movie "the beach" when richard and sal head to ko phangan, the film does an amazing job of depicting this place...theres road side stalls everywhere selling the best thai food ive had so far...although ive gotten into a late nite routine of eating tons of "chicken" from this place called Mr. K....ive never seen bones like this, its def not chicken, but its incredible and theres always a huge line....actually i should prob stop eating there...anyway, we switched from the resort where we were staying and have relocated to some quiter bunglows just outside of town....all the backpackers are incredibly kind and everyones here for the party...the last night at coral bungalow, i strolled back to my room around four or so and realized i didn't have a key and was locked out.....i just decided to crash on the front porch, only to be woken up a few hours later the australlian girl staying next to us (the same one who was torched by the moped)....she was just getting in at sunrise and had lost her roomate somewhere in the madness, which worked out well for me since they had an extra bed in their room....we ended up chatting a bit, and i asked her when she was heading back to melbourne...she said hopefully never, and plans to travel to canada, get a job, head to the states, and then to europe...its amazing to me how all the people ive met so far have such a sense of freedom and adventure, it really makes you envious...anyway, she said shed be in the states, in five months, so naturally i offered to repay the favor, and told her to visit chucktown....ive been meeting awesome people everywhere, and its really cool to run into people youve met from other islands...we headed to a pool party last night at our old place, and it was packed....it was pretty fun, but im kinda over the scene after being here a week...some meathead guy was inches from throwing me in the pool, which wouldnt have been a big deal if i didn't have my camera in my pocket...you could imagine how i responded, and decided to call it a nite and sketched off to find a cab...then i met these israelis on the cab ride back who talked me into heading to a beach party, so the madness continued...we haven't been hitting the beach as much as in ko samui, but did take a boat ride to an awesome beach a few miles south of us...the beach was haad yuan and it was amazing...just returned from our beach a little while ago, and prob gonna head in soon for a nap....should take it pretty easy tonite and get ready for the all niter ....i cant even imagine this tiny island with seven to ten thousand partyers for the full moon...it should be insane..oh yea, ive gotta thank my big sis for sending me a first aid kit, which i say ill never need....sliced my foot open on a beer bottle (i think?) the other nite so its def coming in handy...prob shouldve had a few sitches, but one of the girls weve been hanging out with is a nurse, so she fixed it up....well thats all for now, i miss eveyone back home and hope all is well....
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1223445300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1223445300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1223445300/tpod.html Wed, 08 Oct 2008 10:47:16 -0400 Thailand

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Ko Phangan, Thailand

Wed Oct 8 2008 2 PM
our ferry arrived on the island of ko phangan around noon on tuesday....we met some british girls on the boat ride over and decided to head with them to coral bungalows on the west side of had rin, the location of the full moon party...our new place is pretty posh, with our indoor shower, bathroom, and toilet that actually flushes....not the case in kho samui..anyhow, i was kinda hoping for a rustic bungalow on the beach type deal, but this def has a more resort feel..weve started looking for another place but its been difficult, since seven to ten thousand backpackers will be here in a few days....our place is cool though, tons of backpackers our age, and insane parties....we went to the half moon party last night, and it was unreal...we estimated around three thousand people were there...it was in the jungle, whereas the full moon will be an all nighter which will carry on to the next day on the beach....half moon had more of a rave feel, with techno blaring and a pretty intense light show, everyone was tribaled up with crazy neon paints and there was a lotta water drinking going on....not really my scene, but after a couple of buckets, pretty much anything was....these buckets cost around 3 american dollars, and have a pint of rum or vodka or whisky in each one..then theyre mixed with a combination of coca cola and red bull....absoutely insane.....needless to say more than half of the hostel is still snoozing the day away since the party didnt end untill around eight am, but we headed back around three or so...so for now we're in the recovery stages and will probably just nap the day away...we discussed renting scooters and checking out the island, but after seeing one wedged under the front tire of a huge truck on ko samui, we reconsidered....that and the fact that this austriallian girl we met had half of her right calf tatooed by a muffler...she was riding on the back when her friend took a u turn and spun out...the crash left her leg, the entire weight of the scooter and the hot muffler burning into her leg....the wound looked incredibly painful....that being said, ill take my own two feet....ill try and post some pics of the party later on, but thats pretty much it for now...prob gonna be on this island untill around the sixteenth...hope all is well back home...untill next time...oh yea have another quick story....so the brits im with are always giving me a hard time about whatever, so the other day he tells me i look like a young kevin costner...really dude? hes gotten a few more people to agree the situation has begun to get way outta control...hes been introducing me to people as mike costner, kevins son....funny thing is, people are actually buying it....on the truck taxi last night, he told the whole crew on board, around 20 people, to which three swedish girls busted out cameras and started taking pictures....its absoutley ridiculous, but pretty hillarious at the same time....hahahaha...mike costner...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1223132400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1223132400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1223132400/tpod.html Mon, 06 Oct 2008 23:49:47 -0400 Thailand

