WOW

I parted ways with Nate in Chiang Rai, he took off towards Lao, and I headed south to Bangkok. In a few hours I will catch a flight to San Francisco. Life is good. I've been in southeast Asia for over eight months now, and all of a sudden this chapter of my life is coming to an end. It's been wonderful, some of the best eight months of my life.

I feel like I could write a bunch of stuff right now, you know, to kind of sum up all that has happened in the last eight months. But that's not really my style, I guess. I like to keep these blog posts nice and short, and maybe have a nice picture, or a short video, or something. Anyways, I chose this picture for this blog post because it kind of sums up my traveling. But actually, I didn't really travel here to Thailand, I moved here. I lived and worked here. My dad shared a quote with me not too long ago, by the travel writer Paul Theroux, that said, "I sought trains; I found passengers." And I guess that's what this has really been about for me. I've posted a lot of pictures on this blog of a lot of beautiful scenery, but really, the best part about traveling, or living somewhere, is who is behind the camera with you. Because whoever that is, they are the ones that really help make the experience. This is a picture of me and Oot playing the guitar together. I've probably spent more time with him and his daughter since I've been in Thailand than with anyone else. I will miss them terribly.

I'm going back to San Francisco now. This blog isn't done, really. Perhaps I can find some way to keep it interesting. I hope people have enjoyed it, my stories, the pictures, the videos, and my excessive use of reggae music in my videos.... anyways, I've had some beers tonight, and I'm about to catch a little van to the airport so I can fly home...

CHIANG RAI

It was a two day trip to Chiang Rai from Chiang Dao, with a night spent in Tha Ton, a lazy river town on the border of Myanmar. We made our way up and over some mountains, and through some small villages and towns, until we reached Chiang Rai. Chiang Rai is a pretty big city, with an awesome night bazaar, and an even more awesome outdoor food court slash beer garden. We had a great time hanging out and eating...

THAI WHISKY

There's not really much explaining to do about this one...

CHIANG DAO

Two days out of Pai and Nate and I found ourselves in Chiang Dao. It was a real nice little town, we stayed for two nights. Chiang Dao sits at the bottom of Thailand's third largest mountain, which seems to just come out of nowhere, I mean the area is pretty hilly, but the mountain just seems to pop out of the horizon. It's quite stunning. We explored a cave, ate some great food, drank some of the local liquor, and just relaxed for a day in small-town Thailand...

ON THE ROAD WITH NATE

I left the islands a couple of weeks ago and headed north to meet my friend Nate. Nate's on a massive bike tour of southeast Asia, and flew into Bangkok mid November to start his ride. By the time we joined up he was in Pai, and after a few days of hanging out, I rented a motorbike and joined him on his trip...

NICK

Nick flew out to Thailand in early October to join me in my travels, and I couldn't have asked for a better travel buddy. We didn't have much of a plan going into our journey, but it didn't take us long to realize that whatever we did, we would have fun doing it. Two months together, wow. And every minute of it was awesome. We parted ways a little over a week ago, I journeyed north to meet up with with my friend Nate, while Nick's girlfriend Izzy flew out to join him for a week in the islands. It was the end of an epic journey, but only a small chapter in the story of our friendship. I am very lucky and thankful to have a friend like Nick.

LANTERNS

A night on Ko Lanta with some of my bestest friends...

THANKSGIVING

Nick and I left Laos a little over a week ago, and after a brief stop in Bangkok we took off for the islands! We were joined by Nick's sister Zany, and our friends Timothy, Miki, Debbie, and Davis. The seven of us have been having a wonderful time together. I may not have been able to make it home for Thanksgiving this year, but I was lucky enough to be able to spend it with some of my closest friends. And for that I am extremely thankful...

KUOANG SI WATERFALL

There are some amazing waterfalls in the mountains surrounding Luang Prabang. They are great places to hang out, with turquoise blue swimming holes and trails that follow the rivers up and down the mountains. I spent a number of days relaxing by the waterfalls, reading my book, splashing around in the water with my friends, and just enjoying life...

LAO-LICIOUS!

We found a great guesthouse in Luang Prabang thanks to a recommendation from our old traveling buddy Jesse, and it ended up being a big reason why our two days in Luang Prabang turned into ten. It's run by a wonderful family, a husband and wife and their three daughters, and is located in an out-of-the-way alley a stones throw from the Mekong. We met Mathieu there on our second night, and the next day we met Julie, Delphine, and Allan. Great friends. They are the other reason why our stay was prolonged.

Two of the daughters who run the guesthouse offer a cooking class called Lao-Licious! Nick and Mathieu and I decided to sign up for it and holy shit was it awesome! The class started with a trip to the morning market where we purchased our ingredients and got a little lesson on what's what. After that we went back to the guesthouse where we spent the rest of the morning preparing the feast! We cooked four dishes, not including the sticky rice, which is a staple in Laos for every meal. The picture on the bottom left is Moak, a mixture of beef, pork, egg, and other tasty stuff, all mixed together, wrapped up, and steamed in banana leaves. It was quite tasty! The picture above that is Laos Salad, a fresh mix of greens with an egg yolk based salad dressing. Pictured on the top left are the fried spring rolls that we dipped into a homemade peanut sauce, mmm! And to the right of that is Laap, the national dish of Laos. That was my favorite! A spicy beef salad flavored with ginger, garlic, and lemon grass, it was amazing! The feast was extremely delicious, and the whole experience was wonderful. I will never forget that meal as long as I live...

