My first Monkey

I left Ko Tao this morning and headed to Krabi. I took a catamaran to Chumporn, Thailand then a minivan over to Krabi. The journey had a few highlights worth mentioning:
- I had my first hamburger that was definitely not cow meat! I cannot bring myself to suppose what it might have been, but best case is a pork burger or some kind of tofu pork burger, if that is even a possibility? For the record, it did not taste what I would have thought dog tasted like.
- When we landed at the Champorn, I saw my first live chicken and rooster making their way into the crown from behind a fruit-shake stand; they make the best banana, mango, watermelon, etc fruit shakes in Thailand for about $1.
- I nearly missed my connection from the boat to the bus to do the misconceived notion that because I bought a ticket all the way through, the bus would pick me up at the dock. Instead, upon my fortunate inquiry with an English speaking 'customer relations expert,' I took a large bus to a place where they dropped me off on the side of the road and, surprisingly, my minivan came and picked me up.
- I have gotten very familiar with leaving to go to a new town and having no idea, until I get there, where I am going to end up. Honestly, it's the best way to travel since the best hotel deals are made in person. Not to mention I get to view each room before taking it. This allows me to search for bed bugs. I am not sure if that is or is not necessary as of now. The random rash on my body could be because of jelly fish stings, or it could be bed bugs from my previous establishment, I may never know. However, after dinner last night, I now understand what to look for to determine if a room has bed bugs: black spots on the sheets that increase in number throughout a certain time period (bed bug poop), red spots on the sheets (blood from the bed bugs biting), and small clear eggs wedged between the bed frame (bed bug eggs). I found this out from a girl who experienced bed bugs first hand. My previous room did not demonstrate the aforementioned characteristics, but they suspiciously changed the sheets every night.
- I held my first monkey! I was walking home from dinner and saw a guy holding what looked like a stuffed monkey. I asked if it was real and the monkey crawled on to me. In fact, I might extend myself to say, this is the closest friend I have made thus far; the monkey was persistent in his attempt to stay in my arms. When I gave him back to his owner, he had a small fit and tried to climb back to me. Needless to say, I wasn't having it as I was certain that monkey would shit sometime in the near future and I did not want to be anywhere near it. Here is a picture of me and my new best friend.

Diving Ko Tao

I finished up my Advanced Open Water diving course today. It's not as great as it sounds, it just means I went on a few more technical dives. I have done 6 dives in the last 2 days and it's been so much fun. I met my first American in my dive class. It seems to be mostly Europeans here, but most everyone speaks English. Last night we did a night dive. It was great, but, a little eerie being under water when it is pitch black. Although we each had a flashlight, the sea is a pretty big place and one little torch doesn't light up much of it. Surfacing to see the stars was phenomenal, it's quite a sight to be looking up and go from pitch black to seeing the milky way (they have that in Thailand, right?=). Today we did a full day trip spending the entire day on the gulf diving at a place called Sail Rock. I took an underwater camera and got some great shots. The top one is of a giant eel. I don't know how long it was since it was only poking its head out of the coral, but it had to have a 12-16" circumference, it was gigantic (here's and even better picture of a morey eel). Below is the yellow box fish I mentioned previously.

As for the 'Reptile' blog, I forgot to click the button that allows people to post comments to the reptile blog, but thanks for the email responses!! I endured pretty well. After I finished writing I saw a larger lizard running around the wall. Since I can't kill a large lizard (I thought about trying and ruled it out as entirely too messy), when it ran behind the wall sconce I pretended like there was a crack in the wall and it got out. I slept soundly.

Overcoming fear of sleeping with reptiles: check.

Tomorrow I am leaving to go to Krabi, a town on the western coast of Thailand. I am still undecided as to where I am going after that. It is between Indonesia, via Penang, Malaysia, or the Philippines.

Reptiles

Years ago when I was in Fiji, as part of semester at sea, I had a run in with some geckos.  To say there were 6-10 on the ceiling and walls of our bungalow is not an exaggeration.  I had recently learned that everyone eats an average of 7 spiders per year, most of which crawl into their mouth when they are sleeping.  The combination of those two things was a disaster.  I almost pitched a tent in the bungalow as I was certain that if I fell asleep one of those suckers would find its way into my mouth and I would choke.  And what could be worse than waking up in the middle of the night chocking on a gecko?  Not much.  Fortunately, I was with friends and we drank until we fell asleep, in the same bed, with me in the middle for protection.

