Three Days in the Wild: The Pelorus Track

We are currently recuperating from an intense three-day, 35 km hike through forests, brush lands, and mountains just south of Nelson, South Island. Below is our pre-hike photo.

It was definitely a physically demanding trail, beginning with an hour of uphill (~30-40% grade) rocky terrain that claimed Brian's heels in no time (his blisters ended up being larger than silver dollars). Below is a photo of me during the mountain top leg of the hike--it was incredible up there, and the wind was relentless!

We made camp the first night in a semi-sheltered area at the edge of a hill with a great mountain view. Here's a funny story: So Staci and I bought a really cool camping stove about a week ago, and then Brian bought a couple of Butane fuel cartridges for the stove a few days later. The problem is that we never checked the canisters for compatibility with the stove (we talked about checking it but never did). This is the downside of traveling in a group--sometimes you assume that someone else has taken care of something that still desperately needs doing. As a result, once we were finished setting up our tents and were ready to cook our rice and salmon meal that we packed we realized that we could not use the stove or the butane cans that we brought along. Luckily between my magnesium/flint stone fire starter and Brian's butane lighter we were able to get a decent fire started quickly. The next funny part to the story is the salmon: we bought canned salmon at the grocery store assuming that it would be like tuna until we opened the cans directly onto the steaming pan of rice only to find out that along with the salmon meat came a spinal cord, tons of ribs, and skin. Needless to say morale took a dip at that point, but we held it together and simply picked the bones out of our plates and scarfed down the hot meal before the bone-chilling wind got to it. Afterwards we enjoyed the sunset over the mountaintops pictured below and passed out. What a day!

The next morning we woke up to frost on our tent, as it had rained for several hours the night before--we were all thankful that we had the foresight to pack our cold weather gear. We hiked the longest on this day, beginning at 10:30 am and finishing after 6 pm. We made a quick stop for water at the scenic hut below.


We were completely exhausted when we finally stopped, but the seemingly untouched scenery was worth the physical exertion (check out the waterfall below).

Another part of the day's hike that is worth recalling is the swing bridge...well, three of them actually. These things were incredible: long, narrow, and swinging over shallow canyons, not to mention each bridge had a sign posted on it, reading "Limit 1 Person at a Time!" We all lived, of course, but it was pretty intense (see video below).

On the last day of hiking, we only had to go for about 4 hours. This allowed for a bit more time to stop and smell the roses, or in this case stop and take a photo of some rising fern fronds (below).


The problem that we ran into was that the man that Staci and Jessica spoke to at the DOC (Department of Conservation) said that the end of the Pelorus track would bring us to the highway, where we would have no trouble getting a ride back to town from other trampers. The problem was that the track actually ended at a dirt path that was an additional 14 km from the highway. Luckily, when we stopped for lunch we came across two seasoned Kiwi hikers, Jim and Ian (pictured with us below), who offered to take us to the highway. These were tough Kiwis, and Ian at 70 was still able to hike at a pace that matched our own.

When we stopped off for ice cream before hitching a ride back to town, we were thoroughly examined by a large bird that looked like something out of Jurassic Park (pictured below).

We somehow managed to hitch a ride back to town within minutes with a pair of high schoolers that seemed to get a thrill out of the arrangement. We were grateful though, as they drove us the full 50-minute ride back to Nelson and even dropped us off at our awaiting car at the trail head. What a country!

I forgot to mention this earlier, but our tramping was strategically planned to coincide with the long weekend (this past Monday was Labor Day here in NZ), so that Tuesday (yesterday) we could take our car in and get the necessary repairs to make it street legal. I am happy to report that the panel and paint shop did a good job to really hide the damage to our back right panel and they replaced the busted light, but the electrical issues did not get fully resolved. We are taking care of that now (all repairs have come out to a reasonable cost), and we will be leaving Nelson this afternoon for the Abel Tasman National Park. There we will hopefully do some kayaking and experience some more beautiful countryside.

