Chiang Mai, Thailand

Chiang Mai is a medium sized city in Northern Thailand. It's a lot less touristy than Bangkok, and has proven to be a good stop. Keels and I found a really cool small hostel called "Julies" and got a "Fan-Room" (Room with a fan). The place is filled with a lot of travelers, and we were able to meet some guys from Germany & Spain, and also some girls from England who we've hung out with. Seems like everyone is doing roughly the same thing as us, but most are doing it longer (6 mo). Food in Thailand is awesome... its like eating at Basil Restaurant every day. They cook with curry, basil, seafood, and various spicy peppers...its right up my alley. However, I think they take it easy on the spicy peppers for the tourists...but I have slowly asked them to "make it Thai hot" and yesterday they brought the fire. I was barely able to finish the soup (shrimp, rice, basil, lemongrass, noodle, mix)...I was crying, using up all of the napkins to mop up my draining nose, and the Thai waiter-boy was laughing the whole time. Anyhow, Keels and I found some "motorcyles", well in US they are actually mopeds...but here 125cc is large as there are a lot smaller bikes all over the road.Traffic here is interesting... driving on the left takes some getting used to mentally, and just the chaos of the road is daunting. Motorcycles can go between cars while stopped, and when you are driving it seems like there are always 10 thai motorcyclers zooming past you on all sides. Interesting to say the least. But they are definitely the way to get around, and we are both excited to start our 4 day, 500 km motorcycle journey on Mae Hong Son loop in Northern Thailand later today. (Motorcycle Rental is around $5/day) Got to go on a day trip to a local Buddist Monk temple, and check out some waterfalls in the mountains yesterday.

Really cool winding roads, perfect for motorcycles. Last night, we went to the local arena for traditional Muay Thai Boxing and pretty much got ring side seats. Keels and I were joking to whether we would get into the ring with these guys (the weight classes started at around 130lb and ended at 160lb), and after watching a few high kicks we were both like "no way" (little did I know that that before the end of the night I would enter the ring for two rounds...video to come later). Later we spoke to one of the 130 lb kickboxers, and joked about getting into the ring... he said "no problem...I see", asked the ring announcer, and for 400 baht ($12) lined me up for the next fight. I agreed on the condition of: No Kicks, No elbows, No knees, and big gloves. I think he assumed I was going to be an in-experienced tourist, but figured out pretty quickly that I knew how to box. I have a good feeling that if there were kicks, elbows, and knees I would probably have two black eyes and a concussion right now...but I was able to go both rounds, and drop him on two separate occasions with a cross and uppercut. Pretty neat experience, crowd was into it, and not many can say that they got into a ring with a Muay Thai kickboxer for 2 rounds in Thailand. Internet for the next few days may be sketchy...but I will try to update again soon.

Bangkok then on to Chiang Mai

I ended up finding Keels at the hostel that we were supposed to meet at later that morning. He said he left a note at the desk telling me what room, and also was outside waiting about a half hour before I got in... just missed him, oh well. Oh yeah before I forget, the bathrooms here took a little getting used to. Shower was a nozzle on the wall above the toilet, and the toilet was a squat toilet with two places for your feet on the side (See photo). It didnt come with a manual, so I had to figure it out. Keels got a good laugh at my confusion, but gave me a debriefing. We caught up over breakfast and started planning our Adventures. ( 1 week thailand, 2 weeks Laos, and 2 weeks in Vietnam) or atleast thats the plan. Bangkok was a busy city with skyscrapers, traffic and a lot of tourism. We ended up staying a two days and a did a lot of tourist stuff (1oo' long golden buddha statue, cobra show at the snake farm, and a large fitness park). We traveled many different ways: ferry boat, taxi, and tuk tuk (half motorcycle and half cart on back).

After two days we decided to head up north to Chiang Mai. To minimize travel time we took a sleeper train which had fold out bunk beds and made the 12hr trip easy. We are now in Chiang Mai, and will probably be around this area for the next couple days before taking a slow boat into Laos. Will keep the blogs coming as much as I can...

It begins...charleston airport

Just got to the charleston airport and about to start the journey. Heading to detroit mi, then across the Pacific to Tokyo. 24 hrs help!

Flight to Tokyo was brutal... Not much sleep, but I dont feel that bad. I sat next to a Japanese family that just came back from Disney world. I spoke to the 10 year old (as she was the one that knew English), and got my first look at japanese writing (symbols) up close. Very different...they even read from top to bottom... not left to right. One of the stewardesses in my section didnt want to be on the flight at all. She reminded me of the SNL airplane skit "buh-bye". When I got to Bangkok, I had no problem finding the most expensive taxi in the town. They gave me the special "Whitey" price of 800 bahts ($25.00)... I later found out most taxis and busses are 150-300 Bahts...Awesome! They dropped me off at Khao San Rd (a backpacker haven). It was hopping with street performers, bars, and "tuk tuks" trying to get me to come in for a "special massage". At this point, I didnt even want to watch the spectacle for entertainment, I just wanted to find Keels. When I got to the hostel that my friend Keels and I were supposed to be meeting at it was about midnight. I rang the doorbell and a young Thai girl came to the locked gate. She spoke no english, and let me know that they were full. I tried explaining to her that I had a reservation and was meeting a friend. She didnt have a clue what I was saying, yet she finally let me inside to check the ledger. It had a bunch of jibberish on it... but no Brian or Keels. I left saying to myself..."shit.. what now". Luckly I found a semi-shady place next door and I got a room for 180Baht ($6.00). Not the nicest room I have ever had, but a private room with a shared bathroom (more on the bathroom later). Now I'm off to find Keels...