Well Ko Samui was the first stop on my tour around Thailand's version of Paradise. Upon arriving at the airport, I jumped into a shared mini bus and headed directly to the main strip on the island, Chaweng Beach. Upon arriving, I headed to The Wave Samui backpacker hotel that was recommended to me by my guide book. Although I had emailed them the day before and they replied that they were full, I decided to give it a shot anyway. I ended up lucking out and they had a room. After dropping off my stuff, I headed out to get my first taste of Thailand's version of Paradise. Let me say that it DID NOT disappoint. Chaweng Beach is the most popular beach for a reason. It is 6 Kilometers long and the sand couldn't be whiter, the water couldn't be clearer, and there are plenty of palm trees to go around. I walked down the beach for a while before chilling out at one of the beach front bars to watch the sun set. After the sun went down, I decided to go back to my hotel and get ready for some nighttime fun. That night, I headed out to the "Pub Street" area and had a few drinks. I met some nice Australian people and ended up hanging out with them for the majority of the night.
The next day, I woke up surprisingly early and decided to go and check out Samui's second most popular beach, Lamai Beach. This beach is located 4 Kilometers down the island from Chaweng and so I decided to take a motor-taxi to get there. After arriving, I spent the better part of the morning walking up and down the beach and admiring the sheer beauty of it. It has similar properties to Chaweng (what sand, clear water, palm trees, etc.) but it is a little less developed and it is much quieter. After relaxing at Lamai for a while, I headed back to Chaweng to spend the afternoon back on Chaweng Beach. Upon arriving back at Chaweng, I decided to be sneaky and I picked up a beach chair from one of the resorts to use for the afternoon. After relaxing in the beach chair for a few hours, I decided to up my level of sneakiness and I decided to take a swim in the resorts pool. No one (including the staff) seemed to mind so I made myself right at home. I spent the next few hours poolside and enjoying the fact that I didn't have to pay for any of it! After I decided it was time to leave the pool, I headed back to my hotel and called it a night.
The next day, I got up early to catch my bus to the pier to do finally participate in some fishing! I didn't really know what to expect from the boat that I had joined up with, but I was pleasantly surprised. We headed out from the pier and after a quick 20 minuet ride, we were at the first of the fishing grounds. We spent the morning catching Grouper and Snapper before heading to a nice cove for lunch. The deckhand cooked up a feast (including our morning's catch) and it was delicious. After lunch, we moved a bit further and began fishing again. After some more Grouper, I hooked into something that felt a lot bigger. It turned out that it was a Dragon Fish and it was one of the coolest looking fish that I have ever caught. They are extremely long and narrow (like an eel sort of) and have razor sharp teeth. After snapping some photos, I continued catching Grouper for the rest of the day before we headed back to port.
Tomorrow its off to my next stop on my tour of Paradise; Ko Tao and the world famous scuba diving sites in the surrounding waters!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Trip of a Lifetime Round 2 (Thailand: Chang Mai)
Chang Mai was the second stop on the Thailand segment of my trip and it is a pretty awesome city. It is located about an hour flight north of Bangkok and serves as the capital of the northern portion of Thailand. Chang Mai is known for its 356 temples and amazing outdoor activities. Let me tell you, it definitely didn't let me down.
Upon my arrival, I headed to a guesthouse that I had read about in my guide book. It was unfortunately full and so I headed down the road to find another one. The next one I came to also happened to be in my guide book and had gotten good reviews. This being the case, I decided to stay. after dropping down my stuff, I headed out to grab some food. After walking around the city for a few hours, I decided to call it a night.
The next day, I set out to see some of the more famous of the 356 temples that are located in Chang Mai. The city is basically set up in two parts. There is a huge moat that surrounds the "old city" and then the newer sections of Chang Mai are built around the outside of the moat. Considering the fact that most of the temples are extremely old, the bulk of them are located inside of the "old city." After breakfast, I took out my trusty map and set out to explore. The first temple that I came to was called Wat Chedi Luang. This temple was built in 1441 and was absolutely beautiful. What makes this temple famous is the fact that the "Emerald Buddha" which is now located in the Royal Palace in Bangkok, use to be located here. There is now a replica of that Buddha and it was really neat to see the original location of arguably the most famous Buddha statue in all of Thailand. The next temple that I came to was a temple called Wat Phra Singh. This temple is Chang Mai's most visited temple and is home to the city's most famous Buddha. "The Lion Buddha." Apparently this temple is a perfect example of the Northern Thai style of architecture and although I cant necessarily say that I could tell the difference, it was still a very beautiful temple. The final Temple that I came to on my "old city" temple tour was a temple called Wat Chiang Man. This temple is thought to bear the oldest markings from the city. There is an inscription carved into one of the walls that dates from around 1296. It was really neat to see an original inscription that was that old. After this temple, I headed out from the old city and grabbed some lunch near the moat. After lunch, I visited the final two temples of the day. These were Wat Mahawan and Wat Bupparam. These temples are known for their statues of various animals located around the entrances of the temples. They both definitely had a ton of statues and it was fun to see such interesting statues. After these temples, I came back to my hotel to chill for a little while. Later that night, I set out to check out the famous Sunday Walking Street. This is basically a MASSIVE street market that highlights northern handi crafts that local people make. After walking around the market for a while, I decided to call it a night and headed back to my hotel.
The next day, I decided to be adventuresome and booked a FULL day tour called the Lifestyle Adventure Trek. The day began at 8:00 AM and the first place that our group went to was some of the local villages located in the mountains north of Chang Mai. These local tribes are originally from Myanmar but moved to Thailand around 200 years ago to escape military persecution. After walking around the villages for a while, we headed to our next stop, the Orchid and Butterfly farm. At the farm, we walked around for a while admiring the beautiful flowers and butterflies. After the farm, we headed to our next stop, the Elephant Camp for some Elephant Riding! At the Camp, our group hopped into some elephants and then proceeded to take an elephant ride through the jungle for about and hour and a half. I must say, it was definitely a neat experience to ride an elephant. If you ever have the chance, it is definitely a fun experience. After the elephant camp, we headed the the next stop, a trek through the jungle to an amazing waterfall. The trek to the waterfall took about an hour and midway through, it started to downpour. While some people were probably annoyed, I thought that it really added to the experience and I really enjoyed it. Upon arriving at the waterfall, we were rewarded for our efforts with an AMAZING waterfall. The water was cool and clear and was extremely refreshing after such a long trek. After trekking back to the trail head, we headed for our last stop of the day, a whitewater rafting trip down the local river. Now considering that I have done some serious whitewater rafting in my day, while fun, this river wasn't tooo extreme. It was still fun never the less. At the end of the whitewater segment, we got to take a bamboo raft back to the vans. The coolest thing about the bamboo raft was that I actually got to steer it! After arriving back in Chang Mai, after such a full day, I just called it a day.
