Our hostel (Mercy) was a big hostel with a chill vibe. Most big hostels are party hostels, but this one was laid back with pool tables, outside seating and a swimming pool. Everyone was friendly and the staff were helpful.

On the first day, we meet some people, reflected on our recent meditation retreat, went to the local night market, hit a few bars, and ate some 7-11 toasties. Pretty standard backpacker night.

The next day we got up early, grabbed a scooter and started adventuring. First stop was the White Temple. An insanely beautiful and intricate temple by a renowned Thai artist. Next to the temple was an exhibit with his artwork, which was equally interesting and stunning (half Buddhist and half psychedelic). This temple was still under development while we were there and the artist doesn't expect to finish until 2070 (using his successors).

After the White Temple, we went to a 70m waterfall and the Black House. The waterfall was tranquil and magnificent. The trees shaded us from the harsh sun perfectly as we enjoyed the scenery for twenty minutes before any other tourists showed up. The black house left more to be desired. Because of the scathing online reviews we read, we expected a dark, cult culture house with interesting and gorey exhibits. Instead it was a collection of one “artist's” weird stuff, and a few artistic pieces that were mostly a tribute to himself.

That night we visited a cat cafe and we treated ourselves to hot pot (finally!) with excellent results. Another treat we'll take home with us.

Grant and Danielle

The post Chiang Rai – Cats, Temples, and Hot Pot appeared first on Quarter Life Excursion.

Because of the weather and illness, we spent the first few days drinking coffee, watching Band of Brothers and writing to HelpX and WorkAway for potential volunteer opportunities.

A couple of days into our time in Pai, almost to protest the weather, we headed outdoors for adventures. The first day I went to the Big Buddah on a hill and attempted to trek to a waterfall that was deceivingly far away. The next day we met up with a good friend from Meditation, Yong, and motor biked to a few lesser waterfalls and to the land split.

The land split, as simple as it was, may have been my favorite part. It was what it sounds like, a few cracks in the earth, about 60ft deep, made from a series of earthquakes. The cool part, however, was the family that lives on the property. It’s free (a rarity for an attraction in Southeast Asia), and the host feeds the tourists a collection of plates made fresh from his garden. Also free. We drank roselle tea, rice wine, roselle jam, banana chips, sweet potatoes, and nuts, as we chatted and enjoyed the break in the clouds.

At night, the city of Pai lights up a bit as the night market starts and the music bars begin playing. Pai, like Ko Lanta has a collection of “happy foods”. They also have a handful of good music bars that have interesting artists coming and going. We went to a bar called Edible Jazz and were not disappoint as a solo guitarist started building his riffs with the help of a few pedals and computers.

On the last day, because we were finally feeling better, we sprang for a pizza and ice cream dinner, and we not disappointed. Also, for breakfast, we had “comgee” which is rice porridge with egg and chicken stirred in. A simple, delicious meal that sits perfectly in your stomach on a cold morning.

Off to Chiang Rai. Likely the last stop we’ll make in Thailand.

Thanks for reading. We hope to finish catching up on posts soon.

Danielle and Grant

The post Pai – Small Town, Rolling Mountains, and Reggae Vibes appeared first on Quarter Life Excursion.

We researched different temples to go to and decided on Wat Ram Poeng. It was nestled up in the hills, had beautiful grounds to meditate in, and had space for us when we were ready to begin. Day one eased us into the schedule slowly. The head of the foreign meditators (think of a blustery monk with way too much to do in the short amount of time he has to do it…very un-monk-like in my opinion) gave us a pamphlet to read over and over again. It explained the vipassana style of meditation we would be practicing as well as a bit about Buddhism. An example of the rules we would live by day and night:

Wear white at all times

No talking

No reading, writing, listening to music

No napping during the day

No eating after 12:00

We eased into day one. The monk showed us our simple rooms and we settled in, changed into white, and met back up for lunch. We learned the prayers we would be reciting before each meal, then enjoyed a delicious meal. After lunch was the beginning of the meditation course. We read through our pamphlets a few more times (we were not allowed to read once we completed the opening ceremony…see rule 3 above) and paced around outside waiting for the teacher to return. This would be our first lesson in patience. About 2 hours later the monk was ready for our opening ceremony. Fifteen minutes of kneeling, repeating phrases, and a bit of confusion later, we were sworn in. Then, back to the temple called “the library” to begin as a meditator.