Mike

Tales of Woe and Light at the End of the Tunnel

Unfortunately, we had a bad luck streak for the first week in New Zealand. But, it is not all bad--let me begin where I left off...

So we bought a car (pictured below). After a thorough check from a local mechanic, I used the little bit of car knowledge I have acquired from self repairs and changing oil with my father to provide a valuation of the car and broker a deal. We walked away with a 1995 Volvo station wagon complete with sunroof and only 37,000 miles for $2500 NZD. This seemed like a steal, especially since the consignment lot told us that the seller initially said he "would not budge from $2700." No doubt, we felt lucky and decided to spend the weekend in the Bay of Islands north of Auckland, while our package of camping equipment got sorted out. That is a whole 'nother story, but instead of boring you with the details I will simply say that FedEx in Auckland is a disaster and did not seem to want us to get our camping gear, until 3 days ago...FINALLY!

Anyways, back to the Bay of Islands expedition. We left Auckland on Friday afternoon for no where in particular. I was behind the wheel, getting the hang of Auckland traffic and of course driving on the left side of the road (and right side of the vehicle). Outside of the city we got to see some wonderful countryside, including vibrant, green farmland juxtaposed to thick, almost mystical forests. It was only when the sun went down that things got complicated.

As I was driving down the windy, bumpy roads in the hills, I came to an abrupt curve in the road. Just then, Brian called out "ANIMAL!" and out of the corner of my left eye I spotted what he was talking about and braked immediately out of instinct. The animal looked like a cross between a cat and a raccoon (see photo below from the web), and as we screeched to a halt I could see the thing completely freeze, staring directly at me.


I'm happy to say that I only came within millimeters of hitting it, but the person driving the car behind me did not possess the same braking ability and crashed into our back right tail light.

To make a long story short, the woman driving the other car was a local and was very nice about the whole ordeal. The problem was that she immediately assumed that the accident was our fault, stating simply "you cannot brake that fast." Kind of a funny notion if you think about it--I mean, what if that animal was some one's dog or child? Anyways, I have learned my lesson in the past as far as putting too much trust in perfect strangers in these situations, and I insisted that the woman call the police (since we have no cell phone). She was happy to do so (again, she thought WE were at fault), and after about 20 minutes waiting on the side of the road in the 40 degree F weather the police arrived. We were relieved when they immediately took our side on the matter of liability, but the cops themselves were a bit different than what we were used to--no guns, no attitudes, and extremely friendly, though they did not seem to have a lot of information about anything. Sadly, the male cop said that he "finished off a possum" on the way over and that it was probably the one I saved; he said they were invasive pests. Once the police report was filled out and we exchanged information with the woman, it was after midnight and we headed to the nearest overpriced hostel to try to get some sleep.

The next morning we were rudely awakened by some loud Australian girls suffering from some substantial hangovers, and we reluctantly packed up our stuff to move out. We did not leave before calling our insurance company (we purchased coverage with our car, of course) but were appalled to find out that they were not open on the weekends. Ridiculous, eh? We decided to try not to think about our recent misfortune and just try to enjoy the weekend.

We spent the rest of the day in Paihia and Russel, which really reminded me of Woods Hole, MA (Seamans! oo Ra!). The towns were quaint and surrounded by lush forest and clean sandy beaches (pictured above and below).



We decided to do our first hike here, in the Opua Forest. This is where we realized that we were in a unique place in the world, and the Lord of the Rings lore definitely seemed to flood our minds. Below is a video that will give you a bit of an idea of what we saw.

Below is a photo of a very pre-historic looking fern frond, a common site in the Northland but we couldn't get enough of them.

I have been working on perfecting my macro photos, so I decided to throw in the one below of a moth calmly resting on the moss of a tree trunk along our path.

