I'm on a niiiiighttrain, trekking in Chiang Mai (with elephants) and getting on a sloooow boat for Laos...

It has been a busy couple days over here on the other side of the planet. After leaving Bangkok aboard a nighttrain headed to Chiang Mai our group was greeted by our lovely host (or hostess) named Natalee (pronounced NATAAALLLEEEE with a lady-boy glee) who promptly told me he/she would be taking care of me this trip - just ask for anything I need and she will deliver. Awesome. The nighttrain was pretty nice - we had half a 2nd class car which consisted of pairs of facing seats that after 9PM (or when a conductor felt the time was right) transformed into an upper and lower bunk. I was assigned the upper and was priviliged enough to have an air consditioning duct above me, the door to the next car next to me (which did not close) and a bright neon light immediately near my eyes. Thank you to Advil PM for a sound four hours of sleep. Prior to sleeping we had a marathon game of Uno that took up most of the members of Car 11.

We arrived to Chiang Mai to be scooped up by hotel salespersons and escorted to SK House where our rooms were only $8!! With warm water!!! Chiang Mai is in the north of Thailand near the Himalyan (?) foothills and is a mecca for the outdoorsey backpackers with trekking, off-roading, mountain biking, anything possible in the national parks in the surrounding hills. We signed up for a three day two night trek through the southern national park.

The next morning we were driven about two hours south to begin our trek with our guides Foo and Pot. They were funny characters and provided many laughs, learnings and guitar for sing alongs the entire way. After a two hour hike through the hilly jungle arrived upon a small waterfall (with the COLDEST WATER IN THAILAND and camp for night one. Dinner was pretty tastey until toad stew appeared in front of me (I immediately converted to a vegetarian after a small bite) and then we sat around the camp fire and played cards while our guides proceeded to get piss drunk off "Thai water" (rice whiskey). That night was perhaps the coldest sleep of my entire life. 10 degrees celcius (about 49 farenheit - celcius to appease my NZ friends with the unfortunate luck of living with both the metric and celcius system of measurement) I was literally shivering in a ball with the covers over my head. My feet spilled out of the sheets for a couple hours and were numb when I brought them back to sheets.

The next morning we headed out for a six hour hike and while walking through a rice field a farmer passed us atop his elephant strolling through the forest. Very random. Foo went on to explain that some farmers use elephants, others use water buffalo and others use something called a machine - and machines are better because they don't eat or sleep. Useful life lesson.

After what seemed like ages we arrived at a village to sleep the night and had a rowdy night of singing and drinking Thai water around the campfire with Pot's stirring renditions of Thai popular songs.

Our final day of Trekking had a 2 hour hike out of the valley where the village was located and a short ride to the elephant trek. I shared an elephant with NZ Nick named Tokia with our driver and we headed off to the hills. Elephants do not provide the most comfort but the view sure is good from atop and Tokia, although stopping every minute to reach aruond with her trunk to request a banana from NZ Nick, was keen to pick up any object thrown from atop her to the ground and return with her trunk. Shoes, water bottles, anything.

Next adventure was riding a bamboo canoe down a river captianed by a 10 year old Thai boy nicknamed by his patrons "Short Round" - as he was a spitting image of the Indiana Jones character without humor and more Napoleon-like character. I have not been yelled at so much in so short of time in my entire life, let alone my a three foot midget kid. "Hey you, hey you, NO NO NO NO" or "hey you, hey you, SIT SIT SIT" where echoing off the river valley our whole trip. One would think after Short Round fell off the raft twice and had to be scooped out of the water by me and thrown back to safety there would be some appreciation. None, only harsh glares when I was out of line (this I cannot figure as I was standing still not moving an inch, but was still lashed with a "hey you hey you NO NO NO")....

