Railay!!

           Perhaps one of the most relaxing and suitable songs for a long drive is “Give Me One Reason” by Tracy Chapman. I just visited an incredible complex of 13^th and 16^th century temple ruins in the Sukhothai World Heritage site, and am currently driving approximately 3 hours to Chang Mai. Once again, I am sitting, however I am not in an airport, and the varying scenery of jungle, rivers, rice fields and the occasional vista of distant mountains offers plenty of entertainment. By the way, I am now listening to “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield, which is also a great song, and is getting my second recommendation as a good driving song. That said, I have so many great songs on my Favorites Queue that if a different song had come on, it likely would have gotten that recommendation instead.

            On another note, the past week has been an amazing journey filled with beaches, tranquil seaside restaurants, jungle treks, and mischievous monkeys. Safe to say, Railay beach and the surrounding area certainly lived up to expectations. Railay West Beach and East beach were a bit overdeveloped and I would love to have experienced those beaches 15 years ago, however with some motivation you can hike about 10 minutes to get to either TonSai beach or Phra Nang beach which are both more quiet and less developed. TonSai beach also has a wonderful night-life with plenty of restaurants, bars, and cheap accommodation further inland. Also in the Railay area there is an incredible viewpoint you can hike up to, and a lagoon nestled inside of one of the cliff protrusions. Unfortunately I could not do any rock-climbing as a result of my injured ankle.

            All the beaches in the area are stunning partly because they are bordered by giant cliffs several hundred feet tall. Also, in the distance you can see small islands dotting the horizon, adding some character to the sea-view. On Phra Nang beach, there are motorized canoe-boats that sell drinks and food; and I enjoyed a full body oil massage on the beach for a paltry 9 dollars. I originally wanted the $6 back massage option, but she nefariously turned my back massage into a full-body massage in spite of my feeble, half-hearted protests. As a result I had to reluctantly part with 5 extra dollars.. Nonetheless, that was the first professional massage I have ever gotten, and it was worth every penny! I enjoyed the area so much that I abandoned my original plan to visit Koh Phi Phi Island. I also was indecisive with lodging and ended up staying in 4 different hotels, the Garden View Resort being by far my favorite. It comprised of a small bungalow in the jungle with a porch that had an outstanding view of the ocean.

            On a side note, I would like to give a shout-out to my new Chinese friends. I met them at the sea port in Krabi while we were waiting for transport to Railay beach. They were a newly-wed couple on their honeymoon. We managed to have a conversation in broken English, and I managed to introduce myself in Chinese since I have taken one year of Mandarin class. After parting ways in Railay, we ended up meeting up again by coincidence and they brought me out to a wonderful dinner. Anyway, (if you are reading this) thank you, and have a wonderful trip.

            I have now begun the program part of my trip. After coming back to Bangkok, I met up with the other participants in my travel program, all of which are very interesting and sociable. I spent the last 3 nights exploring and making the most of the incredible night scene in Bangkok, usually staying out till 2AM. However, the experiences I have had with the buddies on my trip so far will last a lifetime and are by far worth a few hours of lost sleep. At night, the streets are filled with vendors selling street food, assortments of insects, clothing, fake Ray-Bans and of course the omnipresent local Chang beer. Out of curiosity, I have tried just about every insect offered here, excluding the giant scorpion. Out of grubs, grasshoppers, fried crabs, tarantulas, and crickets, I would say the fried crickets get my recommendation, although the crabs are a close second.

            Anyway, we are almost to Chang Mai where we will be spending two days caving and rock-climbing before beginning a 5 day service project at the Elephant Nature Foundation. Unfortunately I will be unable to participate in the caving and rock-climbing as a result of my ankle, however I am sure I will find plenty of other things to do in Chang Mai instead. Till next time! Ciao! And, as they say in Thailand, Sawat Dee Khap!

Amazing flowers in Sukothai

Sunset at Phra Nang beach

140 foot long Buddha! 

Insects anyone??

Sukothai World Heritage Site

Dinner with my Chinese friends :)

View of Railay beach from my bungalow

Food boats at Phra Nang Beach

Boat ride out to Phra Nang beach

Eating grasshoppers in Bangkok...