The next day we decided to head to the west coast to experience some more pristine forest but a bit more on the ancient side. Almost the most ancient possible actually, as we visited both Tane Mahuta ('The Lord of the Forest'), estimated to have sprouted around the time of Christ's birth and Te Matua Ngahere ('The Father of the Forest'), estimated to be 4000 years old, making it the oldest living thing in the Southern Hemisphere. It sounds incredible, but seeing these trees was more incredible than I had expected.

Above is Yaka, one of the largest kauri trees in New Zealand and the only one that we were allowed to actually touch. This tree was not as big as Tane Mahuta though, which was the only massive kauri in its vicinity, giving it an even more surreal appearance.

After we left the massive kauri trees, we headed east and stayed overnight in a nice backpackers lodge in Opewa. The next morning I met up with a research professor at the University of Auckland's Goat Island marine laboratory. The meeting went well and the area was beautiful, but we could not linger, as we had to head to Auckland in the afternoon to begin dealing with the car accident.

Here I will skip over a multitude of boring details, but to bring you up to speed, we made it to South Island yetserday. The drive to the ferry in North Island, however, is worth mentioning because of the stunning, yet desolate scenery, pictured below (for all you LOTR fans, we literally drove through the plains of Rohan).

We actually just left the insurance office where we were given a $1250 NZD cash settlement, and since the necessary repairs will only cost us about $400 NZD, we are feeling pretty good about the whole ordeal at this point. We will get the car repaired on Tuesday, but other than that we are finally ready to do some serious exploring here on South Island!

We will likely do our first multi-day hike tomorrow. I will conintue to update any chance I get (internet is obviously more limited in the New Zealand backcountry than in Thailand), so get ready for some stunning photos!

Mike

Fever Gone, Ready for Some Tramping!

Thank goodness my feverish condition has finally passed after about 48 hours of inactivity! I am relieved that I did not contract malaria in Thailand, and with this new-found appreciation for health, I've been able to help my friends search for a car. We are, at this very moment, waiting in an internet cafe while our prospective buy, a 1995 Volvo station wagon, is being checked out by a mechanic. If everything runs smoothely, we will purchase the car for a cool $2700 NZD (~$1800 USD) and be on our way! If we are lucky we will be tramping (exploring on foot) in the backcountry by the weekend. There is also discussion about covering the back of the car with cheesy bumper stickers...I'll let you know how that one pans out.

Again, keep your fingers crossed for us (It worked last time, remember!).

Mike

PS-TEXAS FIGHT!

Bangkok safe! Thailand, We Will Miss You

I am posting now to reflect upon the 4 days we just spent in Bangkok, as we have arrived today in Auckland, New Zealand. I started creating this post a few days ago but decided to wait and combine it into one giant post, due to our hectic schedule in the city and my recent illness (I've had a bad cold/fever for the past 48 hours--but rest assured I am on the road to recovery!). To sum it all up, Bangkok was a pleasant surprise, though getting there (as usual) was painful.

So we left our beloved beach at Koh Phangan for Bangkok on October 9th. The plan was to take overnight transportation to get a free night's rest during the long journey to the capital. This plan, of course, backfired since none of us could sleep on the rickety, 9-hour bus ride that arrived an hour ahead of schedule. Ordinarily, early would be a pleasant departure from the norm in the twisted world of Thai transportation, but early here meant we were homeless in Bangkok at 4:00 in the morning. Luckily, we were able to find a nearby budget hotel that was willing to take us in without charging us an extra night for our ridiculously early check in time. We took full advantage and made sure to sleep for several hours before beginning our first full day in the big city.

To give you a quick background of the location: The area of Bangkok that we stayed in is off of the main street of Khao San, a veritable hot bed for Westerners and the swindlers that love them. In other words, everything is for sale all of the time, and simply saying 'no' is never good enough. Even government documents are not left off the list of bootleg merchandise available, as indicated by the photo below, taken secretly. Luckily, our dealings with other similar folk (though less of them) elsewhere in Thailand has tempered our abilities to express 'no' so that it can be understood. All hassling aside, Khao San turned out to be a great place for cheap food and interesting sites.