I just had a small lizard fall from the ceiling on to my bed and am having flashbacks.  What makes this situation worse is that this lizard was (before I sadly smashed it with my flip flop) only about an inch long which makes it far more likely that I will not feel one of his buddies crawl across my face and into my mouth.  On a positive note, it also makes is less likely that I will choke on it (the geckos in Fiji were at least 3 inches from head to tail, perfect choking size).  Let's hope the last 12 years have given me the ability to get past it on my own and without large quantities of alcohol.

Please feel free to comment on the ridiculous nature of this train of thought.  I am in desperate need of ridicule to convince me that I will not spend the next few nights eating my annual share of reptiles.  

The Boat.....

I finished my open water course and am now a certified scuba diver.  The last dive was amazing, we saw a huge school of barracudas, swam with a school of bat fish and saw a small yellow box fish, which is exactly what it sounds like, a small, yellow fish shaped like a box.  

The dive boat is not usually a place where you strive to look your best.  Most people get up, brush their teeth, and get on the boat; it's rare to see someone who has used a hair brush.  Any attempt at vanity is lost the second you dive into the water.  I had the pleasure of sharing my journey with a Japanese group who were all pretty well put together.  Each person had their own mask, snorkel, wetsuit, fins, and high-tech underwater camera, you know, the basics.   There was one gentleman in the group whose blondish-orange hair color reminded me of what happens when you mix a bottle of peroxide and a day in the sun.  However, the true stand out was a woman who came decked out in a hot pink, rhinestone studded bikini with matching tutu (or swim skirt as some may call it) and matching 2" high plastic flip flops.  To top the whole thing off, between dives, she was combing her eyebrows.  Honestly, who does that on land, better yet on a dive boat?  

Ko Tao continues to be relaxing.  I went to Nang Yuan today, a small island nearby.  I did a little hiking and a little snorkeling then came back for a Thai massage.  Those ladies have got it down when it comes to massage.  They poke and bend almost to the point where you think something may break, but it feels great afterwards.  

Paradise

I have found paradise. Ko Tao, Thailand. It is a beautiful Island off the eastern coast of Thailand . I am staying at Big Blue Dive Resort and am getting my open water diving certification. Today was my first real dive here in Ko Tao and it was pretty cool. 

Here are a few reasons why Ko Tao is paradise:

- Thai food

- Crystal clear water, great diving

- Water warmer than a bath

- Fantastic sunsets

- It's too damn hot to exert any physical energy outside of the water, which means there is no

reason to feel guilty about not exercising

- I haven't had to take a cab or tuk tuk anywhere yet....this is especially nice given my taxi ride to the airport in Bangkok. Before I got into the cab, I did the respectable thing and negotiated a price to go to 'the new airport,' as instructed by the travel agent. About 20 minutes into the ride, I again mentioned 'the new airport', which caused my taxi cab drivers face to scrunch up with a what the f*@$ look (clearly he didn't hear it the first time, he only heard how much I was going to pay him). I knew I was in trouble. I showed him my ticket, we tried to call the airline, and he even pulled over on the side of the freeway to contemplate what 'the new airport' meant. But no luck. So we kept going to the airport he thought I should be going to, the older, decrepit airport that looks nothing like the bran new, architecturally magnificent, 'new aiport'. When I went inside to confirm my flight, the information counter, again, sent me to 'the new airport,' this time, writing it in Thai so I could show the cab driver. The good news is, I left in plenty of time to take the additional 40 minute ride to 'the new airport' and even after paying for both rides and freeway tolls, the whole ordeal cost less than $20USD. Got to love the language barrier=)

- It's impossible to get lost, just follow the beach (unfortunately, in Bangkok, I learned the hard way you need a map showing your hotel location instead of just a name and a part of town)

- And one of the best parts, the European guys who have no idea how gay this really looks (seen here practicing swinging balls that will later, be on fire - great way to get the babes).

