Montañita

This place just keeps getting better and better. Everything just seems to be falling into place here in Montañita. The random event when Andrea sat next to the fisherman started it all off. Yesterday I started looking for places to camp and or really cheap hostals. I came across this apartment that two girls were renting from Guayaquil. Since I have been planning on camping I need a place where I can clean fish and cook my meals...there is not much firewood around here. I was able to make a deal with the girls on using their kitchen, and they will teach me to cook Ecuadorian style. This is also a great deal because I will learn lots of spanish with them. Today I found a nice hostal that is going to let me pitch my tent on their roof, and it happens to be right next the kitchen I will be using. I will be paying $2 a night which is going to be great for my budget. Another ironic and crazy turn of events happened to me today. Since the day I arrived here my spearfishing buddies have been overly generous to me letting me use wetsuits, kitchen facilities, and other stuff. I had worked out a deal where I would pay one of the guys to use his extra wetsuit, but we had not gone over the details. I wanted to buy my own because I could tell he would rather me have my own, but they are $300 or more. I have been racking my brain trying to figure out what to do. This morning we were going fishing again, but for some reason or another I didn´t wake up. I am not sure why but I just sleep through. When I did get out of bed some of the other locals told me that Pedro (one of my fishing buddies) came looking for me because we were going to go up north to the really good fishing spot. We have been talking about this place for a week now and I really wanted to go. When he came to get me didn´t know that I had changed rooms, so he was not able to wake me up to go. When I found all this out I was so pissed at myself. I missed the first big trip!!! About an hour after finding all this had happened this morning I end up meeting an Australian guy who is headed home in a couple of days. He had been in Montañita surfing. I don´t even know how the subject came up but he was done with his wetsuit and gave it to me!!! I always say everything happens for a reason and it truly does.

I may have found my new home

So I am here in Montañita, Ecuador for the second time, and wow is it better this time around. Andrea and I were here 3 or 4 weeks ago checking out the spanish school, and I was trying to meet up with some local spearfisherman. We were only here for two days and it didn´t seem like it was the kind of place we would stay for too long. I was not able to meet up with the fisherman, and the school was a little pricy. At the time it just didn´t seem right for. After 2 weeks in Baños we decided to come visit a friend from Chicago who is working here in Montañita.

I have been carrying my speargun and equipment for a month or so now and it has been a bit of a pain in the butt. I had given up on meeting up with the spearfisherman here, and was ready to wait till Colombia. It is funny how things just always work out. On the bus to Montañita Andrea and I sat in different seats because the bus was pretty full. As fate would have it Andrea sat next to one of the local fisherman. She introduced us and he took me around to other friends of his who love spearfishing as much as I do. The next day we were in the water going para los pescados. Unfortunately the water was not so great we managed to get couple of fish. Afterwards Lenin took me to his house where we cleaned the fish and he cooked them up for Andrea and I. Through out the day I had met many of the locals. The town is very small and everybody knows everybody. After dinner Lenin invited Andrea and I to his cousins wedding. I continue to be amazed by the warm friendly people I have met on my journey. I had just met the guy 8 hours before and he had taken me fishing (let me borrow some equipment), brought us to his house and cooked a meal, and then invited us to the wedding. These are the reasons I took this trip. These are the experiences that will stay forever with me. At the wedding were were welcomed as if we were family. We spent the night dancing away and practicing our conversational skills with all the buen gente de Ecuador.

Halloween in Ecuador

Andrea and I had an amazing time in Guayaquil for Halloween. We met up with a few people I met a couple of weeks ago through couch surfing. It was a birthday/Halloween party. They took us to a crazy club with an open bar which you can imagine was muy divertido. It was great partying with all the local Ecuadorians. Besides Andrea, another American and fellow couch surfer Jim, and myself there were no other gringos. It was difficult trying to practice our spanish with the loud music and clouded mind, but we had fantastic time. I even did some salsa(tried at least) I definitely would not have been doing that without the liquid courage lol.

It was a last minute decision go to so Andrea and I had no costumes and no ideas. We had a 9 hour bus ride the day of the party. We ended up getting our Costumes in the bus station when we arrived in Guayaquil. I was a vaqero (cowboy) and Andrea was a masked lady...lol we didn't have much to work with as you can imagine. We were lucky to have our friends show us around and take us out to the nice places around. It ended up being the most fun I have had in a while. Definitely an amazing experience.

Galapagos

This is something that I have been looking forward to for a long time. I can remember when I was about 8 or 9 looking through my animal books and seeing the crazy prehistoric marine iguanas. I remember how bad I wanted to see one in person. I also remember thinking that I probably never would since their only home was so far and very remote. It really was a dream come true for me to experience this.

It is funny because the iguanas are about as common as Longhorn fans are in Austin. I remember thinking that I would be happy if I got to see just one...then it would be a successful trip. Well the trip was more than successful to say the least. I got face to face with sea lions, marine iguanas, land iguanas, blue footed boobies, stingrays, hammer head sharks (very briefly), and many more animals...I guess I could add in the Galapagos Tortoise as well. The islands really are like no place on earth...at least no where I have ever been. The animals have virtually no fear of humans. I had to be careful not to step on a baby marine iguana. I almost got attacked by a sea lion because I was not paying attention and got too close to her in the middle of her nap. It was neat to see the subtle differences in the animals who have slowly over millions of years adapted to this remote island. There are many different species of tortoise that have each adapted in their own little way to survive. For example the Highland Tortoise has a collar or arch in it`s shell just above the neck. This is because most of its food is on the trees and shrubs, therefore it needs to be able to reach up with it`s neck. The Low Land Tortoise has a flat or straight shell because it eats from the ground. Most all of the animals have adapted in one way or another for these unique islands and their terrain.

It is not just the marine life and wildlife that attract people to the Galapagos. The landscape is unique and beautiful as well. The islands are all of volcanic origin and are still to this day moving closer and closer to Main land Ecuador. I think it is something like 6mm a year. This is why the tortoise is the most famous creature on the Galapagos, because the islands move so slowly like a tortoise.......(not really I must made that up). There are many different islands maybe 13 give or take, and only 4 them have people living on them. Each island is different than the other. They range from cloud forrest to barren dessert. Most have craters and crater lakes which are beautiful to look at. The worlds second largest (measuring across) Crater is here in the Galaps. Galapagos. There are all kinds of lava flows and crazy rock formations in the volcanic regions. It is amazing how fast it can change from tropical to desert. About 15 years ago an Ecuadorian Commando team went out to do a survival test and 9 of the 12 did not make it, and it was just for practice. This place is like no other on earth.

