The Aquaholic’s Guide to Koh Mook (Ko Muk)
Your one-stop guide to visiting the blissfully undeveloped shores of Koh Mook, Thailand.
Koh Mook Adventures Part III – Kayaking Around the Island
Kayaking to Koh Mook's natural wonder, Emerald Cave, is a popular activity on this quiet island, but did you know that you can actually kayak around the entire island? Here is the account of my journey making the complete loop around Koh Mook's dazzling shores.
Koh Mook Adventures Part II – Hiking to Sabai Beach
Hiking through the jungles of Koh Mook, soaking in the view from the Jungle Viewpoint, and exploring Sabai Beach.
Koh Mook Adventures Part I – Island Hopping
Koh Mook, the "Pearl Island" of Thailand, has so much to offer. It has an epic cave that leads to a sinkhole beach, and is just a short jaunt away from snorkeling spots and more islands to explore. In this post, I begin my exploration of this charming, lesser-known island.
Koh Mook – The Forgotten Pearl of the Andaman
Thailand and its endless string of islands has a vibe for everyone. Want to learn how to scuba dive? Go to Koh Tao. Want to experience the legendary full moon parties? Koh Pha Ngan. Pamper yourself at a luxury resort? Koh Samui. But what about an island for those who want a sense of what Thailand was like before the hoards of tourists swarmed the shores? Did those places still exist? I wanted to believe that they did.
Time to Chill on Koh Lipe
The best mojito in Thailand, dinner cooked by a Thai rasta, and a job offer. For being my least favorite island, Koh Lipe did lead to one of my most memorable experiences.
Koh Lipe – the Island of Shattered Dreams
Koh Lipe was meant to be one of those perfect island paradises that you read and fantasize about. Perhaps the fact that I had heard about it meant that it was already too late. Perhaps I should have known better than to visit six years after initially hearing about it. Koh Lipe was nothing close to the place I hoped to find.
Crossing the Border from Langkawi into Koh Lipe, 2020
Wondering how to cross the border from Langkawi, Malaysia, into Koh Lipe, Thailand? This post outlines the process and what to expect, to make your island-hopping, border-crossing journey as easy as possible.
Why Scuba Diving Isn’t for Everyone
I wrote a dozen different introductions for this post apologizing for being insensitive, racist, and poking fun at others' expense, but then I realized that if I was really that concerned, I wouldn't be writing this post in the first place. Or maybe I would write it and just leave it to collect cyber dust with all my other half-written drafts. So yes, these stories I'm about to tell may come across somewhat insensitive, racist, and poke fun at other's expense. If you're going to be offended, read no farther. I'm sure I'll have another post about kittens up before
Lexi’s Ultimate Guide to Koh Tao
GETTING HERE If you are flying into Bangkok you have two options: The Slow & Cheap Option: Take an overnight bus/train from Bangkok to Chumphon followed by a ferry from Chumphon to Koh Tao. After arriving in Bangkok, walk into the first booking office you see (tourist areas such as Khao San Road are riddled with them) and say you want to go to Koh Tao. They will give you all of your options. The overnight buses and trains both take about ten hours. On the bus you get to sit in an uncomfortable seat all night. On the train you can
Railay Beach – A Penis Cave and a Reggae Bar
Monday We booked an early departure from Koh Phi Phi. It's a fun place for a couple of days but after that it's easy to get your fill of drunk tourists and trashed beaches. Gone are the days of the pristine, undiscovered paradises from Alex Garland's novel, at least as far as Koh Phi Phi is concerned. The ferry brought us back to Krabi and from there we got a transfer to Ao Nang. In Ao Nang we had the shuttle driver drop us at the corner on the beach where a booth selling longboat tickets was located, and bought three
Koh Phi Phi – Same Same But Different
There's a saying in Thailand, same same but different. If you have ever been there, then you are likely all too familiar with it. It originated in reference to the ladyboys, for obvious reasons. But now you can't walk into a souvenir shop without seeing it splashed across a tshirt or have a conversation with a local without hearing it in everyday conversation, because it just works for everything. Spend more then a couple of weeks in Thailand and pretty soon you will be throwing out same same in the middle of a conversation without even thinking twice about it. The
Koh Lanta, Part II – Diving the Andaman Sea
Friday The Alarms sounded early, waking us up in plenty of time to have breakfast and meet our ride form the dive shop in the lobby. Our divemaster from OK Dive Club picked us up in a pickup truck with the company logo splashed across the window and apologized for being late, even though he was only late by a couple of minutes. We explained to him that we had been living oh Koh Tao for the past nine months and understood the routine, that 9:30 at work usually meant leaving the house at 9:30. Gotta love island time. We drove to the
