September 11, 2010
After spending the day here in Phuket I decided to move on to Krabi a few days earlier than planned. I just don't find it that interesting here. Sure I saw some interesting temples on my way in, but I can see interesting temples just about anywhere in southeast Asia. Plus I looked again at my next destination and it looks sooooooooooooo much better than here for me that I decided I would just go there earlier. So I am leaving for Krabi tomorrow morning. It is suppose to be a short 4 hour bus ride and it was only $12. So in the end I only lost $26 by leaving early, but I gain 2 more days in a place I would much rather be. I am planning on going out to Bangla Road tonight just to see it in action and to take some pictures. I don't plan on being there long, but I wanted to at least see it in action with my own eyes.
Posted by Scott Calderon.
September 11, 2010
So I am in Phuket, Thailand. Specifically I am in the crazy/touristy district of Patong near the center of it all Bangla Road. I don't know what I was thinking when I came here, but it was obviously not very smart. I don't know why anyone would want to come here. Actually I do. For the nightlife. Here is a daytime picture.
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I will post a night picture later. The nightlife here is definitely not for the squimish. Being that I am not a party animal why would I come here? Well I thought t...
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Posted by Scott Calderon.
September 10, 2010
If I had to describe Thailand's bus services in one word I would use the word CHAOS. You never really know what is going on or if you are actually going to get to your destination (or when). But somehow in the end everything works out okay. They have this crazy sticker scheme where you get a certain color sticker depending on where you are going, but then they have all these add-on stickers for extras like taxi transfers and stuff. You end up going through like 5 or 6 drivers in a day and...
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Posted by Scott Calderon.
September 10, 2010
Today I checked out of my hotel in Ko Samui. While checking out they handed me a bill of 450 Baht ($15). I asked what it was for and they said it was for the tour I took the other day. Problem was I had already paid for it. So when I tell the guy I already paid for it he asked around and surprise, surprise no one admitted to me paying the bill. In fact they even acted like they had never seen me before. On top of that all of a sudden no one spoke English anymore. So as I tried to expla...
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Posted by Scott Calderon.
September 9, 2010
Yesterday I spent the day at Chaweng Beach which is the big tourist beach and area on Ko Samui. I relaxed in a lounge chair on the beach for a few hours occassionally getting up to refresh myself in the clear, warm waters of the Gulf of Thailand.
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I then just into a pickup taxi (a pickup truck where the bed is converted to hold passengers) for a cheap ride back to the hotel. Once at the hotel I decided to hang out at the pool for awhile. I ended up running into a group of Americans and spent...
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Posted by Scott Calderon.
September 7, 2010
Today I took a 6 hour island tour. It wasn't the greatest tour, but it was cheaper than the rest of the tours. I did enjoy it though because I got to see a lot of the island. I have a much better feel for the island now and I would live here under the right circumstances. It kind of feels like Hawaii, but not Americanized. Give it an Asian influence instead. It is tropical, relaxed, but at the same time it is fast paced. I know what I just said is an oxymoron, but I don't know how to s...
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Posted by Scott Calderon.
September 7, 2010
I have been noticing in my travels that many tourists can be very rude. I have found that male Asian travellers think the world revolves around them and that they are kings. They act like they are better than the locals. But then again they also act like they are better than their wives. So maybe it comes from their traditional roles in their society. I have found that European travellers need to use deodorant. It must be a European thing to not use deodorant because many of them smell ...
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Posted by Scott Calderon.
September 6, 2010
I made it. Finally after 29 straight hours of traveling I have made it to my destination. I am on Ko Samui. Ko means island in Thai. So I am on an island of the east coast of southern Thailand. The plan was to go to Bangkok for a few days and then up north to Chiang Mai. Back to Bangkok for a few more days and then down south to the beaches and islands to relax. So how did I end up here? Well it is easy. I was only givena 15 visa and not a 30 visa like I thought (because I came by la...
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Posted by Scott Calderon.
September 4, 2010
I think I read somehwere that Cambodia is known as the land of smiles. If not, it should be. Everybody here smiles. Even if you are just passing them on the street they still smile. I can't believe how nice and happy people are here and yet they are very poor and there is lots of poverty. I think things are getting better here, but you can see things are not great for lots of people. Today I rented a tuk tuk for the day ($15).
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This guy and his tuk tuk took me around Siem Reap and Angkor ...
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Posted by Scott Calderon.
September 2, 2010
I just got to Cambodia and I feel like the King of Cambodia. But first look at the airport.
That is Southeast Asia for you. It is totally different from China. You can tell the difference as soon as you get off the plane. The view from the plane was one of jungle and greenery with traditional Khmer style buildings in the middle of it all. I know I am going to enjoy Southeast Asia a lot. It is just such a relaxed place. So anyways back to being king of Cambodia. I exchanged my leftover ...
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Posted by Scott Calderon.