Back in Chiang Mai town last night our team of ten went to a hearty Thanksgiving feast at a Mexican food resturaunt where margaritas replaced wine and Chang beer replaced the turkey. As Gabe and I were the only Americans, we taught the Aussie and Kiwi's about our holiday and we all stood and gave a toast to what we were thankful for this trip (mine being that I met such great travel friends after arriving alone in Bangkok and now am amongst ten people!). After dinner we walked to the reggae district and celebrated Thanksgiving properly.

This morning we awoke to an all day mini-van trip to the city of Chang Kong which lies on the Mekong River. I am looking across the river at Laos while the sunsets and tomorrow we board a two day slow boat trip into Laos. We stopped along the drive at a temple Wat Karun (?) outside Chang Rai that can only be described as unique - a white palace created in 1997 by a famous Thai artist that has monuments to suffering one most reach before nirvana. This was almost uncomfortable as one mural had the World Trade Center on fire with a dragon wrapped around and Neo (Keanu Reeves from Matrix) standing watch - very eerie.

Will try to post pics in a bit before Laos....

Back to Bangkokin'....

Arrived in Bangkok via short but VERY rough ferry and an overnight bus ride (read - miserable) from Koh Tao this morning at a nice and sparkly 5AM and showed the crew around town while playing tour guide - hit all the sites of last time (Grand Palace, Siam, MBK, Reclining Buddha, Wat Arun, etc) but took more pictures as the last are currently being viewed by some Balinese punk.... It was hard to believe walking the streets this afternoon that I was basically retracing my first days in Asia TWO MONTHS ago! Not much has changed in Bangkok but I have been so many places and met so many people - I ran into the same miserable ticket lady at Wat Arun and was again yelled at for no apparent reason, got lost again in China Town, again had to hire a Tuk Tuk for a return trip from Siam Square as our bus simply would not come - two big differences as this time around I have friends and the weather is absolutely perfect.

Some pictures below for your viewing pleasure... (Okay just sat for twenty minutes and the pics are not loading but will post tomorrow)....

Tomorrow heading to Chang Mai on a night train but tonight going to enjoy Bangkok with friends so should be an adventure...

Certification Scuba-nation!!!!

Today was our final two open water dives and I am now a certified scuds diver!!!! We dove Twins and White Rock off the boat this morning to a depth of 18 meters (about 54 feet in USA speak - the Imperial verse Metric measurement schemes have been battling fiercelythis week and as the only American in the class, we are sorely losing). Yesterday we dove two beach dives to Sairee reef and both featured stong rays, puffer fish, nemos, etc and a merman named Cam.... The toughest part was our first day in the pull although I flat out refused to practice taking off my mask and clearing at 18M today - I ain't doing that...

Post graduation our class (Nick, Cam, Brooke and myself) were greeted with the famous snorkel dive, where a full beer is poured into ones snorkel and the inability to breath with a mask on requires rapid engulfing of the Chang beer. Pictures to follow eventually...

We have had a great time here at Phoenix Diving School with Fraser, Cullam and Clause but are heading to Bangkok tomorrow afternoon via ferry and boat and them to Chang Mai that evening via train.

Currently I am sitting on the beach under a palm tree watching the sunset over the Gulf of Thailand having finally figured out how to update to blog via my iPod Touch - congrats me!!!!!

The whole gang (our team and the scuba school are going fir a night on the town to celebrate our graduation and give Koh Tao a proper bon voyage.....

Learnin' to dive....

Made the journey to Koh Tao the night before last via overnight ferry and I thought the last overnight ferry was bad.... This time around I prepped the group for the nuances of overnight ferry life to find we were going to travel on more or less a cargo barge that had overbooked the beds so we had to sleep on the roof or between overly-inviting elderly Thai woman - I promptly choose the roof. Miraculously we made the seven hour journey under no clouds, no rain, light seas and no wind. And the boat running lights provided ample light to play Uno (although the green running light made the blue and green cards identical) have a few Chang beers to help the sleep.

