new pics have been uploaded onto facebook, even if you don't have an account you can check them out here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=85534&l=20029&id=509955156


we just rented a house on an island, it is beautiful and we will probably stay here for most of the time we have left in thailand. i will try to upload another blog soon.

Getting to Khao Lak and TURTLE mania

We moved guesthouses for our last two days in Krabi, to one called Laughing Gecko run by a Canadian woman and her Thai husband. It was a little more rustic than where we had been, the bungalows were made like traditional Thai houses. All bamboo, more open so the air flows through.

Since we were much closer to the main strip in Ao Nang we walked down there, although it was absolutely scorching. That night we went to the bar down the street, called Hippie Bar, where they do a nightly fire show. We didn't go in but we watched from the street. There were about 8 guys performing with poi, staff, double staff and rope. It was interesting, but Hitoshi was better than almost all of them, so we weren't overly impressed.

The next day I asked one of the guesthouse owners where we could see turtles, as we were trying to plan where to head after Krabi. He was telling us where to find monkeys and catfish, and I was telling him that other than the fact that monkeys don't look remotely like turtles, we had already seen them. Finally he says that there is the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries division near by, and they have really huge fish and lots of clown fish little sharks. Oh, and by the way, turtles too. Ok, now we're getting somewhere. Obviously he just didn't understand my all encompassing obsession with turtles.

After all that we rent a motorbike and head out to see what goes on at the Ministry of Agriculture. We found it just as it had been described, a big gate with Thai flags flying and of course a picture of the King. There was also had a giant ceramic clown fish. At the front office they told us to drive around back, where we saw several large pools, with walkways so you can peer down into the water. The pools were maybe 100 by 200 feet, and not very deep since you can see the bottom. I thought, no way are there turtles in here, that would be way to easy, since I had been asking everyone and no one had mentioned this place before. Maybe some kind of turtle, but definitely not sea turtles.

I was proven wrong in all of ten seconds, when we walked out onto on of the walkways, and right below us there was a turtle! I think it was a hawksbill, since they have really beautiful shells and are smaller and this one was only about three feet long, but it might have been a green. Either way I was so excited!! Then another one swam by and I was of course reduced to giggling hysterics. One of them was eating and Hitoshi filmed it coming up for air.

We walked around and looked at all the tanks, at least half of them were filled with Nemo fish (hence the giant ceramic clown fish at the front gate). I did see a group of Gills and one Dorrie which was exciting. After looking at the tanks we walked around the rest of the large pools. A school group had come and a man was feeding some of these giant fish (at least five feet long and two feet around) who where jumping trying to catch the fish. Then the kids wandered off, and then we saw them, little turtle juniors! They were probably about a year old and only a little longer than a foot. And there were three or four of them, all swimming around. Soooo cute.

We must have stayed at that place a couple hours, mostly watching the turtles. After we went to the front office to ask where the best place to see turtles in the wild is. They said it was very hard, but near Khao Lak there was another Ministry of Agriculture that specialized in turtles (this ones specialty being, you guessed it, clown fish). We got a name and a phone number and that finalized that Khao Lak would be our next destination.

What a good day. We are now in Khao Lak which is just north of Phuket. We are staying at Puh Khao Lak resort, which is the nicest place that we have stayed in so far, if not the most interesting. I guess by nicest I mean cleanest.. And we have a pool, which is totally necessary since the beach is at least an 8 minute walk. The grounds are actually very nice, almost like a golf course with palm trees, and everything is spaced pretty far apart. I can't believe we are paying about $4 each more a night for such a huge leap in accomodations.


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I have realized that in this perfect man that I have met, I have found someone that enjoys doing things by himself even less than I do. I don't really mind in general, since I like doing things together, but I was feeling weary when my presence was requested at Muai Thai, a Thai kickboxing event. I kept telling him he would have more fun without me, since I hate any kind of fighting and wont even watch it on tv, but after he told me he would pay, we could leave whenever I wanted and I would get a super foot massage after, I agreed to go check it out.

