Saturday, January 01, 2000

Thailand

September 6 - September 26

The OC + Jarah arrived in Thailand by a ferry across the Mekong from Laos, then took an overnight bus to Bangkok where we met Ben G and Janelle S. We stayed one week in the big city before breaking into two squads. Mike and Janelle jumped a train south for some time on the beach at Koh Lanta. The rest took a plane to Angkor Wat. Jarah split after the return flight while Jason and Ben headed up to Chiang Mi. Ben and Janelle left around the same time and Mike and Jason re-united on Koh Tao for a week of scuba school and lounging about. We left on a Delhi-b0und plane from Bangkok at the end of a long day of travel from Koh Tao.

Day by day:

  • Tue Sept 6 - arrive on Thai side of Mekong around 09:00, tuk-tuk to ATM then on to bus station, arrange tickets on overnight VIP bus, walk to rickety local restaurant for breakfast and free language lessons, tuk-tuk to city center to find internet, jarah and mike to local museum, jason remains to blog his brains out, all re-assemble and tuk-tuk to restaurant from the morning for a good-bye beer and some more lessons, jump on bus around 20:00, chat for a bit then bed down
  • Wed Sept 7 - arrive Bangkok 05:00 and head direct to Sukhumvet (sp?) to meet Ben and Janelle at the Ariston Hotel, chill in the lobby until check-in time after breakfast buffet, check-in, catch some snooze, swim and drink at the pool, down to Nana for dinner at pool-hall-ish place (Skool?), then to Y-Not bar, connect four, jenga, billiards, daniel and gisele (sp?) arrive, mike and janelle split with daniel and gisele (sp?) to pat phong for strip clubs and street food, others remain for drinking and clubbing, all late back to hotel
  • Thur Sept 8 - mike and janelle sleep most of the day, thai boxing, upscale dinner in pat phong, nasty "shows", mike and janelle go back to hotel, others stay out doing things their momma does not approve of
  • Fri Sept 9 - up early to move to Nana Thai mansions - 3 bedroom suite with weird semi-outdoor kitchen, whatever, mike and janelle hit the streets to run errands, then down to river, rainy trip up to wat pho, met jarah and ben, ben splits for home, janelle and mike and jarah have beers by the river, long walk towards town, all re-assemble at hotel, dinner at 'food station', mike and janelle retire early to research angkor wat options, the lads hit the town
  • Sat Sept 10 - angkor wat planning session and buying of tickets, janelle shops then meets mike for trip to palace which is closed, mike and janelle meet ben and jarah at park festival, head down to water for supper, back up to hotel to meet jason, boys head out, janelle and mike stay in to watch movies and eat pizza
  • Sun Sept 11 - up early-ish to pack and check out, mike and janelle spend a day in temples and palaces then pick up bags and head to train station, train for trang leaves at 18:20 sharp, others go to airport (?) and catch flight to siam reap

Janelle/Mike branch:

  • Mon Sept 12 - train arrives trang around 11:00, connect to minibus to koa lanta (sp?), swim, dinner, drinks in da bar
  • Tue Sept 13 - up early for island tour, snorkeling, lunch on the beach, nap, back to resort, massage, dinner, many drinks in da bar with jo, antony, adam, and willow
  • Wed Sept 14 - up late (mike has hangover), walk up the road, see elephant and monkeys, hitch ride back with electric company, dinner, hang out in da bar
  • Thu Sept 15 - up around 11:30, trek out to waterfall in jungle, saw an elephant and some monkeys on the way back, upgrade to nicer bungalo for last night, showers, snack, admin, sleep
  • Fri Sept 16 - Bus/Ferry/Bus/Ferry/Bus/Bus/Ferry/Bus transfer from Ko Lanta to Samui bungalo, some admin regarding Janelle's flights, out for nice french dinner
  • Sat Sept 17 - Some admin for mike reagarding scuba, walk and fruity cocktails on beach at chaweng, back to bo phut to change, swimming, watch sudden storm over pints, out for pizza, TV and sleep
  • Sun Sept 18 - Janelle flies out early, mike checks into cheaper big buddha digs, hospital to get scuba form sorted, then over to scuba shop to book trip, supper at hotel, quiet night reading

Jason/Jarah/Ben branch:

  • Sun Sept 11 - plane to Cambodia, evening Apsara dances
  • Mon Sept 12 - all day at the Angkor ruins, nice evening meal with shadow puppets
  • Tue Sept 13 - flew back to Bangkok; failed to see Sum Yum Goong; Jarah flew back to his homeland, Ben and Jason caught train to Chiang Mai
  • Wed Sept 14 - Arrived in Chiang Mai, got massages, explored night bazaar
  • Thu Sept 15 - Visited Hill Tribe museum, shot some handguns, kidnapped by locals. Ben took a train back to Bangkok that night
  • Fri Sept 16 - Jason spent the day with Nam Fon. Visited local temples, water falls, and a late movie.
  • Sat Sept 17 - Jason catches train out of town, heading south, towards Chumphon
  • Sun Sept 18 - Jason arrives in Chumphon, putzes around for a few hours, takes overnight boat to Ko Tao
  • Mon Sept 19 - arrive in Koh Tao ass-early, confirm SCUBA lessons and accomodations, meet up with Mike in the afternoon

Mike/Jason branch reforms like Voltron:

  • Mon Sept 19 - up early for breakfast, buy ferry ticket to koh tao, rush to get laundry and check out of hotel, ferry ride on the ss puke-a-lot, meet jason at dock, check into bungalow, run on the beach, thai dinner by the sea, out for drinks, met two austrian girls - carolina and sonya, carolina retired early but others went on to dance, jason split, mike walked sonya back to hers, sleep
  • Tue Sept 20 - up late-ish, first scuba lesson (classroom) in afternoon
  • Wed Sept 21 - up early for scuba school, in classroom in the morning, first dive in the afternoon, jason to thai boxing class at night
  • Thu Sept 22 - up early for scuba school, in classroom in the morning, second dive in the afternoon, jason to thai boxing class at night
  • Fri Sept 23 - up at 06:00 for last day of scuba, dives number three and four in the morning, get certification admin sorted, pub lunch with scuba class, internet cafe, mike finds a bungalow for saturday night, meet scuba folks at bar after snack-based dinner, off to thai boxing in local arena, more booze at after-party, very drunken stagger home
  • Sat Sept 24 - check out of dive bungalows, arrange tickets to india, thai lunch, walk to new (nicer) bungalow, jason relaxes by pool while mike deals with video capture, contact kohl via SMS for delhi rendez-vous, fish dinner on beach, back in early to pack and rest
  • Sun Sept 25 - up at 8 to shower and check out, take cat to shore, bus to bangkok, taxi to airport, tickets meet us there at 22:00, jason sends some post, to gate, board around 02:00, take off shortly thereafter
Photo Albums
Muay Thai

Video Clips
Thai Boxing in Bangkok
Ben's Last Will and Testament

posted by jason at 8:00 AM gmt