We awoke to Koh Tao and after finding our accommodation booked into the Phoenix Dive School - where my buddy Fraser from my last trip to Thailand instructs diving - for our Open Water Dive certificate course. Yesterday, our first day, after two hours of films we entered the pool with our gear and learned how to replace a lost make, regulator, etc all while underwater. For someone that has more or less lived their entire life surrounded by watersports, scuba is surprisingly frightening. But taking the class with three friends (Nick, Cam and Brooke) and with a Fraser as the instructors assistant the class is too fun.

For those concerned that my collapsed lung of several years past will pose a problem, rest assured I was checked out by the finest physician on Koh Tao who simply asked, would you like me to sign "yes" or "no" - awesome advice. I did speak with several dive masters and physicians and found that going to the surface slowly should do the trick and no deep breaths underwater.

The weather is far better today than yesterday and in less than two hours I will be on a ship out to see for my first open water dive - Gabe saw a 3 meter bull shark while diving yesterday and there is supposed to be a whale shark meandering around the island.

Off to Koh Tao...

Off to Koh Tao via overnight ferry to get a scuba license but here are some quick pics from the days in Phi Phi and the new crew I am traveling with...

Ko Phi Phi and now Railey Beach

What a difference seven people make... Last time I was in Ko Phi Phi I was solo and the weather was miserable - now I am with a group of seven people and the weather is amazing, and Ko Phi Phi this time around is unbelievable - some of the funnest moments of the trip thus far have been made over the last four days. I am in Railey right now and the internet is really expensive so I will be brief....

Our first day on Phi Phi was spent relaxing in the sun and pool and reacquintances with Metilda and Terresse, our Swedish friends from Bali. The following day we rented a longtail boat and headed for a deserted cove for some excellent snorkeling and a few mean games of UNO and more sun. The next day we rented the same longtail boat from Dolla (as in Dolla' dolla' bills ya'll) and cruised to isolated and empty Bamboo island about an hour off shore and then to Ko Phi Phi Lei where the movie the Beach was filmed and in between went cliff diving and revisited monkey beach. More monkeys but these ones came swim and are adapt at boarding ships like pirates looking for mangos and bananas...

Will try and upload pictures tomorrow after we explore a new isolated island we have called Barney as it looks like a too full dinosaur sleeping on his back just offshore from Railey beach...

Back in Thailand - Patong Beach

Flew back into Thailand via Kuala Lumpor yesterday and arrived at Phuket airport to SUNSHINE!!! Last time I was in Phuket, over one month ago, the sky was black with torrential rain. Amazing how sunshine can lighten a place up - now I see why people travel to this island....

Made my way to the Le Meridien resort near Patong beach by taxi - the ride was supposed to be one hour and was more like 2.5 due to a strategic pit stop where everyone was pitched on "excursions" and other tourist traps - and was promptly greeted by the hotels very own resident baby elephant that plays the harmonica and loves bananas. The little guy also likes to burp on command.

The hotel - more like resort complex - sits in a private cove about three kilometers south of Patong beach and has spectacular sunsets. Gabe found the hotel a couple hours later and the front desk girls went scattering around the hotel looking for "Mister Nick Mitchell" - apparently the girls at the front desk had been keeping track of my movements throughout the hotel since I checked in.

Patong is like Kuta but is filled with older men with their lady-boy rentals in tow - very odd and a bit appalling to have dinner and the next table a grotesque old man with a lady boy staring at you. After dinner Gabe and I went out on the town for a bit and went to a huge hall with more bars per square foot than any place I have witnessed. All pit stops have their own house game - jinga buildings, connect-four or just drink-till-the-Australian-pukes. One is even able to pour your own drink provided you pay every once and awhile and after the final flaming shots (insert joke here) that set one entire bar ablaze we were off to dancing with a new crew of Australians. All in all a good night.

Tomorrow afternoon we head to Ko Phi Phi to meet with Gabe's friends from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and the Swedes we met in Bali. Ko Phi Phi does not know what lies in store tomorrow afternoon... Weather is supposed to be perfect for the foreseeable future and Thailand is in high season - I am looking forward to the islands.

Nice to be back in Thailand but I do miss Bali much and can't wait for the next time to return...