One Month Later - It's all Figured Out

It has been one month since I have returned to the US and I don’t know if there is anybody that is still out that and checking this blog. Afterall, the adventure is over – I have returned from my month-long odyssey in Thailand and I am back doing what I know how to do – accounting. And blogging about accounting is certainly not nearly as exciting for me to write or for you to read, as blogging about backpacking throughout parts of South-East asia- site-seeing in Bangkok; seeing the Bridge over the River Kwai and petting tigers in Kanchanaburi; exploring Angkor Wat in Siem Reap Cambodia; cooking and chilling with the locals in Chiang Mai; motorbiking, riding elephants and relaxing in Pai; trekking and caving in Sappong; beaching in Phuket, boat rides around Ko Phi Phi; Diving in Ko Lanta; and climbing and kayaking at Railey Beach.

But, if you go back and read the entries I wrote prior to my departure, you know that I contemplated Thailand being a trial-run for a proper adventure – an adventure without time constraints or schedules; itineraries or reservations. And Thailand changed me. It has realigned my goals and what I want to accomplish from now until forever. Could I continue on with my current path? I suppose so – I could work my way through the accounting world one promotion at a time until I obtain partnership –– earning money and spending money on mortgage and car payments, finding happiness and love with a relationship, raising a family and putting kids through college – living the typical American path – the rat-race which requires earning money so you can spend it on things that you don’t need, and accomplishing nothing that really makes a difference in my career – simply providing a service that is required only in the capitalistic enterprise of money, investments, and corporate. I’ll audit your financial statements to provide assurance to your stakeholders that the money they invest in your corporation is going to come back to them in and then some. What does this accomplish? How does this make a difference? Where is the good?

Things that I have changed
1. Not Motivated by Money – I don’t need to be rich to be happy – in fact, I think the cost of getting rich (no free time due to constant salving away in an office) precludes happiness. What’s the point of being rich if you don’t have the time to enjoy it?

2. Lack of Materialistic Strive – Fancy cars, a big house, tons of electronic toys and gadgets, expensive clothes, a luxury apartment, a big TV, modern furniture, gold jewelry – I absolutely used to want all of this – but I think the only consumer goods that I really desire anymore are the ones that could fit in a backpack as I travel around the world (which, of course, still includes my IPOD :)

3. Desire to Make a Difference – The only problem with becoming a travel bum (well, besides figuring out a way to pay for it), is not really making a difference – sure, you can travel, see, experience, do – you can even volunteer – but you can’t do that without making money too. I want to find something that I am passionate about – something I love doing – and something that truly makes a difference – and something that I can get paid to do.

So over the past 4 weeks since I have returned, I have brainstormed ways to truly escape from the path that I am on – and not just temporarily, but permanently– Why don’t I just become a scuba instructor/dive-master and travel from reef to reef around the world earning just enough to sustain a budget lifestyle – and I have contemplated starting my own business that would allow travelers to write reviews and descriptions of their journeys, and ultimately create a detailed online guide to everywhere – that would make a profit through ad revenue and book sales to be contributed back to the authors in equal percentage to the quality and quantity of their contributions.

The problem with these options is the first could only be temporary – after several years of diving, I would eventually have to return to reality and then what? The second, while I still insist is a brilliant idea – is unfortunately, already being done by travellerspoint.com. Besides, despite my desire for more travel and adventure, I am a realist and quite honestly, I’m too smart and too educated to widdle my life away working the odd job only long enough to save money for travel, travel until the money runs out, wash, rinse, repeat.

Anyway, like they say – third time is the charm. I have figured it out. My third idea is best idea – that will help me accomplish all my of my life goals – both short and long-term. I now know exactly what I want to do with my life and how to get there. I have a plan on where I want to be and what I want to be doing next week, next month, next year and beyond. I know what I need to do to get there, and I have already taken the first several steps. Doesn’t it feel great to have it all figured out?