I learned that days last as long as our whole trip thus far. Our whole lives were run by bells. Morning bells start at 4:00 AM. Now it is time to start meditating. Standing, sitting, standing, sitting. Our teacher comes to check in on us. “Knowing, knowing, knowing” he chants softly as he leaves the room. Bells ring at 6:30 AM and we shuffle towards the breakfast hall. Head down, walking slowly, “I am meditator”. Chanting lasts about 30 minutes and it is in Thai and Pali and I can understand none of it. I have an English cheat sheet for the meal contemplations, but other than that, I listen. Meals are eaten slowly. I chew and attempt to contimplate my food rather than scarf it down.

We then wash our dishes and find something to clean. Foreign mediators sweep the floor usually. Then, we meditate for a couple of hours and try not to count down the minutes until lunch at 10:30AM. We alternate between sitting and walking meditation,15 minutes at a time as a beginner. I learn it takes me about 15 minutes to walk 15 meters and back. Crap, did I just fall asleep sitting up? Breathing in and out, narrating steps in my mind, snapping my focus back over and over again. Finally, lunch bells ring and it is another 30 minutes of chanting before eating. After lunch we shower and clean our rooms. Then we mediate all afternoon.

Around 4:00PM we check in with one of the senior monks. This is the one time we are allowed to talk. He or she (our temple is special in the fact that the second senior monk is a woman…most women are considered nuns and wear white, but Phra Bikkhuni achieved monk status and wears the same orange as all of the others) asks how your meditation is going. You are encouraged to ask questions or raise concerns if you have them. You also report the hours of meditation you have completed (8-12 hours are asked for daily) and are sometimes given more exercises to work on. Most of the time, you are asked to increase the amount of time you alternate between sitting and standing.

After reporting, we then go back to the library and practice meditating until 10:00PM. The days are long and short at the same time. See picture below for our view for ~5 hours per day. I kept seeing people in the patterns.

My time there blends together and waxes and wanes and the clocks are playing tricks on me. I learn that little things make or break my day. I understand why someone would go crazy in solitary confinement. I feel as though I may lose my voice from not using it for a day, then two and three. My limbs ache, then go numb, then ache again. Why did I do this to myself, this is torture. Then, I have a really good session of focus and I'm on top of the world. Next day, I can't get back to that same level and it is frustrating. I begin to understand…really understand, little phrases that I have heard throughout my life. Mantras run through my head that are absurd. I hardly think about the food, even though I thought it might be the most difficult part before I started. Monks and meditators talk of hallucinations and revelations through meditating, but we are not allowed to talk about our personal experiences. I do think I hallucinated a bit. It's hard to say because my mind felt as though I was in a dream the whole time.

I break down and start talking day 4 or so. I get in trouble because of this. Oops. A Vietnamese girl next door to me is there for 26 days. She explains to me that the last 3 days of her time there will consist of ONLY mediating. She will sit in her room, simple meals will be brought to her, and she will not sleep. Only meditate. 'Determination' is what it is called. Wow, my days don't look so bad anymore.

Somewhere in the middle of my experience, I lose a day somewhere and the mental tally I have going for the rest of my time there is wrong…my 'last day' was actually the day before my last day. I do a mental check: I realize I don't mind. I am already in the groove so I might as well get everything I can out of this experience. It is then I realize I would stay longer if we had the time.

