tenth flight in ten days

hmmm... somewhere between cambodia and tokyo, lady secret has crept in. righhhttt... lady secret. so confused here. note to lady secret: one cannot be a secret if posting on public blogs with a 'kis'. just a thought.

first off, our last sleep was a day and a half ago. we decided to test the theory that if tired enough, one can sleep anywhere. as our flight got in so late (another lovely landing), and next leg left early this morning, we attempted to sleep in the bangkok airport on benches. that went about to be expected. let's just say i was eating pork noodles at 3:45 this morning to pass the time - as was coy about 20 minutes later. we'll be heading for los angeles here shortly. i think we are both borderline delusional from lack of sleep. can anyone say ambien? Read more...

indiana jones and the temple of...

when i was a kid i loved the indiana jones movies. i figured there was nothing not to like about a guy in a leather hat exploring the world in search of priceless artifacts, encountering every adventure imaginable along the way. in the last two days, we seemed to have found a way to live his life (minus the girl with i love you written on her eyelids... which i am inclined to still search for later). first of all, apologies on the late post, but in cambodia there isn't really a place to type (and according to the lady that sits next to the non-working computers it's because it is sunday...). anyhow, this country has been about the wildest place i could have possibly imagined. to get here, we boarded a plane with propellers. yep. as if the small plane wasn't enough, we had a four hop landing... and that was just the start. the customs official wasn't convinced coy was, well, coy. and believe me, you don't want to argue with a cambodian customs official. once past him, we got in a cab and realized quickly that there is no city in siem reap; only jungle, and huts on the road that people live in (and sell cold water and coconuts). it's not the type of place you would want to take a midnight stroll through (not to mention our already hightened state as we watched every mosquito carefully). we managed to get a hotel which was good (and believe me, hotels are literally the only things here... they are set-up like compounds). seeing as how we had been up since 3:45am, we figured hiring a driver to take us into the fabled lost city of angkor wat for the afternoon would be a good idea. side note: for those of you reading that think angkor wat is just a temple in the jungle, you are sorely mistaken. picture a city the size of tucson, spread out through jungles and waterways; only vacant and a thousand years old, and you'll start to have a good sense for what this place is like. and it's not like you're at the louvre either: no roped off areas, no supervision, you are on your own to explore and do whatever you want (except wander into the untrodden jungle as there are king cobra's and landmines... though apparently "all cleaned up"). this place is the most unbelievable place we have ever seen. we've spent two days exploring ruins that are being consumed by jungles, are ornately decorated, and more picturesque than any camera can capture. we climbed lost staircases to lookouts that are so vertical you have to climb with your hands. we've seen huts and old complexes completley covered in vines and tree trunks that are bigger than you can picture. it's like luxor, but without tourists, in a jungle, and ten times as big. there is absolutely no way to show everyone this in a picture, but here are a few to pique the curious mind. Read more...

khao san

yesterday was classic. the plan: see the emerald buddha. reality: barely got away from khao san road. we asked five drivers yesterday to take us to wat phrao (emerald buddha and grand palace). we were 0-5. instead, the tuk tuk drivers just took us wherever they wanted us to go. we were in random neighborhoods, trinket shops, and everywhere in between. tuk tuk drivers aren't the classiest of folks. so, we had a blast on khao san road instead. today though we finally reached the palace. it was much much bigger than we had anticipated. hopefully the pictures will do it some justice. the emerald buddha was found 600 years ago by a monk. a lightning bolt sruck a temple splitting a section in the floor. beneath the floor, the monk found a buddha wrapped in plaster; which when removed, revealed the emerald buddha. apparently pointing your feet at the buddha is frowned on. and by the way, standing to look at it while not forward is tough. good thing we are excellent duck-feet-standers. we are biding our time a bit before we fly to cambodia tomorrow (we think we are at least). the plan there will be to rent mopeds and drive into the jungle. yep, mopeds + jungle = soon (sorry mom, we have no choice for alternative transportation). to our readers: thanks for the comments - they are a blast to read. jen: coy says to send the blog out to others via the blackberry. Read more...

