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Just Phuket

Phuket (really “poo-get”) is a bit of dive compared to our beachside bungalow in Ko Phi Phi. Although our room is quite a bit bigger with air-con and tv, it is no substitute for the sound of the ocean. Regardless we found our way to Kata beach which is a beautiful sandy beach dotted with hairy fat men in speedos and topless saggy seniors, who wouldn’t want to come here!

We did a bit of shopping and took a stroll on the beach remembering to wear our jacket lift (life jacket) before swimming. Phuket has some interesting sign postings. We also stumbled across armies of fiddler crabs with their funky one big claw.

In our opinion one wouldn’t miss too much if they choose a different Thai destination unless your into Ladyboys, prostitutes, or old foreigners.

The Pee Pees!

Actually spelt Phi Phi, these tropical islands were featured in the movie The Beach. Arriving by ferry from Phuket we took a long tail boat around the island to our beach side bungalow. We are our own castaways in our tree house room with a mosquito net and the gentle crash of the waves right outside the window.

We spent our couple days sleeping, reading, snorkeling in the crystal aqua waters, and laying on the flour like sand. After diving we weren’t expecting too much from the snorkeling but were impressed on our morning trip to Phi Phi Ley, spotting lionfish, crown of thorns, and plenty of little Nemos. Another day we hiked up the 186 meter viewpoint to see the sand inlet between the turquoise seas that had been destroyed during the 2004 tsunami.

We didn’t want to leave our quite island oasis but the bustling nightlife of Phuket is waiting.

Manta Madness!

Dive! Dive! Dive! We boarded the Dolphin Queen out of Khao Lak for our 5day/4night liveaboard to the Similan and Surin National Parks off the west coast of Thailand. Our routine for the next 4 days was dive, eat, sleep, and repeat as we made 14 dives in total. We started off diving the Similan Islands which were filled with schools of marine life and plentiful soft corals. Our first dive to the last was amazing, despite some current. We found everything from ghost pipe fish to funky crustaceans.

After a few dives we were in the routine and headed north to the outer islands of the Similan, Koh Bon and Koh Tachai. Koh Bon was our first encounter with a Manta Ray and one that we are not likely to forget. It’s majestic watching such a beautiful creature with a 5m wing span cruise effortlessly past us. We saw them on all three day dives in Koh Bon and on our last dive they came within several feet. Our trip was extremely lucky as previous trips dove the site 4 times without any sightings.

The furthest north was to the current mixing pinnacle of Richelieu Rock in the Surin National Park. The nutrient rich site was covered in purple soft corals and lavender sea anemones leading Jacques Cousteau to name the site after Pope Richelieu who wore the purple robe. There was a pair of Harlequin Shrimp, a yellow seahorse, several mantis shrimp, large schools of yellow-tail, and many more. A resident barracuda about the length of Jenny was hanging around a cleaning station watching as divers swam past. We named him Cudda-saurus.

As our trip came to a close we were sad to leave our friends. We enjoyed spending our surface intervals playing cards and telling stories and hope to see our fellow divers on a future trip, but until then, we’re off to Ko Phi Phi to do nothing but lying on the beach.

Lives of the Rich and Famous

Or backpackers with reward points. We arrived in Khao Lak a day before our liveaboard departed so we decided to take advantage of our hotels.com reward points and stay for free at the 2010 #1 luxury hotel in Asia as ranked by tripadvisor. The Marriott Khao Lak was perhaps the nicest hotel we've every stayed at with the largest swimming pool in SE Asia, and most likely the nicest one we will stay at for a long time.

We spent our day relaxing on the beach taking in the sun followed by drink at the pool and a swim around the whole resort back to our pool side room. As we watched sunset we settled in for our Meditteran dinner on the beach. It's nice every now and then to splurge and live it up; however, it's time to return to our backpacker style of life as we leave for our liveaboard.

Year of the Tiger, Mreow!

We're back in Bangkok celebrating the Chinese New Year and Valentines Day together. Streets are filled with people in red and stalls selling everything from ice cream served in a coconut to plastic dragons. We couldn't resist the temptation of the dragon so we got one of our own to dance.


Aparently the prince of Thailand was around as people lined the streets waiting for him; however, we didn't get a glimpse. Rather we purused a few more stalls trying different foods until we had to depart for our bus to Khao Lak. Unfotunately we didn't get to see a dragon dance or too many tiger decorations, but it was still neat to experience. Next stop Khao Lak for diving in the Similian Islands!

Bridge on the River Kwai

“Slower than the speed of smell,” It was a long 13 hour day on 4 different busses crossing from the Cambodian border back into Thailand. We spent a day in Bangkok before making our way to Kanchanaburi, where the infamous Death Railway is laid.

In 1942, Japanese forces invaded Burma from Thailand and seized it from British control. In need of a reliable transportation method the Japanese decided to build a railway between the two countries. Construction began in June and was to be completed within 14 months. Approximately 60,000 prisoners of war were used to construct the railway including 30,000 British, 18,000 Dutch, 13,000 Australians, and 700 Americans. 200,000 romusha or Asian laborers were forced or recruited under false pretenses to help build the railway as well.

In April 1943 the conditions worsened as the deadline for completion was closing in. The Japanese implemented the “Speedo” campaign. Laborers were forced to work 15 to 18 hour shifts day and night. This resulted in the notorious naming of Hellfire Pass. At night bamboo torches illuminated the sickly shadows of the emaciated workers on to the stone walls of the Konyu Cutting. Many POWs and romusha died during this period from harsh labor, malnutrition, poor weather, and disease. Others died from Allied forces bombing the railway. Several camps were set up along the railway and since POW’s were not allowed to dig shelters or mark the huts with POW camp symbols many perished as a result. 12,800 POWs and 90,000 romusha died during the 15 months of railway construction. 258 miles of track was laid between Bangkok to Rangoon and portions are still used today for transportation.