Then, years later it seems, it is time for closing ceremony. The group I came in with, all 7 of them, finished the whole 10 days. I am relieved to be done at this point.

I vow to practice meditation for the rest of my life. I can definitely see the benefit of the practice. Maybe one day I will return to complete a determination myself. Maybe not. As difficult, tedious, tiring, frustrating, and boring as it was, my time as a meditator was also exciting, rewarding, and led me to feel pure happiness. I am glad I had the privilege to practice at a working temple and would go through it all over again if I had the choice.

Doing, doing, doing…

Thanks for reading my musings.

Danielle

The post Chiang Mai: I Am Meditator appeared first on Quarter Life Excursion.

Chaing Mai may, at this point, be the best place we've visited, especially since I could see myself moving there one day. Chiang Mai has a huge expat scene, mostly cyber nomads and yogis, but the presence of westerners hasn't destroyed it's charm. Chiang Mai still has all the delicious and cheap street food, as well as a scattering of local coffee shops and bars for the western palette. It has a temperate climate, at least in the winter, and it is surrounded by beautiful mountains that reminded us of being home in California. In the end, we spent three weeks there, way longer than anywhere else, and I wish we could have stayed longer.

Right away, Chiang Mai started off with excitement and energy. Day 1 we met up with Jessica and two friends, and after trying not to fall from flying hugs, we immediately started moving. Classic Jessica traveling. I love it.

First we went to Tiger Kingdom. We arrived and found the tigers playing and wandering around in a few adequate exhibits, but it was still a bit sad to see the caged animals. They were napping a lot of time, but the young ones were also chasing each other and playing with their toys. After paying the front desk, we were able to spend twenty minutes each with a group of babies (the size of a collie), teenagers (the size I expected them to be: big), and adults (freaking huge). After watching for a couple hours, everyone realized that they acted exactly like oversized house-cats. They played with huge strings, snuck around to scare each other, and slept most of the time. The company never let's small children in the exhibit, and after seeing a hungry tiger watching a toddler intently, I understood why.

That night we went to a Muay Thai fight with mixed results. The fights were really good, but three of the 7 fights were between local Muay Thai kids (

The next day included a trip to a elephant rescue. This place was truly amazing. They bought and rented elephants from their abusive owners who used them for circuses, basket tourist rides, and farming. Many of the elephants had scars from the abuse. Once in their new home however, they lived a simple life of bathing in the river, eating sugar cane, and playing with humans. This company, Happy Elephant Home, let the elephants decide the schedule, and if they didn't want to go in the river that day for example, too bad for us. Fortunately when we were there they did want to play, including the 1 year old elephant, and it was a ton of fun. We got to tease and feed them sugar cane (their favorite), jump in the mud with them, walk them around the preserve, and bathe in the river. A great experience, worth breaking the budget for.

That night we got a massage from Lila Massage, a company that helps licence and employ female convicts in and out of prison. Best massage so far. After that, it was time to Chang and chill.

The next day was spent on a day tour of the jungle, including a short raft through small rapids, hiking, bareback elephant rides, etc… A classic tourist day in Chiang Mai. That night we finally, after so much time in Thailand, went to a cabaret (“lady-boy”) show. It's was surprisingly classy and entertaining.

The next days slowed down after Jessica had shipped of to Pattayya, but that didn't stop us from visiting the “Grand Canyon of Chiang Mai”, which is basically an abandoned mine that had been filled with ground water. At first, it's about as exciting as it sounds, but after meeting Jo, the local lifeguard, we were quickly convinced to take the 25 – 40 ft leap into the water. It turned into a great day in the sun with our two new friends: Lenny and Michelle.

Such a long post…

Soon, we were able to meet Kanami and enjoy a day touring the city of Chiang Mai and it's dozens of temples. That night we walked through the Sunday Market, a typical outdoor market with loads of people and good food. There were so many great souvenirs here for cheap; too bad I wasn't leaving yet.