pirates, a cauldron, and finally sleep

apologies that our post is late, but yesterday was a real trainwreck. in retrospect, we should have read into our (non) wake-up call to start the day. as the sunset on our island paradise, it was alas time to head for bangkok. we decided to forgo our already bough train tickets from southern thailand to bangkok and opted instead to fly. $30 down the drain, but a better option as we would have had to try some pretty extreme overland travel. we were suppose to recieve a wake-up call at 6am yesterday to give us enough time to get prepped before boarding our wooden longboat. that didn't happen. instead we woke at 6:45 (our boat departed at 7:10 from the other side of the island) and basically flew around our little bungalow; packing everything and getting out the door in four minutes flat. we did manage to have enough time to see that our hotel reservation in bangkok hadn't gone through. 0-2 for those of you counting; we were once again homeless. we loaded onto our wooden longboat which took us to our large boat headed to phuket. the boat was broken and only drove the equivalent of two miles an hour. then, in some bizarre twist, we went about a mile offshore and stopped. two other boats of equal size appeared from nowhere and sandwiched us in (literally boats knocking against boats), like pirate ships bent on plundering our booty (for the record, our booty at this point is no more than a few granola bars and some video footage... my atm card doesn't even work). passengers were jumping from one boat to another and then they left. now we were overloaded (and quite confused). the next eight hours looked something like this: three hour boat ride of near sea sickness, a crazed scene at the dock trying to board a bus for the airport, a blown tire going 70mph which had us standing on the side of the road next to a giant black cauldron (note: thai taxi drivers change tires faster than a nascar team), trying to purchase a thai airways ticket, a coy/chris demonstration of how to eat insane amounts of food at burger king, a flight, another taxi into bangkok, and a trip to khao san road (maybe the craziest of all previous incidents of the day as it's like having vegas crammed into three hundred yards + merchants (mom: here are your cheap trinket salesman) + debauchary + lights. now it's present time and we are headed to the temple of the emerald buddha. go team. Read more...

the misadventures of two madmen

as i woke this morning and walked onto ther wooden deck the sunrise was just coming up over the island. it was a nice start; and confirmed that this place we are in, is in fact not a dream (though it seems so). we hired a wooden long boat to take us to ko phi phi lay (maya bay) today (we managed to do so through an older thai gentleman who we refer to as the "doctor" as he wears a long whhite lab jacket). the great thing about being in a boat like the one we hired is it further adds to the picturesque beauty of this place. the problem, as we found out, is that crossing the indian ocean in a fifteen foot wooden boat is no easy tasks with ocean swells. coy and i bounced around in the boat trying to keep the balance of the boat right. there were a couple of times we thought we were going to capsize. our hired guide did not appear worried, and quite skillfully rode the waves to our amazement. once we crossed the channel we reached it: maya bay... surely the most beautiful place either of us have ever seen. it's a bay/alcove with crystal green water surrounded on all sides by towering limestone cliffs covered in palms and dense forrest. it's sitting square in the middle of the indian ocean; it comes from nowhere. it's the type of place you don't even want to tell anyone about lest it become too well known. there really is no way to desribe it. we grounded the boat, grabbed our fins and snorkeled around a bit. wow. wow. i hope the pictures can desribe this place to half the extent that it was. next we explored the caves/beaches of the backside of the island and the southwest side of our island (tonsai bay). this was the area ravaged by the tsunami two years ago, but the thatched hut village has been rebuilt and we explored the shops hunting for more sunscreen, insect repellant and an atm. this sun really drains you. coy and i have each managed to shred our feet a bit on the corral and rocks. we're glad we brought the anisceptic and bandaids. hope you enjoy the pictures. by the way, we have now eaten fried rice every meal since arriving. Read more...

ko phi phi

coy and i woke early this morning to catch a cab to the pier to venture out further into the ocean to ko phi phi don and ko phi phi lay (think: the movie, the beach - p.s. leonardo has nothing on coy). our boat took us an hour and half into what is truly paradise. if you think hawaii fits the bill, or the carribean, think again. the water is clearer and more turquoise, the island more remote, the people more spectacular and the scenery more beautiful here. neither coy nor i were prepared for this place. we are on the northern most tip of ko phi phi don. there is no way here but boat, and no roads on the island, period. to get here, our boat stopped about a half mile from shore, dropped us into wooden long boats which took us in. we requested pick up for two days from now. there are only a handful of people this far north on the island. it too, indescribable. we've attached two pictures: one with our boat, and the other under our umbrella as the trash men comb the beach with wooden brooms (the three guys in green). as we landed on shore we were given hot towels and fresh mango juice. we are staying in a rustic bungalow on the beach ( a private beach of our hotel). this place is unbelievable. there isn't a single american anywhere to be found. Read more...

