Some seriously SLOW PLAY at a golf resort in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. After this it sped up. If you are a golfer, Thailand has many great courses at very affordable rates. You even have your own caddy, indeed.

Click here for some info on the BlueSapphire Golf Club & Resort.

Tips hat,

]]> http://stophavingaboringlife.com/slow-play-golf-in-kanchanaburi-thailand/feed/ 0 http://stophavingaboringlife.com/the-adventure-to-ayutthaya-thailand/ http://stophavingaboringlife.com/the-adventure-to-ayutthaya-thailand/#comments Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:09:38 +0000 Rob http://stophavingaboringlife.com/?p=1989  

Top of the morning,

I sit here in an astonishingly filthy white T and even dirtier khaki cargo shorts at some 10 baht an hour gaming lounge in Ayutthaya, Thailand aka The Ayutthaya Kingdom aka Siam aka Tai.

Had an absurdly late night last night, I woke up and was like “what am I going to do all day, I’m bored…” This is at about 9am,  decided to bounce. I heard Ayutthaya is inbetween Kanchanaburi and Chang Mai so I decided to go check it out since I could catch the train there. If I did not come here, I’d have to go back to Bangkok to catch the train. I was going to golf tomorrow but just didn’t feel like doing nothing for an entire day, my visa is coming to a close, quickly.

I took a motorbike taxi for 30 baht to bus station, bus to Suphanburi which is the bus you must catch to get to Ayutthaya leaves in 15 min, awesome. It costs 47 baht and is ~2 hours.

Ride the bus, it breaks down, get on another and pass out. Wake up at a bus station. As I get there the bus to Ayutthaya is pulling in and leaves in ~5 minutes, also perfect. This bus, I’m not sure how much it costs. The lady showed me a 100 baht bill but I knew that was not the price so I gave her 60 and she left.

I take the bus and these buses are not like any I’ve seen, they have wooden panels, they remind me of the locals buses in Panama, actually. They are also very colorfully decorated and play contemporary Thai music. I will also note that they are not for everyone… They are not so comfortable and you really stand out, if that bothers you, don’t bother, seriously. This bus was ~2 hours as well. If you do wish to get here, you can go on a “tourist minivan” with a/c for 400 baht, snooze.

First let me say that I have been looking at random hotel / hostel sites as everyone does it and the guest house owner I was hanging with told me he is having success with them. WHAT A MISTAKE!!! This whole trip, I’ve been getting somewhere, asking where the guest house district is and just going for it, with great success, might I add. If you do check a guest house, make sure you google map their exact address, something else I can’t be bothered to do.

Found a place called “LIMA PLACE”,  it looks nice and a hotel for ~13US a night, I figure… If I can get a hotel at that price why not, other guest houses in this town are ~5US.

Ask a motorbike taxi guy to take me there, we get lost, finally ~25 min later we get there and it’s in the middle of NOWHERE. I mean I thought he was going to take me to a field, fleece me of my things and then harvest my organs out in the middle of nowhere styles. Far from town aka why would you build here far from town.

Get there, they want ~1.5-2X the quoted price online for “walk ins”. At this point I interject, walk in? You’re in the middle of nowhere, how could anyone walk in? They get really defense and whatnot, I tell motorbike man to wait 5 minutes as he is my only out.

I say listen, if I book online, I can get this place cheaper? She says yes, I say ok where is the internet cafe(she didn’t like this), she says you have to buy a ticket, I go to cafe, they send me back to reception and the ticket prices are absurdly priced.

TIP: If you are somewhere sketchy / not sure about / middle of nowhere: Ask cabi to wait 5 min, he will because if he takes you back he gets paid instead of driving home for free, yes?

At this point I tell motorbike man that I want to go back to town to another place I found online(another mistake), suddenly it’s double price to get back, ha. (I respect that). He probably figured, listen kid, if I don’t take you back, how are you going to get back? Also if he had known where it was, I doubt he would of only charged me 30 baht. Only reason I wanted to stay there was because it looked really nice and had wifi, they charge you an arm and a leg for it, might I add.

Motorbike guy had no clue where this place was either, I’m thinking he just moved here or something, so we go back to taxi stand. At this point the other guys are teasing him because this place is RIGHT around the corner ~3 min ride away from where I began here. I will note, not many tourists whatsoever, kinda reminds me of parts of Java, Indonesia. That said, I’m not in the main “guest house district”, that is for sure.