After this, we went to the North Gate Jazz Co-op for the first of many times. The first night, this place had a classic rock cover band, best I've seen (besides the Caverns in SB). The last night we were there, it was an Open Mic Night at the co-op, and they had local expats and locals with all different instruments jamming out with impressive skills. Hanging over the stage they had a great image of the King playing trumpet with the same angle as the iconic Luis Armstrong photo, and this brought the whole decor and feel of the bar together.

The final thing I can remember (besides the loads of food) is our awesome cooking class we took to learn the northern Thai style. To start, we cooked Khao Soi, the greatest soup ever. Ever. We also learned chicken chashew stri fry, pad see ew, different soups and curries, fried spring rolls, and fried bananas. I can't wait to utilize these skills in the kitchen back home.

Sorry for the long post, I hope you'll enjoy all the info and photos here and on Dropbox.

Grant and Danielle

The post Chiang Mai – Friends, Tigers, and Jazz appeared first on Quarter Life Excursion.

On the way to Krabi, we were jammed in like sardines into a 14-person van, and somehow I drew the short straw and ended up in back. At least I had the support of the kid sitting next to me. He seemed extremely interested in my work as I wrote the blog posts for Ko Tao and Ko Samui.

In Krabi, we stayed in the Hogwarts Hostel (Awesome, I know), and ate some delicious street food. The next morning was a mad rush to make the last ferry, but we made it. With 60 seconds to spare, we headed to Ko Lanta.

Note to self, landing in a random location with no room or plan seems to workout for the best…At least in Thailand. As we docked in Ko Lanta, we were swarmed by resorts offering us rooms, and because there were so many, we were able to haggle a private room for a ridiculously low price.

After settling in, we went to a local spot for lunch and over heard the afternoon call to prayer. Ko Lanta is a Muslim island with prayer intercom, pork free menus, and halal food. It was awesome seeing an area, despite the tourism, hold onto its culture. Despite many American and nationalist opinions recently, we were treated like family at every restaurant and venue, just as we had been everywhere else.

We also discovered the simple luxury of Lassi that lunch. A delicious blend of fresh fruit, ice, simple syrup, and a scoop of plain yogurt. So good and filling.

After exploring the beaches around our room, we quickly began to uncover a new reputation that Ko Lanta held. We heard Ko Lanta was a low key beach town before we left. After stumbling upon bars called “hippie bar” and “mushroom bar”, and seeing signs for “happy milk”, spliffs and “mushroom shakes” we began to see why the island carried such a laid back reputation.

After a day of getting comfy, we spent the next 4 days adventuring.

First, with the help of a motorbike, we headed to the national park. On the south side of the island the national park features stunning views, fine sand beaches, nature trails, and a host of spoiled monkeys. After watching a family of monkeys play in the water, playing their own version of hide and seek, dunking, and jump contests, you almost felt they were a little human. They clearly held a family dynamic, and despite fights here and there, all was usually resolved with some good ol' grooming. As you became comfortable around then however, you started to notice how spoiled they were. They'd approach you for food, and the bigger they were, the more willing they were to bare teeth and stand their ground as they approached your bag. We saw one tourist carry rocks just incase, so I did the same. (I'm not losing a fight to a 20lb monkey.)

Another day we took a tour of many of the small surrounding islands. The snorkeling was great here, with massive schools of fish that would disperse and collapse as you swam through, but never swim away. This just made me want to SCUBA more however.

On this trip we visited this mysterious beach that was isolated by a 80m cave entrance (Emerald Cave). Apperently, after being a great place to catch swallows, this was a prime pirate stash, so this is probably the closest I'll get to treasure hunting. We also met Bryce and his girlfriend (sorry I forgot your name) who were awesome people and we hope to see them again.

On the last day we visited a spectacular cave in the jungle. With a guide, we found the entrance (a 1ft wide crevass) and squeezed our way in. The cave was insanely tight at times, forcing us to drop bags and get on our bellies, and at other times it opened into huge rooms, with bats, side caverns, multiple levels, and the occasional giant cave spider.