We spent our first day getting a general feel for the city by taking a river boat down the temple-laden Chao Phraya River. It was a relaxing experience and made me realize that Bangkok was not nearly as dirty as other tourists had told us (they were likely just spoiled by the pristine beach life).

Our next stop was the Siam Paragon, the self proclaimed "Pride of Bangkok." While this is in fact just a shopping mall, it is easily the most extravagant shopping mall I've ever heard of, let alone visited. It is 7 floors, consisting of anything from top-of-the-line designer/electronics stores and antique shops to an enormous aquarium, IMAX, planetarium, and even a Dairy Queen (also a Starbucks, though that is to be expected)! Oh yeah, I forgot to mention they have a car section on the 4th floor where there are Lamborghinis and Maseratis on display in the windows--how they got up there (or will get back down) is a mystery to me. This place basically has it all but at Western prices, so we did a lot of looking and not a lot of buying.

Later that day, Brian and I decided to check out some Muay Thai (Thai kickboxing) fights, as we had been meaning to do so since we arrived in Thailand. The girls opted out of this one, since the ticket seller outside of the stadium described our '3rd class seats' as being "full of Thais gambling." They weren't lying, but it turned out to be a comical experience. Just before the fights, we came across a pair of Aussies that were also interested in attending, so we showed them the way and decided to share a few beers before the crowds filed into the stadium, pictured empty below. The funny thing was, when we were finally allowed into the stadium, everyone was forced to walk through a metal detector. This seemed like a safe procedure, until we realized that 99% of the people passing through it were beeping, while the nearby police officers did not so much as bat an eye. What a country!

Luckily we saw no actual weapons once we got inside, but the gambling (despite the fact that it is in fact illegal in Thailand) was pretty intense. We were asked several times to partake, though the betting cards were completely in Thai, and all of the fighters were indistinguishable at a distance, so we might as well have just handed our money over. All in all we got what we came for and left with a few more friends, Nico and Jules (the Aussies from Perth) and Reggie (a Frenchman who we befriended during the fighting).

After the fights we met up with the girls at the nearby night bazaar and, along with our new international crew, decided to head back to Khao San road for a bit more late night shenanigans. The 20-minute ride back was a story in itself, as the group decided to take two 'tuk tuks' (meaning cheap cheap in Thai), which are basically motorcycles towing carriages for up to four passengers. I think our drivers picked up on the care-free mood of their passengers and decided to demonstrate the tuk tuks' maneuverability and wheely capabilities.

Luckily we made it to Khao Son unscathed, and right when we arrived we finally came across a full-fledged bug cart with all sorts of savory critters for sale, from meaty cock roaches to over-sized grasshoppers. For fear that my mother would never speak to me again if I ate a cock roach, I opted for the grasshopper. So Nico and I (with the help of Beer Chang, the Thai equivalent of Schlitz Malt Liquor) took part in the counter-intuitive act of bug eating, chomping up two sizable specimens (pictured above). I have to admit, it was a lot more chewy than I'd expected, but luckily the peanut oil that the bug was fried in helped to mask its taste. Our friends were quite entertained, and Brian joined me for a grub worm shortly after. When in Rome right? We ended the night with a few more drinks at a local dive bar with a rock cover band before wandering back to our hotel to pass out. What a night!

The next day we met back up with our friend Reggie and headed for the Chatuchak Weekend Market, where I had read that one could buy almost anything, including tigers, lions, and crocodiles (used as pets or consumed for 'suposed medicinal purposes'). While we did not encounter these animals (I would like to think that international law has supressed this black market trade), we did see a ton of puppies, bunnies, squirrels, hedgehogs, and even beetles for sale. Though visiting the market was an interesting activity and the famous homemade ice cream that we ate there was delicious, after 5 hours of walking through the crowded shops we were in desperate need of rest and had an early night in.

