London

Arwyn and I landed in London and were met by a driver the Fortescues sent for us. He was from Ghana and was happy to tell us exactly where he was and what he was doing when Ghana's soccer team defeated USA, eliminating us from the World Cup a couple of years back. He and Arwyn chatted the whole way about soccer. 

We met Allison at the house in Westminster where we were to stay. She briefly showed us around and left after telling us she would come get us at 5. She had bought us sandwiches and smoked salmon so we tucked in, took our first warm shower in the last 3 weeks, and tried desperately to get some sleep. 5 o'clock was on top of us in no time whatsoever. 

The three of us rode the tube over to London's new "the shard" building where we had reservations for dinner. The restaurant was three floors tall and open atrium style. The view was one I will never forget. The whole atmosphere was magical, and I was so exhausted I felt like I was in a drunk fog. Alex met us and we had a wonderful dinner and discussed our qualifications further. Below is a picture with London tower in the foreground the the shard in the background. 

We said our goodbyes after dinner and they said they would try to have an answer for us before we left the UK. 

We awoke at 4 am with jet lag and decided to get a move on. Walking from our house to the train station we passed Westminster abbey and parliament in the morning dark and stillness. We boarded a train for Portsmouth harbor to go see the HMS Victory museum. When we got there though, it was closed because the building was deemed unsafe due to the amount of rain they'd been having. Big bummer! Below is a picture of the HMS Warrior, the first sail/steam warship. 

We returned to London, and walked the city. We stopped in a pub for a burger and fish and chips. We saw so much in so little time. I finally got my turn at harassing the guards at Buckingham Palace, rode in a London cab, drank a warm beer, and used as many howdy's and y'all's as possible. As an added bonus, we received news during the day that we got the job. Huzzah!

We had a full day and collapsed into bed. I feel like my body is running on borrowed time at this point. The next morning, a driver was sent for us at 5 am and we were gone as fast as we came. I will end this post with a gratuitous and rare picture of Arwyn drinking a beer. 

Kuala Lumpur

Today started our long return home. We left Koh Phi Phi after the long hike over the top that I mentioned in the last post. This is the view from the ferry leaving. You can see the cliff that we were climbing just the day before. 

At this point I am afraid that you will find the pictures sparse. However, some incredible events transpired when we started our homeward bound journey. As we were leaving, we received an email from Alex, the owner of a yacht that we had interiewed for. He asked us if it was at all possible to divert on our way home and visit with him and his wife in London for a second interview. Bare with me here... Whilst we were traveling from Phi Phi to KL, which included a 3 hour ferry, 6 hour bus, an overnight in Hat Yai (train station town) , and an overnight 15 hour train, we were frantically trying to find out if it was possible to make it to London. So this means we had to line up the timing, see if we could do it economically, and convey the plans to try and firm up the when and where to meet in London- not to mention transfers in London and where to stay. This was mostly done on the train to KL. Our airlines told us it would cost about twice as much as the original ticket to make the change. They told us this the first 4 times we called, on the fifth they gave us a different answer. So the plan that materialized was that we would fly to Istanbul from KL on the same day we arrived in KL. We backed up our connection for our flight from Istanbul to Houston and purchased a round trip ticket Istanbul- London- Istanbul. The airline people were confused as well....  

Once we got the plans settled., we decided to make the best of our day layover in KL. Our train got in at 5:30 am and our flight left at 11:30 pm, so we explored around taking in the sights. I took Arwyn by a few places David and Kim showed me when they lived here. We saw he Petromis Towers (above) and my brother's old office building (below).  

We enjoyed some good meals and left perfectly on time for the airport on the KL express. From here, over night to Istanbul and connect to London. 

Koh Phi Phi

Our next stop was Koh Phi Phi. This island is essentially two different islands that are joined by a beach where the town is built. The town was wiped out by the tsunami in 2004 killing over 2000 people, so many places are under construction as the are still rebuilding. We stayed on the back side of the island so to get to town we had to take a boat around or hike about an hour up and over the island. The picture below is from the highest point of our hike to town, so you can see that we were definitely breaking a sweat getting to town. When we left, we went over the top with all of our bags and when we made it down into town out legs were literally shaking. 

We had two full days here and we made the best of them. Our first day we took a half day trip to Phi Phi Leh which was a breathtakingly beautiful island, albeit saturated with day trippers. We rode out there on the longtail boats. Ours is the one on the left below. 

The driver took us around to 3 different spots on the island to do some snorkeling. There  are some pretty interesting things in the water over here to say the least. 

That night Arwyn and I stayed in town to watch some Muy Thai fighting. This bar was pretty amazing. They recruit people out of the audience to fight so you definitely saw some entertaining things. I am still upset with myself that I didn't get up there. They were to pair me with a big Russian guy and Arwyn and I had already payed for rock climbing the next day so I passed. The guy went on to pummel some other big Russian guy so maybe I did make the right cal. ...  