As it has always been planned, I am getting my MBA. However, what wasn’t exactly planned is what I wanted to study when obtaining my MBA, and what exactly I wanted to do as a career once I obtained said MBA. Now, I have figured that important piece out. I am getting my MBA concentrating in “Business and Sustainability” and “Environmental Economics. Sustainability defined - Sustainability is a characteristic of a process or state that can be maintained at a certain level indefinitely. The term, in its environmental usage, refers to the potential longevity of vital human ecological support systems, such as the planet's climatic system, systems of agriculture, industry, forestry, and fisheries, and human communities in general and the various systems on which they depend in balance with the impacts of our unsustainable or sustainable design. Environmental Economics defined - theoretical or empirical studies of the economic effects of national or local environmental policies around the world [...]. Particular issues include the costs and benefits of alternative environmental policies to deal with air pollution, water quality, toxic substances, solid waste, and global warming.

Basically, I want to work with businesses to help solve the environmental issues that are facing our world; Reducing CO2 emissions, using alternative sources of energy, dealing with rising oceans, falling water tables, melting glaciers, destruction of habitats, extinction of species, and all the rest of that Al Gore mumbo-gumbo. Economic models need to change in order to properly factor in the environment and social costs of measuring the world’s production and waste. Accounting measures need to change to force companies to disclose their impact on the environmental through quantative measures. The tax structure needs to change to force people and especially corporations to reduce their environmental footprint and the world needs to work together now to correct our civilitions misgivings before more and more nations fail, cities are flooded, the o-zone layer is destroyed, electricity goes black, and food becomes scarce.

No, I’m not a tree-hugging crazy environmentalists – but the writing is on the wall and there is no doubt that there are many environment problems that need to be addressed now. People are now aware and action is beginning. The table is set and opportunity knocks. But from a personal standpoint, this is a career that I can get involved with to really make a difference in the world – while helping to protect the environment, nature, and wildlife that I grew up loving as a child – and still do – as evident by my adventures in Thailand being characterized by tigers, elephants, and sharks.

So, the plan is to start an MBA program full-time in the Fall of 2009, approximately 20 months from now, with the primary school under consideration being Schulich School of Business in Toronto, which ranks #3 for their Business and Sustainability Program on the list of top Sustainability Programs according to the Aspen Insitute’s 2005 Rankings entitled Beyond Gray Pinstripes.

So, What happens in the next 20 months? That’s easy – 8 months of work and 12 months of travel.

End of the Road

I had time for 3 more adventures in Railey Beach, Krabi and the surrounding area, and now I am just an hour away from heading to the Krabi airport for a short flight to Bangkok followed shortly thereafter by a 17 hour trek across the globe back to New York City.

After getting dropped off by the ferry from Ko Lanta at Railey Beach, I had an apparently short hike (probably 100 meters) to Ton Sai Beach where I was staying, which is right next to Railey, but separated by an ominous cliff that either requires a tough climb or a longtail boat during high tide, or a wade through the ocean during low tide. Luckily it was low tide, so with my large backpack and all, I was able to wade through the sea, over a bunch of rocks, and arrived safely at Ton Sai - mission accomplished - this trek back and forth was made several times (and I always refused to take the long tail) over the last several days, and was especially difficult during the darkness of night when the tide was high. Dark free climbing - gotta love it.

On my first day in Railey, I signed up for a half day Kayak trip, and what a trip it was. Just imagine kayaking on the North Fork of Long Island - except you are now surrounded by gigantic cliffs, mangrove forests, caves, and many many narrow passageways that required near perfect kayak navigation skills. Throw in the occasional monitor lizard, cobra (yes, those scary poisonous snakes, Kingfisher birds, tons of spider crabs, and upon further contemplation, the only thing this trip has in common with rowing through Long Island was the kayak itself. Oh, and I didn't even mention the monkeys - which were everywhere and quite aggressive. These monkeys took full advantage of he ability to laziness transport through the jungle by hopping onto the front of your kayak for a free lift. When I first saw a large group of them upon first entering the Mangroves, I opened my waterproof Oceansack bag that was provided for my use and removed my can of cashews in order to get my camera. As it turned out, taking out cashews in front of a group of monkeys is apparently not too bright of an idea, as I immediately had 3 monkeys jump onto my kayak and begin reaching for my nuts. I quickly put my camera and nuts back in my sack, and a monkey hand instantly reached his hand into my sack going right after my nuts! I was able to close the bag, and savage my nuts and camera - only to have a group of monkeys bear their teeth at me! Luckily, I was able to scare off the monkeys by waving my paddle in the air above their heads (a trick the kayak guide told us prior to departing). So, I avoided that crisis rabies-free with my nuts safely back in their sack where they stayed for the remainder of the expedition.