The next day, it was back on the adventure trail. I woke up SUPER early and headed for the "Flight of the Gibbon Experience." This is basically a series of zip lines, sky bridges and repelling stations located high up in the canopy in the rain forest just south of Chang Mai. There over 2 kilometers of zip lines, 2 sky bridges, and 3 repelling stations. This being the case, I spent the morning flying around the jungle just like the local monkeys that live there. Midway through the morning, we were even lucky enough to see 2 Gibbons. Gibbons are a type of monkey that live in this forest but are EXTREMELY rare. We were incredibly lucky to be able to see some of them. After we completed the rain forest section, we headed to yet another waterfall. This time, the waterfall had 7 "tiers" and we got to climb along side it up to the 4th tier. It was really neat to see the water cascade from one pool over the edge to the next pool. After the waterfall, it was time to head back to Chang Mai. Upon arriving back in Chang Mai it was only around 1:00 PM and so I decided to make use of my afternoon. I decided to head to yet another temple. This time the temple was called Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. This temple is located in Doi Suthep-Pui National Park and is located 15 Kilometers from the city. As we were driving to the temple, I realized that I REALLY wished that I had my skateboard because the pavement was 13 Kilometers of perfect grade downhill awesomeness! Upon arriving at the temple, I had to climb 306 steps to reach the temple grounds. Upon reaching the top, I was rewarded with AMAZING views of Chang Mai and the surrounding area. After walking around the temple grounds for a while, I headed back to Chang Mai. After grabbing some dinner, I decided to go check out the infamous night bazaar. This was yet another massive shopping street lined with stalls selling the useful and the useless. While I did not make any purchases, it was still fun to walk around. After the night bazaar, I called it a night.
The next day was my last day in Chang Mai. This being the case, I decided to do the most logical thing that I could think of, I left Thailand and went Myanmar for the day. There was actually a reason for this trip. Upon arriving in Thailand, tourists from the U.S.A. (as well as many other countries) are given a 30 day visa. If you plan to be in Thailand for more than 30 days, you must do whats called a visa run. This means that you must leave Thailand for any length of time and then re-enter. Upon re-entering, you are given another 30 days in the country. For my visa run, I took a van from Chang Mai 4 hours north to a town called Mai Sai that lies right on the border of Myanmar. After crossing into Myanmar I grabbed some food and walked around for an hour or so before heading back to Thailand. While a short visit, this visit to Myanmar was necessary and I can now cross off Myanmar on my global travel map. After returning to the van, we drove 4 hours back to Chang Mai.
FINALLY tomorrow, its off to what I have been most excited about, Ko Samui and The World Class Islands in the South of Thailand. Keep tuned for stories from Paradise!
Upon my arrival, I headed to a guesthouse that I had read about in my guide book. It was unfortunately full and so I headed down the road to find another one. The next one I came to also happened to be in my guide book and had gotten good reviews. This being the case, I decided to stay. after dropping down my stuff, I headed out to grab some food. After walking around the city for a few hours, I decided to call it a night.
The next day, I set out to see some of the more famous of the 356 temples that are located in Chang Mai. The city is basically set up in two parts. There is a huge moat that surrounds the "old city" and then the newer sections of Chang Mai are built around the outside of the moat. Considering the fact that most of the temples are extremely old, the bulk of them are located inside of the "old city." After breakfast, I took out my trusty map and set out to explore. The first temple that I came to was called Wat Chedi Luang. This temple was built in 1441 and was absolutely beautiful. What makes this temple famous is the fact that the "Emerald Buddha" which is now located in the Royal Palace in Bangkok, use to be located here. There is now a replica of that Buddha and it was really neat to see the original location of arguably the most famous Buddha statue in all of Thailand. The next temple that I came to was a temple called Wat Phra Singh. This temple is Chang Mai's most visited temple and is home to the city's most famous Buddha. "The Lion Buddha." Apparently this temple is a perfect example of the Northern Thai style of architecture and although I cant necessarily say that I could tell the difference, it was still a very beautiful temple. The final Temple that I came to on my "old city" temple tour was a temple called Wat Chiang Man. This temple is thought to bear the oldest markings from the city. There is an inscription carved into one of the walls that dates from around 1296. It was really neat to see an original inscription that was that old. After this temple, I headed out from the old city and grabbed some lunch near the moat. After lunch, I visited the final two temples of the day. These were Wat Mahawan and Wat Bupparam. These temples are known for their statues of various animals located around the entrances of the temples. They both definitely had a ton of statues and it was fun to see such interesting statues. After these temples, I came back to my hotel to chill for a little while. Later that night, I set out to check out the famous Sunday Walking Street. This is basically a MASSIVE street market that highlights northern handi crafts that local people make. After walking around the market for a while, I decided to call it a night and headed back to my hotel.
