Homage to Chiang Rai’s Befuddling White Temple (PHOTOS)
This temple was both gorgeous and wacky. Enjoy the album!
Year: 2012
How I Nearly Killed Greg’s Dream
Okay, a motorbike trip to Pai, sure to be a highlight of the trip. One obstacle: I have never driven a motorbike. Pai is a darling little town in the highlands, approximately 130 kilometers north of Chiang Mai. The journey begins with 30km on a Thai expressway and the 98km after the exit is characterized by 794 curves and a steep ascent through the mountains. The trip can be done in 3-5 hours from Chiang Mai. One night in a pub, Greg heard that many make the trip to Pai by motorbike and he was instantly sold on the idea. Okay, a motorbike trip to Pai, sure to be a highlight of the trip. One obstacle: I have never driven a motorbike. But I can learn right? Let me take a moment to digress. Greg and I have very different learning styles. While on Ko Tao, Greg had been griping about the amount of scuba diving theory and lecture we had to do before getting into the ocean. With Jason and I as …
We Spend a Week in Chiang Mai, Thailand’s Jungle Hideout
I’m writing this in retrospect and it is a real challenge to my memory! I should be more dedicated to collecting my memories but on the other hand I vastly prefer to blog on a proper computer (versus our i-Pod Touch). We left Bangkok a couple of days after the Gaga concert. During the five or so days we spent there before leaving for Chiang Mai, I managed to develop a sinus infection (A/C mismanagement perhaps?) so I wasn’t feeling very dandy. Once again we were staying just off Khao San Road and the heat and humidity was preventing us from much exploration on foot. Exploration was likely limited by our scepticism that legitimate taxis and tuk-tuks exist. We exiled ourselves, read books, watched movies and got on one another’s nerves. Bangkok was grating on us. It wasn’t apparent at first but we had both hit a low and getting off the Bangkok was the only relief. Opposed to bus travel and operating within a tight time line due to our Thai visas, we hopped an overnight …
Homage to Doi Suthep (PHOTOS)
Greg and I’s favorite temple in SEA. Enjoy this album!
Lady Gaga: Hot and Sticky, Bangkok-Style
G and I have the same fearful vision in our heads: we get on these bikes, are taken for a ride and I am kidnapped, disappearing into Bangkok forever. Let’s have a word about Bangkok. Living on Khao San Road is really cheap but kind of a pain in the rear. It’s not connected to the metro lines, forcing you to go by tuk-tuk or taxi and god willing I will never have to take another tuk-tuk. It’s 4:30 on concert day and we decide that we should get going. We’d like to sit at a restaurant, food stand, whatever and have dinner and beers before the show. We figure we will take a taxi, plus rush hour on a Friday evening is just about to start. Fretfully we approach the line of taxis. We engage one and then crap, G forgot the 7/11 Gaga receipt. Run back to hostel and fetch it. Back to the taxi line. The taxi actually waited for us. 300 baht and he will take us there. We want the …
Koh Tao: Turtle Island Musings
There is an infestation in Koh Tao. I don’t know how it can best be treated, or if it is really a problem at all. Koh Tao is crawling with Canadians. G and I loved Koh Tao for many reasons. First, it’s a darling little island with a really low key attitude. There’s propaganda everywhere urging tourists and residents alike to ‘Save Koh Tao!’ (I.e. conserve water and use organic shampoo). Dive students wash up onto shore three times a day after an exciting day of diving White Rock or an enthralling night dive. A walking street connects the two main beaches and is adorned with beach bars, dive shops and travel agents. There is a man with a pancake stand who I have fallen in love with. I want to put him in my pocket and bring him back to Canada with me so he can share his $1 banana and Nutella pancakes with everyone. We went to a lady boy cabaret and saw a lot of nipples. Like I said, it’s not really …
Convinced I Was Had
Well, if indeed my apres-burn lotion is manufactured by Samui Sun. Did I just give good money to these folks for sunscreen and then more to recover from their inferior product. Yes, yes I did. Stupid farang. 72 hours later… Spirits are lifted. This morning I was able to independently fetch my own breakfast from the dive resort restaurant. This was a notable feat as yesterday it was a failed endeavor, resulting in my running back to the room lightheaded and slightly nauseous. Shortly thereafter I developed a fever and chills which was alarming. But anyway, feeling better today following a 12 hour sleep. Face is pink but improving. Stomach and chest are still a shocking shade of red, despite pain subsiding significantly. If I may be so bold, I suspect I may be on the upswing. As I have exiled myself to our room and really proven to be poor company, G has really embraced scuba diving. We had done our Open Water Dive tickets together, completing them the day before I managed to burn the shit out …
Did I Just Buy Knock-Off Sunblock?
I am laying in the air-conditioned darkness of my hotel room thinking, ‘Did I just buy a bottle of knock-off sunblock?’ Is counterfeit sunscreen a thing? Here are the condemning facts: At eleven a.m. I walked to a ‘pharmacy’ (essentially a minimally stocked drugstore) and purchased a bottle of SPF-30 sunscreen. The product in question is Samui Sun; Samui of course, referencing the island of Ko Samui. The packaging further reads, ‘Coconut sun protect‘ and boasts that it ‘protects against sun burn and premature skin ageing‘ (verbatim, misspelling included). Two for the win, right? — 29 days into our trip I was confident I had established a base tan, less the slightly less visible veins on my forearms. (A testament to living in snowy Prince George, Canada for the last five years, and one I am eager to remedy.) Given the perceived base tan, I would do this by purchasing sunscreen that was less than the SPF-60 my Dad-Pants Boyfriend bought for us. Speaking of Greg. He signed up for a two-day advanced open water diving …
Koh Phangan is the Easiest Place to Be
Upon arrival we were informed that no liquor would be sold until midnight following tomorrow’s election. We tried to make the point that we were foreigners and couldn’t vote, and obviously we should be able to buy liquor. We had it on good account that Bottle Beach was the bee’s knees of good beaches on Koh Phangan. So following the Full Moon party we made the north island our heading. G had convinced me that going by 125cc moped would be a dandy idea. Let me paint you a picture, two adults on a moped, with two large backpacks. We looked pretty goofy and it was uncomfortable, but doable. What wasn’t apparent on the map (on first glance) was the condition of the road leading north. In between us and Bottle Beach was a) a mountainous interior; b) jungle; and c) a road that turned into a dirt road with some steep grades. With bum space on the moped at a premium, my hips ached under the strain of my backpack as we slowly climbed …
Reflecting on Our 10-Day Stay in Beijing, China
Beijing is an entirely different world. Old China and a political capital, the city is wound a bit tighter than New China metropolises Hong Kong or Shanghai. Slow moving, full of people, brimming with culture and bad etiquette, it really is unlike anything else. Dusty, hazy, dirty, smelly and polluted. This is all tolerated to tour its centuries old temples and monuments, purchase goods at Pearl and Silk markets, and experience everything authentic Chinese. Ten days was a little too long, I think six would have sufficed. Being the first stop on our trip, Beijing really conditioned us to Asia. It overwhelmed, preparing us for populations denser than those at home and humidity. It helped us adjust to foreign currency and it was so safe (a good place to make some mistakes). With experiences such as the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, Beijing certainly has its redeeming qualities. Though for us, we felt it was a nice place to see and a nice place to be able to leave.