The next day we took a rock climbing course. Our guide had trained as a monk for 10 years and was very fun to be with. We had an amazing time, it really was a highlight to our trip. We learned some great techniques and know enough now to go climbing on our own. 

Some monkeys got the better of me. They came along where we were climbing and I grabbed our lunch bag to guard it. They ganged up on me and jumped at me, tore the bag out of my hands and then they were everywhere and our lunch was nowhere. 

Here is Arwyn belaying herself down a 90 foot wall she had climbed. 

In town that night we celebrated our last sunset in Thailand as we started our long slog home the following day. 

Koh Phangam

We ferried it over to Koh Phangan to meet with Ben and Autumn. We were starting to get tired. It's the usual routine of crowding off the ferry and telling somewhere around 1000 locals that you don't want a taxi. They've got everyone bottle necked on the dock so it resembles the running of a gauntlet. We stopped to have a tea and gather our thoughts, and I decided to try and find a real bike to ride for the week instead of another scooter. To my delight, I found a Kawasaki kxl 250 which ended up being a highlight of our entire trip. It was tricky finding our place but we made it there just at dark and Ben pulled up 5 minutes behind us. 

We ate at this night market in town. To everyone's disapproval, I ate a ton of street vender sushi. Joke's on them though- my stomach's a steel trap. I feel sorry for the sushi. This market had some of the cheapest and most delicious we ate on the entire trip. 

So after a market dinner one nght we went back to our bungalow and celebrated Ben's birthday. We lit some candles atop of some seriously smooshed hostess cupcakes I had carried for nearly a month. They still tasted the same though. 

Arwyn and I watched Thaddeus for a couple days which was a lot of fun. We had been teaching him to be more comfortable in the water and ran him out to a windward beach with some waves. We played in the surf and he got tumbled a few times which shook him up, but he always wanted more. He found another boy about his a age who was Russian, but there were no language issues. They just laughed and defied one wave after another for about an hour and a half until the boy's mom collected him. Thaddeus definitely loved riding with us on the dirt bike too. 

When we were all the that, we enjoyed this beach. It had a resident pig lazing around with chalk writing on its side. 

Thaddeus, Ben and I made this sand castle. It drew a lot of attention toward the end. One guy even took a bunch of pictures and said he was going to put them up on a Thai backpacking site he runs. 

This is where the Seifrieds  and Kaisers parted ways. They left for China about four days betide our departure. We were running late and made a mad dash for there ferry which they made with 7 minutes to spare. We stood on the dock and watched them sail away. Arwyn even borrowed my white bandana and waved them off. Funny thing is, a group of Thai men on the deck directly above them got excited and started yelling and waving back. Big smiles. 

So Arwyn and I were on our own now. We will miss our travel companions. 

Koh Tao

Leaving Koh Phayam and heading for Ko Tao was a last minute decision made the night before we left. We read about the island in a travel guide somebody left behind at our hotel. We booked a ticket with a lady? travel agent who hand wrote a ticket and told us to look for Mr. Pow when getting off the ferry to the mainland. You have to be trusting in these situations so off we went looking for Mr. Pow. I thought we had a snag when the ferry ubruptly turned and changed destination from the ferry dock to a random commercial fishing pier. The gangway was thrown across and we were asked to get off. I asked the conductor if they intended to continue to the ferry dock and he replied incredulously, "of course not, there's no water!" He was referring to it being low tide and the ferry's inability to make port at its scheduled time. Luckily, we found Mr. Pow mixed amongst the fishermen in the fish drying shed. Pow whisked us away to a restaurant that watched our bags as we checked out the town's market until our bus was ready. The bus took us from the west coast to the east coast of Thailand. We were deposited at another restaurant to wait for another ride. At 9:30 pm we were thrown in the back of a truck and driven down a dark road to what appeared to be the middle of nowhere. Finally, we arrived at the night boat dock. We, it turned out, had purchased tickets on the commercial cargo boat. The ship was of a landing craft style with a front lowering gate to get goods on and off. 

They had the deck loaded up with everything from a giant pile of coconuts and motorcycles to eggs and water. We had to march through the cargo deck and up stairs through the crew area. The raggedy Thai crew greeted us with amused smiles. Finally we came to passenger quarters where we learned we actually would have beds to sleep on. The plan until this point was to string up hammocks, so bunks were a great improvement. 

We laid down in our bunks and were asleep before the boat left the dock. I awoke once at 3 am and walked out on the fantail to use the restroom over the stern. Looking around I could see traffic all around us out in the Gulf of Thailand. The night air was warm and refreshing. I miss the sea. 

