Shane's Trip Journal https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/ Sun, 5 Apr 2026 23:13:50 GMT World Nomads Adventures https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28402/Thailand/Koh-Tao-and-Scuba Travel Thailand shane https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28402/Thailand/Koh-Tao-and-Scuba#comments https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28402/Thailand/Koh-Tao-and-Scuba Fri, 6 May 2011 20:17:00 GMT 0 This week I have been on Koh Tao getting my PADI open water scuba diving certification. Koh Tao is an island on the east side of the south Thailand peninsula that is known for inexpensive scuba diving certification. I was scheduled to visit Koh Tao when I first got to Thailand but the tropical storm in the south kept me from being able to reach the island. This trip was essentially one day of travel there and one day back with three days of scuba training. The first day was spit, half in classroom and half in the pool. I was in a group of four students with one instructor and one diver that was doing some advanced training but also helped us with instruction. The half day in the pool consisted of getting the proper fitting gear and learning basic techniques of breathing underwater as well as safety procedures.  The second day was also split half in classroom but this day we spent the afternoon going on two dives around the island. The third day was spent with two morning dives in the ocean then on a boat and bus back to Bangkok. Part of the dives in the ocean are spent doing skills (i.e. take your mask off under water, put it back on and clear the water out of the mask or simulation of your air running out and using your buddy's alternate air source to reach the surface) and the other part of the ocean dives are spent swimming around looking at coral and fish. Everything about breathing and becoming weightless underwater is awkward at first, but after a bit this goes away and you just enjoy the view. The water on the dives was clear to extra clear. There were fish everywhere and the views were amazing. I wish I could have taken a picture underwater to show everyone the beauty but unfortunately not this time. Right now, I am back in Bangkok for a few days. Hope everyone is well and I will touch base again soon.   https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/72430/Thailand/Koh-Tao-and-Scuba Travel Thailand shane https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/72430/Thailand/Koh-Tao-and-Scuba#comments https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/72430/Thailand/Koh-Tao-and-Scuba Fri, 6 May 2011 19:24:00 GMT 2 https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28348/Nepal/Nepal Travel Nepal shane https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28348/Nepal/Nepal#comments https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28348/Nepal/Nepal Sat, 30 Apr 2011 14:39:00 GMT 0 The day after landing in Kathmandu I was off to Pokhara (NW of Kathmandu). This is the starting point of trekking in the Annapurna Conservation Area. From Pokhara we took a car 1.5 hours and then trekked for roughly 5 hours to our guesthouse. This, I was told, was a warm up for the hard day to come. The hard day to come was no joke. My guide said that we walked up 3600 steps (stones put down by locals) by noon and after that we trekked for another 4 hours. Overall, we ascended over 1000 meters in a single day. The views are hard to describe and amazing doesn't seem to be enough. I have more to report but the connection here is not great and I can not upload any pictures where I am, so stay tuned. I am headed back to Bangkok tomorrow and I will have access to better computers/internet, therefore I will try to get some more stories as well as pictures posted within the next couple of days. Hope everyone is well.  https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/72199/Nepal/April-28-Kathmandu-to-Annapurna-Conservation-Area Travel Nepal shane https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/72199/Nepal/April-28-Kathmandu-to-Annapurna-Conservation-Area#comments https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/72199/Nepal/April-28-Kathmandu-to-Annapurna-Conservation-Area Thu, 28 Apr 2011 22:44:00 GMT 4 The last week has been a couple of travel days and a couple of lazy days with a couple of planning days. When I left Cambodia for Bangkok I was not sure which way I was headed so I decided to camp in Bangkok for a few days and research some options. Long story short, I decided on Nepal. I can't get the Himalayas out of my head and fortunately now I get to see them. Tonight I am in Kathmandu and tomorrow I will be headed on a 6 day trek in the Himalayas. This 6 days is not supposed to be too strenuous, kind of a feeler for other areas in the Himalayas. I don't have any new pictures to post but will have some soon. I am not sure if I will have access to internet during my 6 days but if not I will bring back a bunch of pictures to share.   