For our last full day in Bangkok, we decided to stray away from the downtown area a bit and visit the ruins of Ayutthaya. This place was actually the former capital of Thailand until it was sacked by the Burmese in the mid 18th century. In turn, the area is covered with temples and toppled buildings that have been kept in surprisingly good condition (pictured above and below were some of my favorite sites).

The picture below is of a Buddha head that broke off of a statue and, according to legend, became naturally embedded in a Banyan tree. I am a bit sceptacle about this, due to the perfect positioning of the head (pictured below), but what a unique site!

We basically spent the day hopping from temple to temple until we had a brief stopover in an area with an elephant exhibit. This was an unexpected treat, as we were able to get up close and personal with dozens of extremely well-trained and docile elephants (including the one that I am feeding below).

We also got to catch a phenomenal baby elephant show, and again we were amazed at how well trained these animals were--see the video below for yourself!

Our last two stops of the day took us to an absolutely massive lounging Buddha statue and a very cool ruined temple town (pictured below). It was a great day, and we celebrated with a top notch dinner on Khao San Rd consisting of Phad Thai (noodles) and spring rolls for a bargain price of 65 baht! (~$2)

I have one more amusing story to tell about our final activities in Bangkok, the morning before we left for the airport. We departed our hotel early with plans to visit the Grand Palace, the internationally renown home of the King of Thailand. Unfortunately, we were told incorrectly that it opened at 8 am, when in fact it was closed all day, due to a Buddhist holiday. This was definitely a disappointment, but the funny part was that when we walked around the outside of the palace to get some photos, a ground of older Thai women abruptly came up to us, handing us sacks of bird seed (I say handing, but it was more like throwing). They told us that it was free and for good luck, so we spread the seed for the droves of awaiting pigeons. When we started to leave, thanking the women, they held their hands out and admamently stated "money." We were obviously upset and surprised by this, but I decided to be diplomatic and hand them the 10 baht coin in my pocket. This is where they angrily replied "150 baht!" I know most of you are not familiar with the conversion rate, but 150 baht ($4.50) is an outrageous amount for a few bags of bird seed, especially when they were forced on you. Anyways, we simply walked away and avoided an international incident, despite the con artists' collective shouts of rage. I guess this was Thailand's special way of saying goodbye. I am only kidding.

Despite the hick ups with transportation and the occasional unsavory person, we really enjoyed the sites, tastes, and people of Thailand. We will miss it, and I definitely plan to return in the not-too-distant future, but now we have a new frontier to conquer--New Zealand!!

We are currently nestled in Auckland on the northern coast of New Zealand's North Island, and we are already enjoying the colder climate (it is in the 50s this evening). Once we settled into our hip, Western hostel, I could not help but notice the stark contrast between NZ and southeast Asia. We are truly getting an eclectic experience on this trip.

Our first priority tomorrow is to retrieve our package of camping gear that my mom shipped to us via FedEx (it is currently tied up in Customs), and we will begin to look for a vehicle to purchase/rent. I will let you know how it goes!

Mike

Ah, the wonders of the deep!

Great diving and great news--let me set the stage for you though. Since my last post, we have been taking a very laid back approach to life here on Koh Phangan. Beach, relaxation, and diving. Our first two dives were on Monday, at the famous Sail Rock dive site. While we had heard great things about this site both online and from other divers on the west coast, we were not expecting the phenomenal visibility and teeming wildlife that we experienced the second we got in the water. Enormous spotted groupers, 5-ft wingspan stingrays, and hoards of barracuda and trevaly surrounded us throughout our dives, though one famous resident was still missing. I am of course referring to the largest fish in the world, and ironically enough, just before our dives I asked Gabriel, our very charismatic Italian dive master, about the likelihood of spotting one, to which he replied, "We try not to talk about the whale sharks so much...it's superstition." He was right. No whale shark siting but phenomenal diving nonetheless.


