Bangkok, Thailand

Back on firm ground, we arrived in Bangkok at 5 am following a night bus ride from the south. At this time of the morning we had no other real option than to head straight for our hostel and hope to spend the rest of the morning inside with a cup of tea and maybe something to eat. After taking a shot in the dark guess of the hostel's location (forgot the name and never wrote it down...) based on Amy's intuition we found Lub-d hostel (the taxi driver had no clue either). Another great modern style hostel, Lub-d was open and we were able to have some breakfast, lock our bags up and use their wi-fi and computers to plan the day ahead of us. Around 6:30 am a Thai bus driver came into the hostel proclaiming "floating market!", the exact location we were most interested in visiting. We inquired and were soon off in a van full of other tourists, all looking tired as well. Being tired turned out to be not such a big deal in the end, for we spent the next 2 hours driving to this floating market that was in fact not in Bangkok. Upon arrival the tour guides barked orders, showing us our meet-up location and time, then hurried us over to a line started to board wooden, canoe-style boats. While the idea of this market sounded great, it turned out to be more of a tourist trap type of deal. We were expecting authentic floating fruit&vegetable boats, food vendors, flowers, more Thai people. Instead we were greeted by merchants trying to sell us the standard tourist crap, an overwhelming amount of tourists and just a few food vendors. The whole experience was neat, but busy and expensive for the short while we were there and long journey to and from.

After returning to Bangkok we were able to check into our room, before setting out to find traditional Thai massage. Amy was very interested and had researched a nice, quiet and authentic house, that had an organic, Seattle feel to it. Usually lasting 2 hours, we opted for the 1 1/2 hour version not sure what lie ahead. Husky women twisted, stomped and pounded on us with intensity, our bodies were tenderized and even they seemed tired afterward. The rest of that day would be spent relaxing. Which worked out perfectly with Amy's plan to find a movie theater showing "New Moon". Displayed prominently on the side of one of the major malls, a giant New Moon poster aided Amy in her quest. We bought tickets in the "emperor class" theater and then strolled around the monster Asian mall. Malls are a big deal here, providing us with plenty to do and see, plus eat. Amy and Eric had some Dairy Queen blizzards and I went to Red Mango. Toppings were a little different then what I was used to though... We tried to contact Lindsay and inform her that we would be seeing New Moon hours before it would be released back in the states, but could not get through. Amy really wanted to rub it in. Emperor class seats had their own lounge where we were given complimentary blue Star Trek style cocktails, which were gross, before the movie showing. Inside the theater, the emperor-class room was limited to only a few dozen seats that fully reclined, and came with a blanket and pillows. Amy enjoyed the movie, Eric and I watched the movie and maybe got a quick nap or two in.

The next day we met back up with Brandon at 5:30 am to try and give the morning market concept another try. Setting out for a downtown "flower market", we arrived a little late, but still found a market full of flowers and Thai people buying their needed fruits and vegetables for the day. This was more like it, and it was fun to see exotic plants, fruits, vegetables and foods, as well as the hustle and bustle of locals minus tourists. It was then onto the Grand Palace and Wats(temples) of the Thai royalty.

Finishing our tour of the royal grounds, we took a Tuk Tuk ride to a restaurant Brandon had visited the day before with his friend whom he had been staying with in Bangkok. This restaurant offered only toast, on white bread with about a dozen flavors and was one of the city's trendy spots. You order your toast with jam, chocolate, sugar, taro root, etc. then a drink and that's about it. It is so simple, yet so successful, similar to places back home. Eric wants to open one. Back to the hostel we went in the Tuk Tuk, basically a motorcycle equipped with a body to make it more of a car with seats in the back, except much more exposed, loud and exhausty.

That night we met up with Brandon's friend Patriya to have dinner at one of her favorite local spots and enjoy some good, authentic food. Patriya grew up in Pasadena, CA and met Brandon at Harvard, but now lives in Bangkok working in finance and living with her parents who have retired there from the US and have homes throughout Thailand. We feasted on Thai style fried chicken, spicy duck and glass noodle, spicy baked fish and green papaya salad. Very tasty. From there we went and took a stroll through a night bazaar before parting ways. Some went home, some went to sleep and some went to see mysterious Bangkok traditions. Amy and I went to sleep.
From Bangkok we traveled next to former Thai kingdom Ayutthaya, en route to Chiang Mai in the north.

Thailand photo album

Chomp!

Giant Barracuda at Richelieu Rock from Bobby F on Vimeo.