Cost of a room: 500 Baht

Preferred method of transportation: walking or motorbike

As Promised......the floor urinal

One Night in Bangkok.......

It's like Tijuana meets Cabo, on crack. I am staying in Banglamphu which is the back packer area. Which means kind of grubby, I walked out of my first hotel due to the shower being, pretty much, in the toilet and it feels like being in the middle of Mardi Grads, Bangkok style. The only thing missing is the continuous boobage Bourbon Street brought, but it's quite possible I have gone to bed prior to the nightly showing. Thanks to the multi-faceted aspect of this part of Thailand, I am no longer afraid to wear a bandanna (don't judge, the heat really is unbearable), eat pork gyoza from a street vendor and make friends with someone with a large scab on her nose (unfortunate tuk tuk accident). I leave early tomorrow morning for Ko Tao, a small island off the eastern coast of Thailand, just north of Ko Samui.

Exchange Rate: $1USD = 34Baht

Hello: Sa wat dee (ka if you are a female/krap if you are a male)

Cost of a room:  1,000Baht

Preferred method of transportation:  tuk tuk

Thank you: korp kun (ka/krap)

Time Difference:  14 hours ahead of PST

The floor urinal

I never thought growing up in the Midwest would prepare me, in any way, for international travel (thank you Addison, Michigan for your parties in the cornfield). But it did.Introducing the floor urinal. Although it was not unexpected, what was unexpected was the variety in floor urinals that I would encounter early on. The first floor urinal was rather old and located adjacent to a temple in downtown Taipei. The second was in the Taipei international Airport and had been upgraded to include an automatic flusher. This begs the question, if they can upgrade to include an automatic flusher, why not upgrade to a toilet that sits on top of the ground?

For those of you who don't know what I mean, a photo will follow shortly.

Taipei

Exchange Rate:  $1USD=31.4TWD Taiwan New Dollar

Hello: Hallo

Goodbye: Bye

Thank you (pronounced Shay Shay)

Time Difference:  15 hours ahead of PST

I made it.  And it wasn't even that bad.  From San Diego to LA I saw my first red headed 70's porn start.  Complete with a wavy mullet and a matching red porn 'stache'.  It was awesome!  I though San Diego to Taipei was going to be a killer, but the trip started off on the right foot when the captain announced the trip was 13 hours; I had been anticipating a 17 hour flight, so, as crazy as it sounds, I was excited for a 13-hour flight.  China Air is great!  I got a choice of movies from a decent collection, a foot rest and a seat that actually slid out as it leaned back.

On to Taipei.  The population of Taipei is about 3 million and about half of them ride mopeds, including the UPS delivery guy.  This gives some relief to the traffic in the city, but the parking is the greatest benefactor of the moped.  The mopeds are parked 2 deep and so close they are touching.  They are everywhere.   Since my time was limited, I spent it in a car with Mike from Taipei.  We started off at the Palace Museum.  What a beautiful building, but I've got to admit, I am not a museum person.  I've never been a big fan of looking at ancient bowls or hand-carved knives, but something makes me continue to go.  It's like I am afraid I am going to miss something, so I continue to torture myself.  Granted, the history of Chinese calligraphy was fascinating, but that was mostly because I finally realized how intricate and artistic Chinese writing is.

After that, Mike took me to CKS Memorial Hall, located adjacent to the magnificently landscaped Library Square. This is where I got my first taste of how hot it is in Asia. After about 5 minutes and 84 stairs, I was sweating. And for those of you know know me in an athletic sense, you know what that means. It was also the point where I realized that Asians don't seem to sweat. Interesting. My reward for braving the heat was seeing a gigantic status of Chaing Kai-shek, the former President of the Republic of China, Taipei.

We made a few other stops before we went to Taipei 101.  The tallest building in the world at 508 meters (1,667 feet) and the self-proclaimed number one engineering wonder in the world.  It was awesome.  My ears popped on the elevator up to the 89th floor.  89 floors!

My first day ended with an hour foot massage (I knew it was going to be good when the place was filled with color-coded pictures of the foot identifying each body part's connection with the bottom of the foot) and my first fully dressed, full body massage.  There was a lot of pounding and cupped smacks.  Although I missed the oil, it was still pretty good.  Massage count: 1.