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Koh Samui, Thailand

October 4 11:00 AM
made it to the island of koh samui safely...we departed from bangkok around 6 p.m. wed afternoon and arrived on the island around noon on thursday...the travel included a thirteen hour bus ride, twenty minute cab ride, another hour bus ride, and finally an hour and a half boat ride...it was pretty intense...needless to say the boat ride was by far the best transport, and we really got an amazing view of the islands...when we arrived at the beach, every minute of travel was well worth it....our bungalow is right on the beach and overlooks the harbor with cliffs to the right and an inlet to the left...this island is ridiculous and has the most beautiful beaches ive ever seen...everyones is pretty stoked because some irish girls we spoke with last night said that of all the islands in thailand, koh samui is "rubbish." check back in later on....

Monday Oct 6th 12 PM
oks, so apparently when i updated the blog yesterday it was sunday, the fifth, instead of saturday...this was called to our attention as we we're eating lunch by a candian girl who overheard our travel plans..."well, since todays saturday, we should probably spend three more nights here and head to ko phangan tuesday moring." guys i hate to interrupt, but todays sunday so you may wanna alter your plans a bit...guess we lost a day on the night bus, who knows....anyway the girl was really interesting, just arrived from spain..she informed up that she witnessed two sunsets that day, which i thought was pretty incredible...she also told us about this website called couchsurfing.com, in which people from all over the world offer travelers a free place to stay...seems pretty shady, but shed been all over the world, for six months doing this and only had one bad experience in rome...something to think about....anyway, this place is paradise, our bungalow is directly on the beach and consists of little more than four mattresses on the floor and two mosquito nets....its around seven bucks a nite and the food is dirt cheap and fantastic...the scenery is unreal and the people are much friendlier than in Bangkok....we recently realized the reason everyone would giggle when we'd say hello in thai is because we werent adding the masaculine ending to offset the feminine greeting...pretty funny stuff since we thought everyone was stoked that we were saying hello, turns out that wasnt the case at all....we had a food scare the first night we were here, as we decided to go to an all you can eat thai resturant...little did we know it was cook you own...so after loading up our plates with raw meat, beef, chicken, pork, etc, we proceeded to cook our food on what appeared to be an upside down wok, with a fire pit underneath...we were all famished, so needless to say this wasnt the most effecient way of filling our stomachs....we definately ingested a more than a few pieces of half cooked meat which had been sitting in the sun for who knows how long...then, i remembered reading somewhere of this guy, in costa eating a mango filled with worms...in order to avoid the inevitable, he ran to the nearest bar and downed eight shots of rum to kill whatever was crawling around in his stomach....seemed like a fantastic idea to me, to which the brits agreed, kill two birds with one stone...so after downing a bottle of rum we were satisfied with the decision, but not so much the meal....and apparently it worked, no food poinsioning just yet....sunday, during the day we decided to do a bit of elephant trekking, which was pretty cool and kinda crazy...staying on the elephant proved to be much harder than it appeared....my guide asked where i was from, to which he replied "ah, america, mcdonlouds." yea thats just fantastic, the only thing he associates with me is mcdonalds....felt a little bad for the elepants though, they didnt look to happy and kept flaring their ears which i think is a sign of anger and frustration...my ephalant decided to sneeze on my leg, so a shower was definately in the cards to wash away any remaining elephant juice...anyway weve been taking it pretty easy since arriving here, so we decided to hit the town last night and head to the party beach of chaweng...it was a pretty happening place, really trendy, and reminded me a lot of bangkok, but on a much smaller scale...some guy standing on the corner offered to make all of us a suit, he kept insisting on it "i make you pan, shit, and shaket, only 1000 bhat (around 30 bucks)....haha, a suit on an isand in thailand, haha....as we made our way down the beach we we're offreed anything from lucky balloons to fireworks to dope...we decided to go with fireworks, and and a lucky baloon...purchasing these things was an extreme tourist move, but we had so much success with the rum the night before that we figured, why not on sunday too...the thais we purchased the lucky balloon from consisted of a father and his three sons...the kid came up to us and offered the price of 150 bhat, to which we bargined him down to 100...it was crazy, as during the negotiation he always resorted to his father who offered advice, in a sort of coaching and encouraging kind of way...the family was super friendly and after lighting the baloon and sending it off, the littlest boy approached me away from everyone, and said "for you my friend, 50 bhat." we then headed to this trendy spot on the beach with tons of backpackers, lounge pillows, and psyche trance music blarring....pretty real scene...we had a blast....the beach itlsef was awesome, definately more of a party scene, but we all agreed our beach, lampai was more our scene...geez, i feel like ive typed a novel...anyway im outta here...here are a few pics, just for my sister...oh yea, leigh, the word of the day is relax...haha, love you....and laura, you are correct about the line in meet the parents, good call, way to be on your toes, love you....heading out to kho phagan tues to rest up for the full moon party..ill update soon...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1222959180/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1222959180/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1222959180/tpod.html Thu, 02 Oct 2008 06:57:57 -0400 Thailand

