a true story

A rather cool airline trip across many miles of Australian airspace i landed in a new place. Thailand to be correct. From the moment i hit the tarmac i was itching with pleasure. The lack of diversity in OZ had come too much and i was ready for a cultural experience. I stepped off the plane into this unknown 3rd world country and was not greeted be cows or a ramshackle terminal. Quite the contrary! Back to the future describes this ultramodern mega structure that took many years and millions upon millions to build. Sterile A/C and all glass wall were the last i expected to greet me.

I picked up a dude on the plane who had been travelling for way too long! With a school backpack dreads and fire juggling sticks he needed a shower. None the less he would share a cab to Kao San on the other side of town. Many miles over brandy new highway no traffic and the city lights off in the distance i thought to myself, "this is not what i figured i was in store for," oh was i wrong. Arriving smack dab in the middle of tourist central in the middle of the night with a giant bag no place to stay and noticing NO VACANCY signs everywhere my new travel friend and i were less than enthusiastic. After a small panic attack i finally met up with Chris Souza my bro nicks friend and we hung out for a bit. It was late so he threw me in a cab to his buddies place which consisted of a wild confusing (for me at least) ride to a beautiful home in the middle of the city, but at the same time far removed with a large gate, A/C and Internet. Oh internet the most beloved connection back to the states it was quite a sight. Like being stuck in the middle of a dessert then coming upon a fridge filled with Evian and chocolate ice cream. I stayed with him and chris for about a week and they slowly introduced me to Bangkok as they had come to know it.

Bangkok is kina like a mish mash wish wash dish dash if that makes sense. Tuk tuk's and taxis drive around town with recless abandon with white knuckle passengers. Scooters wizz in an out of the previous with even less fear of injury. All while enjoying the sweet smell of pollution literally ozzing from the tailpipes of everything with wheels. At any one moment a million smeels linger in the air to be absorbed into the olfactory. BBQ chicken floats to the right nostril and an American cookout comes to mind while simultaneously the most putrid stagnant poopy grudge smell enters into the left. It is truly the city of extremes. You can buy anything under the sun here. Geez the other day i almost bought a SWAT team jacket, but that seemed a bit over the top. Little stalls exist wherever you turn and someone always seems to have something to sell you! Constant traffic noises fill the eardrums and coughing is not uncommon so to step into a completely sterile freezing cold place is amazing. This is no more relevant than at the various malls in downtown area. HOLY COW. I have honestly been through the nicest most upscale shopping areas ever and a Ferrari dealership on the 4th floor about sums it up. Public transport is amazing and most of the time very cheap!

Danny was coming to meet and travel with me so it was back to Kao San to prep for the departure. Little did i know i would run into a couple friends who have kept coming into my life since OZ. There they were walking 10 feet in front of me!!!weird. After finally meeting Dan we all hung out for a few days and saw the Grand Palace. This is a must see in Bangkok to be sure. The immense buildings are so caulk full of detail i dont know where to begin. Gold adorned almost every square inch of one's exterior while tiny little murals decorated about 20 yards of wall! Rooftops poked into the sky with mythical symbols and dragonlike forms. Gold leaf shown brightly in the mid days sun and we were all awe struck by the whole thing. It was the essence of what many can do when one goal is pursued. The highlight of course was the Emerald Buddha. Once covered in plaster it was not until the golden Emerald under the plaster was discovered that it was stolen...i think by burmese....not sure...but it did and up back in Thailand and is displayed on a 20 foot pedestal in all its glory. Sporting an outfit that is changed with each new season by the king it holds an important place in many thai's identity. I could not believe the size of the interior of his house and all the golden offerings and huge statues that surrounded this small maybe 3 by 3ft relic. Being a huge tourist attraction it was so cool to enter into this room with so much diversity and have everyone showing their utmost respect! A pin drop could be heard and an eerie peace and serenity permeated every sole in the place! Heavy.

