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Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay, but I’m finally back with another Boris-only travel update.
So after weeks and weeks of planes, trains and things that vaguely resembled automobiles, its was time for a break. Back to Thailand, down south to the beaches. First stop, the island of Ko Lanta. There’s not much here, except huge white sand beaches, clear crystal blue water, and bungalow resorts, each with little restaurant/bar/massage-huts/beer-gardens. (yea, why would anyone come here?) Sitting at the beach-bar, sipping a beer, watching the sunset against backround Thai music…..ah, such a tough life….
Ko Lanta is somewhat off the beaten path….now I’m curious to see where the tourists hords flock to, so off to Ko Samui. Wow, what a startling contrast. So many tourists, starbucks, crowded beaches, and discos blaring all night…. Only someone from New York would find this a tranquil place. And then there are the adult-only themes here…. first time its been scary being a single male traveler
Down to Ko Tao, back to a nice quiet small island. This is a diving island though, and only a diving island. dozens of dive shops on one little island, 20 different dive sites…can’t beat this for cheap diving. Wow, $28 will get you a half day on a boat, 2 dives and anything else you need. So off I go, under the water….look what I found, baracuda, spider crab, little sharks, and stingrays, and luckily avoid the biting trigger-fish.
Now that I’m tanned and rested, and over-gorged on seafood, time to find a new experience. I hear about a volunteer program up north, so off I go, up up, north, to a small city called Nong Khai. Located in North-East Thailand (the poorest region), this city is on the Mekong river, on the border with Laos. It also has a new pioneering school, which brings affordable education and english lessons to children in rural villages (and for some bizzare reason is modeled after the Cal-State University system). I join the other westerners and help teach english (and java and web-design…yea, still geeky!) The college students live next to us and this is an amazing chance to learn about their culture outside the tourist barriers. They also cook for us sometimes, an even more rewarding experience!
Volunteers are definetly held in high regard here….our volunteer coordinator was pulled over by the police for not wearing a motorcycle helmet (yes, curious law for a 3rd world country), but due to her volunteer status, negotiated the ticket down from $12 to $2.5 But this was not the end of it….soon others in town heard the story and were shocked about this “police-harrassment”, and by the next day, the governer of the province was notified, who immediately called the chief of police to complain. Half of the very confused police department showed up that day at the volunteer center, trying to figure out why they were getting into so much trouble.
Well, the good deed is finished for now, and off to Katmandu, Nepal for some more travel stories. If you don’t see any more travel updates, it means I didn’t make it back from 18,000 feet in the mountains! 🙂
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