Happy new years everyone!

...And merry Christmas, Ko Lanta style!

I've finally left the islands of Thailand and am now preparing to enter Ling's hometown of Malaysia. I've parked myself in a city called Hat Yai which was just supposed to be a one night stop-over to Georgetown in Malaysia.

Nah, here's their xmas tree, a nice illuminated palm tree

However, after arriving, i soon noticed that right by my hotel there was a large festival going on. I went to go check things out and found a lovely night market and dancers performing on stage. Now i've seen plenty of markets since i've come to SE asia. Floating markets, night markets, weekend markets, fruit markets, clothing markets, etc... Now this one was by no way special. Except for the fact that since i arrived at Angkor Wat (mid Dec.) i have been in nothing but tourist ghettos. Going from one tourist venue to the next really gets tiring. When all you see surrounding you are young, loud British (sorry, UK people, hahah), Aussies, Israelis, Germans and Swedes, its nice to get away from it all and go to a nice, local city.

Sunny days over here

(its been like 30 days, 2 of which have rained, both times i was indoors, nice!)

Oh, and did i mention that things are cheaper here? In tourist areas, i was paying 400-600 THB for a place to sleep. Sometimes my own room, but usually crap if it was, or shared, which were of course, much nicer. Now i'm back to 250 THB a night, 0.75 cents for bowl of noodles, 0.75 cents for 1 hr of net, etc. I'm so much happier here.

Damn, the ship i came to Ko Lanta on, like a slave ship i tell you! Sleeping on hard floor...

Barely enough room to stand up

Finally got myself a compass as well! Damn that took a while. but this one has a thermometer as well, its 34 right now.

In addition, Hat Yai is also a city that is populated by a large number of Chinese and Asian Muslims. Its a nice change to see some culture again. And its a nice change to get some Chinese food as well. Some real chinese food (i'm dying for some congee). At least, when i'm able to order it. Most of the people that i've met speak Mandarin, but some will speak Cantonese. Almost all speak English which i guess is what really counts.

I will be here through the new years celebration (which is in less than 10 hrs for me) and probably for a bit more. This will be my last stop in Thailand and i will have to make sure i stock up on all that i need before going to Malaysia.

I think this is the first time ever in my life that i've spent new years alone. Its strange, but then again, feels quite ordinary. The usual build up to new years has been mild at best as I am always busy doing something else. So i guess i haven't had time to sit down and realize that its Dec. 31. What was i doing this time last year? Partying with Herbs and Ling. If you asked me then where will i be next year, i'd be damned if i knew. And quite disappointed at that fact too. But now, one year later, looking forward again, I ask myself, where will i be next year? I'll be damned if i know.

But this time, its what makes life so exciting.

Happy New years everyone!

-bk

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Hello everyone! I just wanted to wish you all a merry xmas where ever you are in the world right now. Its 2 pm in the afternoon and boiling hot outside, but my friends still want to go for xmas dinner in 1 hr. I'll take some pics tonight of Koh Phangan (yes, the full moon island, and yes, full moon party last night, and yes, pics later) and you'll see that its just like home over here, well, with the excepion of no rain or snow.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Welcome to the Gulf of Thailand

Here I am, lazing around in the ocean (with my sandals on of course! need them for bouyancy!), with the sun, sand, and surf in my face. Beautiful plam trees, nice 30 C weather and all the stupid tourists you can imagine. But still, i'd rather be here, wouldn't you?

I love floating in the water

Beach front property, nice. You can walk out for a mile here, the water is so shallow

The ride in took another 12 hours, this time through the night on a VIP bus. Good, but freezing cold. Either way, i'm not gonna complain. Its a beautiful island and i'm very lucky to be here.

I actually didn't spend my first night here, this is Chewang Beach. I was in Lamai Beach (hooker town) because my friends were coming in the next day and i need a cheapie place to stay. So what better place to stay than hooker town? Either way, i didn't really enjoy hooker town much. Got there at night and left the next morning so didn't really see much. Just a lot of bars, bar girls, stripper poles and sex tourists.

Either way, next day, took off for Chewang Beach (still Koh Samui) and met up with everybody.