So I check into this other place, it’s “OK” but definitely removed from the pulse of the city. I feel like I’m in the movie “The Stand” and everyone is dead but myself and this French couple I ran into who pointed the direction of where things are happening.

Was going to go check what’s popping as it’s only ~20 min walk away but the only living creatures around here are packs of dogs and we’re in the country. I just can’t be bothered to try and find this area, right now. I have made the executive decision to hang out here, on ~$0.30 an hour internet while drinking orange fanta until I get bored, then pass out and make up for last night.

So here we are, I’m in Ayutthaya aka Ayutthaya Kingdom. Driving in I saw many ruins, for further details on the place, click here. Basically it used to be a Siamese Kingdom from ~1350s – 1760′s before falling to a Burmese invasion.

Many sources say it used to be called “Siam” but others say locals called it Tai. This used to be an incredibly wealthy city and thriving kingdom. It was also a trading hub as the King had close ties with the King of France and allowed foreigners to setup camp outside the city walls.

You’ll never know, unless you go.

Tips hat,

Greetangs (sic),

I had a brilliant day golfing again. Was going to check out a new course with the gents I play with but the hotel was booked so there would be dreaded backups on the course. The irony is that the place we went also had dreaded backups. Played well and horrible all mixed into one. The Singha’s went down smooth and the greens rolled true.

It was “sports day” so ~600 baht for 18 and a caddy, it was so hot I split a cart for 300 baht. That’s ~$40US for 18 on a great course + caddy + cart, unreal.

In the need to unwind, I went for a massage but it wasn’t enough so I walked ~100M down the road and had another. 2 hours for $10 isn’t bad but it’s too much for me, I got really bored in the second one even though it was technically better than the first.

After my update yesterday these Brits showed up with a boat load of booze and invited me to join, I did, it was a good time however I didn’t stay long. I’m getting bored, dare I say it. The gent who made “stop having a boring life” is getting bored and that means it’s time to move.

I’m going golfing again on Friday if I stay, if not I’m gone tomorrow. I need to work my way to Chang Mai. After that, who knows? I do know that I’d rather drink Rosanne Bar’s bath water than get an injection in Laos or Cambodia. Frankly, I think neither place has much for me.

That said, the Cambodian border is supposedly rife with trickery and issues, as a result I want to check it out in a weird way. That or just fly from Laos to wherever is close to Anker Wat. Being this close and NOT going to Laos and Cambodia would be shame, yes? Truth be told, a part of me couldn’t care less about going.

It sucks that Europe is in the same hemisphere as Canada. Australia and New Zealand have very little appeal to me but Europe, especially eastern Europe really interests me, even more especially after seeing some of the ladies from there at Erawan yesterday. SMOKING, that is all.

I’m also starting to think what I want out of life. I could very well move to a country like this and live the rest of my days golfing and doing nothing based on my current situation. However, I feel if I did that I’d be doing a great disservice to myself and this world.

I need to start moving quicker or settle down somewhere and get a place, I’m liking the former. I have a lot of thoughts on my plate and need to do some digesting, if you will.

On a side note, young boys who are the age of men, donned in burlap with dreads and dreadful tattoos are causing turmoil with mother market. I wish they’d all just get off e-trade and go back to where they belong, asking if you want your window washed at an inner-city stop light near you.

Tips hat,

Greetings,

I was going to write this LOVELY (think Old School & Will Ferrel explaining his Saturday to those kids who want him to funnel beer) trip to Erawan falls. It was delightful and I had a sick time despite never having planned on going. I ran into a travel agent who was going there with a group, I said “I got gas pitch!” half jokingly and she said don’t worry about it, just come, we’re leaving at 9.

I awake a few hours early check no one there, then realize it’s 6:30am, whoops. Fast forward to 9, we hang out and we go. It’s 200 baht and a great time. The first ~500M I was like, wow I’m outta shape, then suddenly I’m sprinting around to the top. They had this one waterfall that has a huge sliding rock and it was littered with attractive Australians. Would have filmed it then but being the gregarious gentleman that I am, I joined them. I didn’t have my swim suit but figured silk boxers would do considering half the people there were Euro’s in speedos.

I digress.

Hang out and meet some nice people and climb to the very top, definitely worthwhile and very glad I went. Pictures below speak for themselves as well as the video above… The people I went with were very nice and the tour guide was really cool, my kinda lady! Another cool thing is that there are tones of big fish swimming around.