Another thing about my Galapagos trip and this may be the best part of it was the people I met. When I think about the tour I did I definitely could have done it on my own for cheaper and saved a few bucks, but I would not have met the people I did. I have been lucky this entire year with all the tours and group activities that I have done, and this one continued with that luck. I met some great people that will be good friends for ever and that alone was worth the trip for me. When it comes down to it the people I meet along the way on my trip are really what I enjoy the most.

I will try and put pics up soon :o)

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu itself is quite and experience. I sat there and looked at this city made of massive boulders and stone and thought to myself "how the hell did they do it". It would not be an easy task to complete something like this even today with machinery and proper roads. To imagine how it was done so long ago with just sheer man power is incredible. It was incredible how the walls to all the temples were perfectly aligned with no error what so ever. They even carved homes out of massive boulders...I just dont´t see how it was done.

We had to wake up at 4 am the morning of Mach Picchu to get there early and to get a ticket for the extra Waynapicchu Mountain. It took about an hour of walking up stairs in the dark to finally reach the entrance to Machu Picchu. I didn´t realize that it would be so tiring walking around the city, but it may have been tougher than any of the days on me trek. From the famous post card view you can see Waynapicchu and the main part of Machu Picchu. This is an extra little hike you can do if you get there early enough (which we did). This was quite difficult especially in my flops. It took another hour of walking strait up and at times you are walking on an extremely narrow stair case that seems to drop off to no where. The most amazing thing I saw in my life was here. There was a man probably in his late fifty´s early sixties climbing Waynapicchu with his wife. Now I was tired and exhausted how the heck was he doing it? Then when I got closer to them I realize that was the least of his worries. He was directing his wife's every step...she was blind!!! I could`t believe it. Reaching the top was definitely worth it. You really felt as if you were on top of the world.

Salkantay to Machu Picchu

I had been looking forward to this trip for quite some time. Gladly it was the great experience I was anticipating. I originally signed up for the Classic Inca Trail hike to Mach Picchu, but after doing some reading I decided to do an alternative hike. There were two main reasons for the change. One was that it saved me about $150, and the second is that there are a lot less people on the alternative treks. I am extremely happy with my decision. There was only one other group (16 people) that we saw routinely on the whole trek. On the Inca Trail there is over 500 people daily, and sometimes up to 1000. It definitely takes away from the experience when there are a bunch of crazies running around. I couldn't´t imagine having to share all the views I had with 100+ other people. It made me think a little about the orangutans in Borneo.



My only concern going into this trek was the same as anyone...were the people in my tour group going to be fun or not. Anytime you do a tour it is a gamble. No matter where you go or what you do if you are with a good group you can have an amazing time, but if you are with a bad group it can be hell. I must be doing something right because again my tour was great. Unlike my jungle trek there was more than just two people, but everyone on the tour was great. We all got along amazingly. We had people from Germany, SPAIN, Holland, Australia, Israel, Ireland, and I was representing Texas, USA. It is funny...almost every time I tell someone I am from Texas they say something about two things. Most of the time it´s good ol George Bush. If not him...it is damn Chuck Norris in Walker Texas Ranger. All I can do is laugh (lol).



It was tough being prepared for this trek because it would be super hot, then in a matter of minutes it would be freezing. The trek started out in the village of Mollepata at about 2900 meters. 7 hours later, 1000 km higher, and 19km closer to Sulkantay Mt. we reached our first camp. It was quite miserable. The wind was blowing about 25mph and it was freezing. I was kept asking myself why did I pay for this. We basically ate dinner and got into our sleeping bags as soon as we could. Although it was miserable...our campsite was amazingly beautiful. Especially when the sun went down. We were camped at the base a huge glacier and it was just beaming in the night. I wish that my camera could have picked it up...it is probably one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. The diversity of this trek was incredible. Day two we woke up at the base of a glacier. We trekked for 4 hours or so and reached the 4752 meter mark (the highest point of the trek). We hiked for another 3 hours and we were in jungle. I couldn't´t believe the change in landscape, vegetation, weather...everything was different. It was like hiking from Colorado down to Florida in a couple of hours.



Each place we camped was nice and unique in its own way, but one place in particular was special to me. Santa Teresa on the third night had a special little critter that was living there. For those of you that know me you could guess...a little 2 month old squirrel monkey that loved to play with people. I really thought about stopping my trek there. His name was Pancho and he was the cutest little monkey I have ever seen. Santa Teresa also had one other perk to it. I made the trek much harder than it really is. I didn´t want to spend the money to get the right equipment (most important was shoes, socks, and underwear) because I will only use it for the next couple of days. To me it would have been a waste of money. Besides having a resident monkey Santa Teresa had a natural hot spring where we could soak and clean up. We all spent over 2 hours soaking in the natural pools hoping that our bodies would recover for the following day.



By day 4 my shoes had completely failed me. On my right foot my pinkie toenail had fallen off from being squished. The last day of trekking and the whole day at Machu Picchu was done in my flip flops. All together I probably did around 30km and 18 hrs of trekking in my flops. I was surprised at how comfortable my flops were during the trek, but after all that walking even my flops were hurting. We finally made it to Aguas Caliente the base town for Machu Picchu were we got to stay in a proper hostal. It was nice to have a bed and a hot shower ;o)

On to Lake Titicaca

The trip from Rurre back to La Paz was not real exciting. It was 22hrs and the day time driving was done through rather boring scenery. The night was freezing cold because my window would not shut properly and I had a cold breeze on me all night. I arrived in La Paz around 6 in the morning waited around for a couple of hours and caught the 3 hr bus to Copacabana on Lake Titicaca.

This little town had a great vibe. Very relaxed and chilled out. Lots of good places to have a cup of tea or grab a bite to eat. The prices were the best I had seen in a long time which always makes me happy. There were little treks you could do around town which was nice so I could get in shape for my Machu Picchu trek (tomorrow..I hope the altitude doesn't get the best of me!!!). Of course Lake Titicaca is extremely beautiful and massive. Most my time here was spent relaxing and reading. (Yeah I read a lot now...kind of weird). I did day trip to Isla de Sol where ironically enough I got really sun burned. My friend that I was traveling with at the time came and got me about 5 min before we had to go. I didn´t know where we were going, so I didn`t have a hat or sunscreen (I am still peeling 9days later). Isla de Sol was amazing though. Some of the views were spectacular. I decided to skip Puno and Aeroquipa and stay an extra couple of days in Copacabana. I had been on too many buses and just wanted to relax. After about 5 days there I hopped on the bus to Cuzco.