Our visit through Kanchanburi also included a more pleasant visit to the Erawan National Park which is full of waterfalls, crystal blue pools, and foot sucking fish! After a hot walk through the jungle a dip in the cool ponds were refreshing. The fish “massage” was an extra bonus, though a bit more ticklish that relaxing. After our exploration we spent the night in a river bungalow with a waterfall view.

You like snakes? Check out these pythons!

So we’re back to Bangkok for just a day before we catch our flight to Macau. For our amusement, we went to the Red Cross Snake Farm (Good Combo) and watched the snake show in the morning! Everything from King Cobras to Kraits slithered across the floor as young girls squealed and squirmed in their seats.

However, the main event was later that night at the Calypso Cabaret where the performers are “Kathoey” or as we know them, the famous Lady Boys of Thailand. We found our seats in the front row and just knew we were in for trouble. The show was intriguing and hilarious and most of the “girls” were stunningly beautiful, while others were definitely dudes. Thailand performs the most sexual reassignment surgeries in the world so it should be no surprise too how close they can get to the real thing. Jason was the favorite of the night to be picked on, as he was the only Western male in the front row. He was a good sport and went above and beyond the original dare of just dancing with a lady boy and was smothered and kissed on the cheek.

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The Sardine Can

With a couple options to get us to Laos we choose the two day slow boat. Laos Airways is not recommended by the US State Department and the fast boats would get us there in a day although neither have a great safety record. It took three days to travel from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang on several buses and boats through some magnificent scenery.

Our first night was spent in the quaint border town of Chiang Khong in Thailand. Crossing into Laos was simple; a quick departure stamp from Thailand, a two minute boat ride, and a few forms for a visa-on-arrival. After a short tuk-tuk ride to the pier we purchased our tickets at the official ticket counter for 200k Kip ($23 per person) and grabbed a bunch of mini bananas before boarding the slow boat.

The boat was simple with bench seats in the front and a bamboo mat in the back. We arrived right before the boat was scheduled to depart so we were stuck in the engine room. Although a bit noisy and grimy, we were able to stretch our legs and peer through the window at the stony karsts and overgrown jungle as we cruised down the Mekong. Our first day of travel ended in the small village of Pakbeng. There wasn’t much to do in Pakbeng except sleep and eat. After climbing the hill in darkness we found a room about the size of our closet that contained a bed and a mosquito net. The entire town is powered by generators, so after dinner it was lights out at 10pm.

We arrived at the pier an hour before our departure to ensure we received a seat with a view for our 10 hour leg to Luang Prabang. From our nice breezy window we watched locals fish and farm along the hillside and children splash around in the river. The group of 150 some odd people from the day before were divided among two separate boats. This gave everyone plenty of room and gave us nice padded bench seat from a mini-van. After our three day journey we’ve finally reached Luang Prabang.

This Just In: Micheal Jackson is Alive!

We spotted a suspicious looking character sharing many similarities to the “late” pop icon as we boarded our bus to Chiang Rai. In the 3.5 hour ride we theorized that MJ just couldn’t handle the pressure anymore and headed to Thailand to be a bus driver where surgical masks, pilot sunglasses, and golden shirt lapels are cool! Just a couple days ago we heard on the news that a song on his new album leaked out, but we know what’s really going on. 2 Pac must not be too far!

Chiang Mai, Thailand

It’s Friday night and the smell of Icy Hot and sweat permeate the air as we sit down to our front row seats in Kawilla Stadium to watch Thailand’s national sport, Mauy Thai. With a cold Singha in hand we are ready for the boxing matches to begin. The fighting is also known as the “Art of Eight limbs” as hands, shins, elbows, and knees are all potential weapons against your opponent. We wouldn’t want to be in the ring with these guys. Here’s a video clip to make our point (not sure it’s quite a fair fight Australian vs. Thai, allegedly the same weight class).

It’s hell on wheels in the morning when we rent a motorbike to explore the city for the day. First stop after donning our striking safety helmets is Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep. We hike up the just over 300 steps to the temple drowning in the humidity and throngs of people. The temple is set up on the mountain side which provides a nice view of the city and also houses a model “emerald Buddha.” Later in the evening we set out in search of the forest temple Wat Umong, where supposedly you can hear the Buddhist monks chanting, but after almost an hour of searching we didn’t find it. To make up for the disappointment we head out for a Khantoke Dinner. This involves authentic northern Thai food, like pork curry, and chili-tomato-minced pork. While you eat traditional dances are performed like the freaky fingernail dance to the candle dance.

We spend the next couple days being bums, getting a 2 hour Thai massage, stocking up on reading material, and strolling down the huge Sunday night market sampling the yummy treats. On our last day we rented some shotty 8 baht/hr bikes, determined to find the chanting monks of Wat Umong. Surviving the 45 minute bike ride out of the old city with crappy brakes and a flat tire we finally come upon the temple. Just in time for the supposed chanting sessions, we find a nice bench near the lake and watch the locals feed the catfish as we patiently wait to be rewarded for our efforts. Time goes by and no chanting, but we do chat with a couple friendly monks from Bangkok before we drag ourselves back to the guest house to figure out how we are planning the next couple of weeks.