Where is Derek?

I am in Laos, it was tricky but I made it. The funny thing is that I met two ex coworkers at the train station going to Laos in Bangkok. More info later. I am well, no malaria.

[ Life.Iz.Good ]

Wow, the bus ride from Krabi to Bangkok was hell on wheels… But, I made it in one piece. I am currently searching for a photoshop to see if my digital camera is still salvageable. If not, I will continue with disposable cameras until my trip ends. I can always get the pictures transferred to a Cd. Lesson learned… Never trust your electronics with any kind of water, keep them far away…

Besides my electronics situation, I am currently deciding on my options on how to navigate through Laos from Luang Prabang, Vang Vien and Vientiene. Afterwards, I will go to Cambodia, Siam Reap, Angkor Wat and Phenom Phen. Then probably just relax in Bangkok. We will see how it goes since I am always adjusting my schedule.

Keep posted.

[ Life.Iz.Good ]

I have lost my iPhone and quit possibly my camera due to salt water damage. Oh well, I am using a shitty Kodak disposable but the good thing is I have some underwater pictures.

The good news is… Railey is effing beautiful. You can only get here by longtail boat or speedboat because Railey is surrounded by impenetrable cliffs that surround the peninsula. I met a Venezuelan national by the name of Rebecca who showed me around the island. There is a cool lagoon that you can swim in on the island but the only way to get there is to scale a wall, I have pictures which I will show when I get back. I also did a snorkel/boat tour of Koh Phi Phi Don, Koh Phi Phi Lay, Bamboo Island, and some other Islands. I cannot describe to you how blue the water was… It wasnt emerald colored, it was a mirrors reflection of the sky with all the color variations from blue to orange during sunset. Railey has been, up to this point, my favorite place in Thailand. The beaches were good but the scenery around the beaches made it amazing. Chaweng Beach on Koh Samui had beautiful sand but the overdevelopment of resorts and tauts harassing you made the experience less pleasant.

I have noticed during my travels that whenever a resort pops up in a beautiful location, everything goes down hill. Also how self indulgent, gluttonous, selfish and dirty foreigners are. I felt an undertone of hatred towards foreigners from the Thai people. Mostly from the ones working at the resorts. I can see why… Visitors come to the island, get drunk and party, trash the beach and the water and leave. It was funny on an eco tour I took, everyone learned about how bad it was to throw bread to the fish and what plastic bags and cigarette butts do to the aquatic life but as soon as the tour was over, I saw a bunch of tourists light up a cigarette and toss it overboard. Ever since I saw that I began picking up trash everywhere I see it, if I have time. I have seen so many beautiful things and I want these places beautiful for my children when I have them. Hopefully, people will wake up but until then I will do my part.

Oh, my visa is about to run out for I decided to go to Angkor Wat, Siam Reap and Phenom Phen in Cambodia.

[ Life.Iz.Good ]

I like the vibe in Koh Tao. There isn’t much to do in town but there is a lot of character. I am currently in a really ghetto bungalow in the mountains because Koh Tao is unbelieveably packed with tourists. I will take a snorkeling tour around the island tomorrow and will take two discovery dives up to 12 meters underwater. I would like to get my open water license but I cannot fit 4 days in my schedule. Btw, the neighbor next to me is a foreigner who is slowly undergoing a sex change, weird.My bed sheets look dirty and there is a blackout right now, no electricity. I am tired.

[ Life.Iz.Good ]

Today I head out for the small island of Koh Tao for snorkeling and relaxing on the beach. Yesterday, I tried to go on a day trip to Koh Tao by speedboat but the trip didn’t go as planned.

The pickup at the hotel was late and the boat broke down halfway to Koh Tao. I did get a free boat ride, fulll refund, lunch, beer and a ride back to the hotel for wasting 5 hours. The speedboat ride was a lot of fun until the boat broke down. We were stranded on Koh Phang Ngan for two hours before a new boat picket us up. I also met a guy named Suroop, who I later chilled with with my friend Anna.

Yesterday didn’t go as expected but it was a good day filled with a boat ride, saying good bye to my old roomie, new friends, shooting guns! And having drinks with Anna.

Oh about the guns thing, I shot a 12 guage shotgun, a 9mm pistol and a sniper rifle. I wanted to fire the assault rifle but it was under repair and apparently I am awesome at shooting the shotgun. The 9mm handgun was difficult to shoot and the sniper rifle was smooth like butter, I hit a target in the eye!

The nightlife on the island is dirty. I mean sleazy dirty. I couldn’t stand it btw so I had to leave. I can’t wait to get back to Tokyo.

[ Life.Iz.Good ]

Woah! The full moon party was intense. Over 30,000 people partying it up on Koh Phang Ngan’s Hat Rin Beach Aka Sunset beach. The night was perfect. Clear skies and mild weather. The sold buckets of Songsam ska cheap Thai whiskey which was actually wasn’t whist at all, it was more like rum but anyway, they serve the buckets o’whisky by the bucket. The cheapest that we found were 100 baht each! That’s less that 2.50 usd! The town on Koh Phang Ngan reminded me of Chiang Mai in that there was a central strip filled with touristy shops. On the beach, it was set up with lights strew about everywhere and stages for fire twirlers to perform. The beach was lined with bars and sound systems and there was a place for people to rest or sleep! It was annoying for the people trying to sleep because people kept taking pictures while they were sleeping because they thought it was funny.

Besides the environment, the majority of the crowd was meatheads and wannabe meatheads, prostitutes, lady boys, old people, 20 year olds who never partied before and even young children. It was quite bizarre yet fascinating to see such a diverse crowd at such an event. Compared to San Fransiscos raves, I would say the full moon party was amateur night where for a day, people can pretend they are a hardcore party person. The whole experience for me was a bit over hyped and touristy but what can you expect from an event that has been going on for such a long time. They funniest thing for me was running into two girls from Osaka there and chatting it up in Japanese. I partied with them for a bit and that was probably was the highlight of the night. Right now, I have had enough of thailand and am starting to miss Japan. I still have about three weeks left so I will see how it goes. Tomorrow, Koh Tao and from there Krabi, Railay the Koh Phi Phi and Phuket. Some where inbetween I mist run across the border to renew my visa.

[ Life.Iz.Good ]