The Young Man Odyssey

Another sleepless night as i was right above the heart of the action, no wonder my room only cost $4.25. Had a wonderful breakfast of pineapple, papaya, mango and cornflakes. 2 cups of coffee to compensate for lost sleep. Spent the morning touring some temples and here are the pictures:

This was a little garden that had little buddhist messages on the trees.

My feelings of the south of thailand vs. the north.

As I write, the elections are looking fairly good. The senate is still tight but I’m happy with the way things look. Too bad my absentee ballot didn’t come in time. Good cheer to all those who voted.

The red white and blue flag is the Thai national glag. The yellow flag is the buddhist flag, and most times when you see one you see the other.

Oh you silly lads, did you really think I’d just laze around the beach my whole trip!? Ha!

The night after the full moon party, I lay in bed and started drooling over the fact that I could, be in Chiang Mai tomorrow. The full moon party showed me what I did and did not want in my vacation, and most of the things that I did not want were in the south of Thailand. I knew up north the cities would be more geared towards Thai’s, not foreigners, and I was sick of getting treated like a tourist. Also, my towel was getting smelly from all the ocean water.

So it was decided, in those last sleepless hours in my cheap as dice bungalow, when the sun came up I would set off to find some culture.

Awoke and took the 11 o’clock ferry to Ko Samui, free shuttle to the airport included. Met a Thai woman and her kid, who liked to run unescorted around the airport. Her and I got to talking, and we chatted until the flight.

I really wonder what the people in the airport thought of a 2 year old kid crawling over a 19 year old American sitting with a 35 year old Thai woman.

Is that his son!?

And so it was my epic return to the Bangkok airport, and I felt a little craftier this time around. Bright faces of people whose trips were just begining, but ha! I’d been here a week. Bought cheap $50 flight to Chiang Mai, I wandered around the airport gawking at the many, many characters who come through the airports of Thailand.

When we landed in Chiang Mai I knew something was different. No angry touts for taxi rides, the smell of the sewer seemed to be staying underground. Prices were lower, temperatures were cooler. People were slower paced than in Bangkok, and on less of a drinking binge than in the south islands. I had fallen in love with the dam place already.

The city of Chiang Mai is surrounded by a moat, and was used to protect the city from Burmese invaders. It’s gorgeous and bohemian, and I love it completely. To celebrate my newfound culture I got a big hamburger, fries, and a soda from the most American looking restaurant in town. I plan to spend a few days here before moving on to Pai, and soon I need to start thinking about the real adventure which is crossing through Laos and into Vietnam.

Even with my newfound travel savvy, I’m still up to my old habits. I write this wearing the most wrinkled shirt in Thailand.

I promise pictures soon, I tried to take some at night but they didn’t come out very well.

G’day everyone, it’s more like Thailand up north.

First and foremost, this thing is a giant rave, I refused numerous touts from locals for ecstacy, and judging by the scene, my travel compadres did not.

Standing by the side of the road, a pickup truck stopped and I jumped in the back. when the roads became quite sketchy and steep, I jumped in with the driver and his daughter. We had polite conversation, and in broken english I believe he may have offered me his daughter. He stopped the truck where he lived, and told me we would continue on his motorbike. He went inside his house and I waited a good 6 minutes before he came out. Confused, I started walking to the party. He realized his wrongdoing, and sped up next to me on his motorcycle. The cost was 50 baht, I gave him 100, and the sonovabitch didn’t have change! He then proceeded to offer me ecstacy, which I declined.

Neon lights, techno music, fire spinners and many tourists dotted the beach. Watching the fire spinners, one of them lost control and a ball of fire landed 3 feet away from me. In the commotion, the people sitting next to me jumped off the sand, spilling it into my Beer Chang. It reminded me of the scene in Fear and Loathing at the dirt race when a bandana clad Hunter S. Thompson zig zags his way to the press tent with his hand over his beer.

I took the role of the spectator for this thing. I wandered up and down the beach with my Beer Chang. I chatted with some people but left the raving to the ravers. I got back to me bungalow at 3 am and did not awake until 2. Upon arising, I had a viscious hangover and pebbles ingrained in my flesh from where I had stumbled, hard, on the rocks.

I left Sarisa’s place and got series of pickup-taxi (sawganthew) to Bo Khai. It is about 2 miles from the site of the full moon party. There are many more tourists over here, and I like it, for once. Hua-Hin had a gigantic Hilton, many tourists that I did not really care to see. Over here, there are younger people with a mellower attitude. This is what happens when you get further and further away from Bangkok. I am in a much more populated place, and Sarisa is working the party tonight so I hope to see her there.

I had marooned myself of a desolate stretch of beach with Sarisa. The possibly of conversation was much lower, and I got somewhat lonely. In retrospect, I think it was needed to fully settle-down in this country. My new sandals have dictated a change in perspective, what happens to the mind when the feet are free!

My dirt cheap bungalow was called Sarisa’s place, and throughout the two days I was there, Sarisa and I found refuge in each other. We talked Buddhism, tourism, love, life. She is the first person to truly touch me thus far. My last morning I sat and had my fruit yogurt and coffee and chatted her up. I thoroughly enjoyed her company and walking out of the ocean only to see her smiling back at me.

