It's highlite time!! Part 1 - Bangkok to Hua Hin

OK - this isn't going to go as easily as I hoped - I will do my best to describe things from bottom most pic to top! Morning after my arrival in Bangkok with my new happening hat! It was a tough 2 days in transit and then on the bus to Hua Hin - 3 hour trip and we were on time for New Years. Ali, my Calgary Outdoor Club friend and the person who was kind enough to invite me to join her on this portion of SE Asian adventure, all dressed up, looking happy and ready to celebrate. A view of the Gulf of Thailand from our $2000 baht/night room - the room we had originally booked was given away because of my travel problems and our late arrival. Next day we hunted around and found a more reasonably
priced place then toured the city.........I ended up
very sick for a day with what felt like
food poisoning. The next day we were back to
touring around - visited the old train station and
then took a bus to a temple located on a hill at
the south end of town - lots of monkeys and
interesting items around the temple.

Start of Highlite segment!!!!!!!!!

Good bye Bangkok cont'd

Saying goodbye to my room and my roommate at Rikkas Inn, happiness returning home via Seattle and the familiarity of the Alberta foothills - home at last!

Goodbye Thailand cont'd

Interesting that I'm at home using my own computer and I am having difficulties downloading pics!!!! This may have to go one photo at a time! To continue........

Once inside this fine establishment I was escorted to a remote location two flights of stairs away that had a delightfully cesspoolian feel about it - where I was further directed to a rather uncomfortable seat in front of a stage where I soon witnessed performances the likes of which I can only suggest that.............Patpongs' name should be changed to Pingpong or Banana Rama to more aptly convey the nature of the business that goes on here! Enough said!

Home to bed around midnite - enough time to get about 3 hours of shut eye. Then some great news - I got to the airport early and went directly to the NWA counter to bitch about my horrible experience getting to Bangkok and how as a reputable airline they needed to compensate me by putting me on a return flight through Seattle - that would save me 11 hours of travel time - rather than through Minneapolis! I mentioned that I just didn't see how - given my earlier problems - they could in their right minds not give me a seat on that flight if there was one available - which I knew there were many since I had checked their website the previous night! After a bit of semi-heated dialogue and verbal posturing they gave in and I was on my way - home half a day early - Yahoo!!

Goodbye Thailand........good to be home and the chinook certainly makes the transition easier!

Well it's great to be home but I need to backtrack a bit and chat about my last night in Bangkok and the trip home. I had a fairly busy last night trying to purchase some souvenirs and a large travel bag to take everything in including my backpack and my new suit. After packing up and getting one last great meal into my belly I decided at 10 pm that I still had time to check out the infamous Patpong area. My tuk tuk driver took me to a rather seedy and unattracive looking location and I almost opted out after nearly being abducted by the 4 or 5 propieters of the fine extablishment I had been delivered to!

There was a fairly hefty admission charge and they confiscated my camera - trust me the photos wouldn't have made it here anyways!

Nice to be home and the chinook doesn't hurt either!!

Last night in Bangkok!

Had a great day touring around taking in some of the sights. Started with a canal ride to the

main transit station where I just decided to take a trip north as far as I could go.......got out and walked around a park for a bit then headed back south to a station where the Victory Monument was. From there I went back to the original staion and got out and found a place

called Jim Thompsons House - google it please I do not have time to explain - but it was a very nice old teak home filled with all kinds of artwork and Thai artifacts! Next back to the canal boat and dropped off at a place near the Golden Dome - a temple with over 300 steps and a nice view a the top!

Then back home to Rikkas' on Kosahn Rd where the 6th floor pool was beckoning

- got my last few rays - now its that gradual return to pasty white that I so love! Then some last minute shopping, a new big travel bag to bring everything home in, some packing - 3 am comes very soon and then maybe a last minute tour of the Padpong district - we won't go into detail about what goes on around there but lets just say that the guys I know who have been here told me that you need to go just to check it out - so what the heck - I've got an hour or two to kill!! That could very well be the main subject matter of tomorrows blog - who knows! Take care - not sure if I'll be able to do another before I return but I'll try!

Brian

One night in Bangkok!

Day one here was incredibly interesting - in terms of both cultural and social aspects. Visited many Wats (temples) and while in transit got to experience day to day life in Bangkok. A very busy, hot, muggy and polluted city with snarled traffic everywhere - it is totally amazing to me that there aren't 100 traffic deaths everyday and I'm not really sure why they paint lines on the street either - oddly enough these people negotiate sidewalk traffic in much the same manner - aggressively and recklessly! But it keeps you hopping!

Visited the Grand Palace (you'll notice one of the pics with me there and my spiffy rental trousers - since shorts are not allowed), Wat Poh (the reclining bhudda), Wat Arum and got fitted for my very first custom cashmere suit! I have a lot of really great shots today but for some reason this computer is not letting me rotate any of the vertical shots - so I apologise - I will no doubt continue to make new posts once I get home and organize things - hey this could be a trip that goes on for months! Time to sign off - only about 36 hours left! More tomorrow!

Phi Phi, Phuket and Bangkok at night

Well let me see - there will be a few pics of Phi Phi while I was there......I did a short boat tour to Phi Phi Lay where we snorkeled and got to stop at the beach where they filmed "The Beach"(see pics) - then a hour and a half ferry to Phucket. Very shortly after my arrival here I got the feeling that I indeed had made a mistake. The more remote area around Ko Lanta surely would have suited me better than the touristy hustle and bustle of Phuket for a final beach/island stop. But much to my surprise and delight my friend/travel companion Ali, had a little birthday surprise waiting and as it turned out I had a very nice 5? b-day celebration - thanks Ali! By the way that is a pina colada.

The following day we did a little tour of Phuket town as well as some of the more popular beaches, Karon and Patong, and managed to get some beach time at Kata, where we were staying. Alot of wondering between the two of us about what this place may have looked like 4 years ago after the tsunami - but it was surely making a comeback.

On our third and final day on Phucket Ali and I said our good byes as she continues on her SE Asian tour and I unfortunately am heading back to Calgary after two more days in Bangkok........I hear it's awfully cold back there again - I remember last year returning to work to a -49 day after Playa del Carmen. I wonder if I could possibly be so lucky this year?

Arrived in Bangkok at about 4pm today and it is exremely hot and smoggy. They celebrated the Chinese New Year's in a big way here and Kosahn Rd - a big backpackers haven - is where I'm staying and it is very busy - there was a parade with elephants going on when I arrived. Looking forward to seeing more of the architecture and temples tomorrow and may head up to an older city - Ayuthuya - on Wed. It's almost over!!

Brian

Ahhhh Beautiful Krabi - Ao Nong and Rail Lay Beaches

Well I am definitely in paradise - simply incredible sights - the beaches, the

rock cliffs and all the different sea life! Did a little boat tour yesterday to all the different islands - snorkeled and had a wonderful dinner at susnset on this little sandbar of an island.........then ended it by a night swim with these amazing phosphorous things that lit up all around you in the water while you swam - unfortunately the pics did not turn out so you'll have to take my word on that one! Just arrived at Phi Phi Don Island several hours ago - will do a short boat tour in the morning than off to Phuket to meet up with Ali again - Geez another birthday alone - do you think there's a deeper meaning to that?? Having a great time!! Only a week left darn it! The first pic at the top - the last one downloaded - is from a viewpoint high above Phi Phi townsite- the rest are from Krabi.