Andaman Sea - Diving

Our last day in Khao Lak before we set off for our 4 day 4 night diving adventure, we rented scooters and headed to some of the more remote beaches around the area, suggested to us by a local surf shop run by a guy from Oregon. We scooted out towards the point of Khao Lak, passing by many luxury resorts and quite a few thai fishing boats. We found our beach which had a couple of small restaurants and a place to rent surf boards. We set up camp under a few umbrellas and beach chairs and relaxed the day away. We did rent one board even though the surf was quite small. I think we were all able to get up on the board even if it lasted only a few seconds before we were back in the water. Other than the few torential downpours, one of which occured on our ride back to Khao Lak (piercing rain to the face), we had a very relaxing sun filled day.

At 8pm we met at Sea Dragon Dive shop and prepared for our live aboard trip. The boat was pretty big holding 17 divers, 5 dive masters, and a thai crew of about 5. It was three levels, our bunks and dive equipment on the bottom, food/sitting area in the middle, and a sun deck on the top with 3 hammocks. As we left the harbor the Thai crew set off firecrackers, the loud noises keep the bad spirits away and provide good luck for our trip.

The first night we "steamed" for about 6 hours til we arrived at the Similan Islands, our first dive location. The diving was very good, clear waters, many fish, lots of coral. This first dive we saw a white tip reef shark. After we took the dingy to the shore, a beautiful beach with the softest sand ever. We hiked to the other side of the island, and up a very steep, slippery, muddy hill to a viewpoint. I didn't quite make it to the top, a little too steep. It was a little like mud skiing on the way down. After a few more dives, and nights we steamed up to the Surin Islands which provided more beautiful dive sights and beaches.

The last day we headed to Richelieu Rock, one of the most famous dive sites in the world, one of Jacques Cousteau's favorites. Marika, our dive master, was amazed to see only one other dive boat at the site when we arrived. I guess it can get quite crowded and be one of the worst sites because of the number of people. For us it was the best site of them all. There was so many different corals, and fish everywhere. Our first dive we saw a giant barracuda, a school of regular barracuda, and 4 cuddlefish, two of them were mating (one top of each other and changing colors). The second dive we saw more barracuda, pipefish, box fish, and a little tiny yellow seahorse. After another delicious Thai meal we headed back to land.

We had Sea Dragon drop us off in kuriburi? a town on the way back to Khao Lak where we were able to catch the night bus up to Bangkok. The first thing we noticed about our bus was our lady-boy bus stewardess?? who brought us snacks on the drive. We enjoyed an interesting 12 hour bus ride second to last row on the bus, with much whispering and giggling coming from the back of the bus from under the blanket which housed the lady-boy stewardess and another male bus rider. I guess we will see much more of this in Bangkok...

-Amy

Thailand Photos

Photos and Vids

Would love to post more photos, upload to flickr and vimeo, but it is proving hard to find a place with a fast enough connection. Might have to wait till we get back to the states...Plus Eric and Amy have all the good, high quality pictures anyway.

Back in Khao Lak

Arrived back at the Poseidon Bungalows and everything was pretty much as I remembered. I have a feeling there was a change in management or chef because thai spicey was not the same thai spicey. Everything seems to be much more geared toward the euro crowd (image above). The town itself has grown as well although we have not had the time to explore the beach which had been wiped out before. The sun is intense and we are already burned. Ready to hit the dive boat and islands for the next four days. Cheers

-eric

Tea and Biscuits! (Cameron Highlands)

From Taman Negara we took a private mini-bus for the 5 hour bus ride up into the mountains of Malaysia known as the Cameron Highlands. This area farms all of Malaysia's fruits, vegetables and flowers. The views from the bus were spectacular looking over hills and hills of greenhouses. We arrived at Father's guest house around 5pm and checked into the cheaper rooms which were situated in old British army barracks.

The next morning we had a delicious breakfast of tea from the Cameron Highlands and hot scones with whipped cream. After we set off on one of the many hiking trails that surround the area. Along the trail we saw a lot of beautiful fungus growth on trees and views of the region. The trail we took passed by Robinson waterfall which wasn't too spectacular, before dropping down a muddy hillside onto the main road. We were planning to follow the road to the BOH tea plantation, but decided the 7KM was more than we were wanting to walk. We followed the road 1KM to the main road, passing by a honey farm along the way. At the main road we waited about 20 minutes until the local bus picked us up to take us back to the city of Tahan Rata (where we were staying). There were 3 other people that were waiting for the bus who had taken the same hill trail, an Australian man and a European couple. The Europeans waited about 10 minutes before they decided to just walk the 10KM up the main, steep, windy hill back, and the Australian waited about 18 minutes before heading back to the trail which was 6KM. Just 1-2 minutes after the Australian left the bus came. The lazy Americans win again!