Khao Lak is a pretty small place, so the boxing 'stadium' was pretty tiny. When we got there, the third fight of ten was starting. The first 6 fights were all young kids, mostly teenagers. I really don't have much to say about the whole thing, except I would advise bringing ear plugs since the announcer is screaming a lot and between fights they blare horrible dance music.

I did make it to the end of the last fight, mostly by watching other people in the crowd. I thought the best part was the band made up of little grandpa's playing traditional Thai instruments while the fight was going on. And right before the fight, the boxer guys do a sort of dance / ritual thing which was interesting to watch. I guess I'm glad I went, since I know it made Hitoshi happy and it is a part of Thai culture. But I don't expect I'll be attending anymore matches in the future. Tomorrow on to much more exciting things - turtles!!


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I don't think there is anyway to top today. It started with a good sleep in, since we didn't get back from Thai boxing until almost 1 am. The we had a great breakfast and hopped on the motorbike to head 35 km south to Thai Muang to find the Ministry of Agriculture, Sea Turtle Conservation. Off the main highway we headed into town and then drove a few minutes north along the beach, which was gorgeous and had not a soul in sight. Too bad we didn't bring bathing suites but we were on a mission anyway.

We found it without much trouble, and then went and signed in. A guy gave us guest badges and then walked us around to the back, where there were rows and rows of tanks, about 4 feet deep and 6 feet wide and 30 feet long. And they were FILLED WITH BABY TURTLES!!!! Hundreds of tiny adorable flapping little turtles. I spent the whole afternoon watching them and holding them and seeing them get their medicine and eat their lunch, and even having their baths (the guy gives their backs a little scrub so they don't grow algae). There were tiny tiny newborns and teenagers and even a few full grown ones. I think something was wrong with the big ones, because I read that they release them when the getting bigger. I can't believe Hitoshi managed to get me out of there after a couple of hours, I had to keep going back to say goodbye. I want to go back right now!! I want to work there and live there and take care of them all day.

The rest of the day was pretty rad too - consisting of swimming in the pool, buying a few things, eating yummy red snapper and getting a Thai massage (you can have a pretty sweet day in Thailand and still spend less than $25) - but all I'm going to be thinking about is how I spent the best day ever with my little turtle buddies.

First Week in Thailand

Hitoshi brought his laptop along, so I'm going to try to write what we're up to as often as I can and then upload it when I get the chance. Here's how our trip is going so far. (Sorry no pics yet, this internet is painfully slow)


It's January 12th, a Saturday morning, the first day of our trip. We arrived in Bangkok last night after a stop over in Beijing. We were hoping to stay in China but there were no seats available within the next week, so maybe on the way back. The airport in Bangkok is a pretty impressive building, not what I expected at all. I guess it's brand new, I think it's nicer than the Calgary and Vancouver airports.

After we landed we grabbed our bags and went to find a cab. There were three people dressed in suits on us as soon as we were our the door, asking us if we needed a cab. They told us 900 bhat, but a man from Vancouver we met on the plane had told us it should be around 400 so we walked a little further and found one for 450 (about $15 Canadian). So first lesson, which was pretty much what I expected, you can find things at least half price if you only walk 3 feet.

It was almost a 45 minute cab ride to Soi Ram Buttri road. It is very close to Khoa San Road, which I gather is the backpacker mecca in Bangkok, but our friend Dawn told us that Soi Ram Buttri was just around the corner from there and less crazy. It still seemed pretty nuts to us, considering it was almost 3 am. We started feeling pretty disheartened as every place we walked by was full. Finally at the very end of the road we found a small place. We didn't even care about seeing the room first, since it seemed like there weren't any other options.

It's 200 bhat a night (so about $6 each), and the bed is probably harder than the floor but it was all we needed. After we threw our stuff in the room we went down and ate at a street vendor, all seemingly run by little Thai gramma's. It was good food, and the street was pretty empty by then, which was nice.

