Cambodia and Viet Nam

It becomes more and more difficult to go online as I go along. Thailand is a pretty wealthy and modern nation. Cambodian the other hand is one of the poorest countries in this part of Asia. Harv and I flew into Phenom Pehn, and checked into the California 2 hotel. It has a great location across from the Tonle Sab river. This town is still very wild, although from what I hear it has settled down considerably in the last few years. We met up with Matt, Warren and Dave, and have been give the tour of most of the great night spots. Phenom Pehn has no closing time so the party only stops if you take yourself out of it. This is a poor country, but that doesn't mean it's all poor there are plenty of nice homes, and the clubs are comparable to the ones in L.A.

Even before we arrived Warren and Matt had planned to go to Viet Nam, so day before yesterday we all got on a fastboat, and headed down the Tonle to the Mekong river into Viet Nam. The Mekong is a huge river sometime as wide as a quarter mile. It was a great way to see the countryside. The cruise took about 5 hours, and after going through the border checks we arrived at Chao Doc a kinda sleepy town near the border. At Chao Doc we stayed the night and then caught a mini-bus for Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). The mini-bus ride was insane, Our driver must have been a retired mig pilot or something because he drove like he was being shot at. This guy never got passed on the whole trip (except when he would slow down to smoke a cigarette). We actually knocked this girl off her bike. I thought she was dead because she disappeared under the front of the mini-bus bus, but then got up and walked away without any visible damage to her or her bike. We actually passed an ambulance that had it's red lights and sirens going. Anyway we arrived in Saigon yesterday evening at 5:00. Saigon is a huge city, and although I just got here I like it. I think part of that is I like cities. Maybe because I'm from one, but I prefer the excitement of a city to the calm of the outback. Well today is my first day here so I gonna go out and see this new town. I hope all is well with all of you.

Course change

Burma is out, Cambodia is in. We got in touch with Warren, Matt, and Dave in Phenom Phen. So that will be our border run for new visas. It's a bit sad to leave Patong Beach, I will miss this town and the friends we made here. I think I will return. There still is so much to see and do. Sorry for the short post. I will try to post again very soon with word from Cambodia.

Bangkok to Phuket

Sorry for the long break, but the post I wrote last week did not seem to post to my weblog.

Let me start by saying the "The world is a dream, not because the dream is false, but because it's more real than it seems." This trip is to say the least very intense. I think culture shock is not strong enough a word. Although there are some familiar things here everything else is so very different. As the time passes I find myself adjusting to all of it fairly well. It's almost becoming a second nature. I try not to think about how much I miss all of you, but every night in my dreams my mind goes home, and I see you all again. Seriously, since I started this trip my dreams have become really vivid. I wake up, and what was familiar was a dream, and this dreamlike world is reality.

So back to reality....Harv and I left Pattaya about a week ago, and spent three days in Bangkok. While in Bangkok Harvey went over to Bumrungrad Hospital to check it out. This place looks like a five star hotel, and offers internationally accredited medical services at next to nothing. So Harv and I went to the dental clinic. I got a broken filling replaced, and Harv got a checkup and cleaning. I made an appointment for next week for some more dental work, and I plan to go to their dermatologist for a skin cancer screening. The filling cost me 2400 baht, which works out to 60 dollars. The service was excellent, and we both got appointments without any trouble even though we went on the weekend.

Now we are on Patong Beach in Phuket. This is a really beautiful beach town with a night life that goes on til 3 or 4 A.M. I've been staying up so late that I've finally been able to take advantage of the free breakfasts the hotels all offer. It ends at 10:30, so for all the time I've been in Thailand, I've made it to like three free breakfasts. I've made it to breakfast twice in the three days I've been in Phuket. Sleeping in the afternoon seems to be the only way I can keep up with this town.

Harv and I are trying to figure out what were going to do next. We both have dental appointments in Bangkok next week, but the islands to the South of here are calling. One complication to all of that is our visas run out on the 26th. What most people do is make a border run. That means head to the nearest border with another country leave Thailand, then turn around and get another 30 day visa. Last night we met an old English guy who owns a little beer bar here. He said we can make a run up to Burma to some Island that has a Casino. Burma is a really troubled country, but apparently this island is safe. With another thirty day visa we can go to the Islands to the South, and have time for the medical stuff in Bangkok.

That's all for now..I'll try to prepare some more pictures. I'll have to send them out in an email, because I'm using a computer at an internet cafe, and I can't post pictures to the weblog without my laptop.

Kho Mah is the island off to the right

The beach at Kho Mah

Kho Mah is the island of to the right.

Last days in Pattaya

This will be our last night in Pattaya. That's just about right. Nearly every day we've been here we have gone out and seen the sights, and then every night we've gone out to visit the more worthwhile nightspots. It's geting more and more difficult to figure out "what we do today". Yesterday we went to Kho Mah (my spelling?). It's an island about two miles offshore from Pattaya. The water is crystal clear out there, which kinda surprised me when I saw the beach. The sand there is really fine, but somehow doesn't silt up the water. There are dozens of islands off Pattaya. Almost all of them have some sort of little settlement on them. They vary from little groupings of huts all the way up to fine homes nestled into the jungle. It reminds me of the dream of living on your own island. Obviously this is quite possible here. Then after that we went out bowling (see what I mean about time to go). Bowling was fun, but not what I came halfway round the world for. So tonight we pack up and head back to Bangkok in the morning. I'm sure Phuket is going to be lots of fun, and there's s couple things I need to do in Bangkok, so I'm ready to leave.