Every meal in the Cameron Highlands consisted of Indian food. We ate a lot of naan and curries. The next day we went on a tour to see the rare Rafflesia flower, an Orang Asli village, the BOH tea plantation, and a hike in the Mossy Forest. We started the tour by climbing into the back of an old school Rangerover with our driver "Bob". We set off down the main road, quickly turning off onto a very muddy side road. The trip to the hiking trail was one rough 4x4 adventure. There were 3 Rangerovers in total, all slipping and sliding up and over rocks and through giant puddles. We had to get out and walk a number of times for our own safety as the Rangerover struggled to make it up super steep slippery hills, and areas with drops (Bobby will post some videos from the ride on Vimeo, eventually). When we finally reached the destination it was a short 15 minute walk to the Rafflesia flower. The flower was beautiful and very unique. There were 3 other buds along the vine that wouldn't bloom for another 6-8 months. The flower we saw was 2 days old, and will get darker red each day until it turns brown in a total of 5-6 days.

Next we went to the Orang Asli (original people) village where we learned a bit about the natives and how they make the blow guns that they hunt with. There was one traditional hut made of bamboo, but most of their houses have been updated made with metal siding. After we had a quick lunch and headed to the BOH tea plantation, the largest in all of Malaysia. The BOH tea center was a beautiful open building overlooking the fields of tea. We enjoyed the view with tea, strawberry pie, coconut pie, and pound cake.

Last we headed to the Mossy Forest, which looked almost the same as the forests back home. Lots of plants related to Rhododendrons and moss covered trees. It started raining as soon as we got out of the car so our hike was quite quick which was unfortunate. We were able to see a few pitcher plants, another carnivorous plant of the region, but didn't get any pictures because of the dumping rain.

In the morning we took a bus back to KL, staying at the Tune hotel, a transit hotel right at the airport terminal, in order to catch our early 7am flight to Phuket. Hopefully there will be less rain on the beaches of Thailand.

-Amy

Malaysia Photo Album

Off Road search for the Rafflesia from Bobby F on Vimeo.

Hello from Malaysia! PART 2

Since traveling to the island of Borneo (part of Malaysia) was too complicated and time consuming, we opted for a jungle experience on peninsular Malaysia. Taman Negara is the largest national park in Malaysia and it's most coveted. Estimated at 130 million years old, this rain forest is one of the oldest in the world, surviving the most recent ice age and volcanic eruptions. Following a three-hour bus ride from Kuala Lumpur we arrived in Jerantut, and were quickly picked up by a local travel company that would take us to the boat jetty and supply us with lunch. The boat ride from the jetty to Taman Negara was quite the experience, the first hour was fun, so much to see and take in, the second hour was more of the same and by the third we were ready to be at our destination. Along the way we did spy some very colorful kingfishers, monkeys and one large water monitor (only Eric).

Once in Taman Negara, we docked at one of the many floating restaurants/travel companies on the river, which were constantly being re-situated with ropes by the locals so they weren't too far from shore. We decided on hiring a guide to take us on an overnight trip on a less traveled part of the park in hopes of seeing more animals, which also included spending the night in a cave. This ended up being a great decision.
The next morning, after staying at the Yellow Guest house hostel, we met up with our guide "Brian", obviously not his true Malaysian name. A funny, scrappy little fellow, he was full of life and carried a pack that appeared as heavy as he was. We again boarded a long wooden boat fitted with an outboard motor and zipped up the churning, chocolate river, this time through rapids. It began to rain heavily, and never stopped. The trailhead was about an hour upstream, allowing for another scenic ride through the jungle.
Once on the trail we were quickly greeted by the local leech population. Broken down into two species, the common "brown leech" and the biting "tiger leech". Luckily we mostly met the brown leeches, but Amy had one run in with a tiger leech. These little pests sense vibration and then reach to the sky hoping to grab onto our passing shoes. We each collected hundreds throughout the day, flicking them off if we had the chance to see them, or finding them later plump with our blood. Other than being gross and leaving little red blotches on our legs they weren't that big of a deal and I was glad we had to deal with these and not a 10 foot king cobra or 30 foot python. We waded waist deep through swollen creeks, were briefly followed by some animal (intense smelling moments), and slipped and slid through the mud. After 8km we reached our destination, a large limestone cave, full of stalagmite and a common home to local elephants. It was an amazing place and offered a nice, dry break from the rain and leech armies. In the cave you could see old footprints from elephants, and Brian told us stories of late night intrusions by the large animals seeking shelter.
Brian cooked up a great meal that evening, probably the best we experienced while in Malaysia. We dined on tom yam soup, anchovies and garlic on rice, beef and chicken curry and many, many cookies. Eric and I were coaxed into eating more than we wanted to, but the meal was still great. Following our meal we set up for bed, all sleeping on little mats near the fire, surrounding Brian so we could wake him in the night if we heard animals in the cave. Tigers, black panthers, multiple species of water buffalo and the elephants are all found in the area and Brian took keeping them away seriously. He lit the massive cave with candles, kept a fire burning almost all night and stayed awake for most of the night. Eric and I also stayed awake most of the night wet with sweat, it was hot as hell.