https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/72035/Nepal/April-21-Cambodia-to-Bangkok-to-Kathmandu Travel Nepal shane https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/72035/Nepal/April-21-Cambodia-to-Bangkok-to-Kathmandu#comments https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/72035/Nepal/April-21-Cambodia-to-Bangkok-to-Kathmandu Fri, 22 Apr 2011 00:57:00 GMT 3 https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28226/Cambodia/April-15-Angkor-Wat-Siem-Reap-Cambodia Travel Cambodia shane https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28226/Cambodia/April-15-Angkor-Wat-Siem-Reap-Cambodia#comments https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28226/Cambodia/April-15-Angkor-Wat-Siem-Reap-Cambodia Fri, 15 Apr 2011 14:50:00 GMT 0 Yesterday I visited Angkor Wat in Cambodia. I am staying in Siem Reap, Cambodia and today will be walking around touring the city. It took about 8 hours to get from Bangkok to Siem Reap the day before yesterday and the day before that I was on a 14 hour train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. Tomorrow I will be headed back to Bangkok and making plans for the next destination. Angkor Wat is where parts of Tomb Raider was filmed and it was incredible. I appreciate all the comments and hope everyone is doing well. I will touch base again when I get to Bangkok.  https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/71895/Cambodia/April-15-Cambodia-Angkor-Wat Travel Cambodia shane https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/71895/Cambodia/April-15-Cambodia-Angkor-Wat#comments https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/71895/Cambodia/April-15-Cambodia-Angkor-Wat Fri, 15 Apr 2011 14:42:00 GMT 2 The last few days have been some fun activities. I visited Doi Suthep temple and was told that if you come to Chiang Mai and do not visit Doi Suthep you really have not visited Chiang Mai. On the way to Doi Suthep we stopped at a village and got to see some flower gardens. In the garden was some poppy that represented how the villagers made their income in the past but now sell things to the tourist as well as grow fruits and vegetables. I went on a full day trekking activity that included hill-tribe visit, bamboo rafting, elephant riding, and swimming at a waterfall. There has been a Saturday and Sunday market that is apparently every week. They shut down the roads in a certain area and local people set up on the sidewalks to sell their goods. There are some nice things at the markets but I do not want to carry anything else around with me while I travel so I have just enjoyed looking. I am not sure if I have mentioned about the dogs in Thailand. There are dogs everywhere. Many appear to be stray, just wondering around on the streets and elsewhere. You get to the point of not noticing them, but a couple of days ago I was passing a pack of dogs and one of them waited until I was just passed before it bit me on the back of the leg. I was walking around a street vendor when it happened and the man behind the cart apparently saw what was happening and yelled at the dogs to go away. Luckily, I had pants on and it barely broke the skin without tearing my pants so I am not too worried about rabies. So far the injury list is: twisted ankle, sun burn, mosquito bits, leaches, various cuts and bruises on my feet and back from the river, some kind of infection in my lungs (I think it was Bronchitis so I self medicated), and a dog bite. Here you don't have to go to the doctor to get a prescription, you can go into the pharmacy and explain your symptoms and they will sell you what you want. I have lost about 20 lbs as of last week when I used a scale in the pharmacy. I only have one belt loop left before I have to buy a new belt. I have not had any tobacco in about 4 days so I am gaining back some of the weight that I lost. My diet for the most part has been vegetarian, Pad Thai with vegetables and eggs as well as fresh fruits, water, and fruit juices. Although I have slipped on the good diet over the last couple of days because there is a coffee shop next to the place where I am staying that has some great desserts. Tomorrow I take the day-train (12 hours) back to Bangkok. I stay one night in Bangkok and then take a bus the next morning to Cambodia. I will be staying in Siam Reap, Cambodia for a couple of days and touring Angkor Wat. After that it is back to Bangkok where I will decide which direction to head. I was told before I came that Bangkok was a international hub of bargain flights. I hope to find a cheap flight to Nepal but I am not sure they will be cheap enough to fit in the budget.      https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/71806/Thailand/April-8-11-Doi-Suthep-Elephants-Trekking-Markets Travel Thailand shane https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/71806/Thailand/April-8-11-Doi-Suthep-Elephants-Trekking-Markets#comments https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/71806/Thailand/April-8-11-Doi-Suthep-Elephants-Trekking-Markets Mon, 11 Apr 2011 18:08:00 GMT 4 https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28194/Thailand/April-10-Trekking-Waterfall-and-Hill-tribe Travel Thailand shane https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28194/Thailand/April-10-Trekking-Waterfall-and-Hill-tribe#comments https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28194/Thailand/April-10-Trekking-Waterfall-and-Hill-tribe Mon, 11 Apr 2011 17:52:00 GMT 0 https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28193/Thailand/April-8-Doi-Suthep Travel Thailand shane https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28193/Thailand/April-8-Doi-Suthep#comments https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28193/Thailand/April-8-Doi-Suthep Mon, 11 Apr 2011 17:22:00 GMT 0 https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28142/Thailand/April-6-Karen-Longneck-tribe-Golden-Triangle-Chiang-Rai Travel Thailand shane