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Bangkok, Thailand

hey, whats up...so, i made it here safely...well kind of....i had retalively no trouble with my flights, and can now say the airlines in the states are garbage...i basically was tortured from charleston to atlanta on airtran, sandwiched between this huge dude who passed out before take off and snored the ENTIRE way...no joke, the whole time, no one woke him up...the guy to my right was also assed out, breathing out of his nose and directly on my arm for the duration...i couldnt escape...so after enjoying my flat ginger ale and four peanuts i was spent...atl to chicago wasnt bad but i had no clue how much better it was about to get on japan airlines...first off the flight attendent hooked it up on the seats and i had the whole row to myself, three seats, so i was basically lying down the entire time....the food was incredible, and kept coming, i ate three meals from chicago to tokoyo, and four snacks....then i realized the booze was free! i mean really!!? ....the flight attendants were always offering you stuff, coffee, green tea, more food, beer, everything....i was trying to stay awake just to see what else they had....needless to say it was nearly impossible after a few drinks and some pharmacetuicalsanyway i made it to bangkok and made my first mistake of the trip....following a sketchy dude, who was no where near the legit cab drivers, to his volvo, cornered in a back alley where him and his buddy offered to take my bags for me....RIIIGHT! I bailed outta that sketchball scene pronto....gotta legit cab, who spoke no english, but was around four feet tall, so i decieded i would take my chances....after cruising around downtown bangkok and asking several people who spoke english where to go, i finally arrived at my hostel...within the first five minutes of arrival, i met these two british dudes and this chick from canada...very cool people...just chilled tues night at the hostel, drank a bit and shot some pool...gonna catch a water taxi with the folks from the hostel and head downtown to and check out the temples and palaces