Being the kind soul that she is, she drops me off at a local hospital. Once again they treat me like a King and are about to inject me with a vaccine but it’s NOT RABIPUR. Listen you, I don’t know my a$$ from my elbow about medicine but I do know I want to continue with the same vaccine, makes sense, yes?

So they give me the info, I read it, it has the “Anti-Rabies Vaccine” and 2.5 whatever or greater in international units. Figure it should be OK, however they say down the street 10KM they should have it. I say whatever, it’s only 10KM, I’m outta here.

Surprisingly I CAN’T FIND a cab, anywhere. So I look for the local bus that comes this way, nothing. At this point I’m having rabies rage and saying “PHUCKET”, I’m just gonna walk or get a ride for free. So I walk, I walk, I walk, I walk. I run into all sorts of characters along the way such as police, tourist police, some French people and mechanics. The mechanics ask if I want a shot of their local moonshine and I say “Sure”. That was a bad idea because immediately after drinking it, it felt like a death march.

Every KM or so I ask how far it is, one guy says 2KM left, I’m like “sweet”, next guy says 6, I’m like “This sucks”. I ask these ladies at a local store… They say it’s far, if you can wait 2 minutes, I’ll drive you free, really? For free? Awesome. It’s odd how once you commit to something, I mean TOTALLY COMMIT to something, the universe works its magic in your favor. I was NOT taking a cab or anything, I was annoyed and suffering from rabies rage (ok not really).

So I help her unload the stuff from her motorbike with side carriage and while doing these dogs freak on me, great I’m on route to a rabies vaccine and these dogs are tweaking on me. One then licks me. I am getting shots so it’s no big deal but thought I’d mention it. She drives me for ~5KM and as we get to the hospital this dog starts going ape sh~t on the vehicle. Below is the free ride.

Get there, they make me wait forever and then I’m sitting in the seat and she is about to inject me with this strange serum. This is at a private hospital btw. I say “Rabipur?” having just gone on a harrowing journey to get here when the other place was close, convenient, the staff was nice and they treated me like royalty… She pulls the box out of the garbage and it’s NOT Rabipur. She says same thing as other ladies, it doesn’t matter it’s a different brand but a PCEC post exposure immunization… What am I to believe? I take the shot. One thing that confuses is me is neither placed asked how much I weigh (I’m not big) but the Rabipur was 1ML while both of these are 0.5ML, hmmm, suspect!? They all contain 2.5 units or more of “Anti-Rabies Vaccine”.

As I’m leaving, filled with a mild case of neurosis from the fact that both these mention a different strain, but how did the first place in Bangkok know what strain? Maybe having multiple strains is good? What’s good, what’s bad? I dunno… So I pay and it says “medical & drug use” on the receipt, I tell them I want it to say VERORAB Anti Rabies Vaccine as that is what I paid for, they come back 10 minutes later and say it’s 200 baht more. At this point my “What the…” switch flips.

I say, this is illegal, I bought VERORAB and that is what I want on my receipt, I told them if I buy a mars bar or a bar of soap at a grocery store, it says what I bought, this should be no different. The lady starts flipping on me in Thai.  Finally some other lady comes over and I tell her what’s up, she goes back and 10 minutes later comes back and says well Dr. already signed so he did his job, I said that’s crap, I want a receipt that says what I paid for and I’m not leaving until I get it. I get it, no extra charge.

Screw private hospitals, they are money grabs. I am so happy to be from a country where all hospitals are the same and the people working there have NO INCENTIVE to try and up charge you. It’s not he flow people, it’s the principle of charging me extra for an itemized receipt. If I didn’t have it, I could of bought some sedatives or something, or advil or whatever. That said, I’m a foreigner here so they treat you different. A guy I know here says he ONLY goes to private because they treat him like garbage at the local one. Just called my family Doctor, got receptionist, she said he is busy, asked if I ordered it from him “Said no” and she told me I should call a pharmacy… What a nice lady.

So here I am, back at my guest house after a 40 baht motorcycle ride through Kanchanaburi on some guy who drove soooo slow I felt unsafe. It’s odd how when you are in “crazy land” on the road, the guy driving slowest is often the most dangerous, it’s treu (sic).

I have 3 “anti rabies vaccines”… 2 Rapibur and one VEROLAB. The one they offered me at the first place was called Abhayrab and at least it had “Rabies Vaccine B.P” on the cover, whatever B.P means. That is what Rabipur has. This one jsut says “Inactivated Rabies Vaccine Prepared on VERO Cells”. The Rabipur was on chicken embryos. Again, I have no clue what any of this means. All I know is 2 hospitals says no worries so I’m not gonna worry, ok just a bit. I suspect it’s all good but for peace of mind, I’d like to take the same vaccine until completion.