Why did the water monitor lizard cross the road?

To get to the other side apparently, or that seemed to be the reason for the 5' behemoth that cut me off on the highway while I was motor biking.

The night life in Ko Lanta was just our speed. Present, but low key. Bars played classic rock occasionally and a ton of reggae. They offered good drinks and had an atmosphere for card playing and talking at a normal volume. The Chang's (beer of choice always) were cheap and plenty, and the times were good. A marketing scheme they have going is a party every quarter moon cycle. We bit, stuck to the cheap drinks, and received a free display of fireworks, poy, and fire fountains. Worth it in my opinion.

Ko Lanta was an overall great island. Very low key, but plenty of adventure once you start looking. The locals are just like the island as well. The resort owner was usually outside playing a strange hacky sac game, and we caught the staff casually climbing huge coconut trees barefoot and with no safety. We were sad to leave the island, but stoked to get front row on a double decker bus as we headed back to Bangkok and eventually flew to Vietnam for the next act in our Quarter Life Excursion.

Oh, I nearly forgot. I scared Danielle so bad that she hit me and shattered my glasses. Too good.

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We stayed in a bungalow that came equipped with its own frog to nab all of the bugs…score! We were told there was a ceremony going on at the monkey temple down the street so we decided to check it out. No monkeys were seen, but we did meet some nice locals that ushered us into the festival, almost involuntarily, and they gave us a strange, slimy white (fruit?) dish that was sweet and not unpleasant. We communicated via gestures and figured out the festival was honoring Buddha, we think.

We wandered on at this point and found a series of rickety stairs and ladder combination that led up the shear cliff of a mountain. We had to see what was at the top. After seven different levels, we climbed up to the mouth of a cave, and as the sun was setting at this point, bats were chattering and flying around the opening. It was a great find. Two feral dogs escorted us back to our bungalows as we wandered back through the jungle.

The next day we decided to trek into the jungle on the Tan Sawan waterfall hike. The first few km were along a service road. Then, it was jungle trail for the rest of the trek. We were weaving around a trail that loosely followed the river. Up and down we went for miles. Every so often, there was a beach access point or waterfall that we could hike to from the main trail. There was some gorgeous landscape to see. On one such beach, I was eating lunch and noticed blood coming through my pant leg. Crap, what was that from? I lifted my pants up and two fat leeches were happily sucking away at me. I yelled at Grant to come over and pry it off me while simultaneously trying to flick off another one that was cruising up my shoe. I thought leeches lived in water, what the hell was this? My California creature knowledge didn't cover this possibility. We got them off, did a quick body check, and got the hell out of there. Later, we decided to tuck our pants into our socks to ward off any others. Good luck to the tourists we saw with sandals and shorts on.

The views were worth the 10 or so leech bites we gathered. We heard birds and insects chattering away the whole time we were there. At one point we came across a flock of hornbills that were noisily following one another. It was an awesome hike. At the end of the day Grants phone read 14 miles total, and all our clothes were soaked in sweat. On top of all of this, and probably the most important part (Grant typing now), we found a Packer fan! What a spectacular day!

The following day we were off to the other entrance of the Khao Sok national park at Chiao Lan reservoir.

We woke up early and headed out to Chiao Lan. The long tail ride from the main pier out to our floating bungalow was amazing. Sheer faces of limestone and sandstone shot out of the reservoir at random. We drove by many islands made of rock and dense jungle vegetation.

The area was dammed in the 1980s and is now referred to as the largest ecological disaster in Thailand's history. The reservoir filled up with 6 months. Because it filled up so quickly, a large number of animals were displaced or trapped on islands. A conservationist attempted to save the trapped animals, but the combination of stress and limited resources in the relocation areas caused the majority to die. He ended up killing himself due to the failure of this project.

