Island hopping...Phuket

Due to some uploading/memory card issues it looks like our blog is taking a turn towards the bit unorganized. So we are starting at Phuket...but are missing our time in: Vientiane, Khon Kaen, Khao Yai National Park, and Bali. Sorry about that, but it is just something that you are just going to have to get over(like how we got over the fact that we were gonna have to use squat toilets every once in awhile).

But anyways, Phuket was the start to our island hopping through Southern Thailand that we decided to wrap up our trip with. This last part of our trip has been quite different from the rest of our travels and pretty much just what we have been looking for. Island life. We have found the beaches of Thailand to be unbelivably beautiful. You take a picture while sitting outside of your bungalow and just sigh to yourself thinking "nobody back at home is going to actually believe that there is such a beach". It is straight out of a postcard.

We started off our time in Phuket with a personal tour from the British owner (with big British flag crocs) of the guesthouse that we were staying at. This was the first time that this has ever happened to us. Our typical guesthouse owner has been a native of the country, and sometimes cares very little and sometimes cares moderately. However Phil was the best owner we had encountered, his rooms were awesome including his great DVD selection and local tour when we first arrived. He showed us where to go for the best Pad Thai in the WORLD for $1.34. Along with chicken feet stew (which Nat unknowingly ordered since its not like these places have menus, you merely point to what looks good) Trust me the stew was awesome. I typically do not like chicken, frankly I find it bland, dry, and gives me a funny taste. This stew was nothing like that, flavor filled and the chicken melted off the bone. Anyways I miss that place. ALOT. IT was our next door daily meal, for all of 4 dollars after Pad Thai for both of us, water and drinks.

Back to main Phuket, Phil showed us the good bar to go to, where it is actaully owned by 2 Americans who were from Redmond, WA (ex-Microsoft.) There we has dinner and a few drinks, and met another American, who may have had a few too many before he came through the door. But non the less he introduces himself, where he is from and come to find out BEFORE I have even said anything about where I am from he grauduted from Bellevue High in '79. We talked for a bit before him and his son, who was throughtly embarassed, left and headed home. We followed suit shortly admist the hollering of women (I think they were women) asking us if we wanted to come into their bar and have a drink with him..oopps...I mean them.

I was convinced by an old friend (thanks Juice/Brandon) that we had to rent a scooter on Phuket, and so we did. It cost a total of 9 dollars for the day, including 2 full tanks of gas. Awesome deal, considering I just got a livingsocial email that offered me the incrediable price of 125 to rent a vespa for 2 hours! HOLY HELL what a deal. God, I am not ready to get back to the US and have to deal with expensive stuff. Well the scooter ride was awesome, Natalie loved it I think more than I did, she even drove it for about 20 meters. So please mock me all you want, I never thought I would ride anything with 2 wheels and a motor but man is it fun!! We rode it up to the biggest Budda statue in the world appopriately named (Big Budda) and its freaking huge. On the way, we got caught in a ridicous downpour, but made it up with sunny weather. Then following we went to a small beach and layed out, for a few hours and rode back.

Big Buddha (obviously)

View of Kata/Karon beach from Big Buddha

I hate this picture, I look like a dorky 10 year old on his big sisters scooter.

The next day we went to Patong, which is simialar to the red light district in Amersterdam but not as intense. They are adversiting for "ping pong shows" and I will leave that up to your imagination and a google search engine to answer what those are exactly. WARNING: I bear NO responsibility to what the search may bring up. K you have been warned, search away I will wait..... K done? Yah. gross. We skipped that and opted to people watch with a couple beers in hand. "Ladies" like these hover in the middle of the main street, adversitising for shows and other exciting events. Patong is pretty neat if you are shopping or looking for good food and some overpriced hotels. Otherwise its fine for a night, but that's enough. Nata even braved a picture, something I was NOT willing to have on the internet.

Come on Evan you know you wanna take them home.

"Time for Sexy Pose... Sexy Sexy".

Kata Noi beach, just as the sun was going down.

We then hopped on the boat to Phi Phi the next day and were off. Phuket I will miss you, we could have spent another week here but had more adventures to attend to... Stay tuned Phi Phi is up next. OH AND COMMENT PEOPLE I AM LIKE A BUM PLEADING for change. I DONT WRITE THIS FOR NOTHING. GIve us a LITTLE love!!

Chris and Nat

Buses, Buses are no fun...Buses, buses hurt someone

So its my turn to write my favorite topic; bitching and ranting. So boys and girls lets begin…

4:00am BEEP BEEP BEEP (you know the horrid alarm clock noise?) We get up to leave the relaxed and totally awesome city of Luang Parbang, the day before we stoped by a travel agency to buy “ VIP bus tickets” which were about 2 dollars more than the delapadated “local bus” Now as many of you may or may not know I am a huge advocate for public transportantion and I will talk your ear off on how its better for cities and makes them grow, prosper bla bla bla.. anyways this is NOT like a metro bus. We arrive at the bus station via Tuk Tuk

We are pointed to our VIP coach, which on first glance appears to be a huge double decker bus, we get our “final tickets” (because the tickets we had before were our first tickets even though they looked exactly the same). SIDE NOTE: ASIA IS TERRIBLY INFFECIENT nothing makes a whole lotta sense. Which bothered me at first but now after some ZEN buddist training I have learned to roll with it.. kind of. K back to the bus, we hop on to make sure we are in our proper seats and some Laotian has not layed across them and acted dead in an effort not to move (seen it). So we are seated in what appears to me to be a glorified 1985 CEO executive chairs with HUGE arm rests. This 1973 Chinese POS bus was not my idea of VIP, however, I looked over to see an oddly painted “local bus” that looked like a school bus, and by looked like I mean it was exactly that, a really really bad looking school bus, tiny seats that give no back support, bad paint, and a million people trying to strap bags onto the top in a very unsafe manner. Well thank god we did not cheap out and take that bus which also needs to be noted takes 10 hours to cover the exact same distance it takes our bus to cover in 7 hours…. Well back to our chinese “VIP bus” which was all white but about 10 Laotians, we get under way….

We start out going through the mountains which was horrendous. I start to feel a tad car sick as you can't see out the front window and the roads just wind and wind. My stomach was being wound like a jack in the box ready to pop out all over the German with the horrible haircut in front of me (remember him for later in this blog). However, being tired took over and I fell asleep in a very uncomfortable position only to be awakened by “BALLAHHGHHHH BALLLLGLAHAGALA BAAAAAAAAAAALLLLGLGGGGALL” Aww the little Laotian man can't handle a bus flying around corners that if we went off would kill us all, how cute. God, I thought my father made the worst puking noise, nope wrong again (which seems to be theme for me here, sorry Chris you're wrong again) yah this guy may have been dying. Oh and what does the bus attempt to do with the puke bag? Well of course he just opens the back door and tosses it into the jungle. Christ, that was bad. Until lunch came around... Nat and me have been every good at avoiding a few things, motorbikes, squat toilets and monkey brains. Lunch included only one of the above list. I was NOT feeling too hot, my lower intestine was ready to burst all over the German man in front of me. Lunch was served Bellevue high lunch room status, except Asian style. Gross. Not only was I supposed to poo/ mud butt in a hole in the ground, which is VERY HARD for me with no toilet paper "butt” afterward I am supposed to eat mystery meat and white rice. I opted for 2 bites and to wait for Vientiane. Long story long we made it there and I am sure Natalie will write a very nice and pleasant blog about how the rest of Laos was and I will follow up with something angry and slightly funny.

Love from Phuket,

Chris and Nat