phang-nga

this post is one day late due to some technical difficulties coupled with the two of us being literally in the middle of nowhere. yesterday was... ridiculous - in every good way imaginable. we spent seven hours yesterday seeing some of the most amazing sights you can imagine. we started the day visiting the monkey cave/temple. yes folks, this is exactly as it sounds. there were a series of three caves; each progressively higher into the limestone mountain filled with monks and areas to worship buddha. guarding this thai treasure were about 50 monkeys. cute? yes, though we were informed that feeding them was bad as they had rabbies. we spent the first five minutes of the tour running from said monkeys. our next destination was a four hour trek into phang-nga national park and ocean waterways. we boarded long wooden boats and were guided through the ocean tributaries with a backdrop of mangrove forrests and islands for as far as the eyes can see. suffice to say, there is no way we can explain how beautiful this was and will have to wait to show each of you the pictures. we visited james bond island which is a three-sided beach with a long pier about thirty minutes from the coast. thinking we couldn't be more overwhelmed, we were next taken to the sea-gypsy village twenty minutes up the ocean tributary. coy and i are sitting here shaking our heads trying to figure out how to describe it. this was a city of about 1000 people (settled 200 years ago by indonesian fisherman) on stilts in the middle of the ocean. it was like walking through a national geographic cover story as we peered into these people's lives: people sleeping on floors, people making food, people with unknown monkey species, poverty to the extreme etc. we watched the sunset over the water while returning to our bus. a half hour later coy turned to me and said, "don't just bring your elephant on the highway!" as our bus passed a man leading his elephant the wrong way down the highway. we returned home, covered ourselves with insect repelland and slept on top of the covers (fitfully) before our new adventure tomorrow: ko phi phi don and ko phi phi lay islands. Read more...

no rest for the weary

it's 5am. coy and i though, have been awake since 4am. what's a guy got to do to sleep around here? first off, the new sport of choice to watch on tv when one can't sleep is handball. what are the rules? good question. at 4am i am not coherent enough to say. i do know you can dribble, travel, and falling down seems to be a good thing to do. secondly, i think i got eaten by a colony of bugs last night. thank goodness for malarone. third, i clogged the toilet. apparently the sign on the door, that says, "please do not throw in the toilet" means toilet paper, not something having to do with the aforementioned handball. right. so, going out to the pool at 3am to find the other bathroom is pretty neat. coy and i made a pact that we'd do our best to get oursleves regulated to the local time. we went so far as taking a nap yesterday, and even drinking singha beer before bed. well, that didn't work. new plan: no sleep... the staff here appears to be prepping breakfast. we are emptying out our trash can to fill it full of coffee. believe me, taking a shower in a coffee pot would be a better idea than taking one in our room. let's just say that the shower is not so much seperated from the rest of the bathroom. can a doctor please inform me if insect repellant can deter bites that already exist? Read more...

bigfoot

wow. phuket. wow. flying into the island of phuket is like a dream from which you wish not to rouse. it's like god cried tears of land into the ocean made of limestone and palm trees. the airport is basically on the beach, and so is our hotel. first off, the cab ride of death included 45 minutes of no rhyme or reason as it pertains to lanes and/or traffic laws. there are about three million mopeds here. secondly, none of these said mopeds carry less than three people including children that aren't even walking yet. in some cases they're steering which can't be good for anything. lastly, we saw a pickup truck with 21 people in the back. good times. we had the cab driver (who consequently took us to some back-alley place where two women tried to sell us hotels that were no where near our intended destination) drop us off along the southwest side of the island (karon and kata for our readers at home). we were 0-3 on hotels, in a terrential downpour before finding a fantastic room with views of the mountains for as far as one can see. this place is paradise. we got up at 4am (dang time change) and watched ping pong in chinese until the sunrise. we had breakfast (fried rice, mini-bananas, croissants, thai pasta and some of the strongest coffee on the planet: (read) at least three venti's in a small glass), had a hour long massage by the beach on tatami mats, had lunch in a swiss family robinson hut in the trees by the ocean (sans pirates), and are planning on a day long kayak trip to james bond island (man with a golden gun) tomorrow. according to the friendly women at the reception desk, our room also comes with bigfoot free of charge. so at least we have that going for us, and i hear he keeps one warm while sleeping. phuket is like hawaii, but much much more tropical, and the sand is unlike anything you've felt before (more soft than velvet... kind of like walking in brown sugar though bad to the taste). boy, it's really inexpensive here: an our long massage: $8, breakfast on the beach: $3, being on the other side of the world: priceless. Read more...