Rurrenabaque and Madidi National Park

After a few days in Coroico I decided to head to the jungle a little early. The weather was not the best so I wanted ample time for my jungle trip. Rurre is a 18 hour trip from Coroico along a high, dusty, curvy, narrow, cliffs kissing road. Anytime there was on coming traffic it would make you wonder how will they do it. Luckily for me they did. I don´t know if I like the night portion better or worse. I could not see what was out there, but I knew...lol.

Rurre is a tiny little town on the banks of mud colored river. The town itself is nothing special. It is just the most convenient place for Madidi Park. It is probably a total of 5 blocks about half a kilometer long...really small. I was able to organize my jungle trip with no problems for the day after I arrived. There were so many options and I had heard of many stories of bad operators. I went with one that seemed to be in the middle class I guess. I could not have made a better choice. The avg. group was 10 -12 people. My group...me and one other guy. I guess that could be a really good thing (if we get along) or bad (if they sucked). I was extremely lucky. The one other person was a great guy from Holland. He was a really interesting guy and very easy to get along with. So we basically had our own private jungle tour. Out guide "Billy" was great. He earned my respect when he went sprinting into head high grass, then jumping out with an angry 2 meter plus cobra. Words can`t describe it and my video is to long to upload, but it was crazy. The whole trip was great. There were alligators, turtles, dolphins, capubaras, and all kinds of different birds about. It was a bit touristy and seeing so many other tour groups out there was a bit of a turn off, but I am looking past that and I got to see a lot of cool animals. The highlight was a tie between holding an Anaconda (ice cube and j lo would be so proud) and holding the angry cobra.

COROICO

La Paz is amazing. Driving into this city you can´t help but be in aww. The city is built on cliffs and valleys. In the background is the beautiful snow capped Mt. Illimani. Words can´t describe how incredible it is. I didn´t spend much time in La Paz because I know I will be back through there. I wanted to get to my little mountain town and learn some espaniol.

I walked around a bit grabbed some dinner then went to bed. I had to wake up the next day and figure out how to get to Coroico. I had a taxi driver take me to the area where I read you could get a flota (van) 4 hrs to Coroico. I guess it was meant to be because he dropped me off next to a flota and it was leaving for Coroico in 10 min. I was happy that went so smoothly. This drive was amazing. We drove right through the middle of beautiful mountains, valleys, and canyons. This truly is a beautiful country. The crazy thing is that I am in the mountains now, In 5 days I will be in the rain Forrest, and 4 days ago I was in Buenos Aires. Like I said before I am lucky.
I found a hostel that I don´t think is even officially opened yet, but the price is right. I was walking around and the owner was outside. He showed me a room that was quite dirty and laying all around the building there were tools. He told me his wife would come clean everything up so I agreed. Less than $3 a night. I had my first spanish lesson today and it was great. I really want to take advantage of my time in spanish speaking countries, and I think I will end up leaning a lot. The weather was not great today which is why I have been on the internet so much. Hopefully the weather will clear because there are some great treks around that I would like to do in the next 4 days

BACK ON THE ROAD

I was in BA a little longer than I had planned because I was waiting for some packages to arrive. I spent 3 weeks total in Buenos Aires. It was an amazing time and it was great getting to know Yanina and all her family and friends. I needed to move on though. My fins finally arrived after a month which I really needed for Galapagos. My mom sent me some other stuff, but I just couldn´t wait, especially since I had idea of when it would arrive. I headed to the bus station and booked my ticket. $80 Buenos Aires, Argentina to La Paz, Bolivia 48 hour bus ride. Yes 2 whole days. I was not excited about the journey, but it had to be done.

I really had no plans for Bolivia until just a few days before I left. I was reading about a little mountain town that is off the main tourist track and super relaxed. This all sounded good to me, but then I read about a spanish teacher that will teach one to one. This is exactly what I wanted. I sent her an email and about 5 days later I was in my first spanish class. The bus ride to La Paz was much better than I expected. It actually fun except when I couldn't sleep. I was the only nonspanish speaker on the bus, and only one guy spoke decent english. The other told me "ingles? No entiendo nada." It was fun trying to communicate with some of the people. I ended up learning and teaching every bad word in the english and spanish language which was pretty funny. The guy I sat next to is a policeman in Lima, Peru. If my spanish is good enough I will meet up with him when I pass through. It really was great getting back on the road. I was a little worried thanks to my sis. She kept warning me about all the crashes and how dangerous the buses can be. I am a "out of sight out of mind" kind a guy. It didn´t help seeing several buses being toed down the road either. There was one unexpected event though. I have been doing really well with all the details and important information. But when we got to the border I almost did not get in. All the research I had done said there was no requirements to enter. I found a little bit about the regulations may change and I sent the embassy an email. I never heard anything back so I figured it was all good. (it wasn´t) I had to pay $135 to get in. I had 200 Argentinian pesos about $60. At first they said only in USD...I told them this was all I had so they accepted it, but it was only about half. I thought it was the border patrol trying to squeeze money out of me so I was refusing to pay more, but it got to the point where my bus was going to leave me. Luckily the one man who spoke some english had $60 on him and he let me borrow it. There is another example of how kind people can be. That $60 was much more to him that to you or I, yet he still not even know me handed it over. All in all the trip was easy and fun. We drove through some beautiful scenery and it was a blast trying to talk with people and I definitely enjoyed the 15 or so movies (in spanish ofcourse).

I AM LUCKY

I am lucky. I am lucky to be where I am right now. I am lucky to have seen the things I´ve seen, done the things I have done, and been the places I´ve been. I am lucky to have my family and friends back home who love me, support me, and make this all possible. I am lucky to have met the amazing people I have met along the way. Sometimes I sit and wonder how I got to where I am right now. All I can tell my self that I am lucky and to savor every second of it. I have met many different people from opposite sides of the world, yet their kindness is the same. I am lucky to have met my friends in Thailand and to have been invited to their homes. I am lucky to have met Yanina and been able to visit and stay with her and her family. These experiences truly are priceless and show how good and kind people can be. I know that a lot of people go through their entire lives and don´t get to experience any of this. I truly am lucky.

Buenos Aires

I have now been in Buenos Aires for 3 weeks. It is the longest I have been in one place in over 10 months. It sounds crazy when you put it like that, this has been a great place to settle. This is by far the best city I have ever been to. I am not a big city guy, but this place is great. I know I can´t really compare it to most of the other cities I have been to simply because I´ve been staying with my friend here. I have had a whole different experience living with a local. I am really lucky to have had this experience. If not, it is very possible that I would have just moved through this city trying to find anther beach or jungle somewhere.

