Pióro

After Bangkok, Seoul seems like Geneva. I may have to wear a jacket, but when the guy at the airport says the bus into town is 6000 won, I know everyone else is paying the same price. The food sucks, but I can eat kimchi off of any public washroom floor. There may be motorcycles [...]

In Grade 8, I was very good friends with John Lee. We’d do what boys do in the suburbs: bike around, eat weggie-fries from the Red Rooster (a sub-standard fast food joint specialising in ‘chicken.’), go to the mall and once John even came to my cottage where we drank too much root-beer and got [...]

What does it mean when you start making every decision based on the flip of a coin? It could mean that it’s time to stop travelling for a while. Or maybe it’s just that Agnes and Warren aren’t around…
Dear Warren and Agnes,
How dare you leave us stranded in Thailand!
You got us here and now you’re [...]

From the northern city of Chang Mai, backpackers can play National Geographic reporter/photographer. There are tons of companies that will take you trekking into the surrounding hills. Here you can sleep in a Karen Hill Tribe (Thai indigen) village. Pigs and roosters do their barnyard sounds right under your stilt-mounted bugalow. As you first walk [...]

People who know me really well, know that I am seriously, no joke, piss my pants afraid of sharks. I enjoy freaking myself out from time to time by watching them on TV from the safety of my own home, but really all it takes is an old commercial for that Universal Studios ride where [...]

I read somewhere that Thai massage is “pleasantly brutal.” That would be accurate. It’s not every day that I pay for two gas-pedals. Yeeeowsah!

There was a live-band performing one night at the Gecko Bar at Rai Ley beach. I don’t know what it is about the name, but there are tons of Gecko Bars in Thailand and there’s no evidence that it’s a chain. During the day, as Mar and I sat on the west beach, some ‘dudes’ [...]

The Surat Thani bus station has washrooms that remind Warren of university. This is the most Western bus station I’ve seen in Thailand. All the corners are finished and free of dust. There are stools whose seats are sections of tree trunks. The ‘Western’ music they play is some of the worst kind imaginable: John [...]

At Rai Ley beach, near Karbi, there are many, many beautiful cliffs, perfect for rock climbing. I decided that while I was there, I might as well try it. (Up to a few days ago, I had never climbed anything other than trees.) Agnes, Warren and I opted for the half-day intro course. On paper [...]

Longtail
To get to Rai Ley beach from Ao Nang, you need to take a longtail boat. These boats are the tuk-tuks of the sea. The stern of a longtail is smeared with motor-oil and mounted on top is an engine. From this engine protrudes a long shaft with a two-blade propeller on the end. The [...]