World_Tour

Gallery: Indonesia

jeremys_travels — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:27:00 GMT

Danau Toba, Bali

Gallery: Southern Thailand Round 2

jeremys_travels — Sun, 5 Jul 2009 20:57:00 GMT

Bangkok, Koh Tao, Ton Sai

Gallery: New Zealand

jeremys_travels — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 07:38:00 GMT

Auckland, Christchurch, Queenstown

Gallery: India

jeremys_travels — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 07:37:00 GMT

Dehli, Agra, Varanassi

Gallery: Nepal

jeremys_travels — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 07:36:00 GMT

Himalayas

New Zealand

jeremys_travels — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 07:18:00 GMT

Hey everyone. I know its taken me awhile to update. Im back in San Francisco and I've had to deal with taxes, bills, finding a job, etc. So, let me tell you about New Zealand. I wish had more time and money to be there. We were there for a week. Flew into Auckland on the north island andand stayed there one night. It was our first time in modern civilization in a long time. It was great. I had a nice hot shower, a super soft bed, and there was a wonderful breeze coming through my window over my bed. The next morning I wasn't feeling too hot. Not sure why. I think my body wasn't used to such a deep sleep and when I got out of bed it didn't like it. So then we explored Auckland a little bit and took a plane to Christchurch on the south island. Both Auckland and Christchurch are nice cities. I keep telling people New Zealand is the country that San Francisco looks like it should be a part of. Clean cities, environmentally friendly, laid back, and the people enjoy outdoorsy activities. After staying in Christchurch 1 or 2 nights we headed by bus down to Queenstown. It was a nice ride. About 6-8 hours ride but the scenery was beautiful. I've never seen so many sheep. Also the grass in New Zealand is greener than any grass I've seen. The water looks so pure too. When we arrived in Queenstown we stayed a couple nights. We werent sure what we wanted to do there so we looked for cheap and easy things. We were going to go luging down the mountain but it wasn't what we thought. I was thinking Cool Runnings when really it was like a bumper cars race track or something. Anyways we decided to go for a hike instead. We hiked for 3-4 hours up the mountains next to Queenstown. It was nice up there. There was one little forest patch that had little red mushrooms growing everywhere. It looked like Alice in Wonderland or something. When we reached the p[eak of the mountain we were climbing on the other side there was nothing but rolling hills. The first night we were there we played some pool at a bar. The second night I found my way over to the casino and played some poker. I bought in for $60 and left with over $760. That was pretty nice. It paid off the New Zealand part of the trip. I played some poker in San Francisco when I got back feeling all confident from New Zealand and I won $70. So that was cool. On our last day in New Zealand we were trying to find the park where they play frisbee golf but we took too long climbing mountains so we skipped that. We headed back to Christchurch and then to Auckland and then back home. Now that I've been home about 2 weeks. I barely feel like I ever left. Everything is so familiar here. I recommend going to all the places that I went. There was no place I did not like. Singapore isn't anything special but it is good for transitioning into Asia. Oh and I thoguht London sucked. Thats about it. But I must say. San Francisco holds its own against the places I've been. I'm glad I live here because I feel like everyday is a vacation in good 'ol SF.

Northern India

jeremys_travels — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 18:02:00 GMT

India was a little bit of a disappointment. I have been warned about India so many times I was expecting something similar to what Hell would be like. I guess the culture shock wasn't as intense because of all the others places I've gone to before there. Its about the same as Asia but more populated, more polluted, more poor people. It is the dirtiest and most polluted country by far. Its said to be the same as smoking a pack of cigarettes just being there and I cant disagree. My lungs were in a constant tickle and made me sick. The poeple are very nice there and even though it is extremely hot everyone wears pants. We ran into all the mosquitos of our trip in India and we both got pretty sick. The trains are extremely crowded. I purchased a sleeper ticket and in one little area there are about 8 beds 3 tier with about 16 people in the space. So I had a guy sleeping on the floor next to me and 2 or 3 guys sitting on my bed while I was sleeping on it. Looking out the train window is what surprised me the most. In one train ride I saw probably 80+ people squatting and going to the bathroom next to the train tracks just outside of shanty towns. The number of poor people is unbelievable and the contrast is crazy. Walking down the train tracks to work you will see people dressed up in nice slacks and briefcases and ties and everything and then right next to them you will see a family bathing in the train stations water fountain. This was all in and around Dehli.