That night was Christmas Eve and parties were planned all throughout the beach. Xmas eve coincided with the Full Moon - which is typically enough of a reason to party in Thailand, so now we had 2 reasons - reason enough to party twice as hard as any other ordinary night in Thailand, which if you are in Thailand, you already have reason to celebrate. My resort had all sorts of activities planned - banquet buffet dinner, fireworks, fire shows, one of those ridiculous Thai cover bands that I love so much that sing American rock songs with the wrong words in Thai accents, and even a magic show. The magic show was doubly entertaining, with a bunch of fairly tame slight of hand trips, until it was time for the grand finale! - which required a volunteer from the audience. Obviously, I raised my hand (while jumping up and down on my chair), and was chosen. I was escorted onto stage by the superhotThai assistant dressed in a sexy Christmas eve outfit, and I was instructed to tie myself to the assistance with rope, chain, lock and key. Of course, I embellished this act by acting like a dirty old man who couldn't be happier about be tied to a hot girl, and got lots of laughs from the audience. After we were suitably attached to one another, we were placed under a curtain out of view, and the Thai assistance somehow untangled, untied, and unlocked herself from me (boo!), asked me to take off my shirt, which she then put on, and we were reviewed to the audience to much laughter and applause! After this, I danced and partied the night away, and slept to 2 PM the next day, and then got some more sun.

Which leads us to today - my last and final in Thailand, and my last and final adventure - rock climbing! Railey Beach is world renowned as one of the top places in the world to climb due to the great abundance of climbs, beautiful scenery, and lively beach scene. Many famous rock climbers often come to this area of Thailand. So, I tried my hands at climbing, and made it to the top of the three medium ranked climbs that we attempted with only minor cuts and bruises! It was all in good fun, and a great concluding adventure.
So, there we have it, I have successful completed my journey and now only the long travel home awaits me. I managed to do this pretty much exactly as I had planned, completing all my objectives, without injury, sickness, major delays or unplanned detours, or the lose of any personal artifacts - which is actually pretty rare considering the amount of stories I have heard about food poisoning, motorbike accidents, and other travel horror stories. Mission accomplished - case closed. I'll have more time to reflect on the journey home, but for now, I am happy and content and actually ready to get back to reality. I'm craving a juicy steak (the beef in Thailand is rough, chewy, and always overcooked), real coffee (powdered Instant Coffee is the typical standard here), and some NBA action (Soccer is the only sport I could find on TV) , so I would much appreciate it if these things can be arranged for me upon my return. Love you all and thanks for reading. While I don't promise it, I may post another entry or so with reflections upon my return to America.

The Underwater Adventures Continue

SCUBA SCUBA SCUBA - Hooked! I am now officially certified as an ADVANCED Open Water Diver. Imagine this if you will. You take a scuba boat out about 2.5 hours from the Ko Lanta and stop - you look around, and there is no sight of land in any and all directions - yet you climb down to the boat's lower level - gear up - and jump into the turbulent oceanic waters. You inflate your BCD to stay on the surface despite the large waves that attempt to carry you away - you plunge your mask into the water to orientate yourself with your surroundings, but see nothing but deep blue color surrounding you. You look around to your fellow divers and buddy and signal to begin your descend. Luckily there is a reference line in the water that is anchored to the ocean floor that you hold onto so you aren't carried away. For the first 5 to 10 meters, the current is so strong that you literally are holding onto the line with your hands as the rest of your body is carried horizontally with the waves. You think to yourself - what have I gotten myself into - let's just stretch this scuba idea and ascend to the safety of the boat - afterall, this is only my 7th time diving ever. Yet, you gather your composure and continue onwards - at about 12 meters the current begins to die down and you no longer need to hold onto the line to control your descend - you look down and you see it - hazy at first - but there certainly is a large sunken mass about about 16 meters below you - as you continue to sink - the mass becomes clearer and clearer - its a ship wreck. Now the current is practically non-existent and the visibility clears up as you lower yourself to the stern of the ship. There is 100 feet of water separating you and the breathable air that is somewhere above you.