The next day, I decided to be adventuresome and booked a FULL day tour called the Lifestyle Adventure Trek. The day began at 8:00 AM and the first place that our group went to was some of the local villages located in the mountains north of Chang Mai. These local tribes are originally from Myanmar but moved to Thailand around 200 years ago to escape military persecution. After walking around the villages for a while, we headed to our next stop, the Orchid and Butterfly farm. At the farm, we walked around for a while admiring the beautiful flowers and butterflies. After the farm, we headed to our next stop, the Elephant Camp for some Elephant Riding! At the Camp, our group hopped into some elephants and then proceeded to take an elephant ride through the jungle for about and hour and a half. I must say, it was definitely a neat experience to ride an elephant. If you ever have the chance, it is definitely a fun experience. After the elephant camp, we headed the the next stop, a trek through the jungle to an amazing waterfall. The trek to the waterfall took about an hour and midway through, it started to downpour. While some people were probably annoyed, I thought that it really added to the experience and I really enjoyed it. Upon arriving at the waterfall, we were rewarded for our efforts with an AMAZING waterfall. The water was cool and clear and was extremely refreshing after such a long trek. After trekking back to the trail head, we headed for our last stop of the day, a whitewater rafting trip down the local river. Now considering that I have done some serious whitewater rafting in my day, while fun, this river wasn't tooo extreme. It was still fun never the less. At the end of the whitewater segment, we got to take a bamboo raft back to the vans. The coolest thing about the bamboo raft was that I actually got to steer it! After arriving back in Chang Mai, after such a full day, I just called it a day.
The next day, it was back on the adventure trail. I woke up SUPER early and headed for the "Flight of the Gibbon Experience." This is basically a series of zip lines, sky bridges and repelling stations located high up in the canopy in the rain forest just south of Chang Mai. There over 2 kilometers of zip lines, 2 sky bridges, and 3 repelling stations. This being the case, I spent the morning flying around the jungle just like the local monkeys that live there. Midway through the morning, we were even lucky enough to see 2 Gibbons. Gibbons are a type of monkey that live in this forest but are EXTREMELY rare. We were incredibly lucky to be able to see some of them. After we completed the rain forest section, we headed to yet another waterfall. This time, the waterfall had 7 "tiers" and we got to climb along side it up to the 4th tier. It was really neat to see the water cascade from one pool over the edge to the next pool. After the waterfall, it was time to head back to Chang Mai. Upon arriving back in Chang Mai it was only around 1:00 PM and so I decided to make use of my afternoon. I decided to head to yet another temple. This time the temple was called Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. This temple is located in Doi Suthep-Pui National Park and is located 15 Kilometers from the city. As we were driving to the temple, I realized that I REALLY wished that I had my skateboard because the pavement was 13 Kilometers of perfect grade downhill awesomeness! Upon arriving at the temple, I had to climb 306 steps to reach the temple grounds. Upon reaching the top, I was rewarded with AMAZING views of Chang Mai and the surrounding area. After walking around the temple grounds for a while, I headed back to Chang Mai. After grabbing some dinner, I decided to go check out the infamous night bazaar. This was yet another massive shopping street lined with stalls selling the useful and the useless. While I did not make any purchases, it was still fun to walk around. After the night bazaar, I called it a night.
The next day was my last day in Chang Mai. This being the case, I decided to do the most logical thing that I could think of, I left Thailand and went Myanmar for the day. There was actually a reason for this trip. Upon arriving in Thailand, tourists from the U.S.A. (as well as many other countries) are given a 30 day visa. If you plan to be in Thailand for more than 30 days, you must do whats called a visa run. This means that you must leave Thailand for any length of time and then re-enter. Upon re-entering, you are given another 30 days in the country. For my visa run, I took a van from Chang Mai 4 hours north to a town called Mai Sai that lies right on the border of Myanmar. After crossing into Myanmar I grabbed some food and walked around for an hour or so before heading back to Thailand. While a short visit, this visit to Myanmar was necessary and I can now cross off Myanmar on my global travel map. After returning to the van, we drove 4 hours back to Chang Mai.
FINALLY tomorrow, its off to what I have been most excited about, Ko Samui and The World Class Islands in the South of Thailand. Keep tuned for stories from Paradise!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Trip of a Lifetime Round 2 ( Thailand: Bangkok)
Well after a few days in Siem Reap, I continued my quest and headed for my next country, Thailand. Naturally I started in Bangkok and man what an experience Bangkok was. Upon my arrival, I headed to the world famous Khao San Road. For those of you that do not know what this is, Khao San Road is the main street in Bangkok for Backpackers. Many start their adventure and or spend a good bit of time here during their travels around Southeast Asia. As soon as I arrived, I had absolutely NO problem finding a place to stay. After dropping down my gear, I headed out to check out Khao San Road. Although it is just a street with TONS of street vendors, restaurants, travel agencies, accommodation, and bars, it was still quite a sight. There are so many neon lights that it would seriously give The Strip in Las Vegas a run for its money. After walking around for a few hours, I decided to call it a night.
The next day, I woke up early and headed out to check out some of the famous sights around Bangkok. At first, I tried to navigate my way around the city on my own, but a lack of a good map made this nearly impossible. I finally said screw it and jumped into a Tuk Tuk (These are three wheeled motor cycle cabs as opposed to a normal car). Upon telling my tuk tuk driver where I wanted to go, he said that the temple that I wanted to see was closed and that I should go to another one instead. I decided to take his word for it and decided to let him take me to the temple that he had mentioned. Upon my arrival, I was actually pretty happy that he had taken me there. There was a MASSIVE gold Buddha statue that stood over 60 feet tall. After snapping some photos of the Buddha, I got back in the tuk tuk and told my driver where to take me next. He then proceeded to tell me that that temple was closed also. After thinking about it for a little while, I decided that this driver was taking me for a ride and I just told him to take me back to where I started. On our way back to Khao San Road, my driver forced me to go into a tailor shop to look at suits. (I later found out later that tuk tuk drivers do this with all of the people that they drive around because they get free gasoline from the tailor shop for bringing people in.) I proceeded to walk in and then right back outside and made my driver end his guided tour and demanded (in a polite tone) that he take me back to Khao San Road. After some negotiating, he finally agreed and I ended up back on Khao San Road.
After grabbing some food, I was ready to try again for what I had originally planned to see. This time however, I avoided the tuk tuk drivers and got into a legitimate taxi. This time, I told the driver where I wanted to go and he had no problem taking me there. The first temple that I went to see was called Wat Saket aka The Golden Mount. This temple is located on a hill and as the name indicates, has a huge golden spire at the top. After climbing the winding path around to the top of the hill, I was rewarded with not only incredible statues of Buddha but also with incredible views over Bangkok. I was able to see the entire city and surrounding area. It was quite a site. After snapping some photos, I was ready to head to my next destination. Me being me though, decided to strike up a conversation with a fellow westerner who was admiring the view of the city right next to me. It turned out that he was from New York. After introducing ourselves (his name was Jordan) and talking for a few minuets, we concluded that we were headed in the same direction and so we decided to go there together.