Tonight is the reason I am on the island, the infamous full moon party. 5 to 10 thousand tourists flock every month to party like a rock star at Haad Rin beach. I plan to stay about 2 miles outside of Haad Rin as hotel prices on the beach next to the party double for the party.

I am sad to leave Sarisa and wonderful Bon Chaluk. Tonight will be the things of dreams, and I look forward to the many people I shall meet today. Bon Chaluk has given me my bearings, and I take them, strongly, to the full moon party.

Our plans diverging, Will and I said goodbye to each other in the sleepy hours after the ferry. I caught another ferry to Ko Phangnan.

As the ferry got underway, I smoked the last of my Marlboro cigarettes, and it made me feel completely ill. That, with the fact that the sea was rougher than usual, attribute to the worst boat ride of my entire life. I tried various positions to combat my sickness, but nothing worked. Somehow I fell asleep for short time, and when I awoke at the dock, I felt a thousand times better, I vowed never to smoke again.

Off the ferry I grabbed a sawgathew, which is a pickup truck with benches screwed into the bed. My plan was to go to a tiny fishing village and catch a boat to Bottle Beach, a backpackers paradise only accessible by boat. Unfortunately upon my arrival the sea was too rough, and I opted to go by foot.

Telling the locals of my plans, they all laughed in my face. And as I started off a very noble fisherman came and told me I would surely come back as the beach was closed. So, I booked a room in the fishing village and plan to stay two nights.

The pace of this town is slow, and as I went to restaurant I sat down, and the owner called the waitress. She drove her motorcycle from her home, through the restaurant and past my table, parked three feet away from me and took my order. I love life on the islands.

The picture above is the view I have about 20 feet from my bungalow, I believe it is worth the $5.50 I’m paying for the room. I have settled into this town for a few days, and am not sure what my plans shall be. But it is the closest thing to paradise I have seen.

After my motorcycle ride, I gave the death trap back early and talked to Will for a few hours. I got a few Beer Changs in a frozen, viking glass of a mug. Will, not the drinker, drank iced tea. Our taxi to the dock was the bartenders pick up truck.

Our sleeping quarters were the little square top of the picture. Thirty or so bunkbeds scattered the room, all of which were had a salty crust which had settled from the sea air. After my long day, my beers, and the fact I hadn’t stayed up until 11 the whole trip, I fell asleep before the ship left the harbor.

After a bumpy sleep, I was the first one to awake. Running around looking for a bathroom I came to the captains wheel at the front of the boat. In the dark cool morning I saw the island approaching us, and my island adventure had begun.

Sorry Mom.

While you silly Americans were sleeping, I took a train from Hua Hin to Chumphon, planning on catching a boat to Ko Tao. However, the boats were done for the day until 11 o’clock, and I had 8 glorious hours to spare.

I had met a buddy named Will at the train station, and we went to buy our train tickets when outside the travel agent sat a few motorcycles that were screaming to be rented.

I had to play the ugly American on this one. The bartender laughed in my face when I told her I had never ridden one, and she took my passport as collateral, a normal practice. I made somewhat of a scene, having a british lady help me start it, and off I went.

Flashbacks of my boating days came back to me, when cleary I had no idea what the hell I was doing. To further complicate things, the Thais drive on the left hand side of the road. I had only one close call, in a side alley with a fellow cyclist. I promised to bring the tank home full, and after skidding back to the hotel, happy to be alive, I had to set out once again to get the gas full, 90 cents a gallon.

I proceeded to get very lost, and after a half hour of terror, wandering, I sit next to Will at a cafe in the sweltering heat.

My ferry leaves at 11pm.

G’ day everyone. I would have left for the train station by now but my new shirt is being tailored for 9:30. I am having trouble talking to tourists for some reason. There are so many of them, mostly my parents age so conversations are eluding me. I have to resort to broken english with the ladies at the massage parlor and the beer vendor on the beach who rolls his cigarettes in bamboo.

I came to the cafe again this morning because I don’t know how readily accessible the internet will be on the south. The plan for the day is to take the train to Chumphon, and a boat to Ko Tao, where dirt cheap scuba certification is the big draw. Then the next day to my intended destination of Ko Phagnan, the island of the full moon party for November 5.

I have recieved all your comments, and much appreciate any suprises in my inbox (all things posted here get sent to my email)

My main concern with the trip is to find a balance between the loner me and the drunken tourists I see in the bars. My shyness is subsiding, but I ain’t the life of the party yet.

I’ll have pictures soon.

After Bangkok, on the bus ride the sight of grass lulled me to the fact that I am a country boy.

If there is no grass I care not to walk.

Hua Hin is a beach town that was a welcome retreat from the pace of Bangkok, and the locals here all seem to have a negative image of Bangkok as well.

I was reading on the balcony of my room and got locked out, and proceeded to climb the ledge from the second floor to find an exit. The alley was trapped on both side. I climbed back up and yelled for help, and the front desk lady let me in.