arrived back from the sites, and bangkok is pretty crazy....traffic is ridiculous, people are everywhere and the smog factor is intense....the water taxi was interesting in itself...these small boats packed with over one hundered people would pull up to the dock, pause for about ten seconds, and take off, whether you were on or not...at one stop i was halfway on and almost went for a drink, pretty funny stuff, cosidering id be stranded,treding water in the dirtiest river you could imagine as i watch my new pals speed away on the boat...anyway the temples were amazing, the wat po, was home to the largest buddah statue, a huge solid gold buddah in a reclining position...it was pretty cool...the palaces themselves are immaccuately designed and the the intricacy of the details of the temples, monuments, and statues was incredible....after checking out the palaces (we didnt go to the grand palace, too expensive, and we were gonna have to change clothes) we headed to the infamous kho shan rd, to do a bit of shopping...within the first ten minutes of getting there i was standing on the road flipping some coins i had in my pocket while i waited on the canadian chick to buy a dress...this thai guy comes up to me, asks me if i want a tuk-tuk ride, i say no, then he forcibly takes the coins out of my hands and strolls calmly away with a huge grin on his face....guess thats what passes for getting robbed around here...the dudes i was with couldn't believe it, we all thought hed come back, of course he didnt...we had lunch at this really cool vegan place, (the girl and another english guy are vegatarians) up on a balcony, with mahagoney floors, cushions to lie down on and tables on the floor...it was super chill...a few of the people i was with decided to take a nap at the place when we finished eating....all the thai people are really friendly and very hospitable....the location of the restaurant the main aspect contributing to its charm...it was a couple of streets off the busy road, but seemed much further away...one of the british guys,ben, said it best, i could definately see myself living here, you just have to know the places to get away from all the madness of the bustling city life...this restaurant was definately the place...so after a late lunch, we caught a bus and skytrain back to the hostel and here we are....imheaded down to the islands tomorrow afternoon with andy and ben, the two brits....thats all for now, check back in in a few...hope all is well back home....oh yea, and this message is for jason smith, keep your messages pg13- i dont want you funking up my blog with your nonsense...just kidding, but not really...you know i still love you man....untill next time....and tuk-tuksare these three wheel motercycle/taxi vehicles...theyre insane and everywhere, always asking to take you for a ride, "tuk-tuk? you want tuk-tuk" NO, i mean these things would run you over and then ask if you needed a ride...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1222898880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1222898880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/2/1222898880/tpod.html Mon, 29 Sep 2008 18:09:36 -0400 Thailand

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Bangkok, Thailand

In Bangkok on Oct 1.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/1/1175523960/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/1/1175523960/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mdurham1/1/1175523960/tpod.html Tue, 23 Sep 2008 19:44:03 -0400 Costa Rica 2007

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Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

Hola from Puerto Viejo, a small town on the southern carribean coast of the counrty.

We successfully picked up Casey from the airport yesterday then jumped on a 4 hour bus ride to get here. It wasn't bad though, the bus wasn't near full so we had plenty of room to stretch out. Everyone we have met on the trip thus far that has been to this city told us that if we came we had to stay at a place called Rocking J's...so thats where we are staying. They have cabins, places to camp, and hammocks for rent maybe 50 yards from the ocean. The place is huge, I'd say there are maybe 100 people staying there. However, they are raising the prices today, probably becuase of the popularity of the place. We may not stay there tonite unless we can get a bed.

Planning on staying here for a few days, we would like to surf more and take in a canopy tour in the forest outside of town.

4.4
Still taking it easy in Puerto Viejo. Its different here than the other beaches we went to. This town has a Caribean atmosphere. I guess it would best be described as a Rasta village. Also, the other beaches we have been to were very dry and dusty and it never rained, however here the rainforest literally comes right up to the beach, so it is very lush and seems to rain almost daily. We have been lucky though, the rain has been holding off until after sunset.

We didn´t know when we planned the trip, but we are here during a religous holiday observed by the entire country. Semana Santa, or "Holy Week" in honor of easter. Many local families spend the week at the beach, so in the past few days it has become very crowded here.

We have decided to head out early in the morning and spend the remainder of our trip on a small island, Bocas del Toro. It is actually in Panama, but very easily accessible from here..all we have to do is catch a bus to the border bridge, cross and catch another bus and a ferry to Bocas...it should maybe take 4 to 5 hours tops (hopefully).

Again, hope all is well with everyone. And Happy Birthday to my sister, Anna.
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