Koh Lanta, Part I – Off The Beaten Banana Pancake Trail
Wednesday I froze all night in the air/con car. Sometime around the time we stopped in Chumphon I remembered there was an extra blanket we had stolen wedged under my pillow. The next hour or two of sleep was much more comfortable and then we were woken up by our extremely flamboyant train steward who started waving his hands around at us, wanting to make our bunks back into benches. The train dropped us off in Surat Thani and we were herded away based on the color stickers we were wearing. We were loaded onto a shuttle bus that took us to
Post #100: Back to Bangkok
This is my 100th post everyone! Thanks to all of my readers who have kept me blogging this far. I was going to plan a special post but I'm already so behind that that's not going to happen. Sunday As cool as Montis Resort was, the breakfast buffet was surprisingly disappointing. So we left halfway through and made our way back to Chiang Mai. We returned the bikes without any fees for scratches (I had tipped mine over in a parking lot after it was stopped and had been dreading how many zeros would be on the fine). Maybe that's just a
Pai
Friday We woke up and packed up, strapped our backpacks to our bikes, and left Chiang Mai, but not before making a detour to Thailand's only Cat Cafe. A while back someone posted a list on Facebook of all the Cat Cafes around the world. As soon as I saw there was one in Thailand I knew we would have to go. Catmosphere was visible from a mile away with its sign decorated in old school movie theater light bulbs. We rode up and read the sign on the front door that asked us to please wait for someone to let us
Chiang Mai
Thursday I woke up on the train to a sunny sky outside and rolling hills gradually turning into city. We were arriving in Chiang Mai, the north of Thailand. Fletch and I had just crossed the entire country, from south to north, by train. I had wondered if it would be cold up north. It wasn't. As we carried our backpacks off the train the air was still as hot and humid as it had been in Koh Tao. Yet it was different somehow. There were a number of red, covered, open-backed trucks lined up outside the train station waiting to transport people
Leaving Koh Tao
Tuesday Eric and Fletch and I all left Koh Tao on the same day, Eric to fly home from Bangkok, and Fletch and I to go explore the rest of Thailand for two weeks before also making our way back to the US for the holidays. Knowing that we were going exploring for two weeks only just barely made our departure more bearable. The fact was that Koh Tao had been a perfect home and I was really going to miss it. The island was small enough to be able to get around anywhere you wanted to go in no time
Farewell, Mr. T. R. Vegetables
Our rent-a-cat experiment ended about how I expected it to. I fell in love with a bundle of fur who was destined to stay on Koh Tao while I was doomed to leave. He was one cool cat. His favorite way of being held was upside down. And when no one was around to hold him upside down he would pop a squat in his own personal beanbag chair. Sometimes he would get tricked into wearing stupid homemade tinfoil hats when he thought he was going to get held upside down. Those were never good moments. And if still no one would hold him
34 Reasons I Already Miss Koh Tao
1. Purchasing a perfectly reliable motorbike for $312. 2. Selling that same motorbike for $250 after riding it everyday for nine months. That's $62 for nine months of transportation. 3. Buying a brand new set of dirt tires for that bike for $30. 4. Fixing pretty much anything on that bike for $5. 5. Bum guns. They're a little weird to get used to at first but after a couple of days you come to realize that cleaning down there with running water is so much more hygienic then just wiping with a bit of toilet paper. Why has the rest of the world
Vacation to Koh Samui
A while back a friend of ours had posted a picture on Facebook of a beautiful resort room where he was staying on Koh Samui. It had a massive jacuzzi in the middle of the room and looked like some high end spa. He told us that it wasn't incredibly expensive and that we must stay there next time we were on Koh Samui. So Fletch and I got on the website and booked a room to coincide with when we would have to do a visa extension run. Since we applied for visas ahead of arriving in Thailand, we get
Happy One Year Anniversary
On November 15 Fletch and I celebrated our one year anniversary and he somehow managed to outdo himself again. First of all though, I've already been with this awesome guy for a whole year! Thank you Fletch for a year of amazing adventures, for being an incredible travel buddy, an irreplaceable friend, and most of all the man I love. Fletch told me to be home at 5:00 so that we could be ready to go at 5:30 and that was all he would say. So I hurried home and put on the one nice dress I brought with me that
Koh Phi Phi Home to Koh Tao
