Phi-Phi Island and National Marine Park

Some of the most breathtaking scenery was found here. Beautiful limestone structures make the turquoise water that surrounds them jealous. If you go, you have to take a canoe around some of them. The pictures really speak for themselves, this place is almost heavenly in its beauty. The snorkeling was also stellar, the scenery underwater would challenge that above it.

The real shitty downside to this island, something that you can't see in any of the pictures, is that there was so so so so so so so many damn people crammed on these islands and in the picture-snapping boats that circled them. So although this island had the most amazing scenery, we could hardly force ourselves to stay more than one full day.

Peace

Koh Lanta, Thailand

When we arrived on Koh Lanta we breathed a sigh of relief. Koh Lanta felt like it was abandoned compared to Koh Tao. The atmosphere was very environmentally conscious and had a local chill friendliness about it.

We waisted no time in finding a place to sleep along Hat Phra Ae Beach. This time we landed nice wooden and bamboo bungalows that had high roofs and attached open roof bathrooms. There was something intimately natural and refreshing to be able to have a cold shower under big fluffy clouds and bright blue ocean skies. How much more intimate it was to drop a deuce!

It seemed like a chore to get Alissa out from the hammock on the porch of the bungalow even though the beach was just a few meters away.

It's hard to believe but the beaches are even more chill than the accommodations. We'll always remember a beach peddler walking, arms full of hand made merchandise, down an almost deserted beach. Finally when she got to us she gave us a look then walked into the distance. We kinda get the feeling that business is a little slow. Ha ha.

We had a good few days on this island ,then before becoming too lazy, we were off again.

Our Sleeper Boat Trip Scam From Koh Tao To Koh Lanta

Here’s another one to add to the books…

They crammed about 100 of us into a shity little wooden Thai boat like a canner cans sardines. Some of us had old, thin mattresses that would better be described as sleeping pads. The real lucky ones even had small pillows that were barely big enough to support a head (small lucky heads like our were fine).

The sleep on this baby was surprisingly good. A swaying drunk circle of bongo playing hippies lullabied us to sleep as diesel fumes from the motor beside us nuddged us deeper into sleep. One of our most peaceful moments in Thailand was waking in the middle of the night to the light covered squid-catching boats bobbing radiantly in the steep dark of night.

As it turned out we waited an hour or so (enough time for the tour companies restaurant to profit from our hungry breakfast bellies) after making landfall. Then we boarded a bus that took us to the Karabi port where we were supposed to board a high speed ferry to the island of Koh Lanta.

We (and all the others who had bought tickets in Koh Tao) were had. They filed us into a minivan then into a shittier mini van, then into a public island ferry, the some more driving, then another ferry. Finally, a little cheesed off, we arrived in beautiful Koh Lanta.

Sunset Shots From Sairee Beach

Koh Tao (Turtle Island), Thailand

Koh Tao is a relaxing, youth filled island that is mainly obsessed with open water diving. The beaches are all a beautiful powdery pure white with about the consistency of the flour used for baking.

On Sairee Beach where we stayed, this powdery sand stretched into the ocean at such shallow of angles that the aqua water radiated heavenly crystal clear blue-green, especially in the mornings when the tide was just right.

We ended up staying in Coral Grand Resort that offered up free accommodation in this top end resort with purchase of a PADI open water diving certification course. The course cost about $300.00 USD for the four days of training. The resort had nice little bungalows secluded by the jungle-like atmosphere of the surrounding gardens. Unfortunately, we free loaders were only offered basic hotel-room-like accommodation at the back of the property but we both agreed we were getting a hell of a deal.

The diving was good with Moray Eels, Large Groupers, schools of Barracuda, and even territorial Trigger Fish frequently spotted by our group out in the water. We even saw a Sea Turtle in the distance, the amphibians for which this island was named. Okay, actually Matthew was the only one in the group that didn't see it.

If you don't want to dive, don't get turned off this cool island. We both agree that the beach would be perfect for a young family because the beach is so shallow allowing for great visibility. We saw a few families with there toddlers enjoying the rockless beach along with some friendly beach dogs. There is also an awesome yoga studio, borrowing elements of Thai traditional houses, it is a shimmering beacon of peace on this beach during the day. Perhaps the nicest part of being a non-diver on Koh Tao is that you get large swaths of the beach to yourself throughout the day. This is especially true during the mid-morning and afternoons when most divers are out in the water. Alissa enjoyed her time here cat-posing the beautiful days away on this beach.

At night the vibe is ratcheted up a notch as hypnotic beach tunes spill out along with BBQs, firedancers, and laid back crowds (but not so many backpacker losers) lounging about with the moon reflecting off the waters.

Our Bangkok City Bus Goes Up In Smoke

We were told that the city buses in Bangkok were great for getting around. After our experience, we wouldn't really recommend it...

On our hour long city bus journey to a Bangkok water park, we could smell something not right, something burning. At first we disregarded it, and figured that the buses in Bangkok must be very old and a bit undermaintained. Aways, the locals seemed to be able to ignore it, so we also tried. About 40 minutes into our trip things started to get worse. The bus ticket taker gave us the heads up and told us to go near the rear exit where the fumes weren't as strong. God bless her.