wolcots or tomatoes

greetings from thailand. wow... what a flight: by far the longest trip of all time. our flight from japan to thailand was bumby for the first two hours (and by bumpy think six flags roller coaster). coy about got sick, and almost yelled at the man trying to give him dinner. he was having none of that. our efforts to sleep from san francisco to tokyo were thwarted by a somewhat psychadelic ambien episode over the pacific ocean. all i know is i woke up with a full (not drank) beer upside down in my lap. i have no idea where it came from, but i smelled like a bar until this morning. recap: arrived in bangkok at midnight, cleared customs and got a taxi at one am, were 0-2 on finding a place to lay our heads until the magical (or not so magical) diamond hotel. with the help of our good friend, ambien, we were asleep by 3am. breakfast included deep fried donuts, rice and a few unknown dishes with carrots. coy filled a soup bowl with coffee allowing him to power ahead mightily. so we did. tuk tuks, and travel agents followed. we are back at the airport headed out for phuket. from there, we'll trek by long boat to ko phi phi, ko lanta, ko samui, and ko tao in some random order thereafter. then, an overnight train back to bangkok (26th) for a day before flying to siem reap cambodia for two days. we'll be acquiring a laso, some indiana jones hats and a pet monkey before venturing into the fabled angkor wat and angkor tom. fyi - i have a feeling this next flight is on a hang-glider, and i have no hair to feel the breeze. Read more...

Coy

so my good friend, coy, will be accompanying me to se asia. he has somehow managed to convince his lovely wife (and newborn baby girl) that traveling with me for two weeks is a good idea. I think talking alden into it was a breeze: coy waited until she was sleeping and then mentioned it. her rollover in the crib was clearly a sign of approval. and jen: you're the best. don't worry about a thing, he is in good hands. i once crossed through rafah with only a backpack and a lump of birdseed (oh, and a man with a machine gun). and what's better? this time i have twice as much birdseed, and learned some crazy karate moves watching ultimate fighter the other night. we're golden. seriously though, thailand/cambodia is home to some of the nicest folks in the world. how could you not enjoy yourself with so many beaches and deep-fried scorpions at your disposal? Read more...

Thailand

ahh... thailand: the land of smiles. the kingdom of thailand is west of cambodia, north of malaysia, and really really far from san diego. i suppose the real question is whether or not coy and i will be smiling after a 24 hour flight? my guess? probably not. then again, there is no better feeling than stepping off a plane, backpack in tow, in a far off land.

today is friday. more importantly, today is six days from departure. my good and fearless travel partner, coy, and i will be jet-setting across the globe for an 11 day thailand/cambodia trek. though, trek sounds somewhat official... it would be more fitting to say stumble as that is what typically happens when i travel as i do so without itinerary, reservations, or plans. most people scoff at the notion of spending a vacation in such a half-hazard manner, but i say, why plan? you're on vacation.

the prep for this trip is a bit more extensive than others i have taken in the past: tetanus shot, hep a shot, malaria meds, cipro, and of course, ambien. mmm ambien. of course, coy has also taken the liberty of getting a shot for polio, and pills for typhoid. i say the heck with typhoid and polio; if pericles would have had cipro, athens would still be a powerhouse today. plus, i've learned from mistakes in the past: don't eat half cooked chicken in the armenian quarter of jerusalem. you'd think that one would be a no-brainer; well, when you're hungry, you're hungry. enough said. note to self: never get a tetanus shot in the arm you sleep on. Read more...