Tuesday I suppose Captain Bob's Booze Cruise is going to be a tough story to follow but I didn't want to just leave you hanging, wondering how we got home. We woke up at 9 and walked down some of our hotel's many stairs to the lobby where the restaurant was. They had three different breakfast sets, the largest of which they had been racist in naming the "American" Breakfast. But then again a bunch of Americans ordered it and devoured it so maybe it wasn't that racist after all. We packed up our belongings and checked out, then stopped at the
Koh Phi Phi – Captain Bob’s Booze Cruise
Monday We woke up and checked out of our hotel in Krabi, helping ourselves afterwards to the complimentary breakfast. We had booked tickets already to go to Koh Phi Phi, an island chain a little ways south comprising of two larger islands and several small rocks. Our minivan picked us up, drove us thirty or so minutes back to Krabi Town, and dropped us off at the ferry station. The ride was two hours across smooth seas and under a sunny blue sky. The main island is Koh Phi Phi Don and that is where the ferry dropped us off. As we
Krabi – Railay Beach
Sunday I woke up at 7:30 feeling hungover and so went back to sleep. At noon I woke up again feeling much better and so waited for everyone else to get up and moving. By the time we were all alive and functioning it was definitely time to find food, so we walked around the little Ao Nang area desperately trying to find breakfast food. No place had western breakfast food, only Italian, Thai, and Indian food. We searched dozens of restaurants for an hour before we found a little cafe with a Harley Davidson theme that had several breakfast items
Krabi – Waterfalls and Stripper Bars
Friday Our good friend and now roommate, Eric, had some friends visiting from Colorado recently who wanted to go explore. Eric had invited us to go with them. We have been wanting to see the rest of Thailand and so considered it briefly, but then decided that six people traveling together would be too much of a logistical problem. It's easy enough to squeeze four people into a room but with six you have to wonder if an extra room is worth it. The morning that they were leaving we all met up and Fletch and I changed our minds. We
Loi Krathong
Yesterday was Loi Krathong, a holiday here which takes place on the full moon of the twelfth month of the Thai lunar calendar, which usually falls in our November. It is the festival of lanterns that you have likely seen a photo of if you've ever flipped through a guidebook of Thailand. Thousands of lanterns are released, creating the most beautiful scene. Loi means "to float" and Krathong is a lotus-shaped vessel made out of biodegradable materials. It usually contains candles, incense sticks, flowers, and coins. Under the light of the full moon, everyone releases a lantern to give thanks and also ask
Introducing the One and Only, Mr. T. R. Vegetables
Now that we've moved into a place that doesn't threaten to kick us out when they see cat hair, we decided foster a kitty for the few months that we have left here. There's an amazing animal clinic here on the island that doubles as a vet and a humane society. The lady who runs it works mostly off of donations. If you're ever having a bad day you can go in and play with all the dogs and cats. We headed over a couple days after moving in and asked her if there were any adult kitties that needed a
Advanced Freediving
This is the sequel to my original story: Freediving. One year ago I took a freediving course at a wonderful school here on Koh Tao call Apnea Total. I absolutely loved the idea of freediving and couldn't wait to lean some breath-holding tricks. The course ended up being much more of a mental hurdle to overcome then physical one. The school was closing for slow season after our course ended and so we never got the opportunity to do any additional training until just recently. Work has been pretty slow lately so I decided to take advantage of the break and
Full Moon Party 2014
I redesigned my blog! Take a quick poll on the left to help me decide if this is a good look or not. (Best viewed in Safari. (Please don't vote if you are viewing the black and white mobile version.)) Day One At the last minute Fletch and I decided to join Summer and her three friends who are visiting from the US for the Full Moon Party, October 2014! As we were walking out the door we also convinced Kyle to come with us, so our group ended up being seven total. On the day of the full moon we took
Who Not To Rent From On Koh Tao
If you are following my travel stories then this post may or may not be of interest to you. I write it mainly incase anyone with the prospect of coming to Koh Tao long term is looking for a place to stay and has stumbled across my blog by chance, maybe by typing in the right search terms. Gotta love Google. It's still a good story though. As you may recall, the past six months we've been renting a beautiful three bedroom villa just out of Sairee. We found the place via a management company on the island called BUA. BUA is