Our next stop was Agra. Im going to have to say the Taj Mahal was a disappointment. I havent been all that impressed with the Wonders of the World that I have seen. I enjoyed the temples around Ankhor Wat more then Ankhor Wat itself. And Taj Mahal was so over priced. For an Indian tourist it cost about 20 rupees to get in. For a westerner like myself it cost about 750 rupees to get in. In the eyes of India the white man is made of money no matter what you say. And yes if I were to give my life in America and move to India I would be well off for a little while then I would be on there same level when my money ran out and I was working an Indian job. But, I live in America and in America you have to earn a certain amount to survive because I cant find an apartment with $10 rent in the states. Sorry sometimes its annoying riding in a rickshaw that tells you to pay whatever you feel like and then after a short ride you feel like making his day and giving him 600 rupees then the guy says no and asks for $100 american dollars. And then he says "ok, ok. $50 each." Pshh. I dont mind paying extra to the ones that are honest but it bugs me seeing greedy people that try to manipulate you.

Ok, so India wasn't all bad. After Agra we went to Varanasi which is a very Holy place. It lies on the Ganges and many people come here to burn there dead loved ones in the Ganges. This water has hundreds of thousands of burned bodies in it and people come to bathe in this river for religous purposes. This city is pretty crazy. We were told we shouldnt walk the streets past 7pm. It gets crazy there. Especially during the Holi Festival. Which by the way was AWESOME! Its a day of lawlessness. You can smack a policeman in the face and its totally cool. I didnt partake in the lawlessness but I did particpate in the color. Everyone hits people with water baloons filled with dye and squirts them with squirt guns or dumps buckets of dye on people. Its a load of fun and I want to get people to celebrate in San Francisco too. We stayed on the roof of our building because it was dangerous outside. Gangs were throwing large rocks at each other. One guy who went out there came back and said they ripped off his shirt and there were other people dressed like women and doing crazy things in the streets. From the roof I saw bulls running down the street and then little kicks hitting them with dye and then someone from a balcony hitting those kids with dye. It was great. Oh and Ive seen plenty of scary monkeys now too. There all little gangsters. There was a huge one on my porch of my room in Varanasi. In Nepal there were gangs of them too that would yell out and other monkeys would come and attack whatever was bugging the monkey.

One week definately isn't enough time to experience India. It wasn't anything like I was expecting but I hear the South of India is the place to be so next time I would like to go to Goa, Karera, and other places in the south.

Kathmandu and the Himalayas

jeremys_travels — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 17:27:00 GMT

Nepal is pretty awesome. In Kathmandu the people are very nice and the environment is very interesting. The streets are small and crowded with cars and rickshaws zooming on by and some how you survive walking through the streets. If you ever need cheap trekking or camping gear this is the place to go. They sell North Face gear for dirt cheap mainly because its North Fake. It still does the trick though.

Our trek was amazing. It was the best part of the trip. For about 4 days I had headaches while climbing due to dehydration. Trekking actually helped put the headaches out of my mind for the most part but when I stopped my head would pound. So that was probably the worst of it. On some days we would climb stairs all day. To get an idea of how many stairs, I think in one day we climbed about 8,000 stairs. But it was all worht it. The views were amazing and none of my pictures can really grasp what its like to be there. Some of the dangers involved were avalanches (which I saw a few of, they happen constantly) and altitude sickness. We met a few travelers that had to turn back because of altitude sickness. Our guide told us stories of people dying of altitude sickness because they refused to stop moving forward.

One of the most interesting things I did while we were trekking was participating in the celebration of Shivaratri's birthday. (the Hindu God) The villagers created a large bonfire after much song and dance and then heated sugar cane in the fire and slammed them against the rocks causing them to explode. We would then run and grab the sugar cane wherever it went and suck out the sugar while it weas still hot. This is meant to wake up Shiva. Then every once and a while they would kick the fire up to create a large cloud of sparks. Everyone was drinking or smoking hash. I just drank with my guide, no hash. I feel bad for the rest of my group because everyone went to bed early and Im the only one that got to experience it.