Just did a google search and nothing relevant comes up. Maybe I’ll call my Doctor today and ask him, then again he probably won’t know, Rabies is like Polio or the Plague back home, nobody gets it, ever. On the topic, this guy at the hospital told me a story of what happened to his friend… His daughter and him got a bite form their puppy… He got his daughter vaccinated and didn’t himself. She’s OK and he’s dead. Supposedly he just got mad sick and then just tightened up and became crazy before shortly after “kicking the can”. Cool, he said “Get a cane to keep em away and make sure they load you up, I’d rather overdose on the vaccine than die of Rabies”. He was quite the character.

Alright, I’m gonna chill out and have a cold one, maybe eat some soup from the street and then eat so many skewers that it skews my judgment so that I decide to go to bed at a reasonable hour tonight. I have something planned for tomorrow that is “same same but different” from my last few days, use your imagination.

Oh yeah, check out Erawan Falls if you’re in the area, it gets the SHABL Stamp of “Worthy”, even if you don’t like nature so much, you’ll love those Eastern European ladies bathing suits.

Tips hat with a perplexed look on face,

Greetings,

Well, well well, what can I say other than Bluesapphire Golf Club and Resort ~30KM outside of Kanchanaburi, Thailand is a real treat. When I say a real treat, I mean it’s sick in a “I want to go back” type way. Currently there are 3 different 9′s, it appears as though more are being built.

The gents from the pub I’ve been spending time at were headed there today. Having spoke with them a few times and expressing my desire to play some Thai golf, they invited me to join. I’m glad they did.

Bluessapphire is a great golf course and green fees are ~800baht weekdays for 18 holes in high season + 200 baht for a caddy. Then if you’re a distinguished gentleman, which I HOPE YOU ARE, you tip your caddy ~200 – 400 baht for her troubles.  Give 200 if she is lousy, 400 if she’s great and 300 if she did her job.  I do believe it costs ~400 baht for a 9 hole.

My caddy was cool, calm and collective, like all good caddies should be. Got some pars and a fist full of bogey’s, rest are unmentionables which isn’t bad for a guy who hasn’t held a club since September and knows he’ll always have to “pay to play”. I got some clubs from one of the guys we were playing with, good guys, good round of golf. My caddy did get me into some trouble though, I hit driver everywhere like a deranged derelict. She knew the greens well though and I sunk some putts based on her advice I’d never have otherwise.

Golfing is good fun, even more fun with a good group of character. The course has a wide range of hole types including all sorts of doglegs and great elevation. Luckily for me I played best on the holes that counted and like crap on the others.

Front 9, I was great off the tee and couldn’t close. On the back 9, I began drinking aggressively and became crap off the tee but one h3ll of a closer, odd how that works, yes? I must say, golf is a good laugh but even more so with a cold one in your hand, especially when your caddy holds it for you while you take your swing.

They have mini rest stops every few holes and sell beer & snacks at very reasonable prices. What’s totally ludicrous is that you can buy a seasons pass for 5000 baht, that’s ~$165US… Yes that is right.

What’s also absolutely absurd is that you can rent an apartment or small bungalow in or just outside of Kanchanaburi for ~2-5,000 baht a month… Do the math people, it’s straight up insanity for someone who just wants to forget the deep freeze and work on their swing.

That said, most of the courses are ~20-80km from town so you’d need a ride of some sort. Below is the sign on hole number 12, just another tough hole. We played from the blues.

Tips hat,

Greetings,

Had an incredibly lazy Sunday in a smoldering and sobering heat. Eat a traditional English breakfast at a local pub and then a Sunday Dinner later, both at 1 More Bar. The dinner was the best dinner I’ve had since I’ve been gone, the portion was massive and it cost a mere ~190 baht. It had 4 large pieces of pork and all the trimmings including mash and roasted potatoes. Considering it had stuffing and a bowl full of gravy, it was kind of like the Xmas Dinner I never got to have. Xmas in the end of January, what a concept.

I’m not in a “bloggy” type mood and I don’t feel like getting into last nights hi-jinx so I won’t. The photo and video of the guy playing the violin is that of a Vietnam vet who plays ~daily on the River Kwai, he is quite the character and missing a large portion of his jaw from a hand grenade. If you see him, say hello and help him fill his case.

