Countdown in Koh Chang

"The night sky always looks better under a palm tree."

Who doesn't enjoy an ice cold Chang?  We thought we could celebrate Thailand's favorite beverage by visiting the island itself.  So, for New Years Eve 2553, we planned a trip to the most eastern island of Koh Chang.  We actually may have also been part of the very few who actually remembered their New Years on the island.  About a week prior to leaving, we booked our van ride from the airport.  It was a straight shot all the way to the beach we planned on staying at -- Lonely Beach.  We did not have to worry about getting our own ferry ride and taxi once on the island.  Perfection.  Everything went smoothly, as we made a few stops to let off a russian family at a place that I wouldn't even feel worthy of stepping foot in, and another to drop off a pair of clueless backpackers searching for the first sangsom bucket any Thai-rasta would slam in their faces.  We were finally dropped off at our luxurious Siam Hut Resort.  However, being New Years, most bungalows will not take reservations, so we relied on the 'pray and hope for the best approach' and attempted to secure our hut on arrival.  At first, the plan failed, as we were too early for the party residents of Lonely Beach.  We finally reserved a hut after I sniped a french couple checking out.  I quickly snagged their hut, and the infamous C26 bungalow was ours for the next 5 days.  Victory...sort of.  Who doesn't love a stilted bamboo hut with slits to the ground, bee hives, gecko infested, concrete walled bucket flush squat toilet with no towels or teepee?  Well, we do.  And it was awesome.  It makes you really appreciate the simplicity of living.  I even enjoyed the cows who lingered outside our porch and left us pleasant smelling presents every morning.  Despite the humorous conditions of our home for the next week or so, we made the best of it.  Since it was 'winter', we barely needed the fan at night, as it became pretty chilly for a beach front hut.  Sucks for those who paid hundreds of baht extra for air-con rooms.

So everyday seemed like deja-vu, as we never left Lonely Beach.  It was too relaxing and convenient.  Siam Hut sported around 60 or so bungalows, with a giant porch/patio/restaurant that looked over the Gulf.  Perfection at its finest.  We spent most of our time on this porch, whether it was eating pancakes, cashew chicken, and khao pad gai, or falling asleep listening to the newest Buddha Bar release.  One interesting aspect of this porch was observing its travelers.  I swear in one day, without adjusting my triangular floor chair, we would hear at least 10 different languages.  Some were a pleasure to listen to, such as mesmerizing scandinavian languages that we confused for bad french or german, to the most obnoxious typical american flousies.  I never realized how much I love not being able to understand people sometimes.  In South East Asia, very few speak english, so I never consciously here others speak.  But when traveling sometimes, I realize how annoying and stupid people can really be at times, especially after a few drinks.  And especially if I can understand them.  Don't get me wrong, I've had my fair share of stupidity while under the shminfluence.  Some of the things that we heard were best explained (I know this is corny) in the movie, The Beach.  He claims that everyone is always trying to "do something different, but in the end, we all end up doing the same 'f*@%king' thing.  As an expat, traveling around SEA, I expect to find something new and different every experience.  What I found in Koh Chang, and sometimes in Bangkok, is that everyone has this same idea of exploration and travel, but in a different sense.  It depends on personalities, I'm sure.  But it seems as if most who travel in this region are out for the cheap drinks and tricks (if you know what I mean).  No one tells stories of the humbleness of the side street food stall cook who 'wai-ed' in respect on your way out, or the sound of early morning waves crashing the beach and amount of stars visible in the dusk sky.  They tell stories of how crazy a ping-pong show was after ecstasy, beer, and cocaine, or how many mushroom buckets they consumed before passing out on the beach.  It is a shame sometimes.  This is not true for all, but this is many of the stories you will here conversing with or eavesdropping on backpackers leaving their marks on Khao San Road or Full Moon Parties.  Don't get me wrong, I love backpacking, and enjoy cheap drinks, but what happened to modesty?  Anyways, this is a completely different issue.  Back to elephant island.