Oh, and then there is the legend of Ralph our mountain dog. From the first village we were followed by a beautiful mountain dog. He followed us for several days waiting for us at every stop. We werent feeding it or anything. I guess it was surviving off the scraps in each town and some plants on the way. It was sad though because every village he would be attacked and beat up pretty bad by the local dogs protecting their territory. We were trying to figure out ways we could bring him home with us. We loved this dog. But, in the end he left us because he knew he was causing us harm. On about the third day we came across a town with another aggressive dog that attacked Ralph. When Ralph ran past us to get away the other dog ran through the group and bit one of our group members on the leg and gave us a Rabies scare. Steve, the guy who got bit, was on the verge of leaving in fear of rabies but he realized would have already been too late anyway. You only have 24 hours to get treatment and we were couple days hike in. Besides all evidence pointed towards the village dog not having rabies. The villagers put down the dog and we didn't see Ralph again that day. Later on in the trip we saw Ralph again but he stayed away from us. It's like he knew he was putting us in danger with all the aggressive dogs in the villages. I miss our little buddy.

I also learned a traditional Nepalese card game called Dos Dahla (10 killer). I can teach anyone that would like to learn. It was pretty addictive and I played with our Sherpas and porters whenever I had a chance. It can be played 1v1 or 2v2. I like the team version best.

After the trek we stayed in Pohkara and Alex and I joined into a Free Tibet march down the streets of Pokhara with candles and chanting. This was the day the Chinese were killing the Tibetans and the march was mourning them.

Another interesting thing about Nepal is they have about 6 hours of power cuts a day. The streets can get scary at night only lit by candles but it is very safe there. Also there is a lack of clean water so the water that comes out of the sinks is very dirty and you cant even brush your teeth with it. The food in the city is pretty tasty though.

Gallery: Laos

jeremys_travels — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 22:38:00 GMT

Laos

Gallery: Cambodia

jeremys_travels — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 21:47:00 GMT

Cambodia

jeremys_travels — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 16:52:00 GMT

We arrived into Cambodia and took a pit stop at Khampang Cham before heading to Siem Reap the next day. The only hotel that wasn't booked this late at night was a bordello for $6 a night. I'm not entirely sure it was a bordello but the were many girls hanging around and the hotel offered "massages" for a fee. The rooms were clean and we didn't have much other choice so we set off to find dinner. I would say Cambodia has the best western food in South East Asia. The Khmer food is very good too. On our bus ride to Siem Reap the restaurants were offering "Happy" shakes and "Happy" Pizzas. There were a lot of restaurants like this in Phnom Phen too. We skipped the "Happy" pizza and went for the burritos next door. Cambodia is the first place on our trip where we have found Mexican food.
We arrived in Siem Reap and stayed at the Ivy Guesthouse grabbed some dinner at a restaraunt with butterflies flying around everywhere. We had what was supposedly the best burger in town and it lived up to its name. After so much asian food we were happy to test the towns western food out. The next day we went to Ankhor Wat and other surrounding temples. The temples were amazing. You really need to experience to get the sense of awe.

That night we went to a bar called X bar where they had a high definition projector showing Kill Bill on the roof. We relaxed and had a few beers while watching the movie and I tried out a drink that was a in a Buddha temple shaped bottle. The bartender said it was rice wine and he mixed me a drink with lemonade that I had to shoot down after he shook it up. It was delicious.

The next day we went to a military compound to shoot guns for the experience. They had a wall of guns that we could fire in a shooting range. For $40 I shot an AK47. Then I split the cost of the biggest gun they had which was one of those guns with the tripod. It was fully automatic and very powerful. I knew this would be the only time I would ever be able to experience something like this and it was worth it. They bazookas too but they had run out of missiles so we just posed with them Rambo style.

The following day we caught a boat to Phnom Phen. The boat was so crowded we had to ride on the roof for about 7 hours. I tried rotating which parts of my body I covered from the sun and it worked out pretty well. Everyone that giggled at me for wearing my bandana in funny ways are now extremely burned and look like lobsters. Who's laughing now, muwahahahha!

When we arrived in Phnom Phen we were bombarded by tuk-tuk drivers and were lucky to find a good one. He was very informative with tons of information about the recent history of Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge. While in Phnom Phen we visited the Killing Fields and the Genocidal museum where we watched a documentary on the slaughtering that occurred. Its crazy to think about what happened only about 30 years ago. The killing fields were an eye opener. We stood at the base of a temple that held 2,000 skulls of dead Cambodians that had been tortured and killed. We saw the holes there bodies were thrown into with clothing and bones sticking out of the ground. I cant believe the man responsible has still not been punished and he is about 80 years old now. I saw him on tv at court and he came up with a way to delay his court hearing even more. The genocidal museum had pictures, torturing devices, and the cells where the victims were kept. I dont understand how people can be so cruel. Hopefully nothing like that could happen today with the internet and tv. People wouldnt stand for it if they knew about it. I would hope.

