SE Asia... Oceania... and Beyond

Greetings from Ko Samui!

Well the trip has begun and although there is so much to share, I am going to challenge myself to keep this brief. Me be brief… is that an oxymoron?

I started off my trip in Bangkok (BKK), what a giant urban sprawl this city is. There is so much to do and I didn’t even scratch the surface in the four days I was there. The first day I was there I spent most of the day riding around in tuk tuk’s seeing the city and trying out the various beers in town with some of my new friends from across the globe. All in all it was the best way to break in the first day and acclimate to my new atmosphere. The remainder of my time in BKK I spent doing touristy things such as visiting many temples, seeing the hundreds of Buddha’s, went to the famous floating market and JJ Market, spent time in a tiger refuge (where I sat down and tooled around with full grown tigers), saw the river kwai, and got a Thai massage.

After BKK it was a six hour bus ride south and a four hour ferry ride to my current location, Ko Samui. For those who you do not know where Ko Samui (KS) is it is one of three major islands off of the eastern coast of Thailand. This little paradise has some of the best beaches in the in SE Asia, if not the world. I have been here for just over one day and intend to stay though the remainder of the week. KS is a great escape from the busy life that I had back in the USA. I intend to do nothing but relax here and spend time with my friends before heading off to another island called Ko Phangan for the Full Moon Party this weekend.

Before I take off let me share some of my first impressions of Thailand…

The good…
• Thai people - Wonderful, very respectful and very fun to hang out with
• Weather – Sunny and 85 degrees every day
• The beaches are flawless
• Such a wide range of things to do
• SUPER CHEAP
-Full Body 1 hr Thai Massage – ($3.00 USD)
-1 night at one of the most popular beach resorts ($12 USD)
-Lunch ($.75)

The bad…
• Taxi drivers in BKK – They know nothing
• Air in BKK (only BKK) – Like they say in Los Angeles, “I don’t trust the air if I can’t see it”
• You can’t go anywhere without someone trying to sell you something

OK, I think that about sums up my trip for now, AKA… time for a massage.

Ciao,

Tim