https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28142/Thailand/April-6-Karen-Longneck-tribe-Golden-Triangle-Chiang-Rai#comments https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28142/Thailand/April-6-Karen-Longneck-tribe-Golden-Triangle-Chiang-Rai Thu, 7 Apr 2011 18:31:00 GMT 0 https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28141/Thailand/April-4-5-Ayutthaya-ruins-and-train Travel Thailand shane https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28141/Thailand/April-4-5-Ayutthaya-ruins-and-train#comments https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28141/Thailand/April-4-5-Ayutthaya-ruins-and-train Thu, 7 Apr 2011 18:26:00 GMT 0 https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28138/Thailand/April-3-A-day-in-Bangkok-before-heading-to-northern-Thailand Travel Thailand shane https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28138/Thailand/April-3-A-day-in-Bangkok-before-heading-to-northern-Thailand#comments https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28138/Thailand/April-3-A-day-in-Bangkok-before-heading-to-northern-Thailand Thu, 7 Apr 2011 17:42:00 GMT 0 https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28137/Thailand/A-bit-of-trouble-with-Bus-to-Bangkok Travel Thailand shane https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28137/Thailand/A-bit-of-trouble-with-Bus-to-Bangkok#comments https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28137/Thailand/A-bit-of-trouble-with-Bus-to-Bangkok Thu, 7 Apr 2011 17:36:00 GMT 0 April 2nd was on the bus (approx. 15 hrs) to Bangkok then the 3rd was spent sightseeing more temples and Chinatown in Bangkok. April 4 I was on the bus (couple of hours) to Ayuthaya, the ancient capitol of Thailand. It was built at the fork of three rivers and was the dominant city of Thailand from 1350 to 1767. After 2 years of war the Burmese took the city in 1767 and the Thais re-established their power near the center of present day Bangkok (ref. lonelyplanet). Today Ayuthaya has over 130,000 people and give tours of the ancient ruins. After my tour of the ruins, I boarded a sleeper train to Chiang Mai. The train left Ayuthaya at 9pm 4/4 and arrived at Chiang Mai 9am 4/5. The train was quite comfortable, with two sets of bunk beds facing each other in each compartment. There was a curtain you can close for privacy and overall the car quiet. I had heard that the trains can get cold and that was correct, the a/c must have been on max. April 5, I checked into my guesthouse and did a bit walking around Chiang Mai. April 6, I took a tour of the white temple, the border crossing at Myanmar, the golden triangle (where the Mekong river meets Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos), and the Karen Long-neck tribe. The 6th was  a lot of driving with a stops here and there to tour the areas. One surprising thing I learned was, although I technically entered Laos, I did not have to go through customs because the area that we toured is considered a economic trade zone. A wealthy man from Hong Kong has bought up the area around the golden triangle and is now building a casino among other things. The golden triangle was historically a trade route for opium and other drugs but the government has retrained the locals to grow fresh fruits and other types of plants that will benefit them via the tourist trade. The Karen Long-neck tribe was authentic to a point. As you walk into the village you walk through several three sided huts that are selling various tourist items. Even the long-neck villagers themselves were selling some commercial goods next to their own hand-made items. The border crossing at Myanmar was apparently used mainly for tourist visa runs and locals cross for the casino. Today (April 7) I did not have any activities planned so I walked a bit in some of the less touristy areas of the city. Tomorrow I am off to Doi Suthep which is a bit north of here and is reported to be the most important temple in the north of Thailand.    https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/71695/Thailand/April-2-7-Bangkok-and-Ayuthaya Travel Thailand shane https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/71695/Thailand/April-2-7-Bangkok-and-Ayuthaya#comments https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/71695/Thailand/April-2-7-Bangkok-and-Ayuthaya Thu, 7 Apr 2011 15:42:00 GMT 4 Today is April 7 and I am in the north of Thailand, Chiang Mai. It has been a interesting week, seeming busy with something almost every day and it started with transportation trouble. I was scheduled by bus April 1 to Bangkok leaving at 4pm. When I arrived at the bus stop I was told that the bus was delayed. It turns out the bus was delayed by about 5 hours and when it arrived it had a flat. After an hour of discussion the bus staff said they would not be able to fix the flat until the next day but the bus would try to leave around 10am the next morning. There were 35-40 people waiting for the bus, so the staff said they could arrange transportation back to Krabi where we could get a guesthouse for the night and wait for the bus to be fixed. At this point several passengers were upset with the whole situation but I just decided to chalk it up as another interesting experience on my journey. Some of the passengers decided to stay at the bus stop (I stayed because the bus stop was free accommodation it was a pleasant night), and some went to the guesthouse. The next morning around 10am we were told that the bus was going to be fixed but it would probably not go to Bangkok because several of the roads had been washed out. Apparently when they told the people at the guesthouse, all the passengers asked for a refund and the staff ended up calling police stations across the peninsula to see if there were any routes that were safe enough to take back to Bangkok. Apparently there was only one route left that would add an extra couple of hours to the trip but finally the flat was fixed and we were on the way. By this time about 15 of the passengers at the guesthouse had bailed out on the bus and went in different directions. I understand there was a few seats on a plane but the prices were inflated because of all the bad weather and people were leaving in droves to go north.    