This is the Kickcruiser wreck - its a vehicle ferry boat that sank in 1997 transporting people from Phuket to Phi Phi - while everybody was saved after the ship hit a rock, the ship slowly sank and settled about 2 kilometers and several hours later. The ship is huge - at least 250 feet long and 80 feet wide - its covered in developing coral and surrounded by fish - and not just the typical small reef fish that live in the traditionally reef - but large schooling tuna and barracuda (with shimmering big teeth). There is a big eyed Travelly that is just floating there, motionless, about 5 feet in front of you. This thing is the size of a large car tire - with an eye starring at you that is about the size of a silver dollar coin. A nurse shark, about 4 feet long, swims by along the ocean floor.

Your divemaster signals to begin perimetering the boat and you follow - the entire wooden side is absolutely covered in coral and surrounded by thousands of tiny yellow fish - you see a window in the boat and peer in - it takes your eyes a minute to adjust to the darkness, but you see more fish swimming around inside. As you continue your journey, you notice that the entire back haul of the ship has caved in, creating dangerous caves and other hazards. You follow your divemaster through one of these entry-ways, navigating through several large beams of wood, ensuring not to disturb the beautiful, yet poisoness Lionfish. The reality of what you are doing hits you, as you continue exploring the beauty of what mankind lost and nature has taken over. The wreck is now the playground to millions of fish - and you realize the power of nature.

Your final stop is the exposed toilets in the ship - even 100 feet underwater, you still maintain your sense of humor as you take turns hovering over the toilets pretending to crap. After you have disposed of your mock waste, you begin your ascend, and 8 minutes later (including another safety stop at 5 meters where you once again hang onto the rope for your life), the dive is over just 40 minutes after it has begun.

So, that is my poetic description of a dive. And today, was just as remarkable - diving at Hin Duang and Hin Maung, which both are giant sea walls that descend over 70 meters into the sea, and are frequent homes to Manta Rays and Whale Sharks. After dive 1, dispute all the beauty of the coral and reef fish, we were disappointed not to have encounter any rays or sharks - but just after I got out of the sea, there is a frantic as other divers just breaking surface signal that there is a manta in the water - you see it from the boat about 2 meters deep - since your dive is complete, you can't descend again, so you strip off your tank, BCD, regulator, and wet suit, but keep your mask, snorkel, and fins, jump back in and watch the ray, with a 10 foot wingspan for several minutes. And that's just dive one. The second dive (2 hours later after lunch) contained more and more fish, and several leopard sharks! It's amazing to think that a week ago, I was learning how to breathe underwater for the first time ever in a swimming pool, and now I have dove at the one of the best sites in the world that is reserved only for advanced open water divers, like myself!

And now my adventures are nearly over, I have one last destination - Railey Beach in Krabi for 4 days/3 nights for some rock climbing, kayaking, relaxation, and partying prior to getting a quick flight back to Bangkok in time for my nighttime flight on the 27th. I'll keep you all posted. But, now its time to relish my last night in Ko Lanta with all the friends I have made here diving and otherwise before heading out tomorrow.

PADI Open Water Diver

Hooked - SCUBA SCUBA SCUBA - I am now officially certified as a PADI Open Water Diver. I can dive anywhere in the world up to 18 meters. I passed the course, taking a final exam at the end which was similar though much easier than the CPA exam - (broken into 5 sections where you get instruction, watch the official PADI video, and then take a test) - also, I completed 4 Open Water Dives over the past 2 days at a reef (Ko Haa) about an hour boatride from Ko Lanta, which were all amazing. Diving in a range from 6 to 16 meters (20 to 60 feet) coral reefs are incredible - there is so much colorful life swimming and sationary around you - we saw all sorts of crazy reef fish, huge corals, eels, etc. It's so amazing to look around at the underwater world around you - but the diving is amazing. You learn how to remain completely neutral in teh water - just suspended there - only controlled by your breathe - breathe in - you slowly begin to rise due to air in your lungs - breathe out - and you slowly descend now that the air is gone. Perfect bouyancy. And moving underwater is crazy - you learn to control your breathe so you rise when you want to just hoovering over the reef and descending when you want to. There is so much that goes into it - the science of breathing, bouyancy, movement, the physiology of the pressure, volume, density of your body as you dive, the nature of all the amazing marine life around you, and even the math involved of calculating and planning your dive to ensure that the amount of nitrogen in your body is always within an acccepable limit based on how deep you dive, how long you dive, and how much surface time elapses between dives. I am totally hooked and can't wait to get in the water again. I also purchased an incredible DVD that has both above ground action shots from the boat preparing for our dives today, and underwater shots of us in the water with all the amazing things around us. You'll all have to check it out in another 9 days.