Regardless, it was a beautiful area. About 20 minutes into our boat ride it started POURING. We were soaked within a minute or so. I looked back at our longboat driver who was under a protective canopy and he laughed and waved at our situation. “Good luck!” he yelled. Another crew member walked up and collected all our valuables to put into a dry bag he had on hand. “No rain until today!” he said while laughing. I'm glad someone was amused. Soaking wet and cold (the first time in two weeks!) we arrived at our bungalows. The lake water was warmer than the air at this point so we hung our clothes, changed into bathing suits and hopped in the water.

After, we did a short jungle trek with multiple river crossings (up to my neck!). Our guide Guy (or “chicken”, as some tourists call him) was a very pleasant Thai man who did this trek daily. He knew all about the surrounding land and stopped a few times to scope out noises only he could hear. We were led to a cave that was incredible. There we saw spiders as big as our hands and tons of bats. My favorite memory of the giant cave spider was watching one prance away after we knocked the stick he was on. It was out of a cartoon, and any fear I had at the time slipped away.

We then cruised back to our bungalow for some beer drinking and lake floating for the rest of the evening.

The next day we explored for gibbons and dusky langurs (a type of monkey with a long tail). The trick to spotting them is to look for abnormal branch rustling amongst the trees. We ended up seeing many of both species.

After all of this, it was time to depart. The long tail boat ride out was gorgeous, and dry thankfully. We made it back to our bus, and when we were back in town celebrated the trip with two large coconut shakes.

Danielle and Grant

PS : We posted a link to our Dropbox folder with all the higher quality photos on Facebook. The photos are added in culsters and tagged with a dated folder. Feel free to go through these if you'd like to see better photos.

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Our adventure to get to Khao Lak (from Ko Samui) was another story. To start (at 530am), the trip consisted of a mini-bus, a bus, a ferry, a bus, a van, a scam, a van, and a bus. The whole time we were being told where to go, with little confidence in where we were going. We just kept repeating “Khao Lak” and people just kept nodding their heads. At one point (the scam), we were dumped at a crappy little travel shack in Surat Thani (a crappy town) and told to wait for the bus. Suddenly, apparently the bus wasn’t coming. They were busy with the full moon party, and if we want to get to Khao Lak, we need to pay 3500 B for a taxi or take another bus in 5 hours to a stop 2 hours short of Khao Lak, and take a 2000 B taxi. Of course this was all explained in fractured English so all we could do was grin and nod.

This all smelled fishy to start but we didn’t know what to do. We continued pressing our point that we already paid for a full and complete trip, and eventually elected for the cheaper bus. When the woman immediately offered to lower the cost of the taxi option, we knew she was screwing us. After she wandered away with our bus receipt (that we luckily took a picture of), we called the hostel we booked though and they confirmed our suspicion. While Grant was on the phone and strangly simoultaneously, it seemed the real van escourt that was suppose to take us to the bus station appeared. Four hours later we found ourselves in Khao Lak, dumped at the foot of our hostel, stoked to be done traveling for a few days.

Khao Lak, unlike the bus, was awesome.

We stumbled into the town during the floating lantern festival. The festival lets people release their bad thoughts, omens and demons and float them down the river. At the same time it is a celebration of life and the elements that fuel our existence. Of course we joined in and released our bad thoughts. Easy as that.

On top of the traditional aspects, the food was extra good and cheap: $0.30 for a pork skewer, $1.00 for the best fried chicken I’ve ever had (sorry Mom), and $0.50 for a coconut shake. Dinner done.

We got around on scooter in Khao Lak and did it more successfully this time. With our new found power, we covered miles (kilometers) with ease.