We fell asleep watching a movie and only slept about 4 hours, but now we're up and showered and off to find a little nicer accommodations.

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It's later tonight now (well I guess it's actually tomorrow). We found a better place, with a/c and a shower, which is nice but when we get up we'll probably downsize to a cheaper room. Our sleep schedule is totally out of whack, thanks to a 4 hour nap we had earlier tonight. Today we went down to Khao San Road, which was nuts. I'm so glad we didn't stay there, thanks Dawn for steering us away. It is filled with stalls and people and bars and really bad techno.

One of my first impressions... I was the number of foreign guys with Thai women 'friends'. I was expecting it, but it is everywhere you look and so in your face. Today at lunch a guy in his mid 20s was sitting next to us, and he just handed the woman a huge wad of cash and then they left together. And the men all ages, from early 20s to 60 and over. It's a little bizarre but I'm already getting used to it. I'm wondering if people look at Hitoshi and think I've picked up a cute Thai guy for myself..

Tomorrow we're going to see the Grande Palace and Wat Pho and then make our escape from Bangkok plan. It's too much for me here, I think it's more for people who just want to drink and party. But I could also see getting stuck here, just hanging out and sitting on the patio, since there is so much to see, so I want to leave soon. We met a really interesting girl named Amy from Sweden tonight, who had been traveling the world for the past six months. Tonight was her last night before she headed home, and it was great to talk to her and get ideas about where we want to go.

Oh, and I touched a baby elephant's nose and it was really soft and mushy.

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Today we went to go see what else Bangkok has to offer. We first took one of the ferries down the river Chao Phraya to Tien and then took another one directly across the river to Wat Arun. Wats are temples, and this one had a very impressive skyline from the river. To quote the DK Eyewitness Guidebook that we are using:

Wat Arun, named after Aruna, the Indian god of dawn is a striking Bangkok landmark. It owes it's name to the legend that, in October 1767, King Taksin arrived here at sunrise from the sacked capital, Ayutthaya...the main prang (tower) is 79m high. In the 19th century King Mongkut added the ornamentation created with broken pieces of porcelain.

So basically, the whole thing is covered in broken porcelain and looks pretty cool up close. There are very steep stair that you can take up two levels, where we got some good pictures. After that we had a snack (we've almost given up eating full meals in the heat and are now just sharing an order from a street vendor whenever we are hungry) and took a ferry back across the river to see Wat Pho. To quote our book again (not sure if anyone is interested, but my Grama will be):

Wat Pho is not only Bangkok's oldest and largest temple but also Thailand's center for public education. It was built in the 1790s and in 1832 Rama III built the Chapel of the Reclining Buddha which is 150 ft long.

The Reclining Buddha was definitely the highlight, it was absolutely massive. After that we headed up to the Grande Palace, which was just across the street. But by the time we had reached the front door, a good way along the almost 2 km long wall, we were pretty beat.

There seemed to be endless vendors selling stuff off blankets along the street, I thought because it was Sunday. We looked around a bit and decided to skip the Palace, since it seemed obscenely packed. We found out later that the King's sister recently passed away, so people were flocking to the Grande Palace. I'm not quite sure why, since the King doesn't live there anymore. But everyone here loves the King and I'm pretty sure it's illegal to say anything bad about the royalty, so I feel weird about asking anything about him. On a side note, it is totally fine to say anything about politicians in the media, so that's nice.

After that we took a boat back up the river to our street, and stopped on the way home to get a massage, which was heaven and dirt cheap. I plan on getting another one as soon as possible. We came back to the guesthouse to sleep, but we couldn't so Hitoshi went out and about and I thought I would write in here. This is getting really long, I should try to go upload it soon..

