Asia by Hammock

Today is Song Kraan, the traditional celebration of Thai New Year. The Thais celebrate it by engulfing their entire country in a huge waterfight (think Crested Butte 4th of July times a country). Its a great time (unless you are stuck in the back on sangetheauw headed to Kata beach... I was) and an even better excuse to buy a dry bag.

Before that I had three fun days of diving with Sea Dragon in the Similans. A good group of English and French and some all around amazing diving. Turtles, dolphins, goats, moreys, nudibranchs, crabs, lobsters and the rare chineese floating tourist (I've made that joke before). The weather was nice during the day then pissed rain on us at night which was ok since it masked the snoring. Plus its pretty sweet watching a thunderstorm in the middle of the Andaman Sea set against a stunning view of the stars. On the way back this huge 'thing' surfaced a few times next to our boat, bringing with it dreams of a whale shark. We chased it but couldn't find it, so we've decided it was a minky whale rather than deal with the emotions of losing a whale shark.



The night I got back I went out with Da, the ex-barmaid from the Marlin, at the Sea View where she now works. Its a beautiful hotel and we had a good time talking, then the rest of the night is best summed up by the following postcard (which I wrote at about 2am and belies the fact that I am reading an old English travelouge):

I just had one of the most surreal and yet rewarding, karaoke experiences of my life. I walked into a completely empty bar save for the 2 bartenders and the piano man + singer. Instantly I have ordered a beer and they are presenting with something "by our man John Lennon" (they are not exactly British). Then they ask for requests, and since there are no American girls (since there is nobody else at all) I ask for Journey. I expect a confused response but instead get the first fantastic chords to faithfully. Unfortunately the piano man does not know all the words, and lets face it, neither do I. So he dashes off a quick Sweet Home Alabama with yours truly providing the "bamma, bamma, bamma" in the middle of the (empty bar) [sic]. By and by it becomes their last song and lo, and behold, they've found the words to Journey. So I get up, belt out an amazing rendition of Faithfully to no one but the bar maids, pay my tab, steal a pen and now I am writing this card. Faaaaaiiiiiiiithfullllllllly.

Ok, off to enjoy the last of this exchange rate and to figure out the order and type of massages for tomorrow!

(Kung and his house on the far left)

Today I finished up my second BBQ which, like everything else, isn't quite the same as the first one. Now I'm running errands before my 3 days of diving in the Similans tomorrow! First errand was, naturally, an hour message on the beach as the sun set (the second Thai women fanning me was nice, the frog that jumped on me not so nice). Anyways, lets hope for manta rays.

Mai pen rai!

Since the internet cafe has a 20 Baht (1 baht per minute) minimum, here are some photos from the start of the trip:

If you look closely you can see the sparks and 'flammable liquid' label

Yesterday I arrived safe and sound back in Khao Lak. We had a small mishap on the plane over to Seoul: I guess with gas prices these day the airlines try to keep the fuel in the plane, not shooting onto the tarmack (side note: joking to the Korean pilot that you have duct tape in your luggage does not translate well). Anyways, after about 24 hours travelling I got into Phuket, popped two Nyquils, two Cipros and a large Chang and passed out.

The next morning I hopped the local bus up to KL (literally hopped, they don't come to a full stop). On the ride I realized that it wasn't really the big things about Thailand I missed, it was the simple wonder of the busses that stop on the side of the road for Buddhist blessings but still need three employes to operate it (one to collect fares, one to yell at the window and one to honk the horn and occasionally drive).

Arriving in Khao Lak was somewhat bittersweet (as I knew it would be). It was great to be back in the area but it has changed remarkably. The main road that was under construction when I left is now a four lane highway with a median, theres about 10x as many dive shops open 3x as many of everything else. Where there used to just be pool foundations and the remains of hotels there are now full fledged resorts and spas. The TVC has moved from the front of town back into the mountains and Happy Lagoon has actually completed its happy lagoon. The volunteers have been replaced by fat Germans tourists and Swedish families. Most painfully the Marlin Bar has closed, which is like the Cherry Cricket, Cogee Bay Hotel or both Hunan #1 and the Waterfront shutting their doors. Apparently, it has been a while since I've been here.

On the plus side Bum, Ning, Marcus and some of the other Thai's I knew from last time are still here doing construction. I met up with them and in about 18 minutes was driivng the bobcat and working to clear out a hill. Today we poured the second story floors on a three story building and they are trying to get me to build another bbq (we'll see). Anyways, Jeremy gets in tomorrow, hopefully there is a trip out to the island in the future and then diving on Tuesday.

Enjoy the snow DC

As I'm sitting in my cubicle wondering how much time I'll spend on espn and facebook today (probably 150+ minutes) and how much money that will cost the government (probably $575), I'm very excited to let everyone who still reads this blog (probably no one) that tomorrow I will board a Korean Air flight back to Phuket!

I only have about 10 days in Asia, but the plan calls for some serious bobcatting, a three day dive trip and as many activities that I'll have to declare on my next security clearance application as my body can handle. I'll try to put up a few posts and pictures, here are a few things to look forward to:

• Simultaneous excitement over the prices and disgust over the drop in the exchange rate. A Chang costs $1.15? Unacceptable. Now I'm only bringing back 3 liters of Sangsom (aka 'Blackout Sauce') instead of 4.
• Inconsistent comparisons between Khao Lak bars and DC bars. Which Thai bar will claim the coveted Brass Monkey comparison? Which will be the crowd favorite Hunan #1? Is there a single person who will get both the DC and KL references? (answer: no)
• Rantings about how tourists have ruined Khao Lak and how much better it was in the old days. Astute readers will note that I am now a tourist, however I will simply gloss over the irony.