You’re All Hearing The Name ‘Koh Tao’ In The News By Now
The only reason I write this is because those who know I am here will be wondering what is going on and the media is having a field day turning the reputation of our tiny island paradise into the dangerous location of a gruesome double murder. Yesterday, Monday, I got home around noon from a morning spent diving, got on Facebook, and read on the community board that two tourists had been murdered on Sairee Beach earlier that morning. Someone had posted an article on a Thai news source. I searched Google News and nothing came up. Maybe it was just
Drinking Kahlùa and Baileys and Listening to Avicii
Disclaimer: If you are a Kahlùa and Baileys enthusiast, or an Avicii fan, you should probably know that this post has nothing further to do with either of those topics beyond the fact that that is what I am doing right now. Hey Brother is my new favorite song, and the only song that is currently downloaded onto my iPad, so I'm sure it will be my least favorite song before I'm finished writing this post. Ohhh if the sky comes falling down for you, there's nothing in this world I wouldn't do. It has been a whopping two months since my
The Banana Cake To End All Banana Cakes
If you are a google searcher who was trying to find a banana cake, then I'll cut straight to the chase. The best banana cake in all the places I've traveled is made by the British ladies at a little cafe called Through The Looking Glass on the island of Koh Tao, Thailand. It will knock your socks off, stuff you like a pig, and you will cry a little bit when you are too full to continue indulging in its perfection. You won't even care when you've gained five kilos after eating it because it was just that good.
The Irishmen Vs. Japanese Gardens
Happy Summer Solstice! Being so close to the equator there is less variation in hours of daylight here throughout the year. It is 8:30 PM and it's already completely dark. I’m pretty sure it will still be light out at this time back home. When busy season comes around and I actually have to work more than one day in a row again I’m not going to know what to do! I got a rare phone call yesterday asking if I could come in right away to teach a DSD. When I do get phone calls these days it is always
Koh Tao Festival Day & the Hangover That Followed
8:09 AM I wake up and turn on my iPad to find a message from Fletch saying that he finally got my postcard in the mail. This was not your typical pretty beach picture postcard. It was a photograph of two elephants painted up and going at it with a crowd of observers. Oh Thailand. How could you possibly see that postcard and not send it to someone? Fletch was the lucky recipient. If you'd like your own personal elephant sex postcard to put on your refrigerator, leave me a comment or send me a message with your address. 8:24 AM I have
Yoga Mats & Rambutan
Today I made up errands to run because I sunburned my backside badly yesterday and figured it would probably be best to not do that again. I went to 7-Eleven to buy water, and over in the corner where they have fountain drinks such as Thai iced tea (or in the US I believe it's slushies died some unnatural color) I found little packets of matcha mix. Matcha is a green powder that they mix with hot water in Japan for tea ceremonies. Starbucks caught on to the trend and you can get green tea lattes or green tea frappuccinos
Sai Daeng
Today I had the day off. It is slow season here so I should probably be expecting a lot more days off where this one came from. Normally I like having about one day off a week, because diving is what I came here to do, and is my enjoyment. One day off a week allows me to do laundry and clean the house and run errands but any more days off then that and I find myself at a loss for what to do. Scuba diving is what I do! So yesterday was my run errands day and today,
Birthdays & UV Bubbles
Shawna's, Jamie's and my birthdays were all back to back to back so there has been a lot of celebrating so far this month. Mine was on June 5, and I would like to thank everyone for celebrating with me and for the birthday wishes on Facebook. I'm terrible at planning things and so didn't have anything special thought out. I was teaching an Open Water course and had left for lunch break. When I returned to the shop for the afternoon boat, Tyler emerged singing Happy Birthday and holding a chocolate brownie with coconut icing and a candle. What
A Day In The Life Of A Dive Bum
This is what an average day is like for me. I currently work for two different dive shops. Both have their plusses and minuses. You are familiar with them as Dive Shop A, the first job I got here where the people were a bit cranky at first (understatement), and Dive Shop X, the posh shop that was really nice for a while until our head instructor went on holiday and shit hit the fan. Normally I’ll get a call the night before from one shop or the other, asking if I’m available to teach such and such course tomorrow.