We simply walked off the ferry a 0500 onto the dark mainstreet of Koh Tao. A man was standing there and asked if we wanted to scuba dive and if we needed a place to stay. Yes and yes we told him and he offered us a place. We signed up for an advanced open water scuba course two hours later and the dive school gave us a beach front bungalow on the house for the duration of our stay. 

We dove 5 times over the next 2 days and studied between dives. The diving was good and it was nice to be busy. We had a really cool Italian dive instructor named Mateo. We did a night dive our second night there which is always exciting. 

Before leaving the island we took our scooter to check out some viewpoints on the island. Riding on bikes goes back to the start of Arwyn's and my relationship, so we always enjoy these times. 

After this it was off on a ferry headed south to Koh Phangan to reunite with Ben and Autumn. We had a blast diving and were exhausted. A successful time on Koh Tao all in all. 

Koh Phayam

After leaving Kao Sok, Arwyn and I traveled together to Koh Phayam. We had no plans or reservations but loosely had decided we would hire a bicycle and ride around to find a place to stay. We had a really good time of traveling. It was easy connections and no confusion. The trip included: a ride in the back of a pick up, a van, a bus, a siangthew, a ferry, then a bicycle. We were fortunate that the ferry was delivering a load of mattresses to the island, so we staked them out and had the best seat in the house. 

When we got to Koh Phayam, we executed our plan and hopped on bikes. We got a little lost and were hungry and tired so it got rough for a moment. However,  once finding the beach  we wanted to stay on it was only a matter of walking from one bungalow reception to the next. It is he strangest thing here how people will say "no, we don't have anything," you counter with " are you absolutely sure?" And they will say something like  "well you could stay in bungalows 4 or 7 I guess..." This leaves me wondering if they are truly interested in filling their rooms. Haha. Anyway we ended up with a nice place on the beach. The Sefrieds got in the next afternoon and we met their ferry as it came in. They were able to get a place nextdoor. 

Thaddeus rarely preferred to use the door. 

We had a good time here on this island. It had a different feel to it. A couple of key things: there are no cars on the island, so it's bikes and scooters only. There is also no centralized or provided electricity. So bungalows would run generators for a few hours a day, but otherwise there was none. Our place had electricity from 6 to 11 every night. We spent our time here exploring beaches and cruising around on our scooters. The island's roads were more like bicycle paths, so it felt like you were exploring someone's private ranch. 

Thaddeus would ride in front of us as you see, and on the better parts of the road he got to help me with the throttle. He had a blast!

The Seifried gang left a day before us to head back to the first place we had stayed we got to Thailand and Arwyn and I set to planning where we wereto go. We settled on an island in the Gulf of Thailand called Koh Tao. We arranged our travel, and set out to watch the sunset. 

We had a nice dinner at our bungalows and then walked onto the beach where I set a paper lantern afloat out over the harbor. 

The next morning when leaving, finally saw a couple of Great Hornbill birds in our trees. It was a good start to our travels and next chapter of our trip. 

Koa Sok National Park

Our second stop on the tour was Kao Sok National Park. This is a main Thailand stop mostly due to its beautiful lake but also for its preserved forest which is home to many animals including wild elephants. Thaddeus is pictured below, excited with his new tree house accomodation. 

Arwyn and I opted for a bungalow like this one. The place was situated on a river and was run by a really nice family. It was just the women running the place as the husband was in Bangkok taking part in the protests there. 

We went on a hike on our first day. It was nice. We came across the Banderlog and scooted off when the started to get a little uppity with us. Thank god my sister Kim wasn't with us. 

I was really hoping to find wild elephants; Arwyn was perfectly happy to find the one stray dog roaming the forest and gave him all of our Pringles. 

We stopped for a swim which was refreshing and a little scary too. We had seen the biggest snake I have ever seen outside a zoo only hours earlier nearby. It was black and about 6-8' long. 

The big event of our stay was our day long boat tour of the lake. The longtail boat had serious air leaks in its fuel line and the driver nursed it along the whole time. It only died like three times, which places it in the "acceptable" category for Thailand. 

We stopped midway at a floating station of bungalows. Our guide ordered us lunch and we went for a swim and a kayak. The whole place was "mostly floating" on bamboo rafting. It was a really cool spot. 

We headed up a river to go hiking and caving. We came across some monkeys swimming across. 

After hiking for a while, we came to the main event, which was to go under a mountain through a 2 km cave which followed a river. The water got up to chest deep at times. It was a really great experience. There were bats overhead almost the entire time. Here is Thaddeus preparing to enter. 

A fun boat ride home!

A really special note is that made friends with a German man and his Thai wife. She was a fine chef and ran the best restaurant in town. We went there lost meals and she took us on as her students in her kitchen. She runs a cooking school as well but refused to let us pay. We helped her prepare the curries for the night and helped prepare other dishes too.  Gotta run.