Lunch/dinner? My British buds from Saigon

These guys just party too hard. The drinking started about 3 pm (i didn't start till 4ish, trying to take it easy you see) and went pretty much throughout the rest of the day and night. I have no idea how they do it. I have no idea how any of these people i party with can do it. They can drink all day and night and still wake up the next morning to go another round. It must be some kinda european thing. Or, actually it seems more like a Vancouver thing. The night ends at 2 at home. Here, and in europe, the night doesn't end until breakfast is no longer served at McDicks.

With the recent night in Bangkok still fresh in my mind, i stopped drinking quite early. Which is definitely a good thing. I got to the be photographer for the rest of the evening and got some great shots.

Sunset from our resteraunt

Beautiful night sky in Koh Samui

Now for the real drinking to begin. Buckets!

Love the camera! Work it....Dragons pose!

Uh, maybe a little too much for Trev?

Actually i guess it was a little too much for all of them as they ended up rolling around in the surf as we were walking back home. I guess it was kinda my fault (i admit it). I was the one that suggested jumping in. Hahaha. There were already some people in there and i was like hey, lets jump in! Now the new argument is who went in first? I'm quite sure it was Lauren. Haha, but sorry no photographic evidence.

The night was a total load of laughs. Sometimes you just have to sit down with a bunch of of UKers and listen to what their saying. They're still talking too fast for me, but its getting much better. And their type of humor is starting to make sense in a British sort of way.

The long walk back home was total chaos as no one knew where we were going, everyone was yelling and screaming, glasses and phones went missing (alex's and trev's), and of course me, trying my best to document every single funny thing that i could. I'm sure the stuff happening in the water would have been so much funnier if i was able to go in deeper too but i really didn't feel like getting my pants wet. So walking along the beach i end up kicking the stupidest thing ever. An anchor. In the middle of the beach! What the hell is an anchor doing in the middle of the beach? Who knows. Whatever, my foot is fine anyways.

Next day my Welch friend and i decide to go see what the rest of the island was all about. Ko Samui is not a very big island (big for here, but not reallt that big), but there are some nice peaks which we scaled for fun. One of them had a nice resteraunt where we stopped off for a drink. The views from there were beautiful.

Look! Natural palm trees! Its so cool to see a forest of palm trees. Not those artifically planted ones like you see back home.

Wish you were all here!

Deep in though

What a wicked resteraunt

-bk

Bye Bye Marco!

Damn...As far as last nights go, that last one was one i will never forget/remember.

I took the bus from Siem Reap to Bangkok, a full 12 hour journey including a nightmare of a border crossing, 4 hours on a dusty, bumpy, dirt Cambodian road, all in the name of seeing my friend one last time (man, the things i do for people! you know what i'm talking about marco!).

I arrived in the worst place in Bangkok, Koh San Road, rang a few friends that i was meeting there, and went out for the night.

The Worst place in Bangkok!

The next morning, 'the man' arrived. There he was standing on the corner in front of the police station (in trouble again eh? hahahah, j/k) trying to look as cool as possible. I hate to admit it but i was quite glad to see the guy again. Its only been a few weeks but i knew he had stories for me from Koh Samui. And of course, they were all hilarious! Maybe i can con him into making a guest post, but for now, you'll have to ask him yourself. Leave it at, he had "a fantastic time."

Stop inserting strange things into strange places!

That night, after a quick introduction to some of my new British friends, we decided to leave the bar and head off to a proper club and listen to some real music. We went to 'The Club' just down the road and started the night.

Welcome to The Club

Meeting my new mates

Going wild!

Close up of those crazy UK nutters

Refueling at Khao San McDicks!

I knew i would be in trouble when he asked if i wanted to share a bucket. I knew i would be even more trouble when they started putting red bull into it (i hate that stuff). And i knew i would be literally finished when i saw them pour an entire bottle of whiskey into our bucket.

I'm not too sure what happened that night. The music was banging, the lasers were wicked, and the club atmosphere was nuts. At least i think so. only thing i'm sure about was that the dick/chick was pretty bad. Either way, i didn't make it to the toilet, but i did make it to the sink (close enough, c'mon). Apparently some cleaning lady started yelling at me why i couldn't make it to the toilet, but Marco took care of her with a 20 B. Hahaha, thanks again man.


