Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Ko Samui was buckets of fun...literally

Ko Samui...Wow! This place is the glue covered trap and all the tourists all over the world are the rats that can't resist the temptation. Get your wallets ready because this place will make you drop your baht until it's hot!! Upon arriving to Ko Samui we joined up with some fellow tourists. Our group consisted of Katrina and Marion from Austria, Katie from China, and Eddie and Drew from California. We parted temporarily as we all found our separate accomodations on the island. It seemed that no matter where you chose to stay you had to pass by 500 people trying to sell you things, as well as a suit store that gave you a compliment on your body type and encouraged you to buy a suit to bring out your flattering features. Will was always asked if he was a gangster from America because of his lion like hair and short compact muscular body. (Of course I'm describing myself). Before our first night we did what anybody from Texas would do. We went and ate at a Mexican restaurant, but ordered Thai food. You would have done the same. 400 baht later we made our way to the scenic downtown of Ko Samui. What a scene it was. As we headed to the Green Mango, we passed by several bars offering more than just a drink. There were more prostitutes waiting to love you long time then there are enchiladas in all of San Antonio. We had to decline the business before we even heard what they had to offer; I think we had a pretty good idea.

The Green Mango shined like the Andaman sunset on a warm summer day. The booze was flowing and the music was bumping, although the only tunes in rotation was Efiel 65 and Black Eyed Peas. Each time we finished a bucket, we became better dancers. I've never snapped and clapped so many times in my life. I know that everyone around me was impressed to say the least. We decided to call it an early night after the clock struck 5am. 8 hours and a piercing hangover later, we managed to get up and walk downstairs and get a full body Thai massage. They lady told me that since I was so much bigger than her she was going to have to stand on me give the right amount of pressure. She managed to do several handstands and double heel drops on my back and leave me with more aches and pains than I had to begin with. We then decided that we needed a break from the craziness of Samui and decided that it was time to test our Duggan Diving skills on Ko Tao or Turtle Island. Stay tuned for another update in a couple of days. Hopefully from this point on we can be just the "three dudes in asia" and not the "three dumbest and unluckiest dudes in asia".

We'll get 'em next time Cowboys...
Peace!

Before we leave, make sure you Ko Phi Phi...



Sorry for the delay in updating our trip, but it has been pretty crazy and wild this past week. We left Krabi and headed out to the island of Ko Phi Phi. It was about an hour and half boat ride from Krabi to Phi Phi and our boat was filled with backpackers from around the globe. Upon arriving to the island we were surrounded by resort employees trying to get us to book rooms with them. We felt like a wounded kitten surrouned by a pack of howling coyotes. The only thing we could do was to pretend like we couldn't hear anyone and run like we were being chased by killer bees. We decided to stay at the Paradise Pearl Resort on Long Beach. It was a nice relaxing get away with loads of white sand and tons of topless European women. (Borat Voice - "I like very much"). Our excitement was short lived as we soon found out that we were a group of 3 single dudes amongst the company of several couples tyring to get away. But instead of eating mounds of chocolate and watching sex in the city, we booked a snorkeling trip to the surrounding islands.



We got up early the next morning and got on the speed boat out to Maya Bay. Maya Bay is where the filmed the movie "The Beach". As the rest of our trip has had some sort of bump in the road, we had a bump in the water en route to our first snorkeling destination. We were greeted by black smoke bellowing out of the the center console of the boat. Come to find out, our life jackets were blocking the ventilation holes and the engine was overheating. We fixed the problem and were in teh water soon after that. We swam with sea snakes and many different types of fish. We took some decent underwater photos with the Olympus camera as well as some staged underwater video. Needless to say, our snorkeling experience teased us just enough to intensify our craving for the scubadiving at Ko Tao. But before we go to Ko Tao, we must hit up the legendary Ko Samui and get a taste of what real nightlife is all about.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

I've got a Krabi feeling about this...



Sawasdee,

Sorry for the delay with the updates, we have been super busy trying to get by in the land of Thai. Our travel from the states to Bangkok took roughly around 32 hours of travel time and about 25 of those hours were spent on a crowded plane.

The city of Bangkok gave us a little more for our money than we bargained, and took a little more than we anticipated. Throughout our two day stay we were able to check out some local shops, visit the grand palace, and hang on for dear life as we rode in the infamous tuk tuk through some of the not so great parts of bangkok. We found ourselves in a bogus travel agency and before we had a chance to read the warning in our lonely planet guide book we signed our thailand trip over to the high pressure sales staff of TAT. Dont worry moms, we're okay. :)



We were glad to get out of busy Bangkok and get to the city of Krabi. When we landed in Krabi we were greeted by a man holding a sign that read "Team Texas" and knew immediately that meant us. We spent the afternoon and latter part of the evening hanging at the beach and basking in the HOT sun.

The next morning we were picked up around 9am to go Whitewater Rafting and Fourwheeling in the jungle. The rafting was hardly rafting at all, and it was a disspaointment to say the least. Our fourwheeling experience however, was some fast paced high intensity fun. We went through muddy water, slippery rocks, and up and down some serious inclines and declines. If you want to hear a good story about it ask Will when he gets home. Ater our jungle experience we then feasted on some home cooked Thai cuisine...delicious.

To help us get over the body aching experience we did what any normal person would do and we got a massage on the beach. We were very happy about it but the ending itself was not "happy". We befriended the people at the massage hut and stayed under their tarp as it started to rain. We drank Chang and Singha beer and ate some Thai Pizza Hut which consisted of crab and shrimp pizza.




Needless to say our stay in Thailand has been nothing short of perfect. With the beatiful beaches and the friendly people, it's obvious why people come to visit and sometimes never leave. Don't worry we are coming home...or are we?

We hope all is well with everyone, sorry for the short blog update and we will hopefully have another one with some pictures on it tomorrow. As for now, we are off to some local bbq provided by our friend in the Massage hut #11.

Cheers,
Three Dudes In Asia

Monday, January 4, 2010

Pre Trip

Greetings,

This is our blog for the duration of our stay in Asia. This will be the first time for any of us to have been to this part of the world and we are extremely excited to say the least. With only a few days left before our departure we have been going over our itineraries and last minute items that we may need to get prior to take off. We will have a more detailed post the night before the trip and hopefully everyday or every other day while on vacation. Until then, Sawasdee!!

Willy, Brandon, & Dave