Now we are back in Singapore awaiting our flight to India and Nepal on the 26th.

Laos

jeremys_travels — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 19:33:00 GMT

Hey everyone. Im in Laos now. After a most excellent time in Koh Tao we headed back up to Bangkok on our way to North Laos. We stopped over at the Siam center for a relaxing night at the movies. We saw Cloverfield which is an awesome movie if you want to see great special effects and the most convincing monster invasion movie to date. Its a must-see.

After Bangkok we headed over to the border town of Nong Khai and stayed at a nice little guest house on the Mae Kong River. That day I picked up some cold weather gear because its chilly at night up north. I purchased a jacket for $6 and a warm hat for $1. That night we chilled on a floating bar on the river and played some chess and talked. After our stay we headed over the friendship bridge into Laos and realized we overstayed our Thailand visa by 4 days. 500 baht per day that your late which ended up being $50 USD fine. Blah.

Once into Laos we found the last available rooms in town at a nicer hotel that ended up costing us $15. (Im including prices of things so you can get a feel for what the cost of living is in these countries) Vientiene had some good Indian food at a restaurant called Nazims. Next we headed up north to Vang Vieng.

Vang Vieng was a nice little town in the middle of nowhere with mountains hugging the town. There were many backpackers here to enjoy the river tubing. The following day we hopped into the river with our tubes and took pit stops at the river side bars to have a drink and jump off the rope swings back into the river. After 3 days of chilling in Vang Vieng we headed back down to Vientiene to start our trip south. We stayed one more night at the guest house we had previously stayed in and then took a crammed local bus to Thaket. This bus was jam packed full of Laos people and there goods. They put stools in the aisle for people to sit on and people still were standing and sitting on arms of chairs. I was in the aisle pinned between 4 people and a chair. The bus ride was about 3 hours.

We stayed in Thaket one night at a pretty nice guest house that had a fire out front during the night. The next day we left our big bags in Thaket at the guest house and set out to Kong Lor which was about an hour away.

Kong Lor is one of the best places we have gone too. On the way we passed many tiny villages where the Tuk-Tuk was running errands on our way. The children in these villages were so happy to see us they would jump up from what they were doing yelling Sabaai Dii! Sabaai Dii! jumping in the air and chasing our Tuk-Tuk. (Sabaai Dii means Hello) In one village we saw a little girl I would say about age 3 with a machete in her hand. I wish I had a picture. Out of nowhere the little girl chucked the machete at Alex and it lodged into his collar bone! Just kidding. I think she was about to chop up a chicken or something. Anyways we found the perfect lodge on a river below a mountain next to a field in the middle of nowhere. It was beautiful. We woke up from our bungalows and walked about 3 km through the middle of the countryside to the village of Kong Lor. We walked down to the boat launch for riding through the Kong Lor cave. The cave entrance of like something out of Lord of the Rings. Green water, stalagtites\mites like teeth with stairs carved out of the earth to enter. We saw a total of 5 tourists once we left Thaket. This was real Laos experience. This cave went all the way through a mountain. The trip through took 1 and a half hours through and 1 and a half hours back. On the way through we had to get out several times and walk in the river to get past tricky rapids. The only light was by torch. We also explored deeper into the dry land areas of the cave and tried to take pictures with our flashlights. This cave was massive and there were sparkling rocks in the ceiling and black holes leading way up into the mountain. It was pretty creepy. After leaving the cave we headed to Veng Kham where the first buys dropped us off. We stayed the night there after eating with a family that served us noodles. We were looking for a restaurant but everything was closed. A nice lady sat us down and began making us a mystery bowl of noodle soup. It was delicious. We showed her little daughter a few magic tricks and she gave a surprised look after seeing me pull my thumb off. That night we went back to some lazer disco place at our guesthouse. It was empty because it was a Monday night but we sat and got a few beers. They were playing loud Laos music and a group of teenage boys came in and started dancing. They started breakdancing which of course motivated me to get up and breakdance as well. We went to bed shortly after. The next day we took a less crowded bus down to Pakse that took about 9 hours. We arrived about 12:30 in the morning and luckily found a place to stay. It was a nice place and cheap too.