The first thing we did was hike because it had been too long. Our first hike was a five tier waterfall (Chung Fa). All the rain and growth in the jungle offers a unique challenge. It’s quite slippery, but this is remedied by pleathera of vines and bamboo hanging and growing out of every corner. While we were hiking we finally got a taste of the new wildlife. Nothing big yet, but lots of new lizards, salamanders, fish, butterflies and beatles. The second tier had the fish that fed on skin particles, so as we swam, we were nibbled at from all angles by a bunch of little fish. We were shedding from a sunburn in Ko Tao, so it worked out.

The next days we hiked some more, got lost some more, and ate the spiciest meal of our lives (even the locals next to us were sweating and crying). We went to the beach, body surfed, and got caught in a few storms. Grant was stung by a jelly fish, and his nightmares came true as we stumbled upon spiders the size of our hands.

On our last day, we were casually eatting breakfast a place with a view when we notice a log moving swiftly through a stagnant pond. After looking again, it definitely was not a log. It stopped to look at us as it went out of view, but we are pretty sure it was a six-foot water monitor lizard. A freakin’ monster of the modern age.

As a sad side note: Khao Lak was also one of the many towns devastated by the 2004 tsunami. The hostel we were in is a mile offshore, but was still under 10ft of water during this disaster. A large police boat was swept past our hostel in the raging waters, and the city left it there as a monument that anyone can see to remember (see picture below). This place is definitely up and coming again, and we were happy to see it doing so well now.

On to Khao Sok National Park….

Regards,

Grant and Danielle

Scary spider!

The post Khao Lak – Lanterns and Adventures appeared first on Quarter Life Excursion.

With this in mind, we made Ko Samui our shortest trip. Our one day there we hoped to see Big Budda, Grandfather and Grandmother rocks, the mummified monk, and Fishermans Village (all free), but it was raining and every taxi was out to make a profit that day, so we caught a movie (Hunger Games) at a surprisingly super nice theater and planned for the next adventure.

My favorite part of the trip, and I’m not being sarcastic, was a Loatian pork dish from a side street restaurant. It reminded me of carnitas with onion and cilantro.

After this, we catch a bus at 530am to Khao Lak with dreams of hiking, swimming, and cheaper food in our future.

Until next time,

Grant and Danielle

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From what we've heard, this is the place to go for a PADI cert. The island seems to be 1/3 tourist, 1/3 dive instructors, and 1/3 locals. It's all diving all the time. Awesome.

To get there, we took an infamous night train from Bangkok to Chumpon. The train was cool, and though a bit cramped for someone 6'2″, pretty nice. We were dumped off the train at 4am and loaded on to a bus that looked like it was meant for moving migrant farmers from field to field. Then onto the ferry. This was the first time since Santa Barbara that we saw the ocean, and Danielle's smile said it all. Little mountain islands were scattered in the distance with a beautiful sunrise in the background. It was a great relief to see after four days of city life.

After docking, we signed up for a dive school (Simple Life), and started that same night with Jason, our instructor, and two others.

In the mean time, we started snorkeling. Our first site was a 60' sail boat wrek just off the coast. Here the coral was plentiful, the fish were colorful, and the water was warm. Some fish were small with vibrant blue stripes, some were big and every color of the rainbow, others pretended to be eels and backed into corners so I couldn't see where they ended. Each was unique and beautiful in its own way.

The SCUBA certification was fun. After learning how to avoid dying and understanding why flying after SCUBA will kill you, we were able to start in the swimming pool. Fun fact: Chinese nationals don't know how to swim. Apparently the school system is set up in a way that doesn't give second chances, so it's study-study-study with no time for swimming. So while we were practicing mask clears at 2 meters, a girl was struggling to stay afloat above us.

The next day was the first day in the ocean. 12 meters. What a thrill to look up and see nothing but water for that distance. We saw so many things, but most notably, a moray eel, a mega grouper (2-3'), sting ray, parrot fish, and a 1' wide jelly. No sharks, but we did we run into loads of trigger fish. A trigger fish is a territorial fish, that has a trigger fin that sticks up when agitated. They are common. Apparently if you make it mad enough it will get under you, swim straight up at you, and bite what ever it hits. Defense: rubber fins. I had little faith in my defense, but luckily they didn't get too agitated.