How To Become A Dive Bum
Sometimes I have to stop and reflect on where I’m at in life, and at the moment that place brings the biggest smile to my face. It’s easy to fall into the swing of everyday life, no matter where in the world you are or what you are doing, and forget that life wasn’t always like this, but it’s fascinating to stop and think about the progression of events that led you to where you’re at. When I stop and think about it, I wonder how in the world I got so lucky. Let me tell you my story of how
7-Eleven Parking Lot Party
The blog post requests are in! There's no deadline though so feel free to keep sending them. So far I have: Attend a local sporting event (cock fight, muy thai fight) Go on a scavenger hunt (supplied by my sister) Attend the lady boy cabaret 7:30 dildo time (see my last post) I can’t promise to get any of these done in a timely manner so just keep checking back. We have a brand new fancy schmancy 711 just off the main road, right down the hill from our place. It’s about twice the size of any of the other 711s I’ve
7:30 Dildo Time
I’ve been asked to write a little something about 7:30 dildo time. It is a very sacred time, not to be taken lightly. I burn some incense, do the things you do to get Buddha’s blessing (it’s only polite seeing as we’re in Thailand). I should probably just leave it at that. Haha so a while back, I was looking for a way to put a binding on my dive guide book. There is a very comprehensive dive guide book available here with maps of all the dive sites and pictures of all the fish, and that was my first purchase
The Political Situation in Thailand
Those of you who are keeping up with the news at all already know that Thailand has been experiencing some political unrest. I don’t pretend to keep up with politics, but here is the gist of what’s happening: Thailand had a female prime minister who was bad news. Anti-government protesters took to the streets last November claiming that she was just a puppet for her notorious brother and therefor shouldn’t be in office. At the beginning of May, Thailand’s Constitutional Court did remove her from office on charges of nepotism. Of course that brought all of her supporters running to the
Team Rex Welcomes The Tuna Squad!
I can't say who or what The Tuna Squad is, because I've already posted pics of our house on here and our lease states that there are certain things we can't have, so I wouldn't want anyone to get the wrong idea that we are breaking our contract. We are most definitely following all the rules. The Tuna Squad is just an adorable figment of our imaginations. Have I confused you enough yet? Fine, I'll tell you. We all have mercury poisoning from eating too much tuna. I don't know if I've mentioned it already or not, but it's really hot
Asian Photo Shoots and Cooking Lessons from a Three Year Old
Now that I'm all settled into our new place and can pretend that I have fallen into some sort of routine, I can tell you what a typical day on Koh Tao is like for me. This morning was the first morning that I woke up not sweating, thanks to the miracle of a/c. Last night I had initially set it to 26 degrees celsius but when that was too frigid I tried 27 instead. Perfect. Even going to the bathroom and then walking back into my room felt like walking into a nice igloo. Then I did the conversion and
Hot as Hell & Out of Water
It's funny the little things you take for granted living in a developed country. Water for instance: water is something that is always there and always will be. I used to get so frustrated with people in Colorado who would actually buy bottled water, because Colorado is one of the few places that actually has really good, drinkable tap water. It's right there in your kitchen, and plastic bottles are SO bad for the environment. Save that bottled water fund for when you go somewhere where drinking the tap water would probably kill you. Welcome to Thailand. Except even tap