The next destination that we headed to is Bangkok's most famous site. This site is The Royal Palace complex. Included in this complex is a temple called Wat Phra Kaew. Upon our arrival, we were both literally stunned at the sheer beauty of the complex. There was so much gold that even the ancient Pharaohs and Aztec kings would be impressed. We spent the next two hours or so walking around the complex and admiring all of the golden statues and various buildings incorporated in the complex. I think that my favorite building was the building housing the "Emerald Buddha." It was my favorite for a few reasons. Not only was there incredible amounts of gold, but the Emerald Buddha happens to be one of the most important Buddha statues in all of Southeast Asia. I thought that it was really neat to be able to see this in person. After a few hours of admiring the complex, Jordan and I headed to our final stop of the day.
The next place that we went was yet another temple. This temple was called Wat Pho and it is famous for its MASSIVE "Reclining Buddha." Upon our arrival, I was yet again stunned at what I saw. Inside of the main shrine of the temple, there was a statue of Buddha in the laying down position that was probably over 30 feet tall and definitely over 100 feet long. It too was completely covered in gold. I seriously couldn't believe what I was looking at. After a good while admiring the massive Buddha in front of us, Jordan and I decided to call it a day. We said goodbye to each other and went our separate ways. I headed back to Khao San Road and called it a day. After such a long day the first day, I decided to chill on my second day in Bangkok. I just stayed around Khao San Road and walked around for a while.
My third day, I got back out and decided to check out some of the more un-conventional sites Bangkok has to offer. The first site that I checked out was the snake farm. This is a farm that holds tons of different types of snakes (both poisonous and non-poisonous.) While the farm makes money from tourists coming to see all of the different types of snakes, its main purpose is to use the snakes to make anti-venom vaccines for people that are unfortunate enough to get bitten by a poisonous snake. The farm makes this anti-venom by "milking" the venom of the poisonous snakes. They then take tiny amounts of this venom and mix it with some other things and like magic, they have the anti-venom. I was lucky enough to see a "milking" take place. The snake handler basically took the snakes head and forced it to bite onto a little funnel. The venom then drips into a jar below. It is then taken off to make the anti-venom. It was definitely an experience!
After the snake farm, I decided to walk around this huge park that was right next to the snake farm. After snapping some photos, I moved on to Chinatown. Bangkok's Chinatown isn't too much different from the many Chinatowns I had already seen so after walking around for a little while, I headed back to Khao San Road and once again called it a day.
The next day, I spent the morning just chilling out before heading to the main event for the day, a night of watching Muy Thai Boxing at one of the local stadiums. I ended up buying a ringside ticket and I was front and center for all of the action. Muy Thai is more like kick boxing that traditional boxing. The fighters may use their feet as well as arms to strike their oponents and let me just say that it isn't necessarily the first sport that I would choose to participate in. I am pretty sure those kids in the ring are going to be in pain until well after I am back in the United States.
The next day was my last day in Bangkok and so I decided to go out with a bang. I decided to do a day trip about two hours northwest of Bangkok to an area called the Kanchanaburi Province. This area happened to be a very important area for the Japanese when they occupied Thailand during World War II. The first site that we visited was a cemetery dedicated to POWs that had lost their lives in this area during the war.
After the cemetery, we headed to the JEATH War Museum. JEATH stands for Japanese, English, American/Australian, Thai, and Holland/Dutch and represents the countries that had the most casualties in this area during the war. The museum was very interesting and focused on a railway line in the area that is known as the Death Railway. It got this name because of all of the people that died during its construction. The railway served as an important link for the Japanese between Thailand and Myanmar. After checking out the museum, we headed to lunch. Lunch was really good and what made it even better was the fact that we got to eat at a restaurant that was literally floating on the local river. It was really neat to be eating and see the water flowing right under my feet!
After lunch, we took a short drive to a local waterfall. The waterfall was really beautiful and after snapping some photos, we headed to the day's main attraction, the Tiger Temple. This temple use to be just a regular Buddhist temple but has since become a sanctuary for Tigers. Since the adoption of their first Tiger 10 or 15 years ago, the temple has successfully bread the tigers and now they have over 20 in the complex. The coolest thing about the experience is how close regular people can get to the tigers. They are SUPER tame and I was able to go up and pet them and take pictures with them like they were my pet dog. It was REALLY awesome and be sure to check out the pictures. After the temple, I came back to Bangkok and called it a night. The next day, I took off for Chang Mai where I am right now. Keep tuned for more updates from Chang Mai and the Thai Islands!
The next day, I woke up early and headed out to check out some of the famous sights around Bangkok. At first, I tried to navigate my way around the city on my own, but a lack of a good map made this nearly impossible. I finally said screw it and jumped into a Tuk Tuk (These are three wheeled motor cycle cabs as opposed to a normal car). Upon telling my tuk tuk driver where I wanted to go, he said that the temple that I wanted to see was closed and that I should go to another one instead. I decided to take his word for it and decided to let him take me to the temple that he had mentioned. Upon my arrival, I was actually pretty happy that he had taken me there. There was a MASSIVE gold Buddha statue that stood over 60 feet tall. After snapping some photos of the Buddha, I got back in the tuk tuk and told my driver where to take me next. He then proceeded to tell me that that temple was closed also. After thinking about it for a little while, I decided that this driver was taking me for a ride and I just told him to take me back to where I started. On our way back to Khao San Road, my driver forced me to go into a tailor shop to look at suits. (I later found out later that tuk tuk drivers do this with all of the people that they drive around because they get free gasoline from the tailor shop for bringing people in.) I proceeded to walk in and then right back outside and made my driver end his guided tour and demanded (in a polite tone) that he take me back to Khao San Road. After some negotiating, he finally agreed and I ended up back on Khao San Road.
