Loving Phuket!

After a day on the beach we do have mild sunburns - it is WAY too hot here!

We sprung for the umbrella chairs yesterday - and we will again today - because it is far too hot otherwise!

A couple quick things as our internet time is costly here:

1) Prostitutes - far too many, and even more nasty old white guys looking to pick them up

2) "Ladyboys" - yuck!

3) Smells - yes, they dump their dump into the sewer that permeates every sidewalk.

4) Cost - not as cheap here as Bangkok - money doesn't go as far

5) Beaches - yowsers! They are nice!

6) Food - awesome

7) Sun - very hot - very nice!

We don't have much to report after a day laying on the beach, so maybe tomorrow we'll have more to add.

Love you all!

Now in Phuket

So, we made it - it was a longish trip, but sleeping on the train was dandy!

It is gorgeous here, but it's almost too hot! We will have some photos on our next post, but we don't have much time left on our internet (it is expensive here!)

We are actually staying at Patong Beach, which is apparently THE tourist area to go to...certainly seems like it! It is very busy, and everything is more expensive here than what we have seen yet. The beach is beautiful, and the water is nice. We are going to try to go swimming this afternoon and see some sun.

We're trying to avoid going to the doctor about Mike's stomach as we don't want to spend our holiday there, so we have emailed good 'ol uncle Gary - MD - to see if he can help troubleshoot. Mom, Dad, can you check in with him if we don't hear back soon???

Love you all, and we'll post pictures soon.

PS - our room here is sweet! Much better than the gross closet we stayed in for the first 3 nights.

PPS - Lizann, it is about 32Baht to $1 CAD.

A lot has happened in such little time

Lindsay at the floating market:


Mike's thoughts on the floating market:

This is where we stayed on Friday night - that's right - it's on the river!

Lindsay at Erawan Falls in fall #5:


Erawan Falls - between #4 and #5:

So...lots went on in the last 36 hours! We went on a 2 hour bus (with AC, thankfully) to the floating market, to the SE of Bangkok - I can't remember the name of the place. It was really neat, but DEFINATELY only exists because of the tourists. Worth seeing.

After that we went to the Bridge Over the River Kwai (apparently there is a movie based on this???) and saw that. There was a war museum there too that we saw, and wow was it run down - it could have been an exhibit in its own museum! I guess that's what happens sometimes in Thailand. Not worth seeing.

From here we took another bus trip to the Tiger Temple - we highly DO NOT recommend seeing it. It was neat to see and pet the tigers, but that was about it and there was a couple hours that we were there. Of course to have a "special" photo with the tiger you have to pay 1000 Baht - that's like $33. The "non-special" photos we got turned out fine.

From here we went to the place on the river where we were staying. It was really cool - we had dinner on a restaurant on the river, took a 15 minute speed boat (Thai version) up the river to our "hotel" and stayed there. There is a picture above, and believe it or not, I think it was nicer than the place we stayed in Bangkok - which I say again was a whole.

Lindsay and I took it easy, played a game of San Juan, and went to bed around 8:30. It was really hard too, however, as a few of the other people there decided to have a party with our tour guides. We wanted to join them, but we have already spent enough money and couldn't justify spending a few hundred baht on drinks.

We woke up this morning at 6, packed up our stuff, ate breakfast, and took off for an hour long bus ride to Erawan Falls. It was amazing! Neither of us had ever seen anything quite like it. It would have been really cool to have a bit more time there (we had 3 hours), and to have time to pack a picnic, but alas, we were on a schedule and couldn't. GO THERE - it costs 200 Baht per person, but worth it.

We then went back to the guide outfit and ate lunch, and caught a bus to Nahkon Pathom, which is where we are now. We have a 4 hour wait before we catch our train to Surai Tani (sp???) It is an overnight train, afterwhich we catch a bus to Phuket.

Anyways, time to go, but we will report back later.

Cheers!

PS - Mike's stomache is in turmoil with what we assume is the Malaria pills. It is causing unbelievable cramps and pain...nothing else...just pain...

Have to make it quick!

Well, we have a 2 day tour up to the Tiger Temple and Floating market (near Erawen Falls) that we will be leaving for any second - we have arranged to be picked up.

We may or may not have internet for the next few days, so there is a good chance you won't hear anything about us for a few days until we can get to Phuket.

Last night we hung out with Mike and Kelly - a couple from Whistler - and had some amazing food at a restaurant near by. They are heading down to the beaches for a couple days and then into Cambodia, so we will probably miss them. Maybe our paths will cross down the road!

Anyways, got to go - this might be the last non-squat toilette I get to use for a while :)

A 45' golden Buddha...something else!

Last night we went to a festival at the Golden Mountain - I seriously think that half of Bangkok was there! My nose has never been so assaulted in my entire life - I imagine that sticking my head in a truck stop toilette might have been better in some instances.

Don't worry about people stealing from us - we play it as safe as possible, and try to use as much common sense as we can - you can't ask us to do more :)

Tomorrow we head to the floating market and a tiger tour and some waterfalls - the Erawen falls???? This will be the start of the travels for us - this is where we leave Bangkok and head out into the more rural places...we won't be sorry to leave! Seriously...it stinks bad!

We are fighting colds right now - don't worry - NOT FLU! Mostly congested and sneazing - we are taking some drugs now to try to beat this before we leave, but I don't think the pollution here is helping.

Cheers!

Bombing around Bangkok

So after breakfast - which, by the way was quite nice - we went out on the town. We walked through a sketchy alley, up a set of stairs, and into a restaurant/lounge that serves as a portal to Kao San Road (sorry for the spelling). We then started walking and were eventually approached by a Thai man who started talking to us. He was travelling from Chaing Mai in Bangkok and told us the "ropes". What a great guy to meet right off the bat!

We did a few touristy things around town - saw a few temples, a fish farm, etc. and then went to the TAT (Thailand Authority of Tourism) and booked our next 36 days travel and hotels etc. through them. We will be going all over the country and seeing all sorts of places. I do think it was more expensive than us doing it on our own, but we have more security and peace of mind.

Anyways, I haven't actually seen this video (the computer I'm at is not up to date), so I hope it's worth watching.

Cheers!

We're here!

So we made it after a very LONG couple of flights, layovers, and confusion with a taxi driver who didn't speak English...at all!

We haven't ventured beyond our "hotel" - I use the term loosly - but we will be in about 13 minutes when our internet runs out.

We have attached a couple of photos that we have taken so far.

We are doing well, albeit a little sick...note to self...don't take anti-malarials on an empty stomach - it may lead to throwing up.