Thailand: Ban Krut & Chumphon

Monica and I left Bangkok in search of a smaller more rural Thai experience. We somehow found a small town called Ban Krut about 7 hours south, by train, along the cost of the Gulf of Thailand. I'd say we got just what we were looking for. Besides the partly cloudy weather and mosquitoes it was amazing. 

The town of Ban Krut seemed like maybe two thousand people AT MOST. I might be overstating, though. Monica was hard pressed to believe there was even one thousand. The place we stayed, NaNa Chart Hostel, was about a 10 minute taxi-cart ride out of town. We were greeted by a very friendly and attentive staff, an almost completely vacant hostel, and a sweet rustic bungalow.  

   

We stayed here for three days just relaxing after too much traveling. Together, we had a 15 hour bus ride to Auckland from Wellington, a 12 hour flight to Bangkok from Auckland, and a 7 hour train ride to Ban Krut in 4 days. 

To make it even more removed and secluded, their internet was down. Since neither of us have phones, we had no communication with the outside world. On our last day, the staff told us there was a woman down the road who had internet and she had given them the wi-fi password so we could sit on her porch and try to figure out where to next. 

The woman, so kind to lend us her internet, was Irma. A Swiss woman who had retired and was traveling around a bit. She introduced herself and invited us back over later on for dinner. Oddly enough her story was so similar to our mom's minus the traveling part. And, of course, it just happened to be Thanks Giving. 

The next day we left for Chumphon which was only a two hour train ride further south. We planned to stay just one night and then start island hoping our way down and eventually to Phucket. We met some other travelers who planned to go to the Full Moon Party on Koh Pha-ngan and decided to stay in Chumphon a few more nights (because it was so affordable) and then head out to the islands for the Full Moon Party. 

While in Chumphon, we got rain. Fuck-loads of rain. 

The food in Chumphon was authentic, amazing, and cheap. Every night, the main street lines the road with food carts where you can get amazing Pad Thai and Papaya Salads for $1 each. We also got some amazing all you can eat Thai-style Korean BBQ for $3.

Today we leave for Ko Tao by ferry and will hit the Full Moon Party on Koh Pha-ngan tomorrow night. I am excite. 

Wholly Shit, I’m in a Different Country

From my experience in New Zealand, I constantly tried to look for the subtle differences in culture and appearance compared to the United States. At times, in New Zealand, it wouldn't be much different than if I traveled to another state in the U.S. and was hearing a different American accent and dealing with the customs of that area. I've been in Thailand for a few days now and trying to point out the differences here would be just about impossible. This is not America. This is absolutely not Oregon House.

We spent our first two days in Bangkok, which is a ridiculously large city. The place we stayed was great to help get acclimated when everything around you is so foreign.  We had our own little standalone bungalow among a little community of these things within a giant city. The grounds were very nice and the staff was incredibly helpful.

For our first day we decided to just walk off the hotel property and start wondering around. This adventure was relatively short lived. Once in the daylight, we realized that we were in just some random neighborhood (or district as they call it) that was full of Thai people just doing their daily business. There really wasn't too much to see. So we decided that the next day we needed to get out of Bangkok for a while and go somewhere you imagine in your head when you think of Thailand. You know: palm trees, rice patties, small streets, little scooter taxi carts, the ocean.

That night, we decided to head to the city center for dinner. As we approached the downtown area, we began to see bright lights, fancy cars, and a more diverse population. Within one mile we must’ve driven by four shopping malls. These were your standard American looking shopping malls. Two maybe three stories tall, wide open walkways, defined walls, and familiar stores. However, we were going to MBK Mall.

I could write two pages trying to describe everything we saw in this place and it still wouldn't do it justice. It was eight stories tall with three movies theaters, a bowling alley, and two levels of just restaurants.  The various levels, housing electronics and clothes, were setup similar to a street market. Small spaces with just enough room to walk in and see the things hanging on the wall or on a rack in the middle of the space. Some spaces just had a counter in front and everything was hanging behind them. You could buy almost anything here.

But this is not what we were after at the time. We will be back in Bangkok to fly to Vietnam and can play then. Now we are on a mission for a rural and tropical scene.  

New Zealand: Final Thoughts, Random Observations & Noteworthy Moments

I was only in New Zealand for 10 days and it was mostly spent in Wellington and the surrounding suburbs/towns. So, I can't really give a full evaluation of the entire country. Here is what I took way from this trip:

Kiwis (New Zealanders) are really nice and helpful people as a whole. During my stay there were numerous situations I can point to. Like me getting lost in Upper Hutt and the train attendant finding someone who would give me a ride and then the sweet lady who actually took me to the bus stop. Also, on my first day, Monica was having a hard time parallel parking the car and a security officer walking through downtown offered to park the car for her. 

In New Zealand, they don't have any currency smaller than a 10 cent piece. So the final bill is always rounded to the nearest tenth of a dollar. Also, tax is already included in the price of everything which is something I wouldn't mind seeing in the states. However, things are very expensive out here. Not because of the tax and rounding thing but because they import almost everything. Similar to Hawaii. The heavy focus on keeping the native culture relevant also reminds me of Hawaii.

Random Observations:

· Pine plantations all over the country. One of their only exports. Looks odd mixed in with the native foliage.