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January 19th

We have made it south to the ocean. We booked a flight to Krabi, which we almost missed cause we got sick (especially poor Hitoshi, he was in pretty rough shape). But we did make the flight, and arrived in Krabi three days ago. It is across the bay from Phuket, which we decided to avoid cause it seems to hectic. I don't think too many people stay in Krabi, since it is not right on the beach. Most people head to Ao Nang, which is maybe 15km away. It has a few main streets and is mainly built around resorts, shops and restaurants.

We ended up at a place maybe 20 minutes out side of Ao Nang, at a place called Pine Bungalow. It is really isolated, there isn't even a store within walking distance. I really like it here. It has little cabin type houses (not really bungalows) and is totally surrounded by jungle. Our place has what seems to be the typical Thai bathroom and shower - both in one small room with a drain in the floor, no separate area for the shower. It is so different than Japan where you would never have the shower and the toilet in the same room.

Our first day here we arrived in the late afternoon and just had a swim, the ocean is really warm. The next day we rented a motorbike and went to check out Ao Nang. I have never been on a motorbike or had any desire so it was a little scary. Hitoshi had one for almost ten years in Japan so he's a good driver, but I still made him drive 30 km an hour. We went to two different beaches and looked at some stores (way more expensive than Bangkok, we didn't buy anything except a hat). We ate some great Barracuda at this little place run by a family.

The next day we rented a motorbike again and went to Wat Tham Sua (tiger cave temple). It has the Buddha on top of one of the massive cliffs that are around here, so we made the trek up. And what a frikken trek. It is straight up a 300 meter high staircase and I was melting. It's over 1200 steps and I almost gave up when I was dying and saw we were only on the 400th one. But Hitoshi was very encouraging and we stopped lots (he being a ninja, of course didn't even break a sweat). I was glad I made it, but I don't think I'll feel the need to do that again in my lifetime.

At the bottom of the cliff we did see tons of monkeys, which was awesome. There were little babies and old pensive looking grandpas and they were running around everywhere. They were running around everywhere, leaping from trees and onto the store roof, it was pretty fun to watch. On the way home we stopped at a giant catfish farm where we had some BBQ catfish and then walked around the ponds feeding them. I was glad I had eaten before I saw them up close, they aren't very charming, all jumping on top of each other to catch some food and making weird sucking noises.

Later that night I was rewarded for my heroic mountain climb when we ate dinner; we ate a plate of the biggest prawns I have ever seen in my life, aptly named King Prawns. There were only five but that was more than enough for both of us to share. I don't think I can get sick of eating prawns.

Yesterday we took a long tail boat out to Ko Hong (ko means island). Having realized in Australia that boats and I do not get along, I was a little nervous. However, we were the only two on the boat and there are virtually no waves around here, so I was actually ok for the 30 minute trip. There we hung out on the beach in this inlet, it was really stunning. We walked in and fed the fish bread our boat driver had given us, and bright yellow and black stripped fish were all around us. We did some snorkeling too, and although of course all the coral around there is dead from so many people, Hitoshi had never done it before and was quite excited. We did see Nemo, in his anemone. And Gill was swimming around near by. That's a clown fish and an angel fish for you non disney fans.

After that we took the boat around to the other side of the island and saw a ton of mangroves, very interesting trees. We finished by going to a small beach and having a quick nap. Once we got home we rented the motorbike again and went to check out the Muai Thai, the Thai kickboxing. Hitoshi really wanted to see it (I of course had no interest at all, but said I would think about it). In the end it was way too much money so we went back to the little family run restaurant where we had had Barracuda and this time tried the Marlin.

Today we decided to do nothing, which was great. We laid on the beach at our guesthouse, which was almost deserted with only three other people doing the same thing we were, reading and napping. We spun some staff, swam in the ocean and then laid on the beach until it got dark and the moon came out. The staff here lit a small fire just down from us on the beach which burned for a bit, then it was just really bright moon light (full moon is in three days). It was a perfect day, and now were going to go have some dinner, which will be seafood of course.