After grabbing some food, I was ready to try again for what I had originally planned to see. This time however, I avoided the tuk tuk drivers and got into a legitimate taxi. This time, I told the driver where I wanted to go and he had no problem taking me there. The first temple that I went to see was called Wat Saket aka The Golden Mount. This temple is located on a hill and as the name indicates, has a huge golden spire at the top. After climbing the winding path around to the top of the hill, I was rewarded with not only incredible statues of Buddha but also with incredible views over Bangkok. I was able to see the entire city and surrounding area. It was quite a site. After snapping some photos, I was ready to head to my next destination. Me being me though, decided to strike up a conversation with a fellow westerner who was admiring the view of the city right next to me. It turned out that he was from New York. After introducing ourselves (his name was Jordan) and talking for a few minuets, we concluded that we were headed in the same direction and so we decided to go there together.
The next destination that we headed to is Bangkok's most famous site. This site is The Royal Palace complex. Included in this complex is a temple called Wat Phra Kaew. Upon our arrival, we were both literally stunned at the sheer beauty of the complex. There was so much gold that even the ancient Pharaohs and Aztec kings would be impressed. We spent the next two hours or so walking around the complex and admiring all of the golden statues and various buildings incorporated in the complex. I think that my favorite building was the building housing the "Emerald Buddha." It was my favorite for a few reasons. Not only was there incredible amounts of gold, but the Emerald Buddha happens to be one of the most important Buddha statues in all of Southeast Asia. I thought that it was really neat to be able to see this in person. After a few hours of admiring the complex, Jordan and I headed to our final stop of the day.
The next place that we went was yet another temple. This temple was called Wat Pho and it is famous for its MASSIVE "Reclining Buddha." Upon our arrival, I was yet again stunned at what I saw. Inside of the main shrine of the temple, there was a statue of Buddha in the laying down position that was probably over 30 feet tall and definitely over 100 feet long. It too was completely covered in gold. I seriously couldn't believe what I was looking at. After a good while admiring the massive Buddha in front of us, Jordan and I decided to call it a day. We said goodbye to each other and went our separate ways. I headed back to Khao San Road and called it a day. After such a long day the first day, I decided to chill on my second day in Bangkok. I just stayed around Khao San Road and walked around for a while.
My third day, I got back out and decided to check out some of the more un-conventional sites Bangkok has to offer. The first site that I checked out was the snake farm. This is a farm that holds tons of different types of snakes (both poisonous and non-poisonous.) While the farm makes money from tourists coming to see all of the different types of snakes, its main purpose is to use the snakes to make anti-venom vaccines for people that are unfortunate enough to get bitten by a poisonous snake. The farm makes this anti-venom by "milking" the venom of the poisonous snakes. They then take tiny amounts of this venom and mix it with some other things and like magic, they have the anti-venom. I was lucky enough to see a "milking" take place. The snake handler basically took the snakes head and forced it to bite onto a little funnel. The venom then drips into a jar below. It is then taken off to make the anti-venom. It was definitely an experience!
After the snake farm, I decided to walk around this huge park that was right next to the snake farm. After snapping some photos, I moved on to Chinatown. Bangkok's Chinatown isn't too much different from the many Chinatowns I had already seen so after walking around for a little while, I headed back to Khao San Road and once again called it a day.
The next day, I spent the morning just chilling out before heading to the main event for the day, a night of watching Muy Thai Boxing at one of the local stadiums. I ended up buying a ringside ticket and I was front and center for all of the action. Muy Thai is more like kick boxing that traditional boxing. The fighters may use their feet as well as arms to strike their oponents and let me just say that it isn't necessarily the first sport that I would choose to participate in. I am pretty sure those kids in the ring are going to be in pain until well after I am back in the United States.
The next day was my last day in Bangkok and so I decided to go out with a bang. I decided to do a day trip about two hours northwest of Bangkok to an area called the Kanchanaburi Province. This area happened to be a very important area for the Japanese when they occupied Thailand during World War II. The first site that we visited was a cemetery dedicated to POWs that had lost their lives in this area during the war.
After the cemetery, we headed to the JEATH War Museum. JEATH stands for Japanese, English, American/Australian, Thai, and Holland/Dutch and represents the countries that had the most casualties in this area during the war. The museum was very interesting and focused on a railway line in the area that is known as the Death Railway. It got this name because of all of the people that died during its construction. The railway served as an important link for the Japanese between Thailand and Myanmar. After checking out the museum, we headed to lunch. Lunch was really good and what made it even better was the fact that we got to eat at a restaurant that was literally floating on the local river. It was really neat to be eating and see the water flowing right under my feet!
After lunch, we took a short drive to a local waterfall. The waterfall was really beautiful and after snapping some photos, we headed to the day's main attraction, the Tiger Temple. This temple use to be just a regular Buddhist temple but has since become a sanctuary for Tigers. Since the adoption of their first Tiger 10 or 15 years ago, the temple has successfully bread the tigers and now they have over 20 in the complex. The coolest thing about the experience is how close regular people can get to the tigers. They are SUPER tame and I was able to go up and pet them and take pictures with them like they were my pet dog. It was REALLY awesome and be sure to check out the pictures. After the temple, I came back to Bangkok and called it a night. The next day, I took off for Chang Mai where I am right now. Keep tuned for more updates from Chang Mai and the Thai Islands!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Trip of a Lifetime Round 2 (Cambodia: Siem Reap and the Temples of Angkor)
Well after some action in Phnom Penh, I headed north west to the town of Siem Reap, which is also the launching point for the 8th wonder of the world, the Temple Valley of Angkor. Upon my arrival in Siem Reap, I checked into my hostel and then headed out to check out the town. Siem Reap is much smaller than Phnom Penh and so it didn't take too long to cover the town. After an amazing local Khmer dinner, I headed back to the hostel to catch some sleep before my LONG day at the temples the next day. Before I went to sleep however, I hit the internet cafe. While I was in the internet Cafe, I happened to sit down next to someone who was also gonig to be headed to the temples the following day. After introducing ourselves and discovering that we were both from California of all places, we decided to meet up the following morning to go to the temples together.