Each day we woke up very early, maybe 8-9ish.  It was nice that everyone was hours away from even beginning to nurse their hangovers.  So Lonely Beach was actually lonely.  One day we rented a kayak for an hour and voyaged further south to the next tiny village.  Our kayak ride was about the most exercise we engaged in all week, as we lounged around every other day.  But that was exactly what we came there to do.  We ate at the restaurant for almost every meal and usually watched the two feature films they put on a make-shift projector at night.  We were so lame that we were usually in bed before 11 each night.  I know, we suck...party poopers.  But the early morning walks on the freshly vacant tide ridden beach was well worth it.  However, New Years was a bit different.

Siam Hut is known for its major parties on the weekends, bringing in DJs and setting up a stilted stage over the rising tide.  We relaxed the entire day as we watched the preparation for he debauchery that was to come.  The night began with some chill house music before the crowds reached.  We posted up at our usual table on the edge looking over the water.  After having some barbeque, the night was upon us.  We ordered a typical bucket from the happy hour special from the newly opened beach bar.  We people watched until the crowds arrived and the fire shows began.  The shows started with the typical twirling batons, and progressed to ringed hoops for drunks to jump through and fire jump rope.  Unfortunately, I had not had enough to drink, otherwise, I may have tested my agility and flung my already toasted body through a flaming hoop of death.  But we decided to spectate.  The music was good, the drinks were flowing, and the fireworks began.  Since this is Thailand, there are no safety precautions.  Giant 4th of July type fireworks were fired off right from the beach directly above us.  One problem.  No countdown.  For a country that actually calls its New Years "Countdown", I expected some sort of countdown.  But no, we relied on my cell phone to figure out that new years was upon us.  After lounging a bit more, watching people begin to fall over each other, we decided to call it a night.  But, one problem...someone stole Shannon's sandals.  Since the party was taking place at our resort, the entire area flocked to Siam Beach.  And when you enter anywhere in Asia, it is common to take off your shoes.  So obviously, we left our sandals on the step of the porch area (as everyone does).  But among the hundreds of drunken farang, sandals are bound to get stolen.  Shannon just got unlucky, or some drunk bitch liked her ballin' yellow kicks and had to have them.  Things went downhill from there, as we scoured the debauchery that was Lonely Beach.  It felt like a scene from a movie, as we pushed our way through people incoherently singing while leaning on friends discussing how much they drank, all while trying to hold the urge from vomiting.  People were shouting, breaking bottles on rocks, pissing in the ocean, not even realizing that the clock had already struck midnight.  And we never found the yellow sandals.  Luckily, we had a few drinks in our systems, and were able to sleep to the trance beats that thumped till 7am.  There is nothing like sleeping to a constant bass line beat in a wooden hut on the beach.  Seriously, its relaxin...to some.  Trippy dreams.

Since we crashed so early the previous night, we didn't see a soul until almost 3pm the next day.  We explored a rocky stretch of beach near the north end of Lonely Beach where we found solitude.  Although, I wasn't able to spend to much time in the sun, as I had already surpassed lobsters in color.  Hello permanent skin damage.  We stayed away from our beach, as it was a disaster, with chairs, broken Singha bottles, and passed out scandinavians lining the shores.  After our usual routine of lounging on the deck and the occasional nap, our last night arrived.  But, as lazy as we were, we ended up watching the two movies and hitting the hut early.  The next morning we gathered our things and headed back on what seemed to be the longest van ride ever.  We stopped numerous times for gas and rest...it was only a 5 hour drive.  The driver had to be distracted by an Italian couple sitting in front of us because he seemed to not have gotten enough sleep and was dozing off.  Not a good thing on a Thai highway.  We finally made it back to the airport, where we were only a short airport link ride and cheap cab fare away from our Baan Onnuch home.  Back to reality, at least for Shannon.  I never really do any work, i guess.  Just the occasional paper on beer or culture.  But 40 pages is a lot on beer, right?  The hardest part about it is limiting the amount of beer consumed while writing.  But that can also be said about these blogs, too.  Haha.