Buddha Imposter

The Art of Sitting and Happiness

        I seem to have a knack for getting delayed in airports. On the way back from Peru, I ended up spending the night in Miami airport, then another night in Denver, before finally getting back the 3^rd day. And I didn’t even end up in my hometown of Gillette, mind you. I ended up 2 hours away, but fortunately I have a caring mother willing to drive the 4 hour round trip to pick my jet-lagged body up. If I had chosen to fly to my original destination of Gillette, I would have had to wait another day in Denver as a result of delays and complications.

        I suppose that sitting in airports for extended periods of time is something to be expected with travel, just as food-sickness and mosquito bites are to be expected. So, today I have made a radical decision to embrace extended periods sitting in airports. As a result, I am not perturbed in the least as I sit here in the Bangkok airport, and where I will remain seated for the next 12 hours. In fact, I am quite content; sitting here with a bowl of noodles and a cup of coffee as I dither away on my latest (and late) blog post. I must confess that my placid contentment is occasionally disturbed by fits of uncontrolled wrath and irritation at my present state of forced-seatedness, however I feel this will go away as my mind adjusts to being happy about being delayed in airports. Time will tell.

        I hope your holidays were uneventful and eventful in the appropriate ways. After the final week in Lake Titicaca, (which I must describe), I ended up having a wonderful month back home with friends, family, and of course my incomparable cat, Flopsy. I also had more than a few visits to the Highschool, where I talked in classes, and judged for a practice DECA competition. Perhaps I was reliving my glory days in highschool..  Am I already sentimental about highschool? “Glory days”?? Yikes! I’m starting to talk like an old man now. Perhaps I should have noticed, since I was termed “grandpa” during my trip in Latin America by Maggie, who said I had mannerisms that reminded her of an old man. Dang nabbit.

        On a side note, you may be curious to know that there is new information regarding the consumption of coffee. It is now regarded by some studies as safe, even healthy, to drink large amounts of coffee. This is a relief, as I occasionally go on binge drinking episodes (of coffee of course). The only thing I would recommend if you have now decided to drink large amounts of coffee is to occasionally apply Crest 3D Whitestrips, which will keep your teeth white in spite of all the caffeinated abuse.

        In the past 30 hours, I have spent a total of 20 hours sitting on an airplane getting a progressively more traumatized posterior. My itinerary goes as follows, Denver to Tokyo: 13 hours, Tokyo airport to a different Tokyo airport by bus (resulting from flight cancellation): 1 hour, Tokyo to Bangkok: 7 hours, sitting in Bangkok: 12 hours, Bangkok to Krabi Thailand: 1.5 hours. So, I am really quite close to my final destination, and if all goes as planned I should be sitting on Railey beach by 6 PM tonight. Once I arrive in Krabi, I will take a Taxi to the ocean, where I will hop on a boat for a 10 minutes ride to Railey beach, which is apparently only accessible by the ocean.

        Railey beach is perhaps one of the most spectacular beaches in the world, and within hopping distance of several equally spectacular beaches and islands. In fact, the film “The Beach” starring Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed on Phi Phi Island, which is a 3 dollar boat ride from where I will be staying! As you can imagine, however, the notoriety given by that film has turned “The Beach” into something more suitably described as “The Zoo”.  Nonetheless, I plan to visit this spectacular beach, and with any luck there won’t be too many other people with the same plan.

        Anyway, I have one week of independent travel before I start a 2 month program similar to the one I participated in throughout Latin America. Then, I have 1 more week of independent travel at the end of my trip before returning home. I am excited by this new set-up, as I will get some independent experience, along with the service and learning aspects of a program.

        I have some more sitting to do, and some caffeinated abuse to partake in, so I guess I will let you go now. I hope all is well, and I will let you know if Railey beach and the surrounding areas stack up to the expectations. As always, stay classy, and till next time!

Goodbye Mum!

Working out with a messed up ankle is possible! (6 weeks in a boot) May this picture inspire you... x)

What I look like after getting a traumatized posterior and caffeinated abuse.

What I look like before all that happens. 

#BroPic #FinalNight. Miss you guys! From Left: Joe, Wyatt, Myself, Brad.