Thai adventures

What a busy last few days!

Over the last few days we have gone waterfall hunting, gibbon watching, snorkeling, sightseeing, etc etc.

Upon entering the park with the waterfalls. The park attendant comes up to my window and asks if everybody in the car is Thai (Thai's get in free, tourists have to pay). Without really knowing what she said, I just nodded my head. Nott then said something in Thai. I presume he said, "Yes we are all Thai." And she let us in for free. I am quickly discovering there are two costs for just about everything in Thailand. The locals price and the foreigners price. It is nice being with a bunch of locals. I get to enjoy the local's price. The waterfall is was really cool. The water was really cold which was nice for a change, considering it was suuuuuper hot and humid out.

Inside the park with the waterfall, is a Gibbon reservation. Gibbons I guess are a type of monkey. But they look like furry little 5yr old children. They make some really funny noises that are really loud.

After watching the Gibbons, we checked out a beautiful temple holding a bone relic of Buddha. The temple also had life-like wax models of the three most important monks in Thai history. The models looks so real, I thought the monks were going to come to life.

The Buddha bone relic was so TINY! It was like the size of a booger or something really really small.hahaha. You could barely see it from behind all of the glass. But the temple was HUGE! Covered in intricate paintings and carvings. Full of vibrant reds and golds. All in all a cool experience.

We also drove up to the top of mountain to see the "Giant Buddha." A Buddha statue that is something like 50ft tall and made of white marble. It was HUGE! The staircase up to the statue was lined with little bells you could run your hands through as you walked up. The sound of the ringing bells and frothing kids all over the place made for a very serene setting.

Yesterday we spent the day/night in Pantong. The beaches of Pantong are absolutely covered in tourists. While going for a swim it felt like I was in Moscow or some Russian city, since every person in the water was speaking Russian. The beach of was full of sunburned skin, banana hammocks, and skimpy bikinis. This was the first beach I have ever been to in a foreign country that didn't have surf. Despite all of the development and tourism, the beaches are still beautiful. I tried closing my eyes and thinking of what the place looked like before it all. Pretty sure it would be PHENOMENAL and pristine.

Pantong is like Las Vegas, except everything that is illegal in Vegas is totally fine in Pantong. One can easily get into a lot of trouble there. Lady-boys are everywhere!!!!!! What is even scarier is that from afar they look like girls! Walking through the main drag of Bang La is like walking through a street full of sinful pleasures. From prostitutes and lady-boys rubbing my arm and saying, "hey baby." To seeing loads of absolutely piss-drunk Europeans and its barely 10pm! I enjoy having a good time and enjoying myself, but even this was a little much for me. I felt out of place. Luckily or unluckily for me I had a 7am bus to catch the next morning so I called it a night at 12am and stayed out of trouble.

The next day we took a ferry to Koh Phi Phi island. Which is an absolutely beautiful island. The water is crystal clear. The island looks like something out of Jurassic park. With sheer cliffs directly meeting the sea. There are tons a little islands, bays, and beaches. I was unaware we were doing a touristy day package adventure. I wanted to explore this place without the hordes or tourists. But I did not complain and went with the flow. After all, the place is BEAUTIFUL! After a bunch of boring sightseeing on the boat around the island, which included sailing by this "famous" beach where the filmed the movie, The Beach. I think I have seen the movie, the beach looked just like the one in the movie....Or the other way around... After about an hour we finally go to snorkeling, I was really hoping we would go to some secluded area without many people. But to my disappointment we were dropped off in the thick of bunch of other boats. The boat people tried to make me wear a life-jacket before snorkeling. They didn't seem to believe me when I said I could swim. The snorkeling was pretty cool. There was a ton of fish, but the reef sadly did not look too healthy.  It was covered in sand, the coral didn't exhibit any of its brilliant color. This spot had a little too much human contact. But it was fun none the less. I was surprised to see I was one of the few that wasn't wearing a life-jacket in the water. I guess not as many people can swim as I thought.

I am surprised at how touristy Thailand is. I know it is a great thing for Thailand. But I do not think it is the sort of thing I like. When I travel, I like to get away from the hordes of people. Not to them. Thailand is such an amazing place and I am loving every minute. However, I do not know if I would want to return. If I had a girlfriend that wanted to go, I would consider. But I do not think I would go by myself or even with friends. Unless I got to stay with Nott. Having local knowledge of this place is CRUCIAL! I would be absolutely lost without Nott.

That's all for now. I will be making my way north soon to see some friends. Then eventually to Bangkok and Cambodia. Till then!