I can´t explain how great Yanina and her family and friends are. They are the epitome of kindness and generosity. They have taken me into their home and treated me as if I were part of the family. Lenor, her mother opened her house up to originally 3 complete strangers. Matt and Mike left after a week, I have been here another 2. All she knew was that her daughter traveled with us on some tour in Asia 9 months before. It takes a special kind of person to do something like that. It is not just that let us stay here, but how she made us feel when we were here. Paula, here sister baked me brownies for my bus ride tomorrow. They are just kind people, and it has been an amazing and surreal time here. I hope that someday I can return the favor some how. I loved having dinner with the family, then we would all just hang around the living room watching Latin American Idle. These are the things kinds of experiences that you hope for when you set off on a journey like mine. We spent a weekend at her fathers outside of town. He took us out to a little Parilla (bbq) place that was great. It was a very laid back get a little dirty while you eat as much meat as you possibly can kind of place. He wanted to know how the meat compared to Texas haha. He to welcomed us into his where we spent the day talking and visiting. When we left he gave us his business card with all his contact information telling us if we ever need anything to contact him. It was great that just after spending an afternoon with him, it was if we were old friends.

This hospitality and kindness was not only from Yanina and her family, but her friends as well. When ever they had something going on they would invite us to come. When Yani was at work they would take me out. They would make sure that I had seen all the neat areas of town. I loved the parillas so they took me to many different parillas. My time here in Buenos Aires has been great. I could not have asked for anything more. The city itself is beautiful and full of great restaurants funky shops. But for me the experience has been getting know Yanina and her family and friends.

Brazil

I really didn´t know what to expect from Brazil. I have heard so much about it I just knew that I would have an amazing time. I was doing a tour from Rio down to Buenos Aires, but got to Rio a week before to have more time there.
Piratas is the name of the hostel we ended up at. This place was great. It was run by younger American guy named Brian and his Brazilian partner Fred. It was a great place to start our South American Adventure. They were both extremely helpful and full of information. We spent most of our time in Rio soaking up the rays on Copacabana beach. We also visited Corcavado (Christ Redeemer) which was awesome, definitely one of the coolest things I have seen. From Rio we headed down to Ilha Grande. By this time were are on the tour. Everyone including our guide seemed cool so that was a relief. When you do a tour it is always a gamble, they can make or break a trip. I was not too worried though because it was so short. Ilha Grande is one of the most beautiful islands I have been to, maybe even the best. The only thing it was missing was good diving. If the water there was good for diving I would probably still be there. After Ilha Grande we had a quick stop in Paratay which was small little town with cobblestone streets. It was a neat place to see, but nothing spectacular. We then headed to the highlight of our trip. This was Iguazzu Falls. Third biggest waterfall in the world. It is 3 times the size of Niagra Falls if that helps out. Words or pictures can not describe this place. The size, beauty, and power, of these falls were jaw dropping. The falls are on the border of Argentina and Brazil. We spent a day on the Brazilian side and a day on the Argentinian side. Argentina's portion of the falls was much better than the Brazilian.

My last days in Asia

From Indo I headed back to Thailand to say my goodbyes. I had about two weeks before I made my way to South America. I spent most of that time on Ko Tao at seashell since that is where my Thai family is. On the way to Ko Tao I stopped for a couple of days at Morning Mist to see Nid and Moki. I was in Asia for such a long time and I did not spend much time there, so I definitely wanted to stop by and say bye. They were so good to me last year and after spending just one day there I wished that I had made time earlier on in the trip to visist. I could not believe how big Moki was. She is growing up so fast just like Marin. It was great to see her and Nid. As soon as I arrived and saw Moki she ran up to me and gave me a huge hug. I didn´t even know if she would remember me. I was there for 3 days and I spent those three days just playing with Moki. Every morning she would ride her little pink bike down to my bungalow to see if I was up. I wanted to spend more time there but I had to make it to Ko Tao to see everyone else. Morning Mist is going to be my first stop when I make it back. My time in Ko Tao was just what I expected. Great weather, relaxing on the beach and hanging out with my seasehell family. I was sad that I didn´t get to see Ptok though. She was on Ko Samui recovering, she had a baby only a few days before. On the night before I left we had one last suki bbq. The day before my flight I said my good byes and headed to Bangkok.

Orangutans

My main reason for coming to Borneo was this amazing ape and I was not let down. It was one of the best experiences of my life. It is crazy how people like these guys are. Especially the babies. Everything about them is human like except for all the hair of course. Before I made it to the Rehab Center I met a guy who had the experience that I wanted. He was on a hike by himself and an Orangutan actually came up and touched him on the head. This is what I was going for as well.

The rehab center is a huge tourist attraction, so there was a ton of people there. It was a bit a bummer having to deal with all these people, but they were there for same reason as I was. It did´t seem that way though. Many of the people were just running around and talking not paying any attention to the apes. That was bit annoying. The way the center works is that there are two feedings per day. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. Everyone gathers on a deck a few meters away from the feeding platform. It is mash of people competing for the ultimate picture. This is when you see them eating and fighting off all the other smaller monkeys, but I was not going to get my one on one interaction in the middle of all this. I was lucky to have met my friend before because he told me about the extra hike. There is a trail that goes beyond the feeding platform, but it looks to be blocked off. You have to ask for an extra ticket when checking in to get a the hiking pass (at no extra charge). They make it difficult to because they don´t want all the people from the platform going back into the jungle...it is just too many people. You have to wait around for all the people to leave the feeding platform then sneak off on the trail that appears to be blocked off. They have a barrier set up with workers hanging around to make it look like you are not supposed to go beyond that point, but if you do go they don´t say anything.

I did this the first morning I was there and saw nothing except for the 4 leeches that were crawling on my leg and few small macaques. I was a bit disappointed about that, but I thought maybe my expectations were too high. I went back for the afternoon feeding and there were less people at the feeding which was nice. I did the same thing...hanging around till most people had left then walked further down the pathway. This time it was a different story. As soon as I turned the corner there was a young adult orang swinging on a rope only a few meters away. I couldn´t believe it. I was so close to him. I just sat down right there in the pathway and watched him show off for a bit. He was swinging around by his arm then his leg just trying to impress me, it was great. Then he swung off of the rope and landed in a tree right in front of me. He climbed right down the tree and walked right up to me. He sat at on the balcony rail just two feet away. It was awesome. I was so close to him I actually reached out and touched him. It didn´t last long because one of the staff came up and walked him back into the jungle, but it was a highlight of my life. To make things even better as soon as the young guy was escorted off a younger orang came up just down the way and started showing off as well. This one was a baby it probably weighed around 8-10 lbs. She played around the walkway in the trees and on the rail for a good 30 min. I just sat and watched her play around like a little kid. I could not have asked for a better experience with the orangs. It truly was a once in a lifetime experience. Except for the fact that I plan on returning there someday :0)

Indonesia

I wasn´t planning on going down to Indo but I met many people who said they loved it. So again I figured I should check it out. I also met some friends who said that were heading that direction around the same time as me which worked out great. I did plan on making it out to the islands of Komodo, but unfortunately that didn´t work out. I still had a great time and really enjoyed the country.