The next day, my new friend, Lance, and I woke up at 4:30 AM in order to head to Angkor Wat (The main temple in the valley) to watch the sun rise. It happened to be fairly cloudy on the day that we went to the temples but it was still an amazing sight. I have never been to the Taj Mahal but I have a feeling that seeing Angkor Wat for the first time brings up the same sort of feeling. Upon my arrival at Angkor Wat, I was literally stunned at the immense beauty of the temple. The temple has an outer wall that has many incredible carvings in the stone. Inside the wall, the temple itself has four massive towers that mark the four corners of the complex. Sitting in the middle of the four towers is one massive central tower. After walking around the temple for a while and marveling at its sheer beauty, Lance and I decided to head to the next temple.
The next temple that we decided to go to was a set of temples known as Angkor Thom (pronounced like Tom.) The main temple in this complex is actually a temple called Bayon. The main marvel at this temple are all of the various "faces" that are carved into the stone. These faces are incredibly detailed and it was really an amazing site to see. After walking around Bayon for a while, we headed to the surrounding temples and then decided to move on.
The next temple that we went to was a temple called Ta Phrom. This temple was my favourite of all. The thing that is special about this temple are all of the trees that have grown into and around the rocks and stones that make up the temple. (Check my pictures to see what I am talking about.) I literally felt like I was in an Indiana Jones movie (I actually watched one later that night to stay in the spirits!) Apparently I am not the only one to see the movie potential for this temple. There was actually a movie called Tomb Raider starring Angelina Jolie that was shot at this very temple. After this temple, Lance and I decided to head back to town to go for an afternoon swim and to get some lunch. After our VERY refreshing swim and delicious lunch, Lance and I headed back to the temple valley to watch the sunset. After the sun went down, we headed back to town and called it a day.
The next day, instead of going to the temples again, Lance and I decided to go and check out a floating village that is located a few miles outside of Siem Reap. Upon our arrival, we boarded a boat and took a tour of the village. It was really incredible to be able to see how these people literally LIVE on the water. They get around only by boat or swimming. While it was really interesting to see, it was also somewhat sad. These people drink, bathe, and go to the bathroom all in the same water. It DEFINITELY puts things into perspective. After the floating village, we headed back to town and just chilled out for the rest of the afternoon.
The following day, I decided to head back to the temple valley by myself to check out some more of the smaller temples. It was a good day but the temples that I saw the second time, while very beautiful, were nowhere near as impressive as the ones that I covered the first day. After the temples, I once again came back to the hostel and called it a day.
Finally, Saturday rolled around and it was time for the Hostel's weekly Pub Crawl. Everyone met in the lobby of the hostel and we hit the town for some fun. It was really fun getting to meet all of the people staying at the hostel and great times were had by all. The next day, it was time to say goodbye to Siem Reap and head to my next destination Bangkok and the AMAZING country of Thailand!
The next day, my new friend, Lance, and I woke up at 4:30 AM in order to head to Angkor Wat (The main temple in the valley) to watch the sun rise. It happened to be fairly cloudy on the day that we went to the temples but it was still an amazing sight. I have never been to the Taj Mahal but I have a feeling that seeing Angkor Wat for the first time brings up the same sort of feeling. Upon my arrival at Angkor Wat, I was literally stunned at the immense beauty of the temple. The temple has an outer wall that has many incredible carvings in the stone. Inside the wall, the temple itself has four massive towers that mark the four corners of the complex. Sitting in the middle of the four towers is one massive central tower. After walking around the temple for a while and marveling at its sheer beauty, Lance and I decided to head to the next temple.
The next temple that we decided to go to was a set of temples known as Angkor Thom (pronounced like Tom.) The main temple in this complex is actually a temple called Bayon. The main marvel at this temple are all of the various "faces" that are carved into the stone. These faces are incredibly detailed and it was really an amazing site to see. After walking around Bayon for a while, we headed to the surrounding temples and then decided to move on.
The next temple that we went to was a temple called Ta Phrom. This temple was my favourite of all. The thing that is special about this temple are all of the trees that have grown into and around the rocks and stones that make up the temple. (Check my pictures to see what I am talking about.) I literally felt like I was in an Indiana Jones movie (I actually watched one later that night to stay in the spirits!) Apparently I am not the only one to see the movie potential for this temple. There was actually a movie called Tomb Raider starring Angelina Jolie that was shot at this very temple. After this temple, Lance and I decided to head back to town to go for an afternoon swim and to get some lunch. After our VERY refreshing swim and delicious lunch, Lance and I headed back to the temple valley to watch the sunset. After the sun went down, we headed back to town and called it a day.
The next day, instead of going to the temples again, Lance and I decided to go and check out a floating village that is located a few miles outside of Siem Reap. Upon our arrival, we boarded a boat and took a tour of the village. It was really incredible to be able to see how these people literally LIVE on the water. They get around only by boat or swimming. While it was really interesting to see, it was also somewhat sad. These people drink, bathe, and go to the bathroom all in the same water. It DEFINITELY puts things into perspective. After the floating village, we headed back to town and just chilled out for the rest of the afternoon.
The following day, I decided to head back to the temple valley by myself to check out some more of the smaller temples. It was a good day but the temples that I saw the second time, while very beautiful, were nowhere near as impressive as the ones that I covered the first day. After the temples, I once again came back to the hostel and called it a day.
Finally, Saturday rolled around and it was time for the Hostel's weekly Pub Crawl. Everyone met in the lobby of the hostel and we hit the town for some fun. It was really fun getting to meet all of the people staying at the hostel and great times were had by all. The next day, it was time to say goodbye to Siem Reap and head to my next destination Bangkok and the AMAZING country of Thailand!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Trip of a Lifetime Round 2 (Cambodia: Phnom Penh)
Well my journey has taken me to yet another far off land. This time, the country is Cambodia and my first stop was the capital city of Phnom Penh. Upon my arrival, I got a taxi from the airport and set out to find a hotel. While I was sitting in the taxi looking at my trusty Lonely Planet book to find a hotel, the taxi driver took notice and made a recommendation to me. Now normal traveling rules state that you should NEVER take the driver up on their offers because they almost ALWAYS involve some kind of a scam / ripoff. For whatever reason, I felt differently this time and decided to take the driver up on his offer. He promised that my hotel would be in a great location and would only cost me $15.00 a night for my own room, TV, AC, and hot water. While this sounded too good to be true, I still went along with it.