So we got up and stood by the exit, by this time the other passengers started to share uneasy glances and some used their scarfs or jackets to cover their mouths. When we got to the exit a well-to-do, nicely dressed business man told us very bluntly, “This bus is NOT SAFE. Get off now!”

Just as the last word left that man's lips, the whole front of the bus was engulfed in an unhealthy looking black smoke. We got the hell out of there in a hurry. Looking back we can't help but laugh.

Scenes From Bangkok

Bangin' In Bangkok: Back In the Big City Again

After jumping off the overnight train from the Laos boarder we headed straight to the center of Thailand's concrete jungle and posh commercial center of Thailand, Siam Square. In the hub of the city we were overwhelmed by the hustle and bussel of this developed city. We marched by delux movie theaters, skinny new skyscrapers, and fancy boutiques with our heavy backpacks. We were dazzled by the way sky train tracks twisted and crisscrossed with overpasses in the mix of thousands on foot. As busy it was, it still didn't seem chaotic.

We ducked into one building and when we came out the busy streets of Siam Square came to a griding halt. All subways, sky trains, roadways, and pedestrians came to a spooky standstill to allow for a presidential convoy to pass. This happened twice in as many days the Asian Summit was to be held days later, security was at its highest. As the crowds began to move we were off to search for a hotel.

We tried to splurge for once but the nice hotels were outwardly reluctant to offer rooms to two scrubby backpackers who haven't showered in a few days.

After showering at a cheaper quest house and looking semi-presentable, we decided to treat ourselves to gourmet ice lattes at a ritzy cafe that overlooked the Mae Nam Chao Phraya river. We filled our hot sweaty bodies with cool beverages while rich Europeans ordered fancy appetizers around us. After such strong gustatory delights comes washroom visits. While Matt was doing his business, he removed our money belt from his waist. He placed it on the lamp stand in the swanky washroom.

Thirty minutes later while enjoying the view from the balcony, in a moment of panicked realization, it occurred to him that he had left the money belt in the washroom. We lost $300.00 in Thai baht that day. Lucky for us none of our American currency, bank cards, credit cards, or passports were taken. We were a bit cheesed that some richy was walkin' around with our money. Had it been a poor man or something we would have at least thought “they probably need it more than we do”. Anyways it turned into a big deal with many police with machine guns blocking off and questioning all those within the area.

We learned a lesson that day. We must do a better job of splitting up the money, and never, ever remove the money belt, even if you think it might fall into the toilet or that you might poop on it.

Feeling a little low on cash, we decided to go to the gourmet imported food supermarket a Siam Square. It was the most upscale food store that we have ever seen. The samples were prepared like tapas. After making a few rounds with a cart as to not draw suspicion, we left with our tummies full and grins back on our faces.

The Bolaven Plateau: Home to Laos' World Famous Coffee and Enchanting Waterfalls

We managed to spend as little time as possible in Pakse, the unexciting gateway city to Southern Laos. Instead we hit up the high altitude of the Bolaven Plateau.

After evading the most obvious of scams at the bus depot, we traveled slowly up onto the flat plateau. We could feel the air become more crisp as we begin to see coffee, tea, and rubber plants growing in the fields surrounding the narrow and surprisingly smooth highway.

The sight of large mats at the side of the road drying fresh picked coffee beans peeked our interest, silently encouraging us to examine the production on a tour the following day.
Our hotel manager seemed friendly enough, that we bluntly asked if he could tour us around for the day and drop us off at the bus station to take our bus into Thailand. He accepted the offer with the fee of $60.00 USD.

First he took us around beautiful coffee plantations. Here we saw different machines that sort the beans. We also took a short stroll between the rows of planted bushes. We learned the following interesting facts about coffee production on the Bolaven Plateau:

-Coffee was first planted here by French colonialists.
-When coffee produced here was first brought to France it was declared “The Champagne of Coffee” and acknowledged as some of the best in the world
-There are three types of coffee produced on the Bolaven Plateau: Arabica, Arabica Typica (mixa), and Robusta
-Each of the three types have a distinct a looking tree with characterizing features
-Coffee plants take 3-5 years to produce beans
-The best coffee is produced from the bean of 8 year old trees
-Coffee plants stop producing beans after 30-50 years
-The Bolaven Plateau produces 20, 000 tons of coffee per year.

After absorbing so many coffee facts we took a short trip down a bumpy stretch of highway into a tea plantation where we actually got to taste some of the tea produced there. It was pretty good!

Lastly, he took us to one of many breathtaking falls in the region. We hiked around the surrounding park that was surrounded by beautiful wildlife, flowers in the backdrop of an enormous waterfall. We sat and soaked up the beauty before heading back to catch a train to Bangkok.

Weird Houselike Graves of the Katu & Alak Minority People in Southern Laos

As we were told the Katu & Alak minority peoples on the Bolaven Plateau in the Southern Laos Province of Champasak make these eerie wooden house graves. We toured them on the side of the road. They were really crazy looking with such strange features as umbrellas that hang from the eves, mirrors on the sides of the walls, fences that surround the graves, and strange shelves that support plants that hang under the outside of little windows. If you look through the little windows some of the house graves have wooden caskets covered in other trinkets while others have no caskets because these minority peoples build these graves years before they even die.

Cool stuff!