https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/71692/Thailand/April-1-Bus-trouble-from-Krabi-to-Bangkok Travel Thailand shane https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/71692/Thailand/April-1-Bus-trouble-from-Krabi-to-Bangkok#comments https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/71692/Thailand/April-1-Bus-trouble-from-Krabi-to-Bangkok Thu, 7 Apr 2011 14:48:00 GMT 0 https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28135/Thailand/April-7-Chiang-Mai-Silver-Temple-and-Silver-Craft Travel Thailand shane https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28135/Thailand/April-7-Chiang-Mai-Silver-Temple-and-Silver-Craft#comments https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28135/Thailand/April-7-Chiang-Mai-Silver-Temple-and-Silver-Craft Thu, 7 Apr 2011 14:25:00 GMT 0 My next stop was originally going to be Koh Tao, a small island on the east side of the peninsula. Koh Tao is reported to be world class scuba diving on the cheap but the weather has altered my itinerary. No small boats are running to Koh Tao because the waters are too turbulent. A local told me that a boat big enough to handle the high seas (possibly military) was going out to the island to pick people up because they have no electricity or water. There are also reports of major mudslides just to the north and east of where I am staying. Today the sun came out for a bit, the beach was packed, and I had to endure another 2 hour massage. I'm off to Bangkok tomorrow (14 hour bus) and then probably to the north of Thailand.   https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/71464/Thailand/March-31 Travel Thailand shane https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/71464/Thailand/March-31#comments https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/71464/Thailand/March-31 Fri, 1 Apr 2011 00:10:00 GMT 6 Right now in the south of Thailand there is unusually wet weather. This is not their typical rainy season and it has not stopped raining day and night for the last several days (I have lost count). There was not much to do on Phi Phi with all the rain so I decided to head back for Krabi (because of the rain and my guesthouse put me in a tiny room, even for the standards of my budget plus overall the people of Phi Phi seem a bit tourist weary). Apparently I got on one of the last boats out of Phi Phi if not the last boat until the weather settles down. The ride on the boat will be hard to imagine unless you have been on a small boat in high winds/swells. It was nothing as extreme as the the movie "A Perfect Storm", but from what I have experienced it was pretty awesome. Near the land areas it was not too bad but once we were out in the middle, the wave heights picked up quite a bit. I was sitting next to a window and at one point my window seemed to facing straight down to the bottom of the ocean. There were a few screams, roughly 20% of the people getting sick, and one person faint. I should have known something was up when the attendant came around at the beginning of the boat ride and handed out plastic baggies to everyone. I'm not sure how, but I didn't get too worked up during the 2.5 hours in the boat (scheduled for 1.5 hours, apparently add 1 hour for bad weather), maybe it was because I kept an eye on the boat staff and they were as calm as can be the whole time. What bothered me more than the waves was the people getting sick all around me, but thankfully I made it without getting sick. The news that I am hearing is that Phi Phi is now experiencing 3-4 m or 9-12 ft swells hitting the beaches and no boats are running in either direction. Here in Aonang the rain is causing a different kind of problem, i.e. mudslides. So far all I have seen here are minor, no damage. However, the reports are to the east and south that there is extreme flooding and some more significant mudslides. I was scheduled to go east to a island called Koh Tao but I think I will talk to my travel agent and see what the options are because at this point I don't think it's possible to get there even if I wanted to. Will report back soon with which direction I'm headed.   https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/71429/Thailand/March-30 Travel Thailand shane https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/71429/Thailand/March-30#comments https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/story/71429/Thailand/March-30 Wed, 30 Mar 2011 20:48:00 GMT 2 https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28027/Thailand/March-30-Koh-Phi-Phi-and-Krabi-Aonang Travel Thailand shane https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28027/Thailand/March-30-Koh-Phi-Phi-and-Krabi-Aonang#comments https://journals.worldnomads.com/shane/photos/28027/Thailand/March-30-Koh-Phi-Phi-and-Krabi-Aonang Wed, 30 Mar 2011 20:28:00 GMT 0