· Wellington bus drivers have mad skill with the tiny roads. Did not witness even one accident the entire time and rode the bus numerous times a day.

· People love their random US sports apparel. Most of the time it seemed like odd team selections. Example: Tampa Bay Bucs hat and Toronto Raptors jersey (I actually saw this one).

· Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit are a BIG DEAL out there. They are super prideful of these creations.

· Kids at school during recess and lots of landscape workers wear sun hats because the UV rays are very harmful down there.

· Beets are referred to as beetroot, kiwis as kiwi fruit, and bell peeper as capsicum.

· Lamb is also a big deal at fast food chains (ex: Subway & McDonalds) since their other main export is sheep.

· Chain restaurants carried over from US that I saw: McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, KFC, Pita Pit, and Denny’s.

· Everyone smokes. That is a bit of an exaggeration but not by much.

· Best quote while in NZ: “Never trust an 18 year old boy to toss your salad.”

· Wellington is the windiest city in the world. Seriously.

I got to drive a right-hand drive manual transmission Honda Civic. It was a bit difficult with everything being reversed except the placement of the pedals. Making right turns at intersections was a bitch because you had to cross traffic like a left hand turn in the states.

On our second to last day in New Zealand we took a 12 hour bus ride to Auckland to catch out flight the next day. Three hours into the bus ride, Monica let me know that she forgot her passport in Wellington. Amazingly, her friend, Taggart, had the day off and flew up to Auckland to deliver the passport. He actually beat us there because our bus broke down and we sat inside the bus in the pouring rain for three hours. Long trips on buses suck. That may be my last EVER.

All in all the trip to New Zealand was sweet as. Not ass but as (it's a New Zealand thing). I really appreciated going to a different country that is still similar to the US before somewhere like Thailand. It was also really cool too see what my sister had been up to for the last six months on a day to day living basis. Those are my final thoughts on NZ and I leave you with a little friend that I found about 12 inches from my face while I was on the toilet at my sister's place.

All For A Round of Disc Golf

It shouldn't be any surprise that when I got to New Zealand I looked up the nearest disc golf course and was determined to play it. So with yesterday being my sister's last day of work and me having the entire day to myself, I mapped out my route to Upper Hutt and play the course in Harcourt Park. 

The route included taking the train about 45 minutes northeast heading inland then a short bus ride and about a 15 minute walk to the park. All went smoothly at first until I got off the bus for my walk to the park. Because I don't have a smart phone or anything, I had to write down my directions beforehand and rely on them. 

Turns out that I must have written the directions down wrong because the road I was supposed to go down just ended and didn't seem like anywhere near where a park would be. The Hutt, from what I had been told, is a bit seedier area with a lot of, for lack a of better term, white trash. That seemed to be the case of the neighborhood I was in. I eventually saw a police officer and flagged him down to see how far off I was. He informed me that I was faaaaaaar from where I needed to be and could give me a lift. It wasn't until later that night that it even dawned on me that I rode in the back of a Kiwi (New Zealander) police car. 

The disc course was not well marked so I was able to jump on with this guy who knew the course. Turned out he was from Berkley but raised his family in Portland. He had moved out here six years ago for his photography. Below are some pictures of the round (note: the park was in a nice part of town):

On the last hole, my luck peaked. I got a hole in one on hole 10 (which we played last for some reason). Super fucking stoked, I snapped a picture from the tee and John signed the disc to verify the accomplishment. You can't really see the basket (or the f-ing disc in it), but it is at the middle end of the lawn. 

Of course, to keep the excitement going, I accidentally got on the train going the wrong way on my way home. My thought was I would just simply get off on the next stop and wait for the next train going south. The guy checking tickets let me know that there were no trains going south tonight this far north. So, kindly enough he found someone that would give me a ride from the stop to a bus station so I could get back to the Upper Hutt train station to head back to Wellington. 

Such a great day. Glad I left my comfort zone. 

New Zealand: First Impressions

Yesterday I touched down in Wellington, New Zealand around 8:15am. The flight actually worked out pretty well because I flew through the night and was able to get some crappy sleep and power through my first day without a nap or anything. 

Monica picked me up at the airport in a friend's car and we spent the day trekking around Wellington and the neighboring suburbs/towns. 

Here is a picture of Wellington coming from the airport:

Moni & I from a lookout near her place enjoying seeing each other for the first time in 20 months:

As big as the city looks, it actually has a pretty small town feel to it. The weather right now seems similar to SF minus the fog and a bit windier. The terrain/foliage reminds me of a mix between SF and Hawaii. Kind of coastal and tropical mix. 

Disclaimer

Well, it's 9:30am on Tuesday November 6th and I'm getting ready to leave my mom's place to head to SF for my flight. My next opportunity to communicate will be from New Zealand. I wanted to make a quick entry to kind of set the expectation for my blog.

The purpose of this blog is primarily to serve as a journal to document my adventures. I found that too often I have these experiences and forget to write about it or even take any pictures to help remember the great times. Since all we get to take with us at the end of our lives is our memories and experiences, I would really like to be sure I can always look back to be reminded of this experience. 

The second reason for this blog is for my friends and family. I've had lots of people ask me to send them pictures or write them about my travels. This just seems much easier. However, since this is primarily for me, I imagine most of you will see some sides of me that you didn't know existed. 

So on that note: I hope you find this page entertaining, informative, and slightly "out there".