Home Sweet Home
We finally found a place to live! Ever since I got here I've been staying with Shawna and Kyle in their studio apartment. There was literally a six inch gap between our beds. Kyle has funny sleep habits. The first night there I woke up in the middle of the night to Shawna asking "Why are you waking up Lexi?!" and opened my eyes to find him leaning over her trying to poke my leg to make sure I was ok, completely sound asleep. It was a very cramped space to say the least, and I don't know how to
One Week Here And I Already Have Two Jobs
I thought the job hunt once I got here would be a little more rigorous, me going from dive shop to dive shop, handing out my resume, searching for several days before maybe one or two shops offered me a course to teach here and there. Then right before I left, Kyle said his boss had work for me, at which I was thrilled. So I arrived on Friday, Saturday I met the manager, Sunday was Songkran, and Monday I taught my first DSD at Dive Shop A. Never mind recouping from jet lag. I showed up Monday morning excited
Songkran
I only had a couple days to recoup before Songkran, the holiday I had been told I simply could not miss. I didn’t think I’d actually make it to Thailand in time, but due to a series of unexpected events, I sped up my departure date to coordinate being in Thaialnd for the Thai New Year. What is Songkran you might ask? Now that I’ve experienced it, I can tell you that it’s the most epic holiday of all time, even better than Halloween (or whatever your own personal favorite holiday is). Songkran is one giant nation-wide water fight. All day
Return to Koh Tao – United Airlines Vs. Thai Airways Vs. Bangkok Airways
Denver to Tokyo Not to start the tale of my journey off on a somber note. but goodbyes are always difficult for me, and I knew this one would be particularly difficult considering I was leaving Fletch behind for a whole three months and my newly single mom, who was in the process of moving. I actually managed to keep myself composed until we arrived at the airport, at which point I completely lost it. The prospect of being alone for three months in a foreign place on the opposite side of the world, three days journey away can be quite
I’m Moving to Thailand
Sitting on the 787 Dreamliner once again, this time with a one way ticket. Stay tuned for all the adventures to follow!
Full Moon Party, Koh Pha Ngan – Three Nights Rolled Into One
Disclaimer: This may not be 100% truth. Names may have been changed. Events may have been forgotten or misremembered. Night One - The Pool Party The high speed catamaran over to Koh Pha Ngan from Koh Tao was only an hour, and once off the boat we wasted to time in going on a very important mission: find the rum. We found our hotel, dropped off our stuff, walked to the sunrise side of Haad Rin (we decided to stay on the sunset side to avoid too much noise if we actually did desire sleep at some point), and found a longtail
And So It Begins…
...the mass migration of everyone throughout Asia to Koh Pha Ngan for the Full Moon Party. As we walked around Koh Tao Friday morning to check out and return the bike, every hostel and hotel in the area had heaps of backpacks and luggage piled out in front, headed to the ferry. Next stop: Koh Pha Ngan. This island doesn't take their partying lightly. It is seriously party all night and sleep by day. If you manage to wake up while the sun is still up, it is only to find the streets speckled with sleep deprived, hungover zombies shuffling about.