Upon my arrival at my hotel, things seemed to be looking pretty good. I was smack in the center of the "sight-seeing"area and the place looked great. I was very happy when sure enough my room cost the $15.00 that my driver had promised. I was even happier when I discovered that it came true to form just like he said. (It goes to show that there are good people out there.) After checking in, I thanked my driver, but before I could go, being the business person that he is, he offered to pick me up the following day and be my driver for the day. I felt like I owed him one and so I decided to go along with it. After dropping my stuff down, I called it a night and went to sleep.
The next day, I got up early and just like he said, my driver from the day before was waiting in the lobby for me. The first site that I decided to visit, was the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. For those of you that do not know, back in the 1970's there was a communist movement in Cambodia which was headed by a terrorist named Pol Pot who was just as bad as Hitler, Stalin, Osama, etc. He basically arrested and executed thousands of innocent people for no reason other than that he didn't like them. The killing Fields are the place where the prisoners were taken to be beaten to death, because shooting them was a waste of precious bullets. The fields themselves were very scary (there were mass pits that use to contain hundreds of bodies each) but the scariest thing of all was huge monument that was completely see through. The reason that it is see through is because of the thousands of human skulls that are inside of it. The sight of all of those skulls really knocked home how bad this man and his regime really were.
After the killing fields, I decided to do the most logical thing I could think of, I went to the Army Base / shooting range to fire off automatic weapons. Now the guns at this range are not legal for civilians in the United States, let alone a range letting untrained civilians fire them at will. We proceeded to go to the range and I was presented with a buffet of firearms to choose from ranging from a bazooka, to a Tommy-gun, to an M16, to an AK47, to many others that I don't even feel like taking the time to list. (Basically many HEAVY artillery firearms.) While I would have loved to try them all, it was pretty expensive so I limited my selection to just two. I selected the M16 and the AK47. After making my selection, the guy who worked there took me out to the range, slammed in the magazine (bullets) and let me go at it. After shooting some rounds on single-shot mode, he flicked the switch and let me blast away on rapid fire. I must say that it was pretty awesome but definitely something that would NEVER be legal in the states.
After my fun at the range, I came back to town and got dropped off by my driver friend. After saying goodbye, I grabbed some lunch before setting out to check out some of the historical sights around the city. The first post-lunch sight that I checked out was the National Museum. This is a museum that houses many of Cambodia's artifacts that have been uncovered over the years by archaeologists. They included many Hindu idols and statues as well as many Buddha relics and statues.
After leaving the National Museum, I headed to the Royal Palace. This is the official residence of the Royal Family of Cambodia and is quite beautiful. Although you can not really see tooo much of the grounds (because the family lives there) I was definitely able to see some of the beautiful buildings that lay on the grounds. I was amazed at how much gold was incorporated into the buildings. They were especially beautiful while the afternoon sun reflected off of them.
Now my day wasn't done yet. For dinner that night, I met up with one of my older brother's friends from high school who is teaching at a local school over here. We decided to go to a local spot so that I could get the true Cambodian dining experience. It was a really fun restaurant and instead of ordering cooked food, we ordered our food raw and we got to grill it ourselves on a miniature propane stove at our table. It was quite an awesome experience. After this, I finally called it a day and went to sleep.
The next day, because I had already covered most of the sights in the city, I woke up late and got a late start to the day. The one site I did go to though was S-21 or Security Prison 21. Now logically speaking, one goes to this right before the Killing Fields but I decided not to for some reason. S-21 is the prison/detention center where Pol Pot and his band of terrorists interrogated and tortured their innocent prisoners before taking them to the Killing Fields to be executed. After walking around the grounds for a while, I headed back to town and just chilled out for the rest of the day.
That about sums up my Phnom Penh experience. Its off to Siem Reap in the North of Cambodia tomorrow to checkout the 8th Wonder of the World, The Temple Vally of Angkor!
Until next time,
Evan
Upon my arrival at my hotel, things seemed to be looking pretty good. I was smack in the center of the "sight-seeing"area and the place looked great. I was very happy when sure enough my room cost the $15.00 that my driver had promised. I was even happier when I discovered that it came true to form just like he said. (It goes to show that there are good people out there.) After checking in, I thanked my driver, but before I could go, being the business person that he is, he offered to pick me up the following day and be my driver for the day. I felt like I owed him one and so I decided to go along with it. After dropping my stuff down, I called it a night and went to sleep.
The next day, I got up early and just like he said, my driver from the day before was waiting in the lobby for me. The first site that I decided to visit, was the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. For those of you that do not know, back in the 1970's there was a communist movement in Cambodia which was headed by a terrorist named Pol Pot who was just as bad as Hitler, Stalin, Osama, etc. He basically arrested and executed thousands of innocent people for no reason other than that he didn't like them. The killing Fields are the place where the prisoners were taken to be beaten to death, because shooting them was a waste of precious bullets. The fields themselves were very scary (there were mass pits that use to contain hundreds of bodies each) but the scariest thing of all was huge monument that was completely see through. The reason that it is see through is because of the thousands of human skulls that are inside of it. The sight of all of those skulls really knocked home how bad this man and his regime really were.
After the killing fields, I decided to do the most logical thing I could think of, I went to the Army Base / shooting range to fire off automatic weapons. Now the guns at this range are not legal for civilians in the United States, let alone a range letting untrained civilians fire them at will. We proceeded to go to the range and I was presented with a buffet of firearms to choose from ranging from a bazooka, to a Tommy-gun, to an M16, to an AK47, to many others that I don't even feel like taking the time to list. (Basically many HEAVY artillery firearms.) While I would have loved to try them all, it was pretty expensive so I limited my selection to just two. I selected the M16 and the AK47. After making my selection, the guy who worked there took me out to the range, slammed in the magazine (bullets) and let me go at it. After shooting some rounds on single-shot mode, he flicked the switch and let me blast away on rapid fire. I must say that it was pretty awesome but definitely something that would NEVER be legal in the states.