The next morning we were met with clear skies, a nice relief from the rain, but a hot steamy day lay ahead. My fever was amplified on the hike out and the 8km seemed like a marathon. We spotted centipedes, jumbo ants, one poisonous snake, more elephant tracks and dung but no animals. There were a few crashing exits by nearby animals throughout our hike, but we never saw anything warm blooded. In the end it was a great trip and a location I will always remember. The jungle was thick and intimidating, giving you the feeling it was watching you, waiting to swallow you up if you stepped out of line. The boat ride out was a welcome relief, although I would go back if I had the chance someday, minus the fever. That night we spent a little more money for a resort, enjoyed clean beds, took hot showers and watched TV. Onto Cameron Highlands...

Hello from Malaysia! PART 1

After a delayed 10 days or so I have finally gained access to the internet without having to pay or worry about being kicked off by other interested users. This first entry may be short, and I don't have the ability to upload photos or videos, but it will have to do for now.

The journey from Seattle to Kuala Lumpur went well, Amy made it through all the security thermal scans with a slight fever, Asiana Airlines was one of the best I have ever experienced and we met up with Eric easily in Hanoi, Vietnam for our overnight layover. After spending the night in Hanoi at a quiet hostel, we left early the next morning in route to our first long term destination: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur is a very diverse city, hot and humid, very westernized and development taking place everywhere. The city limits are a patchwork of apartment and cookie-cutter home neighborhoods being constructed amidst jungle, while the downtown area is a busy Metropolis. The city seems to be a melting pot for all of Asia, there are so many different types of people here, along with the very modern buildings and transportation facilities it makes you think you are on some sort of intergalactic spaceport. Eric and I were just waiting to walk into a bar and see the Mos Eisley alien band playing. We stayed at a nice, clean and modern looking hostel called Back Home. While the city looks impressive, that was really all I took from our experience there, some interesting temples and gardens, but not all the much to see. The Petronas Towers, built by the Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas were at one time the tallest buildings in the world, today they are now only the tallest twin-towers in the world and 4th tallest overall I believe. We waited about 2 hours for a free trip to the skybridge connecting them, about 40 stories up and as far as tourists can go. Neat, but luckily it was FREE. At the base sits a mall filled with all the world's top designers and retail stores, no big whoop, essentially Bellevue Square. Kuala Lumpur would fit right in back in the US, everyone seems to speak english, all signs and advertisements are in english, US stores and companies are everywhere. You want an Auntie Anne's pretzel, you can get one, get some shades at an Oakley store, sure, then go to KFC or Pizza hut, go right ahead.

We did manage to find some neat parts of the city, namely the Chinatown district and the heavily Indian concentrated part of town "the Brickyards". Food has not been that exciting so far, with many of the eateries being from the US, and the rest a mix of mediocre Chinese and Indian restaurants. We did however find one curry house where I enjoyed some of the best Indian I have ever had.

It rains hard here, the lightening storms are intense and I got sick with Amy's cold not long after arriving. Next we were off to Malaysia's largest and most coveted national park, Taman Negara. Hope to get some pictures and videos up soon...

Journey to the Far East

Lonely Planet Photo (Felix Hug)

Tomorrow Amy and I take off for Southeast Asia for 7 weeks of travel. We will be meeting up with Eric in Hanoi, (Nam) for a brief overnight stay before we begin our adventure in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I intend/hope to update this blog as much as possible for family and friends back home. We will be visiting Malaysia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, each for about 10 days to 2 weeks. It is going to be awesome!

Swim and Ski

Freediving World Record - 88m without fins from william trubridge on Vimeo.

Avalanche Skier POV Helmet Cam Burial & Rescue in Haines, Alaska from Chappy on Vimeo.

Amazing videos...

Auf Wiedersehen O. mykiss

Good luck to the fly fishermen who still have a shot at finding themselves a mighty pacific steelhead in 2009. With the run of 2009 breaking records, the Columbia river system has given many a fall to remember. I enjoyed the few chances I got to fish an old favorite, as well as experience a classic river for the first time. Till we meet again somewhere on the wild coastal rivers of Washington this spring. (Benson I hope you are putting some bend into those spey rods...)

Browse my Flickr

Make sure to check out the flickr account. Note: Don't own a sweet pro-style camera and have never used photoshop...yet

*the real photographer (Amy's photostream)