The next day was even better than the first, despite the rain. We hit 18m, did full gear on/off at depth, and learn about Jake the Barracuda, who loves bubbles and loves bumping divers. Ha. The next day our dive instructor spotted a whale shark, but we were not so lucky.

*Side note – Danielle is lining up her shot…she knows to hit the cue ball.

On our way to the next snorkel spot.

On our way to the next snorkel spot.

Dinner ocean-side.

Dude fishing with a string wrapped around a waterbottle ha.

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We made it! After a 9 hour layover in the dead of night and many long hours on two separate flights we arrived in Bangkok on Thursday morning.  Getting to the hostel was an adventure on its own.  The traffic within the city is absolutely wild.  I had to bite my tongue as we sat in a taxi and wove around cars, motorcycles, and ‘tuk tuks’ which is like a carriage, although powered with a small motor.  We sped into oncoming traffic many times.  Although, crazy enough, there are few accidents here.  Not a car has a single scratch on it that I have seen.  I think LA folks have a bit to learn about city driving.

We have crammed so much into the three days we have spent here, so I will go through a few of the notable activities.

We visited The Grand Palace, which is a series of Buddhist temples and buildings that the king and various political figures still use today.  The aesthetic detail of the temples was unreal, both inside and out.  Figurines, mosaics, timelines painted on the walls, and shrines were all over the grounds and incorporated within the architecture.  Brilliant colors surrounded us as we learned more about the religion and politics of this country

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After this we were hungry so we tried to find an authentic place to eat lunch.  We spied a kitchen on the bottom story of a massive building.  There were many people in uniforms milling around the building, but we didn’t think anything of it.  We walked down and tried to find a menu, or even prepared dishes in the kitchen (which is never in a different room than the dining area) we could point at and order from.  The chef looked at us funny and started laughing as we looked around and tried to figure out how to communicate what we wanted.  That is about the time we noticed that people were talking to each other through a steel fence.  It looked like we had found the Bangkok jail.  Everyone was laughing at this point, including us so we waved goodbye and found a normal restaurant to eat at, one that served to those not incarcerated.

Our Saturday evening was a little unconventional; we decided to participate in a guided meditation led by a Buddhist monk.  He spoke about Buddhism, the body and mind (body and mind, body and mind), and the world as he saw it.  He then showed us how to practice meditation while sitting and standing.  We meditated for an hour, which was a lot harder than I previously thought.  I fell asleep a couple of times while sitting and meditating…oops.  Each time the half hour began, the monk would leave the room, then return when it was time to switch methods.  At the end of the time, he revealed to us that he had been watching us the entire time through a camera mounted at the front of the class.  He laughed, and pointed out a few people who had given up on the pose half-way through.  All in all it was a great experience and has me interested in exercising my mind this way in the future.

We also took a Thai cooking course which has been my favorite activity by far.  We made 8 separate dishes, including a hummus made of pumpkin that was delicious! In between the 7th dish (papaya salad) and the dessert (mango sticky rice) we learned a traditional Thai style of dancing.  Hopefully we can go back to the states and recreate the awesome dishes we enjoyed.  My favorite is an Indian inspired dish called Massaman Curry.  The runner up was the Pad Thai, which had much more complex flavors than what is served in the west. (Papaya salad in the photo)

As I am writing this, we are sitting in the hostel lobby listening to the rain falling among the hum of different languages being spoken by people from all different places.  Lucky for us 95% of the folks we have met speak English, although I feel pretty lame that this is the only language I can speak.  Many are traveling by themselves, most have begun their adventures in Bangkok, and, all have been some of the nicest people I have ever spoken with.  I could definitely get used to this.

Until next time.  Thanks for reading!

Danielle

Yum

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