Thursday, March 27, 2008

More Thailand and back to US dollars

After 48 hours of traveling we have made it back to a land where they accept good ole American dollars (for the little that they are worth!) and drive on the right side of the road. No mom, I didn't come home without telling you....we are in Cambodia.

Before making our way east, we spent about a week more in Southern Thailand with Halley, Megan, and Kerri. Other than relaxing, the highlight of our remaining time in Ton Sai was probably our St. Patty's Day celebration. We were able to find a Irish Pub, fully equipped with green beer, orange, white, and green hair coloring, Guinness, and a live Irish band. What more could we ask for? It felt like we were celebrating in south Boston.

A couple of days later we took a short overnight trek from Ton Sai to Koh Phangan, the site of the infamous full moon parties. Being that the island gets really crowded around the time of the party, we didn't really know where to go and what to do for accommodation. We arrived at 6am and basically sat on the side of the road until someone found us. This method has worked out wonderfully for us in the past, so we figured we would take our chances on actively doing nothing. Luckily, someone found us and he got us a free ride to Haad Khom, a beach on the northern part of the island. When we got there we knew it would be perfect; it was away from the all day debauchery of the full moon party and we got a cheap bungalow for about 300 Baht a night (10 dollars). Haad Kohm is basically what comes to mind when you think of a beach on an island in Thailand: it was quiet, had a rope swing from a palm tree, great snorkeling, and a bunch of foreigners with dreads who came a long time ago and never got on the ferry to leave. The owner of the guesthouse, Mr. Wong, became our Thai father; he took us on all kinds of errands and basically chauffeured us around in the back of his truck whenever we needed a ride to town. After the full moon party we bid farewell to the girls and ended up staying a bit longer in Haad Khom to lay on the beach. On Easter we decided to be daring and rented a motorbike to drive into town. Although we didn't get hurt, this was a bad idea. That's all I have to say about that.

When we finally mustered up the will to leave Koh Phangan, we started our journey to Cambodia. It wasn't until we arrived on the other side of the border that we realized it took us almost 2 full days to get here. Right now we are in Sihanoukville, on the southern coast of Cambodia. Of course, when we got here Jess wasted no time heading to the beach. When I finally arrived, I found her surrounded by 7 little girls; they all wanted to either paint her toe nails or make her bracelets. Each of them spoke perfect English and were on their mid-day school break. Although a bit overwhelming, they entertained us thoroughly. Jess ended up getting her nails done and left with 3 braclets...I got 6. To their delight, we gave them a dollar each, ensuring that we were going to be best friends for life. I think we will avoid this beach from now on...those girls were more expensive than our hotel room!

We plan on heading further east tomorrow, then up north to the capital to get more pages in our passport, then northwest to check out the Temples of Angkor.

New pictures of Thailand are up, so check em out!

9 comments:

Jess's Dad said...

Mr. Wong's OzzFest t-shirt with the middle finger! Nice touch Mr. Wong.
What the heck are you dong in Cambodia? Now that's scary, I'll be spending the rest of the day researching the DANGERs of Camdodia. Be Safe!!!!! Stay together and don't go out in the dark until my research is complete.

Jess's Dad said...

Watch out for the Kting Voar in Cambodia

Anonymous said...

Oh crap, what is the Kting Voar?

Jess's Dad said...

the Kting Voar, as the legend goes, is a Cambodian snake eating cow!

Anonymous said...

You did not just call out girls cows, did you?

Jess's Dad said...

Mooooooo! No I would never do that to our lovely angels. If Cambodia has Kting Voars then god knows what else they have lurking in the streets and jungle over there. I remember Cambodia of the late 60's and early 70's, I hope the Cambodians are fond of Americans!! I'm liking Mr. Wong more and more.
Be Safe and Stay together.

Jess's Dad said...

ok, so I'm not counting the little 13 pictures of Cambodia as a new picture posting so let's get to it!!

aunt anne said...

Hi, Sunday morning and again we have something in commom, (besides going to mass)you guys travel the world to find somewhere that accepts the American dollar and I'm home spending American dollars. Whats the same? They have no value in either place. Amanda we found the twin you were separated from at birth yesterday. Lo and behold we are standing in Starbucks and Ron says "Doesn't that girl look just like Amanda?" and there you were, except for the dark brown hair (which you looked very good in) and the tatoo on the neck (which we didn't really care too much for) it was you. The pictures are great but I guess there aren't too many photo opts as there are so few. Thinking of you girls everyday, usually turing a little green with something or other. Be well, be safe and even where the have Kting Voar things over there fiber still make the day better

Mama Dukes said...

i now eat fiber...Thanks Aunt Anne!