17.7.2010 Kaberly

First Few Weeks in Thailand. Bangkok, Koh Samui, Ko Phi Phi, and Back to Bangkok.

Hello Everyone! Hope all is well! Things are excellent for us. Currently, we are stationed back in Bangkok staying near the famous Koh San Road. As most of you know, and for those who don't we are soon to be featured as the 'stars' of an upcoming video diary series for southeastasiabackpacker.com. Over the past few days we have been working with the owner, Nikki, and the video editor, William, sorting through videos from the last three weeks. So far, so good. We filmed with William today for a little one-on-one time with the camera, which he plans to incorporate into our footage. We hope the website diaries will have its series premiere next week.

The past few weeks in Thailand I discovered that I am not much of a blogger, but thankfully Courtney and Danielle are, and keeping things up-to-date. Instead i have spent my time videotaping, drinking, eating, making new friends, and exploring. I've put on a few kilos. But that is beside the point. I love video taping our travels for the magazine! I am working to get them posted to this website, but the internet connection is ridiculously slow. You have no idea.

I swear it seems like I have been here for months. Between beach parties and trekking, and sight seeing and exploring, I don't know how we found the time to sleep! A couple of times I crashed out for like two days straight where I just slept!

Just to recap the past few weeks: Bangkok: we have only seen Koh San Road. It is so hot and humid- I am constantly covered in a glow of sweat. The sound of Koh San Road will forever be burned into my brain; frogs, wooden frogs. Let me explain. Ladies walk around in crazy tribal clothing and headsets selling wooden frogs that make a haunting frog noise we will never forget. Oh, and I have a couple to bring home so I can share the awful noise. Riiiiibet. Oh god.

Anyways, we touched down on the island of Koh Samui where we made heaps of friends and stayed up until the sun rose every morning with them. My favorite friend, Leo from Switzerland, spoke 7 different languages! At night the beaches were beautifully lit with colorful lights from outdoor restaurants. Dinners on the beach were fit for a king. The sunset would create a gorgeous backdrop of blue and pink luminous skies, we sat crossed legged at the table on the beach, ate dinner to the sound of the ocean waves crashing, and then we would lay down and stare at the stars while sipping our cocktails (all for a total of 20USD). Then we would party until sunrise! We saw a cabaret of Lady Boys (trannies), fed children of child labor Burger King, Jet Skied at sunrise, rented motorbikes (which I crashed) to travel to the temples for the day, and then took off to Phuket.

2 ferries, three busses, and 11 hours later, we arrived in Phuket. Filled with prostitution bars, ping pong shows, and Thai Kickboxing, this place is what I would call sleazy. Curious to know what a Ping Pong Show is? A more appropriate name would be "surprise from the vagina show" where women would pull random things from their vajayjay! Even a bird! Danielle caught a glimpse of the show, but Court and I missed out- so unfortunate? I dont think so! We picked Jacqui up from the airport, decided we wanted to see Koh Phi Phi next, and headed to the nearest travel agent. He informed us we had 45minutes until the bus would pick us up from our hostel! 45 minutes?! We hauled ass back to the room to pack and checkout. I have never seen three girls GTFO so fast…in my life.

We arrived at our favorite destination of Koh Phi Phi. aaahhh Koh Phi Phi, I miss you. Our original plan was to sight see for three days only. A day trip to the famous Maya Bay where the movie The Beach was filmed, and see the islands recovery from the tsunami in 2004- but we were sucked in by the islands amazing energy for 10 days! It was like every attractive person in their 20's was sent to the most beautiful place in the world, Koh Pi Pi, all at the same time! The beach parties were fun filled, the weather was perfect, the waters translucent, nice locals, good food, and everyone happy. We made it to Maya Bay and snorkeled for hours. Courtney almost convinced me to snorkel to shore and never leave, but realized we would be out of beer, so we went back-haha. The next day we hiked allllll the way up The Viewpoint; one of the highest spots on the island. Little did we know how difficult the trek ahead of us was. You look straight up a narrow pathway in the jungle, to see a never-ending stairway. Once we reached what we thought was the top, we saw another set of a million steep-ass stairs! Along the strenuous stair climb we had cheerleaders cheering us on; fellow sightseers returning from the top smiling and saying "don't stop, it's truly worth it." At one point we had to stop and nearly collapse so we could catch our breath, and wipe the sweat from our faces. Just as we did, a perfectly fit man without his shirt on ran up the steps right past us! We all just stopped and stared in awe at the sight of his beauty, but also in envy! How the hell did he do that!? Once we finally made it to the top we realized it was worth the trek. Behold was the most beautiful sunset I have ever watched. Perched on a rock between two palm trees in the jungle, we gazed across the ocean, and peered down upon both sides of the island. You must see our pictures of Koh Pi Pi because I cannot describe its beauty. It was hot and humid of course, about 90 degrees, but the sunset brought a cool breeze, and a temperature drop to about 80 degrees. The hottie who ran passed us on the way up- well he plopped his hot bod right in front of us, and gave us quite the show with different poses he so "naturally" did. We all snickered like little schoolgirls. Then I recognized him from my videos! Not just one video, but from two different islands! Amos is his name and we all became friends and lived happily ever after.

Now back in Bangkok and I am running into people from Koh Phi Phi. We are on a route which is often referred to as "the backpackers circle" so I am sure we will continue making new friends on the same path.

We leave for Chiang Mai tonight. Keep you posted. Miss you all!

xoxoxoxoxo