So, the diving continues after a one day break tomorrow - as I begin the 3 day advanced course where I can dive at deeper depths, do more adventure dives, and learn skills like underwater photography and fish identification. I'll get to dive the sites with the potential for whale shark, leopard shark, and manta ray sitings like Hin Dueng and Hin Muang, and also go wreck diving at the King-cruiser site - I also get to learn to do deeper dives and get certified to go up to 30 meters (100 feet!)

So the plan is this - chill out on Lanta tomorrow, then do the 3 day advanced course followed by 3 days in Railey Beach, Krabi, then head back to Bangkok for my evening flight on the 26th. Time is such a strange concept - on one hand, I can't believe my trip is coming to an end as when I look back, everything has gone so quickly, but on the other hand, it feels so long ago that I was back home. I have done so many amazing things and gone to some unbelievable places - and really, everything has gone down smoothly and even somewhat on schedule. But I still got 9 days to go - so who knows what is still left in store for me.

Island Life

I am now on Koh Lanta and just completed a grueling 5 hours in the classroom and 4 hours in the pool during Day 1 of my 3 day PADI Open Water dive course. But as is now customary, let's back up a few days in order to ensure that all my adventures have been properly documented complete with visuals.

Here are my pictures of me posing with ladyboys after the Simon Cabaret show on Phuket.

And here I am doing my best arms spread ladyboy impression. Don't I look feminine?

My half-day adventure tour around Ko Phi Phi ROCKED!

We spedboat all around the island and surrounding islands to all the bays, alcoves, cliffs, and beaches stopping for the occasional snorkeling opportunity or cliff-jumping site. I did a few cliff jumps from 8 meters (roughly 25 feet) and then 15 m (about 48 feet). You had to do a bit of climbing to get up to the jump sites, and unfortunately, I was so pumped up with adrenaline prior to leaping off the boat that I forgot to pass my camera on to get them taped. I also could not bring my camera with me in the water because as you may or may not know, bringing an electronic device into a body of water may cause irreversible damage. But, let me assure you all that what lay below the surface of Ko Phi Phi was coral and fish. I saw these species with my own eyes and you will just have to take my word for it that they were colorful and swam using their own efforts without the use of any electronic currents or batteries. The best was when the tour guide tossed some pieces of white bread into the water around you and you were suddenly swimming amidst a school (that is the proper nomenclature) of clown, angel, trigger, dragon, sprout, devil, hydrangea, infinity, pine, spore, robin and rainbow fish. I am unsure if all of those aforementioned specie names are the proper nomenclature as I am no longer the reef fish expert that I may or may not have been during the adolescent years.

After these adventures, we provided to monkey beach - which contains exactly what the name implies - a beach full of MONKEYS (I'm sure Hilary is getting more and more excited as she reads this). The jungle comes right up to the beach, and monkeys are everywhere. There is a stand that sells bananas, so these monkeys are certainly used to human interaction. In fact, you will soon be approached by several monkeys as they spot the bright yellow goodness in your hand, and I had my first banana stolen out of my hand within seconds. Being a monkey myself, I put my second purchased banana in my backpack out of view, and sat down on a large rock to enjoy it myself. But wouldn't you know - monkeys aren't very good at sharing and soon I had a primate companion join me on my perch, who literally ripped half the banana out of my hand. I still had some left, so we were able to enjoy together - just monkey and me sitting on a rock eating banana in the sun.

After monkey beach, we continued around the island finding all sorts of giant rock formations extruding from the turquoise depths, eventually finding ourselves at Ko Phi Phi Ley, which is a smaller uninhabited island that is only accessible by day trips, and also happens to be the spot where in The Beach (starring one Leandro Barbosa - I mean DiCaprio) was filmed, in a location called Maya Bay - which is a beautiful little beach in which words do not do justice - so I won't even try. Imagine crystal clear topaz waters peacefully spilling onto a white sand beach surrounded by jagged cliffs backed up onto a jungle background - that's Maya Bay - the perfect imagination of anybody's beachside daydreams that happen when sitting in a windowless office cube doing the 9 to 5 - it's what desktop wallpaper is made for. After our visit, we watched the sunset prior to continuing back to Phi Phi Don (the main island).

