Chiang Mai and The Mae Hong Son loop

Hello world! Im writing to you from the small city of Mae Hong Son in northwest Thailand near the Myanmar (Burma) border. Before we got here we spent one more night in Chiang Mai where we had a lazy day relaxing and prepping for our journey. At night I got a trad Thai massage and than Amanda and I went to a bar that was a tuk-tuk that turned into a bar. So it was a truck where the bartender sat in the back with bottles wrapping around him. Such a sweet little place smack in the middle of the streets of the old city. We conversed with fellow travelers and a bunch of locals. One of the locals showed me a drink called a Nikkito which is a Mojito but instead of rum it is replaced with rice liquor. She couldn't tell me what kind of liquor but damn was it tasty. After a few drinks we walked a couple blocks back to our guesthouse and got some good sleep. The next morning we got some breakfast at our guesthouse and than got on the road to travel the Mae Hong Son Loop. Mae Hong Son is the Northwestern province of Thailand and also a city. I was told about this driving loop from my friend Mike H,he said it was a must, so prior to traveling I did research on it and decided it had to be done. Amanda had never ridden a motorbike so we decided to head south first which we herd was the easier portion of the trip. As we leave the old city we are in search of a gas station cause I have absolutely no gas. Asking locals for directions is not easy but were told to keep pursuing in the same direction as our trip itinerary. And guess what? I ran out of gas! So what else do i do? I start pushing it down the traffic filled streets in search of gasolina but nothing in sight. After about 10 minutes a young man in a motorbike pulls over and starts trying to tell me something. Im not getting what hes trying to motion me and than i see him point to the seat so i sit down. This man ends up putting his foot on the back of my scooter and excels his throttle to push me down the road. I looked back at Amanda with a grin that was filled with happiness and amazement. These people are absolutely ridiculous. Where in the states would ever find someone doing this. And if someone who is reading this is thinking of specific place than let me know cause i dont believe it one bit. While going about 20-30kmh we reached the gas station after a few miles. I bid farewell to my friend and a he just looked at me with sincere happiness. He made my day and I will always remember that deed and hope to one day return that to someone. After much needed gas were cruising the streets of southern Chiang Mai in search of a Doi Anthanon Nat'l Park sign. We make it to the park entrance and pay the 7usd park entrance fee which was a lot for us. We didnt want to pay it but decided it was gonna be worth it. The next couple hours of driving, waterfalls, and dramatic scenery was well worth the money. We went from a hot mug city to a crisp and cold cloud forest. We leave the park towards the town of Mae Chaem going through some crazy twists and turns in the road. These are some serious turns and some portions of the road are very slick from the occasional rain fall. In the end we make it safe to the town and fuel up. We take a break to talk about if we want to stay in town or head for the small river town of Mae Sariang. Btw, its Amandas b-day! She decides that she wants to go forward and make the long trip. A little ways down the road we find out that its about 135 kilometers away and the roads were bad at this stage so we werent get great speed. This part of the trip ended up being really long and dragged out. We were tired, backs were hurting, and hungry. About an hour down the road we pull off to look at the map and a car pulls over to help. This women jumps out of the car and I can tell right away she is so excited to use her english. She is dressed in tribal wear and helps us with our directions. She ends up telling us to just follow her and she will point out which road to turn off. Now I've been getting worried because Amanda is scared of driving in the dark and the sun is setting quick. We end up getting to the city right before sundown, phew. This day was filled with up and downs so we are in search of food and sleep. With no reservations we stopped from place to place asking for prices. We found a real cheap but run down place and we almost stayed there. Amanda didnt look all that comfortable so I ran down the street to find more. I decided that we would splurge a little for her birthday and I bought us a night stay right on the river at a really cool guesthouse. It had air-con, a balcony overlooking the river and valley, and a real shower (the first one