Overall, our New Years trip was amazing.  It was the most relaxing and stress free trip we've had.  Everything went smoothly.  A success, and we remember it all!

Lessons learned: Koh Chang
- squat toilets are good work outs
- i still will never understand scandinavian languages
- kayaking is a lot harder than it looks
- rocks with barnacles are sharp
- palm trees + stars = amazing
- hide your sandals for safekeeping
- do not fall asleep in the Thai sun
- pancakes are good anywhere      

           

Lopburi

Last Wednesday we took a day trip to the oldest city in Thailand, Lopburi.  I wanted to see the temples of the second largest city of the ancient kingdom, while Shannon wanted to see the infamous monkeys that guard these temples.  We took the cheapest train in the morning and arrived three hours later.  Since we forgot our map, we first wandered about the train station.  Surprisingly, we were not greeted by swarms of tuk-tuk drivers an taxis trying to get a fare.  There was only one or two old rickshaw drivers lounging in the carts sleeping the day away.  There really is no need for them since everything is within walking distance.  We wandered up and down a few streets without seeing any of these monkeys we had heard of.  We reached a point we had no idea where we were going.  But luckily, we found a town map next to a bus stop.  After clicking a photo for reference, we set on our way to the monkey temple.  We knew we were getting close when we spotted a little one gnawing on a seat of a new vespa.  As I laughed, the owner ran out yelling with a broom to chase the little guy away.  We followed the monkeys right up to the entry gates.    Since Shannon has a work permit and I have a Thai student ID card, we got Thai prices, which saved us 40 baht.  So I guess duel pricing isn't always that bad.

The best part of this ancient city is the Khmer temple Prang Sam Yot.  However, it is more famously known for its monkeys, or as they call them, crab-eating macaques.  Where they find these mysterious crabs in a central Thailand town is beyond me?  I believe there are several variations of the name, and the original comes from the Philippines, where crabs actually roam.  Either way, Prang Sam Yot looks much bigger in pictures, but the monkey business is worth it.  We cautiously walked around the temple at first, keeping distance between our little distant cousins.  But of course, Shannon had to touch.  She found a group of baby macaques, and decided to sit down on a nearby ledge.  Curiosity finally got the better of the clever creatures, as they crept closer until they finally clung to Shannon's back.  After receiving a much needed hair cleaning, it was time to shake off the monkey.  However, the little guy was not happy with the decision, so a tiny bite was necessary.  We had heard that you should get rabies shots if you are bitten, which apparently cost a ton of bahtage here.  Luckily, the skin was not broken.  So no harm, no foul...and more importantly, no fees.  We met a couple of American travelers who lived in the south and chatted for a bit as we continued to walk the temple grounds.   They led us inside the temple where we became the creatures on display.  The monkeys crowded around the gated windows, as they are not allowed into the temple.  Inside, a Spanish Thai guide (yeah, a spanish speaking Thai tour guide -- weird to see and hear), gave us some food (not crabs) to feed the starving macaques.  When we returned outside, I decided I needed to get my picture taken with a monkey on my back.  So I crept up to the closest ledge held out my hands, and let one climb up my back.  My hair must also have been dirty, because he went right to work, as if I were his relative.  It actually felt kinda good, until he starting pulling out my hair.  Then it was time to go.

After about an hour in the planet of the apes, we stopped by a restaurant called the Butterfly House.  Sounds like an establishment you might find on Soi Cowboy back in Bangkok, but the oddly named place had decent food.  It is run by an old crazy white-haired British guy.  I am going to assume he had a Thai wife (and bad teeth).  After an american breakfast and spaghetti carbonara, we walked back to the train station, where it unexpectedly rained.  We made a usual stop at 7-11 for some the usual ham cheese sandwich and chicken sausage bun.  Our train left shortly after, and we arrived back in Bangkok just in time for rush hour traffic, although that can be any time of day.

Lessons learned: Lopburi
- do not let big monkeys jump on you
- do not feed monkeys until inside temple
- enjoy the free massages (may come with lice)