While this first experience at Sail Rock did win us over, we decided to wait two more days before our next pair of dives. The first day was a beach day; we basically just relaxed at the beach and on the porch of our beachfront bungalow (pictured above). For the second day, in light of our realization that we were still all miraculously under budget, we decided to take it up a notch and move back into the slightly more expensive but much more luxurious hotel that I mentioned in my last post. This turned out to be a fortuitous decision for me, because out of no where I seemed to lose hearing in my right ear for the entire day. I was a little bit concerned that this may have been due to a middle ear infection, since I had suffered from an outer ear infection in my right ear earlier in the trip (thank goodness antibiotics do not require a prescription in Thailand!). Either way, Jess and I indulged in a movie day (thanks to our hotel's cable TV), and I rested the day away, hoping that my participation in our planned dives the next day would not be compromised.

Dawn came abruptly and despite the fact that my ear did not feel 100% yet, I decided to give the dives a shot (for those of you who are not scuba divers, the concern with any ear/nose/throat affliction while diving is that it may inhibit your ability to equalize the increasing pressure experienced during a descent, possibly resulting in a busted ear drum). However, I had a strong feeling that if I did not go on this dive I would regret it.

Once we got to Sail Rock, we saddled up with high hopes for a great dive--hopes were especially high because the Half Moon Party on the south end of the island took place the night before. This translated to the number of divers at the site being decreased 5-fold, likely due to hangovers or worse conditions suffered by 90% of the island's tourist population. We welcomed this much more intimate setting, as can be told by the pre-dive photo below, with our divermaster Gabriel on the far left.

We got into the water and descended. The moment of truth comes and goes, and thankfully my right ear cleared the pressure with no effort! But just then, I heard the steel clanking noise of Brian frantically banging his tank with the brass knuckles that he and I bought for occasions such as this--when you really need the attention of your fellow divers. I turn to my right to see what all of the fuss is about and suddenly I am staring directly at a whale shark not 15 feet from me. I couldn't believe my eyes at first, but after a few seconds I realized that luck was on our side today, the day that we refrained from speaking about whale sharks altogether. Though this was a juevenile (even a baby by some standards) measuring just 12 feet, a mere 20% of the animal's known size capacity, we were mesmerized by its presence. We all followed the magnificent animal and its posse of trevalies and ramoras (schooling reef fish and sucker fish, respectively) for about 5 minutes before it again disappeared into the water ahead of us. We were all extatic, though exclaiming our excitment underwater was difficult, and we had to settle for dancing and fist pumping. The rest of the dive was also amazing, including some up-close encounters with very large, schooling barracuda and two more appearances by the whale shark, including an unforgettable flyover.

After the dive, we realized how lucky we really were, when Gabriel explained to us that this was the first whale shark he'd seen all year, a man with an average of 10 dives a week at Sail Rock. We definitely left the dive site with a sense of accomplishment. What a great way to end our time in Thailand!

But time is not up just yet. Tomorrow we finally leave for Bangkok, which means we have to say goodbye to Haad Yao beach and the island of Koh Phangan. We will definitely miss it, but I have high hopes for our four days in the city.

I will keep you posted, and thanks to those of you who kept your fingers crossed--it paid off!

Mike

The mean streets of Koh Phangan...literally

We just got back to Haad Yao beach, the place we stayed during my last post. Since then, we've had a pretty action-packed 48-hours, though we did not skimp on the R&R (check out the beach view from our deck in Haad Yao, below!). We've basically done a lot of snorkeling (saw schools of baracuda and even a sea turtle!) and rented a jeep for 24 hours to get a better sense of the island.

Below is another shot of Haad Yao beach--nice sunset, eh? There are only about 50 people staying on this half-mile beach, so it has a real secluded feel.

Anyways, back to the jeep adventures. So we rented a 4-wheel drive manual jeep, which sounds great until we realized that it had virtually no horsepower, a deflated tire, and an empty tank of gas. We had to live with the horsepower issue, but after taking care of the tire and gas, we were on our way! I should also add that in Thailand you drive on the left side of the road and in Koh Phangan specifically the roads are narrow, windy, full of potholes, and very hilly. Like I said, it was an adventure, especially for me, since I am not well versed on a standard transmission to begin with.