weve seen). We checked in and then walked down the street to a really cool restaurant right on the river. We got 3 dishes 1. Pad-c-eiw 2. Satay 3. Sweet mango w/sticky rice. All so amazing especially the latter. These were all enjoyed with several Chang's and good company from our neighboring table. We woke up late the next day and got on the road by 11am in search of the city, Mae Hong Son. The trip was 160km away and said to be a 3hour drive. It was an incredible drive and took us about 3 1/2 hours. We settled in at a guesthouse in the city center for 6 usd a night and went look at tours into the hilltribes. After looking at multiple tour companies we ran into a few Falangs (whities) and they steered us to not do them and we are so happy that we learned more. After having a beer with them we escaped a drunken repeater with a new friend. Jim, from Nashville was living and volunteering in the hills as a teacher. We left to go listen to the live jazz music being played by the lake but it ended up being american shit. One of the songs was Crazy Town- Butterfly, yeah i know really really bad choice Thailand. Instead we went to a little restaurant down the street and enjoyed some food and laughs. We said goodbye to our friend and than passed out. The next morning we got up early to walk through the markets and than drove into the mountains in search of something new, nothing specific. We found ourselves wondering through a waterfall, a mud spa, villages, a fish cave (filled with giant blue carp), and endless amounts of rice fields. The scenery here as Amanda says, is "breathtaking", lol. After exploring we went back to the city and had a late lunch and napped. And that brings me to the present moment. I hope you enjoyed this blog cause i know i did. See ya!

southern thailand to chiang mai

Hey everyone! I'm currently in Chiang mai, Thailand. This place might be my favorite so far, the vibe is amazing. I will get to Chiang mai in a bit but first let me fill you in on what we did in the south. In railay we wondered around the town and went to the beach. It was a small beach enclosed by monstrous limestone cliffs that resemble scenes of Jurassic park. I honestly kept starring at them in hopes of seeing a teradactyle. Ok maybe not but I did call for them with my mating call. We got some food afterwards with views of the bay and the mangrove forests. The food was ok but the visual stimulation made up for it. We had our eye on a reggae bar that had a roof top so we stopped there before heading to sleep. The next morning we got up to get breakfast at a restaurant on the water and looked for our laundry that we had dropped off the night before. We booked a tour that took you snorkling at multiple islands and than swimming with the glow in the dark plankton. We were pretty amped on the trip. The trip left at 2pm so we went to the beach to relax and swim. The time came for when the trip should depart but no sign of anyone. The weather was also getting really windy and overcast. We wait 20 minutes past the departure time and head to the travel agency and found out the trip was canceled due to the weather. The lady was really nice about it and gave us suggestions on what to do in the beach area. She told us of a hidden lagoon just a short walk away. As we make our way there there are a bunch of caves to walk thru and explore. I pop out one of them and here voices above me. I look up to see a few muddy people making their way down a cliff side by holding a rope tied to a tree. A girl passes me by and warns me of what lies ahead. The warning made me more interested in the hike so we begin climbing up the steepness. The trail is filled with a clayish like mud and the passer by's are covered in it. We get over the top of the mountain and made our way down to find three layers we had to descend into. It was straight up rock climbing type degree of difficulty. I was worried that amanda was gonna want to turn back but she had no doubt in her mind on pursuing the end! We lowered our selves down the three shelves and found ourselves in a hidden lagoon surrounded by limestone cliff walls. I felt like I was in a different world or planet, something out of avatar. Life was growing on everything, the rocks had trees growing out of them and the trees had orchids growing on them. We climbed our way back out and followed the path we were once on and it led us out to another beach area. By this time the sun was going down and the tide was out so we had a beautiful big beach to walk down. But first things first we need to wash all the mud off that covered our bodies. This was no easy task and needed help by using the sand as an exfoliate to scrub it all out. By bathing