It's been about two months since I last posted...did you miss me?? Despite my best intentions to keep up my blog while traveling, I found that I was too busy or just didn't want to pay at internet cafe's. I had assumed at most hostel's that there would be free internet, but when you're on a backpacking budget for a couple months, free internet becomes a thing of luxery.
After Chiang Mai, I went down south to Phuket which took me about 48 hours. The overnight train to Bangkok was amazing and incredibly comfortable - completely exceeded my expectations. I then bought a plane ticket to Phuket from Bangkok as it was not much more expensive than the 12 hour overnight bus ride. Regardless, I had to wait around in the airport all day. I have to say it was nice to be in air conditioning for all that time though. I spent about 3 and a half weeks total island hopping in the South. It's very easy to get around - ferries can take you absolutely anywhere. I was in Phuket twice (at the very beginning and the very end of my trip) and I can't say I love it there, it's just too skeezy in some parts. I spent time in Ko Phi Phi, Ko Phangan (home of the full moon party), Ko Tao, and Krabi province. I was in Krabi twice and I loved it. It's definitely a place I would go back to. It's home to one of the top 10 places to go rock climbing and one of the most beautiful beaches I saw while traveling. Tonsai beach, the rock climbing mecca, is a strange mix of laid back hippies rock climbers and partying backpackers who managed to find their way to this little known beach. I fell somewhere in the middle being a backpacker and also being interesting in rock climbing. I ultimately decided to take a three day course and spent about a week on the beach. It was relaxing to have some sort of schedule after a month of traveling. Each morning I would wake up and go down to the 'chicken lady' for a hearty breakfast of muesli, fruit, and yogurt and then make the half hour hike to the other beach for a day of rock climbing. It's an amazing feeling to be so high up and eventually I was leading my own climbs, which was such a rush. I met a great group of people on Tonsai which was the icing on the cake. I was reluctant to leave but had made plans with others to meet up in Phuket. If I hadn't, who know's how long I would have stayed down there!
Ko Phangan was another great place to visit and a place I would recommend it to anyone. While it's got a reputation of being a major party island as it hosts the full moon party every month, it is also a gorgeous place to explore. Up in the North, there are many secluded beaches and areas to check out. I truly lucked out while traveling and managed to find great groups of people wherever I was that I ended up traveling with for a week or two. Usually it was a mix of solo travelers and those traveling with just one other person. 5 of us rented a jeep on Ko Phangan and explored for the day. We hit up the local markets, secluded beaches, sandbars; it was a wonderful day and one of my best memories. While I loved meeting everyone and completely enjoyed sharing stories with other travelers, some of my favorite moments were exploring the islands. They were all beautiful in one way or another. Ko Phangan had beautiful white sandy beaches, Tonsai had these huge rock cliffs, and Ko Phi Phi is home to some of the craziest limestone rock formations you can imagine. Ko Tao is also great as a place to chill out a little after the partying on the other islands. It's also home to an incredibly amount of diving schools. I toyed with the idea for about a minute, thinking I would stay awhile and get my scuba diving license but ultimately figured I wouldn't be using it anytime soon. I guess it just means that I've got to go back!
After playing on the islands for those weeks, I made it up to bangkok and had an unexpected mini reunion with some of the other volunteers! I had just left Haley down south to meet up with Matt, Caitlyn, and Steph as we were traveling Vietnam and Cambodia together. Turns out that Val, Tricia, and Kate were stopping by bangkok for the day. I rolled into BKK at about 330 am (after having 3000 baht stolen from me on the bus, about 100 USD) and promptly crashed as soon as I got to our hotel.
I don't want to overwhelm with pictures or stories, so more on Vietnam and Cambodia in the next few days! I meant to put up pictures (I easily took a couple thousand....), but my internet connection isn't strong enough. I'll try again tomorrow.
As far as being back in NKP after traveling, I'm finding I am enjoying myself. For the first few days after getting back, things were very quiet here as all the students were still on vacation and I missed the hustle and bustle of traveling and meeting people. After two months on the road, it was strange to be back in one place for a prolonged period of time. I can't imagine how it would feel to those who are backpacking for 6 months or more. I returned to my little house with an incredible number of ants, spiders, and various other bugs waiting for me. As the hot season literally heats up, bugs seem to be taking refuge in my house! It's become a necessary to always have a can of bug spray near me. I've alos become used to tiny bugs hanging out with me while I'm on my computer or eating dinner. It's just a way of life now but I can deal with them as long as I'm not getting bitten.
It's quite hot up here and there isn't much relief. While we've got a pretty substantial 'city' with dozens of convenient stores and electronic stores, etc, air conditioning isn't something that is normally installed. I'm slowly adapting, though not without some miserably sweaty days. It's best to stay inside, and when my room (which acts like an oven) is too much, I head to the one coffee shop, that is air conditioned.
Today was the first day of classes and it was great to be back. I was a little bit apprehensive as last semester was incredibly frustrating, but I've got a different group of students this semester. I also teach my students from before, but they have switched up the classes a bit, which brings some relief. I've also been assured that class shouldn't be canceled nearly as much as it was before. I had a great day, a fun day even, talking with the students and having broken english conversation with teachers. Returning to NKP after two months away made me realize how much of a life I have up here. Just biking to the market today I ran into a few teachers I know from other schools as well as Haley's host family. Turns out they had bought me dinner tonight! We sat and ate dinner at the table outside their house and just had a blast. One of the police officers in the night market loves to call me by my Thai nickname (gulaap - rose) and then start talking to me, though Ive got no idea what he says. The school supply store is great and it's run by a very sweet family who always gives me a discount. Simply put, I love it here, and love the friends I've made in just this short time. Already we're halfway finished with the year and I can't imagine leaving. (Don't worry family, I am actually coming home in October!).
On another note, the political situation is heating up here as many of you have heard. Bangkok is a 'urban guerrilla warfare zone' but only in certain places and I've heard from some that the rest of the city is moving around as usual. I'm living in an area of Thailand that is almost 100% red shirts, as most of the population would be classified as the rural poor. The provinces around NKP have been put under a state of emergency, but we aren't there yet. Even if we were, it just means increased security personnel in the streets. I feel safe, but I do worry about what will happen elsewhere in Bangkok if the situation continues to deteriorate. I've been keeping up with the news, but that doesn't exactly paint the most accurate picture. It's not really talked about up here, at least not with us foriengers, though we do have our very own little red shirt rally in front of the goverment buildings. There's maybe 100 people that just set up camp and sit watching the news and wearing red. You can see support elsewhere such as red flags on tuk tuks and outside homes. Some of my students did mention wanting to go down to Bangkok and be a red shirt, which I didn't quite know how to respond to.
That's about it for now, pictures and other stories soon!
ra tri sa wat, goodnight!
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