Part of the pool.

Harvey in our Cabana.

Still Rockin

We Love this hotel! The last couple days have been kinda slow and easy. The rain has been flowing off and on so staying in a hotel with lots to do was great timing. If its raining too hard we can just stay here and have fun. Last night we did just that. They have a bar with live music and bartenders who do the bottle juggling thing, like Tom Cruise in the movie "cocktail". The band was Thai, and they did classic Rock covers all night. It was lots of fun. Most of the day the weather was great, but late in the afternoon the sky got dark and it started raining. We had to make a quick retreat from our cabana back to the hotel lobby. I thought I'd send along some pictures from the pool, so you could see how cool it is.

We've begun to plot our next move. I think were going to stay another couple days in Pattay, then we'll go back to Bangkok and catch a flight to Phuket. Phuket is on the Andaman Sea it's suppose to be really beautiful, with crystal clear water. This will be my first time in the Indian Ocean. I'm really looking forward to it.

With good internet service here in the hotel I have also started to work on the next couple legs of our trip. Harv and I want to see the Yangtse river in China before it is completely flooded by the Three Gorges Dam. In researching that trip I've found some tours that range from 5 to 20 days just depending on how much you want to see. Looking at all the stuff you get to see with the longer trips I'm leaning that way. It's kinda expensive, but I don't think China is the kinda place I wanna try the low budget backpacking thing in.

I've also been researching the Transiberian Railroad. There is a company that arranges all the visas, and puts together groups that travel together. Since Harv will probably fly out of China and then back to the U.S. I'm going to be on my own, so traveling with a group of Westerners sounds a little less frightening. Yeah I'm a little scared. I've been reading about this trip, and though nothing is scaring me off, it sounds like it's gonna be a little rough, well maybe a lot rough. You ever hear about fine Mongolian dining...I didn't think so. Apparently there's a lot of mutton involved...mmmmm good.

Hard Rock Hotel Pattaya

Well Harv and I have taken a turn, we've moved up to one of the nicest, and funnest hotels in town. Our former hotel was kinda mid to low end, now were livin large. The pool here is unbelievable. We had a private cabana all day today, so we lounged by the pool and drank tropical drinks(well I did Harv's on the water). It's a really nice way to recharge after a long night. Now I'm dressed and ready to go out, just waiting for our friends to arrive. We have high speed internet acces in the rooms so you'll probably see more posts out of me as long as were here. I'm workin on pictures. I'll post them soon.

For those of you who didn't make the two weekend parties just before we sold the beach hotel, the toothbrush pictures might seem odd. It's kinda like the roaming gnome thing. Some of our friends gave us their toothbrushes and were gonna take pictures of the them in exotic places. The ones below are Honolulu and Bangkok.

Thanks to all of you who are writng comments back to me. I'm kinda new to the whole blogging thing, so I just read them for the first time. I love the feedback.

Here they are in Honolulu.

Do you see yours?

Pattaya

I can't believe it's been nearly a week since my last post. There's two reasons for that one: I've been having so much fun, I haven't stopped to write a post, and Two: It's just not that easy to go online here. Not that there aren't internet cafes (like the one I'm in now). It's just hard to stop and write when there is so much to do.

Pattaya is an amazing beach party town. It's filled with bars cafes, and very friendly people. Harvey and I have been staying at this crazy little hotel right in the middle of the party, and though it's been fun we spent the day looking for another less hectic hotel. We were hoping to find something with internet in the room, but unless we stay at the Hard Rock Hotel (which we may end up doing for a while) there is no internet service in the room.

So what have we been doing besides drinking and partying?....A lot. Everyday we take a trip to one of the local attractions. We've gone to the Temple to see Buddha, We've taken a boat ride to the islands off the coast, we went to the crocodile farm/ tiger zoo. I took a picture with a tiger. Tigers have really soft fur, and a roar that if you are up close makes ya wanna pee your pants. I can't even imagine hearing that out in the jungle.

Just wanted to mention Buddha. He is everywhere. The people seem to have a relationship with him that very much resembles that of a living person. They talk to him, feed him everyday, even buy him some Thai whiskey once in a while. It's a very different kind of religious experience than in the West. I really admire it in them, it seems entirely positive. The monks are completely respected and are constantly seen talking to the locals.

Though I'm having lots of fun I do miss all my friends, and my cat Rocky, and my bed. Oh well, there is a price to pay for everything, and like they say "you can't take it with you" although I don't think that was meant to refer to traveling around the world It applies.

By the way, I have a Thailand telephone number. I'm not sure how you would call me. This number with a country code first I think.... anyway my number here is 07-0331909. Keep in mind I'm Forteen hours ahead, So I think late night or very early morning is the best time for you to call me if ya wanna.
Bye for now.