suit is still to this day stained orange, i kinda like it for the memory. While on the beach we spot a group of masked monkeys chilling in the trees above us and watch them monkey around. As we make our way back to the trail we spot a group of another kind of monkeys and they are called Macaque. And that is pronounced Ma-Cock. The macaque is so nice, very friendly to all. Lol i still laugh about this name and make references to Macaque. Its now getting dark and we make way for dinner and for sleepy time. The next morning we wake up early for breakfast and than catch our boat for Koh Lanta. Lanta is an island just south of Railay and is known for being very relaxed and less touristy. We get to the island by mid afternoon and check into our bungalows which are really nice. Before coming to Thailand I had gone to a Reel Big Fish concert and beer fest and cut my foot while dancing near the pit. This cut is still on my foot to this day as i write. I have herd horror stories of needing to keep your wound dry or really bad things can happen. So my usual, i get worried, so i go to the clinic and ask them what i should do. The clinic was closed because of slow season but the lady was nice enough to look at it and prescribe me some meds. She also barred bad news...i could no longer go into the ocean if i wanted my infection to heal. With this said we left the next day and headed for Koh Phi-Phi (pronounced Ko-Pee-Pee) which is where the beach was filmed, so expecting to be gorgeous. As the ferry approaches the island i can see why everyone raves of this island. The water is super pretty and the island around give you great backdrops. There are no cars on this island only scooters and bicycles. We explore the town and buy a tank top that says i love phi phi and than head to the beach for a beer, relaxation, and reggae music. Amanda swims in the bay while I jam out with a local. The day on the island was great but now we need to board our next ferry for Phuket Town. When we arrive on the island we are told to wait for our mini bus transfer. Its about a 100 of us waiting and when the last of the people get off the ferry the tour guide hands out a bunch of papers. The papers had lists of hotels they had to go to drop off all the tourists/travellers. It was mayhem out here with yelling and screaming. It took a little while and than everyone dispersed and went there own way. We were heading to Patong which is on the otherside of the island which we were told to go to for the nightlife especially ping-pong shows. We booked a guesthouse online that had amazing reviews but we found out that no one knows where it is located. After 20 minutes our driver finally finds it and the reviews were right. For 7 usd a night we got our own room, bathroom, a/c, tv, and balcony overlooking the streets. Super nice place! That night we got a quick eat at a local place (garlic pepper chicken) and headed to bangla rd to scope out the ping pong shows. Now let me explain to you what a ping pong is if you dont know already. Its pretty much a glorified strip club that specialized in certain performance acts. The ping pong is what got them famous and noow they are doing all sorts of stuff including shooting darts at balloons. While wondering bangla rd we cant figure out which ping pong show to go to. We just feel weird going to one so we cant make a decision. While discussing it we get surprised by the first person we met in thailand back in bangkok airport. Really crazy running into him. We caught up on our travels and than headed to a bar that had live music, cheap beer, and of course jenga and 4 in a row. Those are great forgotten american games but not here in thailand. You can find them at most bars. We play a few rounds of connect four before a man from dubai comes to our table to play some competitive jenga. His name was Joe, and is a heavy set man that was f-in hilarious. He knew how to have a good time and continually bought us beers and shots. We went to the ping pong show with him and he acted like an absolute crazy man. I honestly love this man. I cried so many times out of laughter due to all his antics. While watching the show Joe keeps trying to be part of the show and gets us kicked out. By this time its really late so amanda and i make our venture back to our room. The next day we wondered the markets and streets of Patong. Its market galore here and you can find whatever you are looking for. We make our night short and wake up the next morning to pack for our flight to chiang mai. The next day we catch a mini bus for the airport in the late afternoon and we arrive in chiang mai at 10pm. We get to our guesthouse and immediately make our way for the night market