After my fun at the range, I came back to town and got dropped off by my driver friend. After saying goodbye, I grabbed some lunch before setting out to check out some of the historical sights around the city. The first post-lunch sight that I checked out was the National Museum. This is a museum that houses many of Cambodia's artifacts that have been uncovered over the years by archaeologists. They included many Hindu idols and statues as well as many Buddha relics and statues.
After leaving the National Museum, I headed to the Royal Palace. This is the official residence of the Royal Family of Cambodia and is quite beautiful. Although you can not really see tooo much of the grounds (because the family lives there) I was definitely able to see some of the beautiful buildings that lay on the grounds. I was amazed at how much gold was incorporated into the buildings. They were especially beautiful while the afternoon sun reflected off of them.
Now my day wasn't done yet. For dinner that night, I met up with one of my older brother's friends from high school who is teaching at a local school over here. We decided to go to a local spot so that I could get the true Cambodian dining experience. It was a really fun restaurant and instead of ordering cooked food, we ordered our food raw and we got to grill it ourselves on a miniature propane stove at our table. It was quite an awesome experience. After this, I finally called it a day and went to sleep.
The next day, because I had already covered most of the sights in the city, I woke up late and got a late start to the day. The one site I did go to though was S-21 or Security Prison 21. Now logically speaking, one goes to this right before the Killing Fields but I decided not to for some reason. S-21 is the prison/detention center where Pol Pot and his band of terrorists interrogated and tortured their innocent prisoners before taking them to the Killing Fields to be executed. After walking around the grounds for a while, I headed back to town and just chilled out for the rest of the day.
That about sums up my Phnom Penh experience. Its off to Siem Reap in the North of Cambodia tomorrow to checkout the 8th Wonder of the World, The Temple Vally of Angkor!
Until next time,
Evan
Friday, June 5, 2009
Trip of a Lifetime Round 2 (Laos: Vientiane and Vang Vieng)
So the next stop on my trip was Laos. I flew into the capital, Vientiane, from Kuala Lumpur. After arriving and finding a hotel, I set out to check out the sites around the city. This isn't a very big capital city and so it was easy to cover the highlights in one afternoon.
The first site that I went to was called Wat (Which means Temple) Si Saket. This temple is lined with Buddha statues in various positions of relaxation (sitting down, laying down, reclining, etc.) After snapping some photos of the Buddhas, I walked around the perimeter of the temple to check out the other buildings in the complex. While doing this, I saw what I thought was the coolest thing of all; each building had extremely detailed dragon statues as the handrails.
After Wat Si Saket, I headed to the Wat Pha That Luang. This is another temple but this one's main attraction is a MASSIVE golden spire that shoots up into the sky. It was truly a very impressive site.
The last site that I hit on day one was Patuxai. This is Laos version of the Arc de Triomphe. The cement to build it was actually donated to Vientiane back in 1969 and was suppose to be used to build a new airport. After Patuxai, I called it a day and prepared for the trip north in the morning.
The next day, I headed to a town called Vang Vieng. This is officially on the "Southeast Asia Party Trail" and now I can definitely see why. The town is completely build around the river it sits on and the various activities that take place on the river.
Basically the main activity is either tubing or swimming/floating down the river while stopping off at the various bars along the way for some music, dancing, and some very refreshing beverages. Also, many of the bars have some extreme activities that one can partake in if they feel inclined. These include HUGE rope swings (dropping on a trapeze type of a rig from about 60 feet in the air and letting go over the river,) MASSIVE zip-lines (again letting go over the water,) and finally at the last bar, there was a HUGE water slide that shot you over the water at the end of it.
In addition to the beverages and music that are at all of the bars, each bar has a "theme" These themes include the "Smile Bar," "The Paint Bar," The Mud Pit Bar," "The Water Slide Bar" and many more that would take too long to name here. So basically, after my one day in the capital, I spent the next 5 days enjoying the sunshine and the river. That is unfortunately all I have time for in Laos. Its off to Cambodia tomorrow so be sure to check back for another update soon!
The first site that I went to was called Wat (Which means Temple) Si Saket. This temple is lined with Buddha statues in various positions of relaxation (sitting down, laying down, reclining, etc.) After snapping some photos of the Buddhas, I walked around the perimeter of the temple to check out the other buildings in the complex. While doing this, I saw what I thought was the coolest thing of all; each building had extremely detailed dragon statues as the handrails.
After Wat Si Saket, I headed to the Wat Pha That Luang. This is another temple but this one's main attraction is a MASSIVE golden spire that shoots up into the sky. It was truly a very impressive site.
The last site that I hit on day one was Patuxai. This is Laos version of the Arc de Triomphe. The cement to build it was actually donated to Vientiane back in 1969 and was suppose to be used to build a new airport. After Patuxai, I called it a day and prepared for the trip north in the morning.
The next day, I headed to a town called Vang Vieng. This is officially on the "Southeast Asia Party Trail" and now I can definitely see why. The town is completely build around the river it sits on and the various activities that take place on the river.
Basically the main activity is either tubing or swimming/floating down the river while stopping off at the various bars along the way for some music, dancing, and some very refreshing beverages. Also, many of the bars have some extreme activities that one can partake in if they feel inclined. These include HUGE rope swings (dropping on a trapeze type of a rig from about 60 feet in the air and letting go over the river,) MASSIVE zip-lines (again letting go over the water,) and finally at the last bar, there was a HUGE water slide that shot you over the water at the end of it.
In addition to the beverages and music that are at all of the bars, each bar has a "theme" These themes include the "Smile Bar," "The Paint Bar," The Mud Pit Bar," "The Water Slide Bar" and many more that would take too long to name here. So basically, after my one day in the capital, I spent the next 5 days enjoying the sunshine and the river. That is unfortunately all I have time for in Laos. Its off to Cambodia tomorrow so be sure to check back for another update soon!
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