The end is near…sad face.
Ignore the grammar, I’m doing this on an iPad.
(What a great trip - probably one of the best I’ve ever been on. We’ve met a lot of great people over the past few months, some well see back ate SCU, others we may never see again (at least we have Facebook). We all made some unforgettable memories through some unbelievable experiences.)
So it’s been a few days since my last post. I recall that the last one was our final night in Koh Tao with Liran and his GF showing us how things are done after mid night. Some things I forgot to mention about that night - we got a picture with a lady boy. We tried to hook James up but she wasn’t having it. There’s some other stuff but I’ll take it to the grave with me. The next morning were hung over as shit as we make our way to the dive resort lobby. I saw some open water beginners getting their gear together and I couldn’t help but think how jealous I was that they are getting to experience what we did (although probably not the the extent we did) over the past few days.
Oh yeah, did I mention the night dive was totally sick? It was pitch black and as you moved around the dive site, barracuda would follow you, waiting for you to shine your light on a fish so they can eat it. We also say a sleeping trigger fish as well as a few other fishes. At one point, we picked up a rouge diver. She was lost and couldn’t find her group, so Liran had to take her to find them. We stayed and waited but there was some confusion and I thought James had gotten lost and Liran was going to find him. After the dive, we ascend to some crazy rough seas. The boat is bouncing what looks like +- 15 feet as the waves kept rolling by. A one point Liran had to jump back into the water and help a few of us get back into the boat. A wild end to a wild trip. The plan is for Liran and Ruth to come to California in the near future to dive Monterey and possibly Catalina island, which I sincerely hope happens.
So the last few posts were Koh Tao in a nut shell. There are so many more stories I could tell but just don’t have the stamina to put them into words. We leave Koh Tao and head to Bangkok. A 2 hour ferry and an 8 hour bus ride later and we arrive, then promptly pass out. The next morning at 4:30am, we are pick up by a tour guide and head to the tiger temple. On the way, we stop by the bridge over Kwai river (a movie was made about it) for some touristy photos and a brief history lesson. Next stop were the tigers. Why were we there at 7am? Because it’s the only time you get to feed and be blessed by the monks who live on the grounds; it’s the only time you get to see the tigers extremely active since they nap during the day; it’s the only time yget to feed/walk/bath the baby tigers; and it’s the only time you get to get into a cage with a dozen teenage tigers and dangle a bag on a stick in front of their face. Also, there’s practically no one else there. During the whole trip, our guide Kuhn keeps hassling James and I (James more so) about getting lady boys. She was one funny lady.
After all of that excitement, we head to an elephant camp where we saddle up (bareback) on some elephant and head to the Kwai river for some water activities, and by water activities I mean the elephant spraying you, bucking you off, and picking you up with his trunk, all while in the Kwai. Our last stop was a 5 star restaurant in the middle of the jungle. Totally random but freaking delicious. We head back to Bangkok (seeing some monkeys along the way) and take a look at the thousands of photos our tour guide took of us. Later that night, James and I head out to the streets to see what the night life in Bangkok has to offer. I think we may have taken a wrong turn cuz we soon start getting grabbed and pulled by what I can only describe as small Thai women looking to make a few bucks. It’s took us a while to make our way through only to find a dead end, so we have to fight our way back through them one more. As we were walking, an African guy walks by and tells me to follow him. Is it strange I briefly considered doing it, but I then came to my senses. Lady boys were everywhere! I think we counted around 30 at one point.
W grab some grub and booze at a German bar located in the heart of all this chaos. this eneded the night. Now were sitting in the hotel room, getting ready for our final day in this city. We fly out in about 13 hours, but have to leave in 8 since traffic is expected to be bad.
Awesome trip, Both in china and in Thailand. I’m extremely glad I decided to go at the very last second. Just goes to show that spontaneity can be a virtue!