The next morning, I awoke to climb up hundreds of stairs and hundreds of meters of uphill sidewalk in order to get up to Phi Phi viewpoint in order to look down from above and take in the island. The island is shaped like a giant H, and was absolutely devastated by the tsunami 3 years ago - the majority of the development is on the crossbar of the H, which is probably only 100 meters in width and all at sea-level, so its easy to imagine just how bad the waves destroyed the island as they came from both sides. Still, seeing the island now, you never would have noticed that all the buildings had been rebuilt in the past couple years.

After descending, I hopped on a fairy and headed off to Lanta, where I arrived last night, promptly signed up for my scuba course, and began that today. Practicing in the pool with a hot Swedish instructor who just happened to spend 4 years in DC as a real estate agent prior to beginning her travels and settling as a dive master in Lanta, I learned the basics of breathing underwater, and navigating weightlessly throughout the water. Remember to always keep breathing with long deep breathes and to always watch out for your buddy - which is certainly easier when your buddy is a hot Swedish girl. The best way to describe it is it is like sky-diving with the floating sensation. Tomorrow, we take our lessons into the ocean for 2 dives - Can't wait - so with that, I now grab some more delicious Thai cuisine and head off to bed exhausted and excited for more adventure!

Phuck It

I arrived at the Chiang Mai airport on Tuesday about 25 minutes prior to my scheduled flight departure to Phuket, after spending the past hour driving all throughout the city to drop off other people on my minibus from Pai, despite the pleas of the other passengers and myself to the laid-back deaf-eared driver that I had a flight to catch and I should be dropped off first. Thankfully, the airport was empty and I was literally sitting at my gate - through security and with ticket in hand about 3 minutes after walking into the airport - about 10 minutes before the start of boarding - enough time to grab a snack and use the facilities.

After spending the past several weeks amongst the backpacking community, arriving at a huge resort complete with 4 pools (including pool bars/waterfalls/waterslides), about 10 bars, 5 restaurants, tennis course, putting greens, a luxurious spa, and who knows what else was a bit of culture shock. The place probably had over 1000 rooms amongst the 4 different stories of the resort. Being a Silver Hilton member, I was given the grand treatment - even a free update to a better room - and treated like a King. The place was probably at 10% capacity and there was literally more hotel employees wandering the campus than all the non-english speaking couples and families, and myself. The place was relaxing, and I just chilled, read, and relaxed, but I didn't find anybody of interest to chat up, so I decided to leave after only 2 days, instead of the planned 3.

Phuket is a giant mess of concrete with no real character - even worse - Patong beach is the ubercenter for old fat balding man to pick up and pay for 20 year old Thai prostitutes. It's disgusting to watch these womanizers with a silly grin on their face peacock around with their arm candy. Still, I did have fun messing around with some of the bar girls when I went out one night by leading them that I was interested only to walk away when they thought they had won me over to pay for them. I just finished reading "The Game" which is a hilarious story about PUAs (pick-up artists) and I practiced running some of the silly routines on these girls in the bar. Good times. I also went to Simon Cabaret, which was probably one of the most hilarious experiences of my life. Its a transvestite show with probably 50 actors?/actresses? (lets just call them performers) wearing elaborate costumes with huge feathery hats and tails, with crazy sets like jungle, china, the streets of NYC, etc, lip-singing (poorly) and dancing to Broadway songs and other pop hits. This thing was hilarious and I literally just sat there with my jaw open in shocked disbelief at the hilarity that lay before me.

So that was Phuket, it had some cheesy fun, but was not particularly the scene that I was looking for. So, I said Phuck it, and moved on to Ko Phi Phi island. I arrived here yesterday, and the place is absolutely stunning and also thankfully dominated by young travelers looking to party and have a good time. The drink of choice are buckets (literally buckets that children would fill with sand on a beach) - which contains a mixture of hang-over inducing Thai Whiskey (which is basically rum), red bull (there red bull is much more sugary and without carbonation), and coke. These things keep you going all night - and I hang out with a Canadian couple, a fun two-set of UK girls, and an Aussie girl. Good times. Now, I am leaving in approximately 12 minutes for an afternoon on Phi Phi of snorkeling and cliff jumping. Sound be fun, and I'll keep you all posted of my adventures and misadventures.