I flew into Bali and headed into the town of Ubud. This was a small town that was home to a culture of Art. Everyone who grew up there was taught art though out their childhood. I am not a huge art guy but it was still neat walking around town and checking out all the painting and crafts. One guy I met in Semporna ended up coming a meeting me there in Ubud and we traveled together for the next few weeks. We rented bicycles and cruised around Ubud through rice paddies and to temples. This was great time except for getting lost and nearly getting run over a couple of times. It was definitely a great way to see the town and get some exercise. I try to get exercise when ever I can out here traveling. From Ubud we headed to the island of Gilli. This island was great. It is a tiny spec off the coast of Lombok between Lombok and Bali. I ran around the entire island in 40 minutes just to give you an idea of the size...it was tiny. We met up with two other people that I had met on my jungle tour. We did have plans to head out to Komodo to see the dragons and do some diving, but it ended up being much more expensive than I thought. Plus it was going to take up much more time. We ended up spending a week or so on Gilli then a few days on Lombok. Lombok was nice as well. It was a much bigger island and had some beautiful volcanoes and mountain scenery. Again I would have love to hike the volcano, but it was quite expensive. We did a driving tour around the island and through the volcano and that was a great trip so missing out on the volcano trek was ok. From here we all split our ways and I headed back Thailand for my last 2 weeks in Asia. I have been here for so long...it was weird to think that I would be leaving so soon.

Malaysain Borneo

My time in Malaysia was great. Most of it was spent in Sabah, Borneo. I spent 2 days in Kuala Lumpur and that was as much as I needed. I had come to Malaysia to get out of the city and do some diving and play with Orangutans. For as long as I can remember I have loved monkeys and the Orangutan is the probably one of the most amazing.

As soon as I arrived to Borneo I immediately fell in love with it. The people there were some of the nicest I have ever met locals and travelers. I was trying to figure out the cheapest way to get to my destination from the airport and the first person I asked offered to give me a ride into town. That was the kind of hospitality that I experienced all over Borneo. I had people offering to give me rides across town to the correct bus stations and all kinds of friendly gestures. When I would go on jogs through town every car seemed to shoot me a thumbs up with a huge smile, and many of them actually stopped to see if I needed a ride. It seemed like every other traveler I met was equally friendly. I met many people whom I know I will keep in touch meet up with again in the future. Borneo truly is one of my favorite places for these reasons alone.

Besides being home to some of the friendliest people anywhere, Borneo is just wild. I was walking down the street and on the side of the road was a massive monitor lizard just lounging about. I had never seen one in the wild and it was exciting for me. I would soon be bored by these guys because they were everywhere. As you all know I love animals. I did a jungle trek into the Kinabatagan River area and was basically in heaven. In just 3 days we saw all kinds of wildlife. Growing up I never thought that I would have the chance to see Proboscis monkeys in the wild, but I was wrong. Seeing the specials on Discovery channel it seems like they are so far away and you have to be some scientist the find them. I couldn't believe that we were there in this little canoe in the middle of the river watching these amazing animals leap from tree to tree with their gigantic noses flopping about. I felt like I was on the discovery channel. Exotic looking tree frogs, scary looking insects, blood sucking leeches, and exotic horn bills are a few of the others that we saw. I could have easily spent a month in the jungle but it was time to move on to the sea.

Semporna is where the great diving is. It is on the NE part of Borneo. I really didn't do much research before heading out there. I met a girl in Nepal who said that the diving was some of the best in the world, so I figured I should go. I was just planning on chilling out at the beach and do some world class diving. I was able to accomplish half of that (luckily the important half). The actual diving is off an island called Sipadan. It is about an hour boat ride from the mainland. The port town of Semporna is where all the dive centers are, and Semporna had nothing. It was really just a dirty old port town that smelled of dead fish and poo. Needless to say, I didn't do much chillaxing on the beach. That was no big deal though. The diving was excellent. Beautiful clear water and coral. Massive schools of fish and countless turtles. It was full of life. My main goal was to see the amazing whale shark. I can die happy once I have swam with a whale shark. My first day of diving was an exciting let down if you will. We did 3 dives the first day. My boat was divided up into two groups of five. Two out of the three dives the group that I was not in saw a whale shark. We were literally meters away from the giant fish. One person actually had a picture of the whale shark with my group in the back ground...we were just facing the wrong way. It was exciting that I was so close to one, but I really want to swim with one. The last two days I did some free diving and saw lots of other fish but now whale shark.

From Semporna I headed in to KK (Kota Kinabalu) the main city in Borneo. I spent a few days at the beach there where I saw the most amazing sunset of my life. I was nice there but a little to busy for me. I really just went there because I had a flight to Bali out of there. Borneo has definitely been one of my favorite places...it has everything that I love. I will make it back there someday for sure.

Apnea Dive

Apnea Dive: http://www.apnea-total.com/free/


While I was hanging out there in Ko Tao I finally got myself over to Apnea Dive. I have been to Ko Tao so many times and been wanting to do it, but I had just been too damn lazy. I am so glad that I finally got over there because it was amazing. The instructors there were great. They were extremely experienced and their teaching style was impeccable. They really just filled you with confidence which enabled me to push myself.