That Time Koh Nang Yuan Became Scary Korean Disney World
Summary of That Time We Swam To Koh Nang Yuan: Just incase you're not keeping up, in the first part of this story (before I even realized there would be more than one part to this story), we snorkeled all the way over to the neighboring island, Koh Nang Yuan. After a couple hours' swim, we stumbled up onto a gorgeous pristine beach, only to realize that there was a restaurant there, and dinner would be really awesome, only we didn't have any money with us, because all we had was snorkel gear. We tried to hire a boat back to get
Magical Third World Pharmacies and Late Night Pancakes
You have to love being in the third world where everything is available in pharmacies over the counter, no expensive doctor's visit or prescription required. Oh, sorry, I'm just talking about my ear infection, not the good stuff. It's nearly impossible to dive every day without getting some sort of wonky ear infection. Take a scuba diving course, it'll teach you that the pressure surrounding your ear doubles in just the first 10 meters of water, and from there only increases as you go down. That's a lot of trauma to subject your eardrum to, not to even mention any bacteria
The Experimental “Drift” Dive to Pottery
So we get on the dive boat the other morning and our divemaster tells us that we are going to be doing something she's never done before; the boat captain is going to drop us off a little ways away from the dive sight known as Pottery, and we are going to swim to pottery. Gotta admit, after our dive spent swimming over the barren sandy patch the previous day this did not sound too promising. At some point I lost by dive buddy, Fletch, as well as the rest of the group. I'm an experienced enough diver to not get
That Time We Swam To Koh Nang Yuan
Oh if only is were possible to write about everything: the treasure hunt, the rasta bar, the high bar, the terrifying roads, the balloons
Thien Og, AKA Shark Bay (Insert Jaws Theme Song)
This is what we've been doing, for I don't know how many days now, but it hasn't gotten old yet. Jump on scooter. I mean walk of course. Choose direction. Go until you reach water. Spend a few hours snorkeling/freediving until you realize you're hungry, and damn, lunch should have been a few hours ago. Ok just a few more minutes swimming around. Fletch is the one with his nose in the guide book leading us around. I read all that fun stuff before I came here. Now I just want to see and go play. He keeps showing me descriptions of
Tanote Bay, Let’s Go Jump Off That Rock
Fletch has a lot of friends here. I'm seriously amazed by how many people he knows here. And they're all from Roatan. They were all there before I went, so I never knew them til now, but still, it's cool that so many people here came from the same place. So one of said friends, Kyle, suddenly gets really excited about going to this reservoir and then going and jumping off of some rock
Freediving
Fletch and I decided to take a free diving course. That means ditching all that heavy bulky scuba gear and diving on a breath of air. (Don't get me wrong, I still love scuba, but you've got to admit it's pretty cool to be able to ditch the gear). It's a lot like yoga, mind over matter and mostly about the breath control. Very relaxing. Our instructor was this hunky Australian dude covered in tribal tats and piercings. He had a very hyper personality but a simultaneously zen-like demeanor, talking a mile a minute about how cool freediving is one moment, and
Hin Wong Bay, A “Relaxed” Dive Resort
My first day in Koh Tao is a blur. Still slightly hungover, jet-lagged, sleep deprived from the night on the bus, I have no idea what we did the first day. We found a place to stay, Sairee Cottage, and realized that we need to move. Our first night here was spent listening to an orchestra of construction on the other side of our wall, partying up and down the beach, cats screaming, dogs barking, José (the name I gave to our resident, nearly three legged dog) and an obnoxious rooster who thought sunrise was every hour, on the hour,
Fish Spas and Fried Scorpions
Khao San Road, Bangkok The number of times the sun has set does not match up with the days on the calendar and the number of nights I've actually slept in a bed are very few considering I left Wednesday and it is now Monday. Needless to say, I have no idea what time or day it is. It is dark out and I am awake. That's all I know. Once off the airplane it was some ridiculous hour in the morning so we went to the nearest tourist counter and asked them to take us to the nearest hotel. I was
Please See the Asian At the Desk – Denver to Tokyo to Bangkok
10:00 AM MST: Three hours early for our flight. TSA agent asks me if I'm under 12. It used to be 16 so apparently I'm growing younger. I've gotta start taking advantage of kiddie discounts… I'm sitting watching the bags while Fletch looks for currency, and a sweet little old Japanese lady approaches me and asks if I'm going to Japan. I stare at her blankly for a minute before realizing, Yes! Oh my goodness I really am going to Japan! This is happening. So she asks if I will wake her up when our flight boards and I
The Thailand Timeline
I've been afraid to jinx it by saying it was actually happening until now, but with only ten days to go, I guess I can finally shout out that I'm leaving for THAILAND! Despite the odds and numerous obstacles, from bank-draining student loan bills, to getting cheated out of a considerable security deposit refund, I've found a way (with the generous help of my wonderful family and friends) to do the thing I swore I'd do when I left Honduras: go to Thailand. The original plan was to move there and find a job, but given my current financial state, I've