Next morning, feeling not too bad sinced i left most of it in the sink at the club, rang my bud and went out shopping for the day. Damn man! You shop like a woman! Hahhaa.


Fast forward to night time. Met up with the Britons again, this time with some canadians, and warmed up in the bar. Played some pool, which i might add, was doing quite well. Got a chance to play with a cutie too, but wasn't sure if she was a working girl or not. Doesn't matter anyways, left for 'The Club' again, same buckets, same music, bigger crowd, more friends, even better time! This round, i was the one walking home in a straight line (not that he was that messed, but i was quite sober).

ZzZZZzzzZ...looks like its time to leave

Next morning, 7 AM, i get a ring. I was like crap, someone is in trouble. We were all out so late last night (and some of us pretty smashed) that no one in their right mind would be awake at this time unless it was an emergency. So i dragged my sorry ass out of bed and answered the fone.

Of course it was Marco, and the first thing he says to me was, 'Hello?' in his usual devilish ways. Damn man! Its 7 Am in the morning! What do you want? Apparently, red bulls and sleep don't mix very well, even for a guy that has them daily. So i thought, what the hell, its the mans last day in Bangkok, i'll go out with him for a while. Of course that didn't happen. I told him to call me back at 9 and we'll go eat. Instead, i woke up at 11, and found him all nice and relaxed after having a 2 hr thai massage.


Anyways, we finished the day by going out for some last souviner shopping. Now that punk is going home to go on a 'surprise' family ski/board vacation in Austria. Now whats up with that? You finish a 3 month tour of duty in SE asia and go home to an all expenses paid resort vacation? Straight from the sun to the snow. i hope you freeze your ass off! hahahah!


Like i said before, we had good times, we had boring times, we had ok times and we had great times. I'll see you again Marco.






-bk

PS, i still owe you one of these. don't worry, i'll get you one.

And a frog too. You know you want one! hahahah

I still know i'm not crazy for collecting these. Even if i have to carry this for 6 more months.

Half way

I haven't had much time lately to reflect but i just realized that right now i'm about half way through my journey.



Has it really been that long since i left home? Or has it really just been three months? I guess it depends on how you look at it. Time has just flown by. I'm so glad i've kept a blog going or i would have no idea what i've been up to.



I have flown, i have walked, i have rode, i have buses, i have trained, i have boated, and i have cycled all across this huge continent. It seems like i have gone so far. Yet when i look at the globe, i can't even find where i started, where i've been, and where i am.

The world is such a big place.

And yet, is so small.

I'm at my planned 1/2 way point time wise but i realize that i'm still not even 1/2 way through my journey. The biggest, best, roughest, scariest, shadiest, loneliest, cheapest, longest, most dangerous and wildest journies are still to come.



I've had good times and bad. I've been robbed. My friends have been robbed. i've been ripped off countless of times. I've had bad food. I cut my foot. I have too many mosquito bites to count. I've been sick. I've been locked out of my room. I've been locked out of my hotel. i've been lost so many times that i've lost count. I've been sad alone in my room. I've been scared alone in my room. I've missed home countless times. I've met the strangest stupidest people i could ever imagine. i've seen unimaginable brutality. I've seen poverty. I've seen the ravages of warfare.

But i think most importantly, i've seen, felt, and experienced.

This is what i'm here to do. And this is what i'm doing.

I will have to relax and reflect for the next two weeks (see drinking, partying, relaxing on the beach, diving, climbing, hiking, etc...) and plan the second phase of my journey.



Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Island of Borneo (Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei), West Timor, and the Philippines are next on my list.

How long is it going to take me?

Cool Pic, but not by me unfortunately...

I thought this was a very cool picture. Read the caption.

And yeah, once in a while when i have time, i will still look for stupid crap on the net as usual.

hahah! too bad Thomas!

Went shopping today for a few items that i need. Firstly, a postcard or two to send to julia. Second, some more guide books (philippines, malaysia, indonesia, etc...). And finally, a pair of sunglasses.