I took the beginners course and the advanced course directly after that. I learned how to free dive properly and more importantly safely. I also learned how much I love it. I have a feeling it is going to be my newest obsession...besides traveling of course. Both courses together took only 5 days, but it was an amazing 5 days. After the 5 days I was going down to 30 meters (90ft). It was such an amazing feeling. To be that deep with just your mask and the air in your lungs. I wish that I had taken the class several months ago so I would have had time to take the master course (6 weeks). I will definitely make it back sometime hopefully in the near future to take it. I really loved the whole set up there at Apnea Total. I could totally see myself opening up a place like that in Central America. I will be spending my last week or two in Thailand and I am definitely going to go back and do a couple more dives before I head to Latin America. It is even better that they are right next to Seashell so I still don't have to go very from my home there in Thailand :o)

Back to Thailand

By the time we finished our trek it had been a month in Nepal. It was probably our busiest month, and also maybe the most fun. It is hard to compare because Nepal was so different from anywhere else. We were ready to head back to Thailand and figure out the next adventure.
Of course as soon as we got back to Thailand we headed right down to Ko Tao. Ko Tao is home away from home. I am so far from my family it helps me to come here and spend some time. I love showing up there and everyone is just waiting for us to say hello give us big hugs and to ask about our travels. I feel so lucky to have such good friends here in Thailand. After a couple of days chillin out at Seashell I finally made myself take the free diving class that I wanted to take. I really wish that I had taken it sooner, because it was amazing. It was better than I expected. The people that run it are great people and even better teachers. I did this course because I decided to head to Borneo and do some diving. I have been way to lazy on my diving here in Asia and I making up for it now. But before I could make it down to Borneo I had two amazing experiences once again here in Thailand.

First was another wedding. The owner of Seashell's sister'n law was getting married. The groom was our other friends uncle. So they invited us to come along. Now this was basically the opposite of the first wedding we went to in Nahkon Si Thammarat. This was in BKK. There were over 1000 in attendance. They had a massive hotel booked out. The commentator for the wedding was a TV star here in Thailand. It was great fun. The experience just like our first was priceless. It is great because our friends treat us as if we are thai, and as if we are family. Not many people get to experience this side of Thailand.

The evening after the wedding I had to hop on a Train to Pathuloong. A small city in the south of Thailand. When I was on Ko Tao Pleaw told me that she had just bought a new house. She was so excited about it. She then asked me if I wanted to come stay at her new house for a couple of days. I felt so honored she wanted me to come stay with her and her family. That's why I was on my to Pathloong. I spent the night on the train and woke up just in time to get off at my stop. I love the bus and train rides because you are never 100% that you are on the right train, or which is the right stop. Pleaw picked me up at the train station and we headed to her house. It was a great house just built. It was really long and narrow two story building. I was more like an apt. I really didn't know what to expect. I had an amazing time. The first day we just hung out went to the market. She bought stuff to cook up dinner. Then I took a nap for awhile. The next day was awesome!!! The whole family...I mean cousins, uncles, nieces, everyone got together and head to a waterfall and park for picnic. It was great fun going out and getting such a local experience. It was fun hanging out with her family and try to communicate with them. Most of them spoke very little English, and they spoke south Thai which I know very little of.
After those two days it was time for me to head down to Malaysia, so Pleaw and her family drove me down to the border and dropped me off at the bus station.

Pokara and the Anapurna Sanctuary Trek

After our unbelievable trip through the Karnali river we headed to Pokara. This was the most relaxed town ever. It would be easy to hang out there for a month and not realize how much time you spent there. It is a long small town spread out along beautiful lake. You can hang out at one of the many cafes along the lake and just relax, or just cruse the lake in a paddle boat or sailboat. We ended up spending about a week here. We needed time to rest before we headed into the mountains.
Pokara is the starting point for any trek into the Annapurna range. This range is not as famous as Everest obviously, but it is actually supposed to be a better trek for scenery and views. You just don't get to claim that you conquered Everest. We decided that it would be a better more relaxed trip, and that I will do Everest in the future. It was the right decision. It was the most spectacular experiences of my life. Each day we would set out early in the cold cold morning and just start walking into the heart of these enormous mountains. Each day we got closer and closer to the snow capped peaks. At times we were climbing near vertical staircases for hours at a time, then we would have to go right back down the other side. We would cruse ledges just a foot and a half wide and on the other side a thousand meter drop. At times I was so tired I wanted to cry. We averaged about 6 hours a day. Not to mention that we had no proper equipment. Mainly in the shoe department. I had cheap ripoff Adidas and they were not comfortable. Every time something started hurting I would just look up at the peaks above and it would make it all go away.
After day 4 was when it really set in that I was in the middle of the Himalaya Mountains. We were very close to the base camp at that point and it just had a whole different feel to it. We were starting to get up around 3000 meters and seeing more and more snow. On the evening of day 5 we made it to base camp and the feeling was (besides being really tired) was awesome. It was a feeling of accomplishment. The actual views were not that great because of all the clouds. We were hoping that the morning would be different. We spent the evening hanging out with some of the other trekkers playing cards and drinking hot chocolate. In the morning I woke up at 5:30. It was so bright and everything was white. There was virtually no clouds around. In 360 degree span I was surrounded by mountains. Words can't describe it. I don't think there is another place like this on the planet. I mean it was amazing. Just huge mountains all around you. The views here alone were worth every bit of the trek. It is funny though. We spent about an hour or so checking it all out and taking photos, then we headed back down. It was all over so quick. On the way down we basically ran. It took 1 and 1/2 days to get down. So the whole trip was 6 1/2 days. Normally it is 10-12 days. I think that may be the reason we lost so much weight. All 3 of us lost a noticeable amount of weight.

I can't wait to get back and do Everest.

Karnali River

I want to say that this was the best time ever, but I can't. Everything else was so awesome as well. The Karnali is the longest river in Nepal. This time of year it was the best to raft by far. We spent 10 days rafting and camping out in the middle of western Nepal. We were 18 hours of driving from any civilization.

10 nights camping along the Karnali were some of the most peaceful nights of my life. We would wake up at 7 each morning eat our breakfast then get in the water. We would raft for 3 hours or so then have a lunch break for an hour. After lunch we would paddle for another hour or two. We'd get to a perfect sandy beach set up camp, then gorge ourselves at dinner. By 8pm you would be laying in the sand looking up at all the stars. We were in the middle of no where. The only people we saw were the villagers who have never left the countryside. Sometimes the kids would paddle makeshift canoes over to our campsite and play Frisbee or football with us (soccer). The whole experience was so surreal.

All this being said the actual rafting was a rush. We would go through rapids getting smothered by waves. I got thrown out twice. The second time was because the entire raft flipped. Everybody went. It was actually really scary. It reminded me how small I am compared to the forces of mother nature. In a matter of seconds we were all spread across the river getting thrown into boulders. It was one of those things where at the time it was not fun, but after it was all over you look back and say "hell yes that was sweet". One of the days we stopped a village and bought a goat. The guides butchered it up and cooked it up for dinner. There was not a lot of meat on it, but the taste was alright. Another night we bought some chickens and did the same thing. The chicken tasted a little better, but the goat was better than you would have thought.

It was such a great experience seeing the untouched countryside of Nepal. To see all the kids in the villages come running after our raft screaming random English words they knew was just priceless. This coupled with the white waters and peaceful nights is pretty much perfect. I can't wait to go back.