Pictures to follow.

The Adventures Continue in the North of Thailand

Hello friends, family, and other readers of the blog which details my famous adventures throughout Southeast Asia. I have just returned back to Pai after a 2 day trekking adventure into the northern Thai wilderness. More on that later, but first lasts back up a few days so I can properly detail all of my prior, yet undocumented adventures. Going back on a daily basis, I can't think of a single day that I have gotten here that I haven't done something new or different and exciting. It's like a daily smorgasbord of new experiences. Having slightly lost track of days (I know today is Monday), I believe that it was Friday in which I rode an elephant bareback in a river. Between getting sprayed with water, thrown off bucking bronco style, and being lifted into the air via the trunk, it was certainly a worthwhile, though sore (you think that riding a horse is bad, just imagine how your anus feels after 2 hours on an elephant! - I can now relate to prison inmates more intimately) experience. Here are some of the photo evidence.


I go from dry to wet after a millisecond after this picture was taken

The elephant (Noh - the 48 year old beast) is helping to cool me off


Yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaahhhhh-Hahhhhh! Now I got the hang of this!

So, that was elephant riding. Saturday was a well deserved lazy day - I signed up for my trek - hang out in a hammock for 3 straight hours in the afternoon, went to the Pai Hot Springs and Spa, ate an actual hamburger from an actual American restaurateur, and got an early night sleep.

And Sunday morning the trek began. Drove an hour north to Sappong with a group of 2 UK girls, a Canadian guy, a young Austrian couple, and an older German gentleman. Our guide Somesack (at least that is how it is spelt phonetically) took us trekking 18 kilometers over mountains, through rivers (not over them - literally wading through them), inside deep jungle bush, past farmland, and finally up and down another mountain or three over the course of 6 hours on Day 1. We were graciously welcomed by a kindly Lua hill tribe village who cooked for us, and gave us a cold hard floor to sleep on in an electricity-less hut surrounded by dogs, pigs, and chickens outside - of both the adult and baby variety. It was all in good fun, and thank god that I am physically fit - the same couldn't be said about our older German gentleman who clearly did not know what he was getting himself into. On day two (which coincidentally also happens to be today) we trekked all the way back to our starting location using a different route - which coincidentally also happened to be probably half the distance as day 1 and minus the mountain routes - hmmm - why didn't we just go that way yesterday I thought.

Upon arriving back in Sappong, a giant cave, complete with all the cavely essentials that you require a cave to have - hidden passageways, those dangly rock formulas which have a proper scientific name which currently escapes me, bats, Buddhist monks, abandoned coffins, about a hundred vacationing Thais, ancient drawings, and an underground river awaited us - in which we took Bamboo rafts all the way through. While the trek was fun, the cave at the end was clearly the highlight of trek.

Trailside View
Walking past girl herding water buffalo

Outside where I slept last night

On a raft approaching the exit to the cave

Playing dead next to a cave coffin alongside two Thai girls


Now, I have just returned to Pai - completely filthy, smelly, dirty, gross, and in desperate need of a hot shower but without a guesthouse at around 6 PM. In the 2.5 weeks that I have been here, I would say that I have quickly adapted to the backpacker culture. Despite the state that I am in, the first place, a lovely little village of bungalows surrounding a garden asked 1200 baht for a room. Considering that many of the places in Pai are around 200 to 400 baht, I walked away to seek cheaper shelter elsewhere... only to find that the next three less expensive, though also lovely, places were already full. Then realizing that I needed a shower and place to unload my pack, I realized that turning down a super-nice place to stay because it cost a whooping $36/night was insane. So, I turned around and checked back in.

So, now I have one last night in Pai - prior to taking an early morning minibus tomorrow back to Chiang Mai - where I have a 1 PM flight all the way down south to Phuket to spend the final 2 weeks of my travels island hopping around the Andaman Sea. I have a 5 star Hilton, booked using points, waiting for me - I half-way considered waiting to shower until I arrived there - walking in past startled couples and hotel employees - only to go to my room to shower and shave to return to the lobby to thankful individuals - but I figured another night sans shower was not worth 3 minutes of glee.

Till next time...