to get some tastyness. And there it was some of the most tasty of tasty, water dumplings! For 1 usd i got a meal of water dumplings, for .70 usd i got fresh young coconut water, and for another 1 usd i got a tasty tasty tasty rotee ( banana pancake-thin dough cooked to a crisp with banana and egg inside than topped off with chocolate sauce and condensed milk). So for 2.70 usd i got the best filling meal. The next morning we woke to get breakfast and then our day was spent wondering anf exploring the streets of chiang mai. This is so far my favorite city in asia. Everyone is so so nice, the food is great(and cheap), and so many little streets to explore. Our day was finished off by stopping by a dermatologist to check out a mole that has been getting bigger on me. He said it looks benign but to be safe he will cut it off. The appointment cost 3 usd, pretty expensive i know. He will cut it off tomorrow and i am a little nervous but feeel like its got to be done to be safe. After the doctor we went again to the night market to get food and fell asleep instantly once getting back to the room. Now this morning we woke up for a whitewater rafting trip on the Maetaeng river. It is the end of rainy season here so the water is high and strong. We had a blast and the rapids were big. A tree had fallen across one of the rapids so the crew had to get us off the rafts and skip the area. As everyone gets off i look at my guide and ask can i go down with you, at the same time point to my GoPro, and he is like yeah one person only. I was the only one aloud to go down with the rest of the guides, good times. We returned to the city and expectantly were hungry and found a great vegetarian restaurant. Now im here in a internet cafe writing to you all. I feel good to have caught up on this blog but I feel even better that im going to buy myself a Chang (The best beer in thailand). Cheers to all you reading this, till next time....

Islands

Sawasdee! (Hello) Im writing to you from the shore of Railay beach just 30 minutes outside Krabi, Thailand. To get here you must hire a longtail boat for 3 usd because there are no roads to get here. I have not checked in with you guys for 5 days now so i will fill you in with what we've done. On friday night we took the overnight train down to Surat Thani and we did so after attempting to take a taxi to the train station. We wanted to be safe and get there early so we left 2 hours before the train departed and we almost missed it. It started raining and the traFFIc got shut down with no movement what so ever. After waiting at the light for over 20 minutes we decide to pay the cab and just walk it out. We end up getting to the train station minutes before and everything seemed to work out. Once i layed down for bed i suddenly became stricken with this extreme pain in my stomach, to be specific my upper stomach area. This pain i have never felt before and got me very nervous thinking i got food poisining or some other 3rd world sickness. That night was a bad night with no sleep and suprisingly no diahrea and no vomitting. Sorry to fill you in on this not so appetizing reading material but this is how things go when traveling. There are ups and and there are downs. We arrive at Surat Thani at 7;30am saturday morning and get right onto a bus heading for the port to catch our ferry for Koh Samui. We get to Nathon Town, Koh Samui mid morning and take a tuk-tuk kinda transportation ( a truck with bench seats in the back with a little gazebo type a thingy covering you) to Chaweng Beach on the opposite side of the island. These drivers are out of control flying down these pot hole filled streets while people of all ages zip by you on mo-peds. Its incredible mothers are holding their new born babys on their lap while also driving a mo-ped in a place where 6 people die a month. And thats 6 people just on that one little island. All the guide books and blogs say to not drive them on this island due to the dengers of breaking an ankle or even death. While holding on for life we meet two fellow travelers who have been on the road for years working and playing. They have an online business, sounds like a dream. We check into our hotel, the loft, and i am feeling sick still so i lay down for a bit before we walk the streets to take a little swim at the beesh. The beeesh is so beautiful and the water is even nicer temperature. The weather has been overcast since the morning and really gloomy like. My mom would absolutely love it, no sun and great temps. Btw hi mom hope all is well. That night turned out to be an early one and fell asleep by 5pm. We are still not used to the time and getting sleepy very early in the day. We woke early