After Pakse we headed over to The Four Thousand Islands on the border of Cambodia. These islands were awesome. Nothing but bungalows and restaraunts. On the beach in the main area of town there was the most chill water buffalo Ive ever seen. He would just sit on the beach all day and have the occasional photo opp. with the tourists. On the island of Don Det we rode our bikes across the island and across the bridge to Don Khon. The following day we went to see dolphins and then headed over to hang out at the largest Waterfall Cascades in Southeast Asia. The raw power of nature is amazing! I've never seen such powerful rapids. I couldn't resist jumping in. Just kidding. After the rapids we began to realize we may not have enough money to make it to Cambodia. So, we began rationing our food. Our money just barely held out until we got to the border where the customs scammed us out of $2. We were the last people in line to pay that fee because the british people behind us knew about this scam. They charged an extra $2 to pocket for themselves. After obtaining our visas and checking out of Laos we walked about 500 meters across the border and reboarded our bus.

Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Tao

jeremys_travels — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 21:12:00 GMT

These islands are beautiful! We decided to skip Koh Samui and just hang in Koh Tao for a week. Its been so beautiful and relaxing. Our Bungalow is kind of dirty and the water isnt very safe here but the environment makes up for it. In Koh Pha Ngan we went to the Full Moon Party. It wasn't quite what I expected but it was pretty cool. It's a huge party that goes all night on the beach with a strip of bars with different music playing everywhere. They had a bunch of fire dancers and large structures people would climb on and dance. It was kind of dirty cuz everyone was peeing in the ocean and then jumping right in all night. There were about 20,000 people there drinking liquor and beer out of buckets. The next morning they had videos playing of the morning after with everyone passed out or still dancing. There was a designated sleeping area on the beach for people who couldnt make it home. We also did some exploring and fond some amazing beaches and some pretty cool waterfalls. Im still in Koh Tao now. We will be heading back up to Bangkok soon to pick up our Indian Visas and head to Laos. We have a new member to our travel team. Alex's friend, Curtis, who I met at work met us out here on Koh Pha Ngang. Tomorrow we're going to go snorkeling and explore the island a little more. I highly recommend Koh Tao.

Gallery: Full Moon Party

jeremys_travels — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 20:53:00 GMT

Koh Pha Ngan

Gallery: South Thailand

jeremys_travels — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 20:41:00 GMT

South Thailand

Gallery: Pai

jeremys_travels — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 20:35:00 GMT

Vortex of Slackerism

Phuket, Ao Nang, Khao Lak

jeremys_travels — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 02:03:00 GMT

I have to say South Thailand has been a bit of a disappointment. I was in a bad mood my first couple of days for a number of reasons. 1. I was still a little sick from Pai. 2. I was watching Fox News listening to Replubicans that make me mad and worrying about my country. 3. Hating all the overweight white tourists overtaking the beauty of south Thailand. It would be ok if they all came and were appreciating the culture and beauty as is but all the most beautiful beaches are now over run with resorts and shopping and everything else you would find back home. Its just harder to get to the sweet spots. My advice to anyone that wants to experience paradise in south Thailand you need to get away from all the main cities and beaches and drive out until you see nothing but Thai people and small villages then head over to the beach. That is where you will find culture and beauty. There is also a lot of tsunami remnants is some areas. So far in South Thailand we rode our motorcycles from Phuket to Ao Nang near Krabi then past Khao Sok over to Khao Lak and then back to Phuket. The most beautiful locations were in between each destination. We also took a boat from Ao Nang to West Rai Lai beach where we found huge spiders, monkeys crawling all over people and eating there bananas, and water caves. Touristy but still cool. At a beach near Khao Lak I popped a wheelie on my bike and broke the license plate off which cost about 20 bucks to fix. But it was worth it. The thing I regret most about South Thailand is not picking a spot and staying. We have been on the move constantly and have not had much time to soak it all up. We leave for Koh Phan Ngang tomorrow where I plan on soaking it up until the Full Moon Party. Biggest party in Thailand. The islands are going to be packed with tourists but we still gotta experience it. Im looking forward to finding a hammock on a beach and vegging out for at least one full day.