Came across an opTOMMYrist advertising 10 dollar glasses and frames. So naturally, being as cheap as i am, figured what the hell, 10 dollars for a spare pair of glasses. Of course as I went in i decided its finally time for me to get something nicer for myself so i decided on a snazzy new pair of frames and threw in some chromo lenses (darkening) to boot.

Total cost:

35 for frames
+30 for lenses
-5 beacuse i'm so damn charming!
+0 for eye exam (huh, my eyes are getting better? whatever, i can see, good enough...)
------------------------
60 dollars. Beat that Thomas! If you ain't gonna give me a better deal than that then i'm coming to Cambodia for my lenses and not to you! HAHahaa. j/k

-bk

The mother of all temples, more temples, and more temples, and then just piles of rocks...

Welcome to Angkor Wat

Welcome to Angkor Province. Home to world famous Angkor wat. The largest religious structure in the world. And it is truly as large as they say it is. Angkor Wat is in every way, a huge ancient temple, of mammoth proportions with equally amazing detail and arcitecture.

Some of the fine carvings found around Angkor Wat

Another beautiful stone carving. These were present all

over the place where mother nature had not taken her toll

The outer four walls were covered with engravings

depicting some kind of super battle of some sort

A close up of the wall. The detail is mind blowing.

A courtyard inside Angkor Wat

Outside Angkor Wat

But really that is all the praises i can say. I was there for sunrise and spent the next 9 hours walking around, seeing temple after temple after temple. With the heat increasing throughout the day and my bum foot hurting more and more, these fantastic temples turned from the 7th or 8th wonder of the world into huge piles of crumbing rock.

A lovely pile of rocks

In this temple, the Mother Nature is in the process of reclaiming her land

Same here

I feel kinda bad not understanding more about each and every temple i visited. But as usual, i just didn't care. I'm not a temple person. I have read up a little of the history of each structure, but it really felt like i was studying a history lesson that i could care less about.

There were so many tourist there it was difficult to get some time alone and really absorb the surroundings. It was always chinese, korean or japanese tour groups marching their way around, poking, prodding and posing at every structure the tour guide pointed out. It was quite annoying fighting with them to get pics everywhere i went. That and my stupid phone camera takes the lamest pictures ever. I should just draw everything i see instead. I'm sure the pics will be nicer. But for now, it will have to suffice. I will be in bkk tomorrow and then i can have a new camera.

Ooooh, scary entrance...its the temple of Doom

However, there were some points in the temples i will never forget. Sometimes, when you wander off away from the crowds, down some dark corridors, and find yourself in a completely empty and serene place. When the walls are just right and they block the sound of the ever incessant tourist, you can have moments of silence that are indescribable. I felt like an explorer that has stumbled upon a never before seen lost city in the jungle. The atmosphere was a mix of romance and wonder as you stroll through ruins and jungle waiting to see what was around the next corner. Every turn was something new. Every small window led to another new garden. Every wall contained a secret of vast untold riches. Every exit was, but an entrance, somewhere else (Dr. Fraiser Crane). There was a real Indiana Jones feeling about everything. I half expected poison darts or a giant stone ball to come out of somewhere and try to kill me.

The Bayon temple, famous for its carvings

Alone inside the Bayon

Back to Angkor Wat

But of course, the adventure always ended too quickly. Sometimes when you turn a corner you bump into a sign saying no enterance or danger. Those kinda things quickly ruin the myster of a place. Oh, that and tour guides yelling, one, two, three, cheese (well, thats what they were saying in chinese, i'm not sure about the other languages).

Damn tourists! They really are like an infestation or plague.

A Hindu temple. I was quite keen on exploring this temple as well but after reaching the base i decided not to. Hindu temples are build very tall and so the stairs were steep as hell. I'm sure i could have went up but my bum foot would have definitely been my undoing on my way back.

Well, that is my story of Angkor wat and the surrounding temples.

My attempt at an artistic shot using my fone.

Damn i wish i had my camera. Did you know that new D-SLRs have the apeture in the housing and not in the lense? How strange it that? But better question, is why didn't they do this long ago? It makes perfect sense.