Leaving Bangkok brought with it a huge sigh of relief. It was island time baby. After a plane, bus, ferry ride Danny and i landed in Ko Phangan (the home of the full moon party). Once on the main drag of the island i turned to Danny with an eyebrow raised. It seemed that teleportation had landed us smack dab in the middle of Scandanavia! Wild Wild kids everywhere drunk and crazy. Bars lined the beaches and blasted out techno music until the wee hours of the morning and i could tell that we had hit tourist paradise...or so i thought... After 2 days i was ready too leave. Chill and mellow are not good descriptives of the atmosphere. The water was not the cleanest and the full moon party is the only real thing that kept us there. Ran into some more old friends one of whom was John the man more affectionately known as Peaches! We got little scooters and did some adventures into the mountains and around the country. Checking out the rural life and trying to reach a magical beach on the other side of the island. Our luck ran out when the road ended...Everyday life was spent sleeping in and enjoying the very elusive A/C. Oh ya toilets dont generally fluch unless u make it happen. Most bathrooms come complete with a large bucket of water and a tiny bowl to fight your evil leavings behind. After a big job.............. Well enough about that. One solitary hostel sits on the remote point of the island and proved to be a cool place to chill and get away from everything. Finally Full moon time. Hype does not begin to describe the build up to the this party. Everyone is talking about it and almost no one knows quite what to expect. Me and the boys decide to get a late start on it seeing as though it goes on until about 11 the next morn...this would prove a good decision. Set in a cove there it was a throng of people covering the entire beach like a huge undulating blanket. We soaked up the wild scene from a bar on a cliff at one end of the cove. About 20 different bars were set up and vendors on the beach were selling buckets. Buckets = a small bottle of rum or whiskey, soda, and red bull. We steered clear due to all the crazy reports of hangovers reported by sweeds. Each bar blasted different genre's of music and we danced our way up and down the beach several times. Barely missed sunrise with my pass out time of 5. A valiant effort though if i may say so myself.

We escaped the touristy tourists by heading to Ko Samui. Or so we thought. At Lamai beach we set up camp and did absolutely nothing for a week solid. Bananna/ Coconut shakes got us through the days and books + ipod movies got us through the nights. To be honest we did get out one day and saw the sights from our scooters. A few waterfalls were okay, but nothing like NZ. We met a french woman who makes Rum. Although i did not have any....i was driving hello! It was the best smelling alco i have ever smelled. Every island/ large town has temples and we saw some cool ones on this particular island. Zooming around wind in the face we came across a temple and proceeded through the gates. Customs required covered shoulders, toes and knees when entering these holy places and we had all three so we were in. We sat quietly with a giant Buddha, got a sneak peak into the secret hall of Buddhas (a very errie bone chilling silent powerfilled room of concrete statues). Including a laying buddha stretching over 20f t and about 5 feet tall on its side. Although the highlight was the embalmed Buddha. A very famous monk died about 10 or so years ago and it was his wish to be embalmed while in the customary lotus position. A powerful site with hair still intact, teeth shining from behind shrunken lips, and arms like a dried prune. Very real and very emotionally charged!!! To end the day on a happy note we visited a couple rock formations in the exact likeness of the male and female sexy parts. Grandmother and Grandfather rock's as they were affecitonately known. This island had quite a beautiful beach and huge Granite boulders everywhere. My fav part had to be the beach break and body surfing. I mean these waves were absolutely pounding me into the sand. I scored some much needed time with the ocean and her raw power. I was great fun doing it with the britts cause they had no idea and would almost always end up getting worked really bad. At the end of the week it was go time and a new adventure and another island awaited.

Ton Sai near Krabi is where we ended up. A rock climbing paradise cove surrounded on three sides by enormous limestone cliffs. I have never seen rock shoot so straight up directly out of the water it was rad. With a tip from Souza we got a bamboo bungalo at a place called Viking bar and bungalow. There is nothing viking about this place! After a brief inspection we took the bungalow and headed out for ocean and exploration. We stayed out till about 12 and wandered home. D hit the lights and saw a giant spider run under our bed. A plan must be made and i layed it out. "okay you pull the bed from the wall really quick and i will shine the flashlight on the enormous spider" wham he pulls the bed from the wall and holy shit, there it was the biggest meanest deadliest looking cute little mouse smiling at me from a hole in our bamboo wall. What a relief! Yeah that is until i noticed a large round hole in the side of our box spring!!! That's right there were mice making their home in our bed!mice! Totally freaked out and disgusted we finally got to bed. Well we got into bed at least. Up all night we listened to the various scratches at the walls.

to be continued tomorrow