Nepal-Chitwan

Nepal was amazing. I couldn't believe how much there is to do there considering how small the country is. We spent 32 days there and still didn't get close to experiencing everything it has to offer.

We spent the first few days in Kathmandu. This is the biggest city in Nepal, but by no means is it a city. It was nice and there were some temples and things to visit, but that is not what we went to Nepal for. We wanted to get outdoors and see the beautiful landscape and wildlife. Our first adventure took us to Chitwan National Park. This is in the southern region of Nepal not too far from India. Chitwan was a nice quite little town right on the banks of a river. Everything revolved around the national park. I think in the town was a licensed guide. Every person that I passed asked me if I needed a guide. Chitwan is famous for the rhinos and sloth bears. Sometimes if you are lucky you see a tiger, but not too often. Unfortunately we didn't see a tiger or a bear. We did get to see some rhinos and that was amazing. I couldn't believe how big they were. They are like living tanks. At one point we climbed a tree to get a better look at one. While we were in the tree a local worker came up riding an elephant. Our guide got him to ride up on the rhino and make him honk. It was funny to see the rhino run off, but compared to the elephant he was small.

We also got to ride elephants there. I have done that before and it's fun, but here we took them in the water. It was sweet. The elephant was rolling around and squirting water with his trunk everywhere. At first the elephant didn't want to do much, but after some time he warmed up to the whole idea. There is an elephant breeding center which we visited as well. Next to the Rhino this was probably my favorite part. There was a baby there just maybe 1 month old. It was so funny to watch him play. He kept running at the guide and just before getting to him he would stop and run away. It was funny because the elephant was scared of the guide even though he was still bigger. I have some good video of this I will try and get some posted up.

Back to my blog

It has been just over a month since I last updated my blog. This is because for most of the last month I have been either in the jungle, mountains, or rivers of Nepal. Not a whole lot of internet out there. I will have to admit it has been nice just escaping society for a bit. It has been an amazing time, but it is also nice being back. Bitter sweet I guess.

Udaipur

Udaipur has been the best city yet. It has a very laid back feel to it compared to some of the other cities. It is also cleaner and has less beggars which is bonus. Here there are many lakes, but unfortunately most of them are pretty low. One of the main attractions is the floating palace, and at night it is amazing. The way the lights bounce off the water and light up the palace are beautiful. There is also a beautiful garden at the top of one of the mountains, but we didn't get any pics of it. We have spent a few days here and it is nice to have settled a little bit. When we first arrived to India we were traveling fast. We were planning on leaving 3 days ago, but we changed our plans to be an extra in a film that they were filming here. The funny thing is that we didn't even do the film. They lied about a few of the details and didn't give us dinner. We hadn't eaten all day because we thought we were getting a free dinner, and when they told us they weren't giving us one we left. We were just too hungry. We have been spending a lot of time out at the edge of the lake practicing fire poi. This has been nice and relaxing. We also found a little gym where we can work out for free. It is nice to get something in every once in awhile. So tonight we head for Delhi and then on to Amiristar. Amiristar is home to the Golden Temple and it is supposed to battle the Taj for it's beauty. We are really looking forward to getting back on track and seeing new things. Our bus leaves in about 2 hours. Also in just 6 days we will be in Nepal. Can't wait for that :o)

Agra to Udaipur

Our trip to Udaipur was another interesting experience. This was our first bus trip. We got a sleep seat which was new to us on a bus. The bus actually had sections that had full on double and single beds. The were not the most spacious, but it was nice to lay down. We have been on many long bus journeys and I can always remember wanting to lay down instead of in a seat.
The worst part was that the beds were really dirty. I don't think they had ever been washed. We were worried that it would make us sick. Matt ended up getting a little bug not too bad though. I think it was combination the dirtiness and the lack of rest. Once again the scheduled journey was to last about 12 hours. Sure enough we were on the bus for about 17 hours. The night freezing cold because the windows would not stay shut do to how bumpy the road was. I couldn't sleep for about 2 hours because I needed to pee so bad. I tried going in a bottle, but I just couldn't do it. Eventually the driver had to go so I jumped out as well. Then in the morning my compartment was facing the sun and basically turned into an oven. We were all excited to arrive in Udaipur.

Varanasi to Agra

We are on such a fast pace sometimes I forget where we are. we have spent as many nights on trains or busses as we have in a hotel. Out of our first 5 days we spent over 40hrs traveling. This is what we wanted to do though so it is working out. We want to maximize our time in Nepal is the reason we are going so fast.

Our trip to Agra was yet another interesting experience. We were lucky again to have good bunk mates. It was three travelers from Japan. We ended up meeting up with them for an evening in Agra. This trip was scheduled for 14hrs, but lasted about 19. That is not so bad it's actually expected. What made this journey a downer was the locals who sat next to us. They seemed to think it was party time. They were up all night yelling laughing playing music and sitting on the edge of our seats. I am not sure if it was a cultural difference or what, but I was pissed. Eventually we fell asleep through it all, but it gave me a bad taste for some of the locals.

Once we arrived to Agra everything was great. We arrived to out hotel will ease. From the roof top restaruant you could see the Taj Majal. It was so awesome to see it in person. I have seen so many pictures...but to be there in person. I couldn't believe how big it was. It was so massive you could see it from so far away.

We arrived on Friday and the Taj is closed on Fridays. We decided to the head to Agra Fort which was pretty awesome. The best part was when an angry monkey started chasing everybody. He was huge and for some reason pissed and security guard had to come chase him off with a stick. The picture is of some random guys that just wanted to take pictures with us. He came up to ask and he was a little shy so I just put my arm around him put on a big smile.

Though the Taj was closed on Friday we could go to the back side and get some up close pictures from across the river. This is where we met our Japanese friends. One of them actually went to university in Reno. She offered to take us around

when we visit Japan hopefully next year. The three of us took our fire poi and practiced out in the field behind the Taj. It was a surreal feeling doing some poi and gazing at the Taj Mahal.

The next day we woke up before sunrise to hopefully be one of the first ones in. We were not the first but we were early enough to get some good pics without too many people in the frame. It really was a great feeling walking around the Taj Mahal. I couldn't believe that I was actually there considering a month ago I was in Austin, Tx.

Varanasi

Varanasi is a crazy place. It is super spiritual. It is the home of the famous Ganges with all the Ghats. The river is so polluted it is considered septic. With this being said it is a sight to see thousands of people everyday going and bathing and washing their clothes at the rivers banks. I actually saw people drink the water. It is sacred to the Hindu. Varanasi is said to be the closest place on earth to Nirvana. So with the combination of the Ganges and the location of Varanasi, many many Hindus travel thousands of miles to come die here.

