Archive for December 2011
Bangkok After a night in NapPark, we're back to Smile Society where we stayed earlier in our trip. We're here to celebrate New Year's! For anyone traveling to Bangkok, Smile Society is a great place to stay. Super-clean and you've gotta have breakfast here. Bee is super-nice and has some amazing suggestions for where to go, what to see. And tonight, we celebrated in the hostel too with snacks, sodas, and some ice cream cake. Mmm. Lots of new cool folks staying here too. New friends, re-experiencing Bangkok, I'm excited. We went to IT City in Bangkok to try and get Jay's laptop fixed because he cracked the monitor accidentally last time we were in Bangkok. Turns out it's going to cost way too much... Food courts in Thailand are strange. They have this coupon system where you purchase food coupons worth the same as whatever cash you provide, and...
More+
Koh Chang/Bangkok NapPark! Its reputation does justice. Skeptics do not fear. Even with all the travelers ranting about how nice it is, it was still SO nice, especially after so many days of cold showers and outdoor bungalows/cabins. Warm showers that work and extremely quiet/calm/perfect-lit rooms with comfy beds. These mattresses are like heaven compared to the rocks I've been sleeping on the past month. Khao-san road is pretty cool and definitely nicer than Patpong in terms of its night market but these night markets all seem very similar after a while. Do crisp bugs sound delicious? You can buy some for 30-baht ($1) or take a picture for 10-baht. Looking back, I should've gotten some to at least try. How often do you get to try delectable bugs...? Sync'd with Geoff on Munomic and about travels. This website should be ready for launch real soon, hoping for a New...
More+
Koh Chang Just one more night in Koh Chang! These cold showers aren't so bad when the sun's burning outside and will dry you up in a couple minutes while you enjoy the view. We decided to do a bit of exploring today, kayaking from the bay around and to the other side where the beaches lie. It turns out the wind and currents go against you in that route. Looking back, I guess I should have realized that, haha. Also, the water here is so clear you can see through to the bottom. I've only been to one other place like that and can't remember where that was... somewhere in the US. More working on the web project, enjoying chillax-fooding, and re-energizing for tomorrow's trip back to Bangkok.
More+
Koh Chang Cliff Cottage! WOW the morning view here is amazing. Our shack has a fantastic view. This is the pretty place we've been to so far. My camera's batteries are dead so it looks like my phone is my camera back-up for the time being. Been just relaxing and spent all day catching up on my blog and working on a web project called TouchedByAPrayer.com. Compared to Sheraton in Langkawi, Cliff Cottage as a resort is much more my style and it's great to have food so accessible with the view of Bang Bao Bay and the sounds of water hitting against the cliff rocks while dining.
More+
Chiang Mai/Bangkok/Trat/Koh Chang Finally in Koh Chang. Being on the road is really tiring! It's just not in me to be able to sleep on these buses, even when it's as comfortable as a moving vehicle could offer. I dare say that it was worth it though. We're staying in Cliff Cottage right at the bottom of the island on Bang Bao Bay and it is as calm and quiet as it gets. The night bus dropped us off in the middle of nowhere in a street in Bangkok @ 5am, supposedly because the bus was headed somewhere else afterwards. We were very confused about where to go next because the directions we had gotten were to go across the street from where this bus drops off and take another bus to Trat province. This turned out to be an adventure. First, we shared a taxi to the bus station...
More+
Pai/Chiang Mai Good-bye Pai! We stopped by the post-office in the morning to send home some of the random things I bought and lighten the load and then after checking out, I had to return the scooter. Definitely want one... Some pre-trip food and waiting a bit, we were off back to Chiang Mai. These minibus rides are rough riding them for extended periods of time. The hills to/from Pai and the turns around the mountain are treacherous. There were fried meal-worms in a container for sale at the bus station in Chiang Mai. My first encounter with one of the exotic foods. Do people just snack on this here? We checked out the internet cafe a bit to kill downtime and it was 10-baht for 30 mins (~$0.30). These prices are seriously inconceivable. The differences in the economics across countries are something to keep looking into. If you're ever in Southeast Asia,...
More+
Pai Merry Christmas! We all woke up pretty slowly today after such a late night. The spicy crowd really love to party til wee hours of the night. How does anyone sleep? Noom from SpicyThai warned us that it gets cold in Pai and boy was he right. It gets freezing. It's just a bit chilly at night but as soon as it gets to be early morning, you wake up with your feet numb and your body shivering even with the blankets and everything covering you. SpicyPai is nice but personally I think I prefer SpicyThai and River City Inn in Singapore remains my favorite hostel so far. Bart and I rented motorbikes! They're a lot of fun and I really want a scooter when I get back home. The one I got was very sensitive but I got the hang of it pretty quick. Especially after crashing into...
More+