Pai

jeremys_travels — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 01:47:00 GMT

Pai had some of the best and worst things of the trip so far. The best is its beauty and ability to turn you into the laziest bum alive. We planned on visiting some waterfalls and temples that took us a couple days to get up and do. When we got there we just wanted to go back to our bungalow and lie in the hammock the rest of the day. We met a European and a couple of Americans at our bungalow who never left the hammocks. They too were trapped by the laziness of Pai. At night we ended spending most of our time at the Buffalo Exchange which actually has a bar and a couple other bars that were open later. There was a certain routine and by the third night you feel like you know the whole town. Each of these bars have campfires set up where you drink your beers and chat with people next to the fire. We met a lot of cool people there. Its a total hippie town. The nights are very cold and the days hot. Its a beautiful place and its secluded from the hussle and bussle of cities. The worst of the trip was getting sick. We believe it was caused by the cook your own food style place we ate at in Chiang Mai before going to Pai. We ended up both getting an intestine infection from the food. Alex made a mess of the bungalow and I slept out on the hammock until morning came when I made my own mess. After not being able to move for a day or two I went to the hospital in Pai and got some medicine. The hospital checkup and 6 different medications only cost $7 american dollars. We did an experiment on who would get better faster. I took drugs and Alex did not. Im feeling better then he is now but I think we're both almost completely over it. After leaving Pai Alex hit a turn with a patch of dirt too hard on his motorcycle and slid across the ground. It cost him $7 dollars to repair the bike from the wreck. It cost another week of riding to repair the trauma it caused. After getting back to CHiang Mai we took a bus from CHiang Mai to Bangkok, picked up our Vietnam visas, and sent our passports back out to get our Indian visas. Then we took a flight to Phuket.

Chiang Mai

jeremys_travels — Tue, 8 Jan 2008 03:30:00 GMT

Now we're in Chiang Mai and Im really starting to love Thaliand. The weather is warm/hot in the day and cool at night. There are temples and waterfalls everywhere. And Chiang Mai has a lot of character. Alex and I rented motorcycles and now I want to rent them everywhere I go. I love it. The city of Chiang Mai is probably the least safe place to learn how to ride a motorcycle but we made it over the learning curve fast with the harsh conditions. I never fully appreciated this trip until I was riding my motorcycle with the breeze in my face and the fresh smell of the air while we rode from CHiang Mai towards the Ancient City. We never made it to the Ancient City because we didnt know where it was and we started late. There was actually no plan on actually getting there we just wanted to ride and explore. We found a market with a crowd of people dancing to fast paced music in the parking lot. We stopped and got some of the best food I've had so far. Alex bought an Armani belt and some Ray Ban sunglasses. 6$ all together. The day before that we rode into the mountains to find waterfalls and temples and found plenty. Tomorrow we're doing a package deal where we are going to Moutain Bike, do White Water Rafting, and Ride Elephants. Then we plan on going to a place where you cook your own food on a grill Hibachi style. The next morning we are going to ride our motorcycles up to a town called Pai. Here I plan on going rock climbing/repelling and caving. We will also be seeing the Hill Tribes that wear the rings around there necks. Supposedly there is some kind of party that happens on the 11th that we will probably stay for then we will be heading back to Bangkok to pick up our visas and head down to South Thailand. This is a great country.

Bangkok

jeremys_travels — Tue, 8 Jan 2008 03:16:00 GMT

So, I landed in Bangkok and it was pretty crazy. Little bit of culture shock. The city is pretty big but what makes it sem even bigger is the fact that there are little markets packed into every block like a maze within the streets. Thailand is very cheap which is pretty awesome. We mainly got around by sky train at first then we just started taking cabs since it was so cheap. I got some pictures taken for my Vietnam visa and we sent off our passports to get the visa. After Bangkok we headed up to Chang Mai while we are waiting for the visas to come through. While we were in Bangkok we got front row seats at a Muay Thai Kickboxing match. It was awesome!! With front row tickets we were able to go into the lockers with the fighters and everything. The food in Thailand is great though the choices are fairly limited. Lots of meat on sticks, soups, and rice dishes. I discovered that I like fishballs. The squid on a stick isn't too bad either. Actually I havent really eaten anything that I dont like. Except I bit into one spice or a pepper that I really did not agree with. Tasted of strong Popurie. We used the river boats to get around a lot. We visited a couple temples and we were goign to go to the palace but we didnt have the right clothing on. Everyone is mourning the death of the Kings sister. Her picture is everywhere in Thailand. TV, streets, Internet, everywhere. Another interesting thing is seeing all the monks in the city. Oh yeah and Thailands full of stray dogs and cats. We had a cat sneak in through our balcony at the guest house and in slept in the bed with Alex. To get to Chang Mai we took a night train and met some Thai's and I used a Thai language book I bought to learn a lot of the language with them. The seats folded out into beds and we slept our way to Chang Mai. It was a 13 hour trip.