saturday morning with the plan to rent the oh so dangerous MO_PED. Almost every corner has a moped rental shop ranging from hotels, resorts, travel agencys, and just random homes. Ours was rented thru a travel agency and the price was 6.50 usd. Thats for a whole day too. So amanda, the scooter, and i take journey on the pot hole filled roads in search of waterfalls, beaches, and whatever else we can find. But right as we start riding it starts raining on us, and than it gets worse. We stop to take cover at the first bar/restaurant and it so happened to be right on a beautiful beach. It was a very small beach with on each side massive boulders. After a beer and many minutes later the rain lets up a little and we head for the streets in search of the 80M waterfall. The waterfall had an elephant riding safari ajoined to it and as we drove up elephants were everywhere with people on their backs. This may sound cool to all you westerners but it aint and thats that. White people feel the need to come to thailand and ride an elephant. They want to ride elephants because they love them and want to be close to them. Yeah you get to do that here but all your doing in the long run is supporting this abusive industry. They treat their elephants like shit, pardon the language. And to top it off they have chains strapped to their ankles while you ride them, so when your so called "trekking" all you here is the chains. Sorry to rant on like that but it really made me upset to see it in person. Now back to the waterfall, it was beautiful. We hiked up above the falls thru a thick forest to get great views of the beaches below. The trekking was so vigorous that we decide to head back to the beach we were once at to get massages on the beach. While coming down the mountain i feel that the scooter is riding a little different and ask amanda to see if the back tire is alright. The tire was dead flat and we were in no sign of a mechanic let alone gas station. The people here are so nice that someone on a scooter flying by slows down to point where i should go. LOVE the THAI. It ended up being a 30 walk down the street to moped mechanic. The inner tube was flat due to a nail puncture so i got him to replace it. 15 minutes later my mood went from being down to up up up high. We then went to a few beaches and on back to chaweng beach to book a tour for Ang Thong National Marine Park. After situating our tour we went in search of a massage on the beach. The sun was going down and the temperatures were getting nice. We paid 6usd for a full hour full body massage and let me tell you, this was amazing like really amazing. This lady will contort you in all sorts of ways and you leave feeling the most relaxed you have ever felt. Wow that was amazing and i look forward to the next. The next day we take our boat tour to the marine park and do hiking, kayaking, snorkaling, and boat jumping. The snorkaling at the first place was real murky so we decide to walk the beach thru the monsterous rocks. Within minutes of walking i look up on the boulder and there is this little face looking straight at me. Its eyes with white circles around them. It was a Masked Monkey! Super stoked on seeing a monkey i shout to amanda to come see. There ended up being a whole clan of them including babys. It was suck a cool expereince and i took plenty and plenty of photos. The day was long and everntful and what better way to end it than having a seafood feast. We had our eyes on this one place that was having a seafood bbq but it turned out to be crap. We walked the streets for a little before finding the right restaurant with the right food. We had a whole grilled snapper, 4 massive prawns ( not shrimps), 2 crabs, 2 calamari, mussels, and sides. Super super good food. It was my first time having prawns and amazing they were, sorta like a mini lobster. The next morning we had plans for a trip to krabi which is on the other side of thailand but i when i woke i thru up. It sounds bad but i thru up due to taking 2 pills at once on an empty stomach. We didnt know that at first and postponed our trip for the next morning. This ended up being a blessing in disguise. That day we went to Lemai and got a really nice place to stay and layed on the beach. We also went to this sweet reggae bar on the water that had treehouse sitting ares with great BLT's, those blt's hit the spot while laying out listening to damian. The next day we woke early to catch out bus for krabi and from krabi take a longtail boat to railay beach which i am right now. We are gonna go to a reggae bar now and than off to a Muay Tai fight. I cut the last bit short due to not more time on interent. I look forward to next time. Till then.