Life in Kanchanaburi is easy and most things are cheaper than Bangkok, which is to be expected. It’s also cheaper than the islands to the south. The longer I stay away from the beach areas, the more I realize I’m “not a beach person”. Even in Bali or the Thai islands, I didn’t swim everyday, never tanned and often wouldn’t even go to the beach, it’s just a nice backdrop.

That dinner was delicious, I have a plan for tomorrow and we’ll see if it unfolds. I’d waste both our time telling you about it but talk is cheap. Also whenever I “say” I’m going to do something, usually something else occurs so why bother?

I’d go on but there is one connection here and this girl with her guide book is stressing about needing information for tomorrow like she was going into the Amazon, solo. I find it funny when you say to someone “No problem, I’ll let you use it, I’ll be done in 2-5 minutes” and they act like it’s not good enough then pace around for something that doesn’t need to be done.  Stress kills people.

Tips hat,

P.S: These dogs live at the guest house I’m staying at, they are characters. I think my parents dog “Charlie” back home has a crush on the one in the middle, her name is “Snail”. Watching 2 dogs skype is hilarious.

Greetings,

Spent the day visiting the famous bridge over the River Kwai but spent the majority of my time in the World War II & JEATH War Museum. What started as a leisurely jaunt to visit the bridge lead to a very interesting experience.

JEATH is the acronym for the nations who had the largest involvement in the building of the railway which is also called the “Death Railway”. It was constructed under the control of the Japanese by many nations, mainly: English, Australian, Thai and Holland. It also had POW’s from countless other countries including but not limited to: Cambodia, Burma, United States etc…

I spent hours there and one section had life like statues of the major players with detailed write-ups. I read them all, they include: Churchill, Stalin, Einstein, Truman, Hitler, Mussolini etc… The original bridge which took 1 year to complete with POW slave labor. It was later bombed and they have the last remains of it, in the museum. In fact I believe the museum was built around it.

The JEATH War Museum costs 40baht and is about a ~1km walk from many of the most popular guest houses in Kanchanaburi. It was a very enriching experience, if you come to Kanchanaburi, don’t just walk the new bridge, spend some time in the museum.

There was also a section dedicated to other wars fought in Thailand over the ages, I did not take any photos inside as I thought it would be poor taste. They have signs on the door asking full courtesy to the souls of the dead. I do have some photos from the outside though.

Tonight, I will eat an obscene amount of street food and check out a bar called “1 More”, supposedly the owner is a golf fanatic, seems like my kinda place to hang out for an hour or so on a smoldering Saturday night.

This blogs motto holds true “You’ll never know, unless you go”.

Tips hat,

GOOD DAY!

I am feeling rejuvenated, almost like I just started my trip despite being on the road ~120+ days. I took the local bus from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi and am now settled in an awesome guest house where I have my own bungalow with a/c, private bathroom for a mere 400 baht a night. They also have a free “plug your computer in” connection. This is great.

Woke up, took a cab to get  my shot, done. I then took a tuk tuk from the hospital the Southern Bus station for 150 baht, that’s the going rate. I sat down and eat some lunch in this small diner, they were thrilled to see me, so much so that the owner asked if I was married, I said no, then he asked me if I liked his daughter. I said she was beautiful but I was leaving for Kanchanaburi in an hour. It was a fun but you had to be there to appreciate it.

I was looking for a cab and asked a man sitting having a coffee how much they cost, he told me a bike or tuk tuk will be cheaper this time of day as the meter will run high with the traffic. I got a ride from the only woman tuk tuk driver I have ever seen, it was quite nice, I love tuk tuks.

Get to the southern bus station, you go upstairs to get a ticket. I asked a guy, turns out he was going there. Get to counter, meet another guy on the same bus, sweet. The ticket cost a 77 baht for the 2-3 hour trip. Half way there the bus is suddenly loaded with a private school and packed to the brim.  I move my bags to give the teacher a spot to sit, as soon as she leaves I am bombarded by questions from the school children. Next thing you know everyone wants a photo, I oblige. It was a rather interesting experience.

Other people pay ~1400baht for a “BS TOUR” booked from Khao San Road which has a mini bus filled with tourists, 1 night and then go pet some tiger or something. Most expensive part of this trip was the tuk tuk, had I been with someone else… Even still it was only $5.