Luckily, we drove safely and were able to see a lot of the island in a short amount of time. Our first stop was the main city of Thong Sala, where we stopped at a locally renown Mexican restaraunt, Ando Loco. Much to our surprise, it was actually delicious, though this reaction could very well have been a product of our being away from the delicacy that is Tex-Mex for so long. Either way, the meal filled us up, and we continued on our journey, stopping next at Haad Rin. This is the site of the infamous 'Full Moon Party,' which really just seems to be an excuse for young Westerners to party all night on a beach. Whether fortunate or not, we will in fact miss the next Full Moon Party on October 14th (we will be on a plane somewhere between Bangkok and Auckland), but we wanted to check out the beach anyway.


As you can see by the picture above, the beach maintains its popularity between beach parties, and it was completely overrun with Westerners. It really had a meat market feel, reminding me of the glorious, resort-style aquatic complex at UT, that is until Brian nearly stepped on a needle in the sand (not hypodermic, but still). At that point we all put our sandals back on and walked back to the jeep. Our beach in Haad Yao was much nicer anyways!

As it started to get dark, we began to work our way up to the north end of the island, making a short stop at a random beach along the way to inquire about accomodation. While the prices were a bit too high for our budget, we got to hang out with an adorable little puppy and witness a briliant sunset on the beach (see video below). The dog reminded me of a smaller version of my dog Shagwell back home, when he was a pup.



We continued on to Haad Mae beach, where we finally settled in for the evening. We planned an early-morning snorkel at Haad Mae today, but these plans were ruined by an unexpected downpour for the first few hours of daylight. It was actually peaceful, sitting in our beach-front bungalows and listening to the rain, but since our plans were ruined, we opted to come back to Haad Yao to return the jeep and set up our next scuba outing. We plan to dive at Sail Rock in the next few days, a site known for whale sharks. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Mike

Koh Phangan--Annoying transportation, best beach yet

So we are currently comfortably nestled in Haad Yao beach on the island of Koh Phangan. Getting here yesterday though, was yet another testament to Thailand's inability to provide reliable transportation. Don't worry, I'll explain...

We left Lamai beach on Koh Samui by bus to the pier to the north, from which we were scheduled to depart by ferry at 12:30 pm. Once at the pier, at about 12 pm, we are told that the ferry will not depart until 2 pm. Then at about 1:30 we are told that we must relocate to a different pier (we are assuming that the original delay was due to technical difficulties with the ferry that was already at the pier and that these complications could not be resolved). Now hundreds of Western tourists were frantically crammed into a handful of buses and hauled away to a pier that was about 15 minutes away. After waiting at this second pier for another half hour, we boarded the ferry and realized there was no room to sit and nearly not enough room to stand. The best part though, was when I was standing near the railing of the lower deck and someone poured their beer on me and about 8 other people. Good times!

So the fun doesn't stop there, because once we got off the ferry on Koh Phangan, we were given outrageous quotes for taxi fair and only recieved a fair price when we agreed to check out a hotel near the beach that we planned to stay at. The hotel was secluded and the owner had an unsavory feel (and no teeth), so we decided to explore the area for a better deal. Luckily, the day was salvaged when we discovered a hotel on top of a convenience store that was both inexpensive and luxurious (I mean in comparison to the other places we've stayed). Now we have A/C, satelite TV (now we can watch the VP debate!), and an incredible tile deck overlooking the beach. Oh yeah, the BEACH! This place is incredible. White sand, palm trees, and the clearest water we've seen yet. Not to mention the barrier reef just a short swim away. We've already taken advantage and spent the day snorkeling and eating coconuts (it reminded me very much of my adventures on the island of Moorea with Les Hommes de B Watch).

Either way, the hell of getting here was worth it! Pictures coming soon!

Michael