Bangkok

Hello world! Im checking in from Khaosan Road in the heart of the new city in Bangkok. My friend Mike H had told me prior to getting here that I should stay/see khaosan, and woah is it crazy. We got into the area late wednesday night with a new friend we met in the airport. After checking in we walked through khaosan's craze of night life and drunken people. The streets are lit by neon signs and are shaking of drum and base. 7/11 is huge and you can pretty much find one on every corner. While wondering the streets we decide to grab a beer and discuss our future plans of travel. Our new friend is heading to chiang mai and our plaans are to head south for the islands. We found out the next day that northern thailand has had a ridiculous amount of rain and the train will not go that far. Pictures in the paper show cars under water. The locals say to not even go north right now because the waters are slowly making there way south. Good thing were going south. After finishing the beer we thought what better way to start our trip than to get a 1/2 hour foot massage. So we all lay down in these comfortable lounge chairs with our feet propped up (btw we are right in the middle of the street with beers in our hands) and get the best foot massage of our lives. The massage was amazing but i have no comparison since i have never had one before. I start thinking of how they feel massaging random feet and if they hate their lives. But they seem to have no hate for what they do and instead are filled with smiles and laughter. The massage was the end of our night and went back to the hotel and took an ambien to help me go to sleep. The next morning we wake up to get breakfast and bid farewell to our new friend. Afterwards we hire a tuk-tuk ( which is a 3 wheeled motorcycle that has a canopy and bench seat in the back, btw they pimp these things oout with rims, system, and neon flashing lights) to take us around and see some sights. We found out like the rest of the NewB's that they will take you around from place to place and on the way take you to taylor shops, jewerly stores, and travel agency. They do this to get gasoline vouchers. So during our tuk-tuk day we went to a few temples as well as all the shops. It cost us 2 american dollars for hours of driving. Its kind of a scam but also a great way to see the city. I caught a cold first thing when getting on the flight from den-sfo so we cut our day short and headed back to the hotel for pool and wondering. While wondering the streets the locals pester you into buying clothing and gifts. They have called me numerous amounts of names such as "alibaba", "hangover", and "hollyman" to get my attention. For those who dont know I have a 3month old beard and long hair so i stand out like a sore thumb. We fell asleep by 6pm and woke up at 1;30am to go get a snack from a street vendor. And let me tell this snack was a tasty one, it was a banana wrap topped off with nutella and i beieve honey, but not positive about the honey. The next day we woke early to go to the golden palace and the emerald buddah. The place was filled with school children singing/praying in the temple/wat. And that takes me to where i am now writing to you all. Im waiting to catch my over night train for 6;30pm to surat thani and than off to ko samui. I will let you all know how it goes in a few days.

japan layover

#1 posta!! Good morning, good afternoon, good evening. I'm writing this due to not knowing where whomever is from when reading. I had just written a full blog and than had it mistakenly erased so my mood went from being high and great to low and disappointed. But let's keep that in the past. Im currently in Narita Int and watching a Japanese version of The Office, at least that is what Amanda has dubbed it. We have spent a total of 16 hours in airports and 12 on plains. Amanda got a little nauseous during the flight to Japan but a very nice man gave us some medicine to help calm the stomach. She is feeling better and observing the Japanese style as I write. I have been to Japan once when I was much younger and those memories are still with me today. My brother and I flew out here to stay with my aunt Janice, cousins naho, and funky unky a.k.a toshi. We traveled throughout Japan and made many friends as well as experiences. These experiences will never leave me and I am very grateful for my parents in sending me out here. I am also thankful to my aunt for showing me such a good time. Without their three powers combined my love for travel would've never blossomed. Now I'm in pursuit of wondering through new cultures and making new memories in south east Asia. Tonight we will be arriving into Bangkok at 11pm if all goes to plan. We have reserved a hotel for two nights to get used to the time zone. We won't be staying in hotels much and will likely spend our nights in hostels, guest houses, and bungalows. We will first explore Thailand for 3 weeks, than Laos for 3, Cambodia for 2, and Vietnam for 2. This leaves us with 2 weeks of wiggle room. And we are wigglahs. So to those who don't travel this is not how the trip will turn out. You will have to keep reading and follow me thru my journeys. I will leave you with one last note, a phrase that is at the root of my core. It is not your job that defines you but in fact the experiences you make through life. So get out there and make some. C ya soon