The banks of the Ganges works as a crematorium 24 hours a day. The initial flame was lit over 3 thousand years ago and has never been lost. You can sit there and just watch body after body being burned. There is special ceremony for each family depending how who is there. Children 10 and under can not be burned because they are too Innocent. The are tied to weight and taken to the middle of the Ganges and sent to the bottom. It was an indescribable experience seeing all this before my eyes. After hearing all this we put together that the old man on the train most likely was on his way here to live his last few days. It was a weird feeling once we realized that.

The city its self was unique. The streets were too narrow for a car. You couldn't walk 30 feet with out running into a cow or a goat. On either side of you were buildings about 40-50 feet high. It was like one huge maze. The streets are dirty with cow poo, dead animals and trash. So much trash everywhere. They don't have any type of waste management here in India and you can definitely tell. I honestly don't think I will see another place like this one. It was great to see and experience, but I don't think I am going to miss Varanasi.

The Train Journey

I have heard many stories about the trains here in India. Even the agent who sold us our tickets said "you have not been to India till you ride the train." He was right. We got to the station where I was glad to find that my ATM card did work. I guess it was just a small bank the first time. The station was a mad house people everywhere. It took us a bit to find our train and all, but not too bad.



We board the train and we are super lucky to have a super cool couple sharing our seats. Moni and Monica they were from Israel. They have been in India for about a year. They had lots of info to share with us. Anyway our train was from 2p.m. to 8a.m. then next morning...about 18hours. Well we didn't get to Varanasi till 12 in the afternoon. It ended up being about 23 hours or so. The funny thing was that it was all that bad. There were periods of time where the train stopped in the middle of no where for hours at a time for no reason, but we just went with it.

A few things on the train could have gone a little better but nothing was too bad. There was an old old man I mean at least 100 sitting close to us. He was moaning the whole trip. It sounded like he was dying...it was really sad. I will come back to him in my next post. Also I was a little bothered by the way that the Indian men stare at women (western women). Time after time men would come up and sit across from Monica and just stare at her. I mean 2ft away and staring with out looking away. Several times Moni and Monica both had to yell at the men and make them leave. Those are really the only things that I would have changed on the train journey. The rest was a good experience.

Kolkata

The next day was short and sweet. We booked our tickets out of Kolkata the day we got there. We just didn't have any plans on what to do there so we decided to head on to Varanasi on day 2.
So far India is close to what I expected. It is really dirty and lots of poverty. There are always people trying to get you to go on tours with them and this and that. Once you get past that it is an insane experience. Just the way the city works and how everyone is doing their own thing, but it works. I swear there is no traffic laws what so ever. There on one-way roads that switch directions at certain times of the day. It is just a crazy crazy experience.
One thing we wanted to do was to go see Victioria's Memorial. This was just a short taxi ride away. It was awesome. It really caught us by surprise. It was so big I have never seen anything like it. I don't know what to expect from the Taj Mahal. After a few hours walking around there we headed to the bus station, and that was an experience.

India!!!

We got back to BKK with no problems at all. It was probably the easiest trip back from the south we have had. We just spent our last day there getting packed up and ready to head out. I ended up taking my main pack, but with much less stuff in it. One of our friends is looking after some things while we are gone.
I don't think it has really set in yet that we are in India. So far everything has gone pretty smooth. Coming in to the country immigration grilled me for a little while because I have lost so much weight since I took my passport photo. After talking with them and showing some other pictures they let me through. Waiting for our luggage it was a little funny because my bag was absolute last bag out, but it did come. Next when we came out of the airport a taxi driver came up to us and we arranged a ride with him. About 30 sec after that another driver came up and tried to grab us and make us come with him. It was hilarious. They started yelling and pushing each other then he just walked away.

We got to our hotel fine. We just picked a random hotel out of LP and had the taxi drop us off there. Checking in consisted of walking up to the makeshift desk and waking up the man at the front from his mid afternoon nap. Him walking us ten feet to our two rooms, then he returned right back to sleep. We didn't check in pay or anything lol.

After getting settled in we went for a walk and a bite to eat. I went to the ATM and it wouldn't accept my new card, I hope it works tomorrow?? We walked around town for a bit, then went for dinner. Our first meal was great, so I am excited about that. We hop on a train to Varanasi tomorrow and there we will spend a few days hanging out seeing the Ganges.

Last day in Ko Tao

Out last day Ko Tao was a great one. We spent almost the entire day practicing our newest hobby. No it's not as a Thai chef. Though that is another skill that we have picked up, it is secondary to fire poi. The three of us are going to start doing fire dancing shows. We to go around to different countries and put on fire shows. Matt is learning the fire stick and Mike and I are both learning fire poi (swinging chains).

After a day of practice and playing with Nong Plow ( PToks baby). We started the celebration of Gai Dee's birthday. We all gathered just outside the restaurant and cooked up a Thai style BBQ. It was great. There was all of our friends from Sea Shell and the three of us. The food was great and everyone was in such a great mode. The night could not have been any better. The only downside was that we had to wake up early the next day to catch the boat back to the mainland, but that was minor.

Prepareing for India

I know it has been a really long time since I last updated this, but oh well. I am going to try and do a better job from now on.

I went home for two weeks to Johns wedding which was a blast, then got right back on a plane back to BKK. I couldn't believe how fast that two weeks went, but it was a great time even though it was short. I can't believe how much of a little person Marin is now. She can run, talk, cry, scream, and a probably pound for pound the strongest pincher of all time lol.

As soon as I got back to BKK I met up with Matt and Mike, then we headed down south for Ko Tao. Probably our favorite place in Thailand. We are really excited because it is our friend Gai Dee's Birthday on the 6th, which is actually today. We are planning on going to a karaoke bar, should be good times. We have been here for about a week a half just hanging out not doing a whole lot. We did go on a boat trip around the island with some snorkeling and that was fun. Yesterday we took cooking class with Pleau and that was awesome. I am basically a professional Thai chef now.

Early tomorrow we hop on a boat back to BKK so we can get ready for out flight to India. We head to Calcutta on the 9th. It is going to be a great adventure there. We really don't have any plans. I still don't know if I am taking my pack with me. I am thinking about leaving it here in Ko Tao and just taking a smaller pack on the trip. We are going to be doing lot of trekking and traveling, so I don't want a huge pack. We are going to be meeting up with one of my friends from high school somewhere in India at some point. He is in Africa right now and flies to India on the 17th. It should be pretty cool to meet up with a friend from back home in such a random place.