Get to Kanchanaburi, immediately greeted by cabi asking 80 baht to get to a guest house. I’m wiser now, instead I bide my time, go to 7/11, get a drink, sit down at a local stall, check this, those skewers I eat like they are going out of style? 6 baht each, I order 12. Then I eat this most amazing sea food omelet made from the back of a truck for 25 baht.

While hanging out I talk with a local guy and begin inquiring about prices.

TIP: Before you go anywhere, ask someone totally unrelated from the trade the “going rates”, they have NO REASON to lie to you. He tells me it should cost ~25 baht for a motor bike, slightly more for a taxi.

With this new knowledge I hit the streets, a taxi cab asks me where I want to go, I tell him, he says 80, I say 25 he says 40 I say “I’ll take a bike”, as I’m walking away he yells 30, I say sure.

Here I am in a very cool guest house hanging out with the owner, he owns a guest houses and a multitude of other properties around the place. He is a real entrepreneur, I like being around people like this. Had I been traveling with a group, I’d be at some dive bar right now talking to people about stuff I couldn’t care less about.

We start talking web, he tells me his google rankings. I just investigated some of his competition’s link portfolios on google and found some of their strongest links, obviously I just made sure they now link to him. I like this place and glad I could “help a brotha out”.

Listen, when traveling do not be all paranoid because you are in a foreign country, if you were going to go from say Ottawa to Montreal or Boston to New York, you’d go to the bus station and buy a ticket, yes? Do the same in other countries. Avoid the middle man, they bank serious coin based on your fear of the unknown. You will also have a way more memorable trip and authentic experience.

The only times I think a tour is worthwhile is if you do not have the luxury of time or  you have no personality, in which case you will be stuck with people for a period and bound to befriend someone, I hope…

Turns out there are ~10 courses around this place, this place is starting to sound like heaven for this gentleman.

Empties glass, flicks cigarette ash and tips hat,

GOOD DAY!

First let me say I wish I filmed this video NOW instead of when I woke up from a most special mid day slumber, it’s like I’m starting “phase 2″ of my Asian excursion, tomorrow, starting with Kanchanaburi, Thailand. No more suffering from travel arthritis, the show must go on.

This morning at ~9:30am local time a friend who I met in Bangkok called me. He was one of the first people I met and is now back home, in the cold. He called to say what’s up and send me other messages.

He told me how being home sucks and how living in Canada in the freezing cold is just a painful existence. As a result, was calling to give me ideas on what to do, what to see, and just say what’s happening. It was good hearing from him, shot the shiz for ~45 min.

He was the first guy I met who helped guide the future of this trip by calling me from Koh Tao saying “there is more to Thailand than Bangkok, go buy a ticket here and call me when you get to Koh Tao”, that call ended up taking me on a 3 month tour through Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

The main message was “GET OUT OF BANGKOK” and most importantly, DON’T JUST take a night train or something lame like that to Chang Mai, “see the rest of Thailand” he said. He told me to go to Kanchanaburi which is only ~2 hours north of Bangkok. It has the bridge over the River Kwai, some epic waterfalls and other attractions. Supposedly it has a Tiger temple but screw that, I’m not paying to pet a drugged Tiger that the owners pull the tail of so I can get a photo with it’s mouth open, not my style.

A grin the size of the grand canyon appeared on my face when I saw it has  ~5 golf courses around it that are all priced at more than affordable rates. I will definitely play some golf. It will be amazing to have my very own caddy for a mere ~$6US extra. Your caddy is like a loyal side kick  who also finds your ball and tells you to put the driver away when you start acting the fool.

Getting a shot and leaving tomorrow. Eat a dinner loaded with ginger, nothing fights a sore throat like ginger, NOTHING, ok maybe oregano oil but it’s close. Meet these nice ladies who want to go out for cocktails, I show them my favorite spots then respectfully tell them I’m going to take it easy. It’s rare I do that, I was proud of myself and then…

As I’m walking to my guest house, I run into some good friends I met in Koh Tao and traveled with to Koh Phi Phi. They are flying out in ~2 hours and just hanging out. WHAT ARE THE ODDS? Seriously? It was awesome to see them again and it was like “old times” even though it was only ~2.5 months ago.

Anyways, today has been great and I’m looking forward to getting this trip back underway. Remember, travel arthritis is finding it hard to get moving again when staying in the same place for a while. It can happen at ANYTIME on any length trip, don’t fall victim to it or you may end up getting  bitten by a dog or something.

Tips hat,