SUNSET ON THE MEKONG

One of the reasons Nick and I have been stuck in Luang Prabang for longer than we had originally planned is because we've made some wonderful new friends here. They are all French, and we all get along quite well - Mathieu, Alan, Delphine, and Julie. We've been doing a lot of fun things together, biking to waterfalls, exploring the night market, sharing beers. Last night we went to see a Lao dance performance at the theater, it was great. Every night we try and find a good place to watch the sunset, there are tons of great spots along the river. I really like it here...

FRENCH COLONIAL TOWN

The French colonial architecture in the old part of town adds an interesting twist to Luang Prabang. Many of the old mansions that line the river have been restored and converted into guesthouses and hotels, it's quite charming...

LUANG PRABANG

Nick and I put in a long day after we left Phou Khoun, riding nearly 130 kilometers all the way to Luang Prabang. Holy shit was it tiring. We conquered some pretty big mountains though - had some grueling climbs and some crazy descents, and didn't roll into town till after the sun had already gone down.

Luang Prabang is an amazing old French colonial river town. The Khan River runs parallel to the Mekong for a little ways before it hooks around and joins in, and the old part of town sits on the thin strip of land in between the two rivers. It's a wonderful town. Nick and I came here thinking we'd leave after a couple of days, that was about a week ago...

KASI TO PHOU KHOUN

The first leg of our bike trip took us from Vang Vieng to Kasi. It was a great first day, and was rather flat compared to the next few legs of our adventure. The following day we took off for Phou Khoun, a little village up in the mountains. And let me tell you, those climbs were not easy on a bike with one speed...

OUR NEW BIKES

Nick and I had originally planned on exploring Laos on motorbikes, but unfortunately it ended up being a little too expensive. But that didn't stop us! We left Vang Vieng after a few days and headed north towards Luang Prabang, still riding on two wheels, but this time with no motors...

BIKING VANG VIENG

Nick and Jesse and I rented some mountain bikes for a day and went out to explore the countryside around Vang Vieng. It was awesome...

AN OLD FRIEND

As soon as we got off the bus in Vang Vieng we bumped into our old friend Jesse who we met in northern Thailand. It was great to see him, we hung out together for a few days before he took off for China...

VANG VIENG

Nick and I stayed in Vang Vieng for a good four or five days in a little bungalow on the bank of the Song River. Vang Vieng is a hugely popular destination on the backpackers road through southeast Asia - it's biggest draw being the debauchery that goes on along the Song River during the day. Just north of town is a stretch of the river lined with bars, some sit up on the river bank while others are built out on decks over the water. Rope swings, zip lines, and water slides are a part of every stop, along with mud pits, mud volleyball, and a lot of loud music. People rent tubes and float from bar to bar, partying, dancing, and swimming along until they wind up back in town at the end of the day all drunk and muddy. It's the ultimate backpackers water park. It's pretty crazy... and actually really obnoxious compared to the charming and quiet countryside that surrounds it. Nick and I checked it out, you kind of have to if you visit Vang Vieng, but one day was enough for us. The rest of the time we spent exploring the surrounding countryside, it was beautiful. The picture in the upper left is looking across the river towards our bungalow, you can barely see it hiding in the cluster of trees along the river. The picture on the right was taken in a village outside of Vang Vieng, sometimes the surrounding mountains didn't even look real...

DINNER ON THE MEKONG

Nick and I had a tasty dinner at a little place along the river in Vientiane, here's a little video I made about it.

VIENTIANE

Last week Nick and I took an overnight bus from Bangkok up north to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. We crossed the border just after sunrise and had the whole day to explore the city. Vientiane is pretty small, and it's very walkable. Nick and I hiked the city all day and finished things off with a stroll along the Mekong River as the sun was going down. The next day we took a bus farther up north up to Vang Vieng...

THE JUNGLE TEMPLE

This temple was conquered by trees. There's no other ruin around Angkor Wat quite like this, it's awesome.

We left Cambodia after a few days, it was a fun journey. Pete left us and took off to head back to the States. Nick and I are now on our way to Laos...

THE TERRACE OF THE ELEPHANTS

This is just one of the many beautiful places that surrounds Angkor Wat. We hung out here for a while and enjoyed the afternoon. Cambodia is beautiful...

ANGKOR THOM

Our next stop was Angkor Thom. This place was rad, it had a bunch of huge faces built into the sides of the ruins. I think Angelina Jolie fought off a bunch of bad guys here in the movie Tomb Raider, or something... Well, I don't really care about that, but still, this place was awesome.

ANGKOR WAT

Pete and Nick and I left the islands last week, and after a brief layover in Bangkok we took off for Cambodia. Crossing the border was like stepping back in time, it made me realize how modern Thailand is compared to its southeast Asian neighbors. We stayed in Siem Reap, a town that has grown rapidly in the last fifteen years due its proximity to Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat has been on the map for a long time, but because of Cambodia's brutal Khmer Rouge Regime, the ruins were basically closed down to the rest of the world until the mid 1990s. Siem Reap is growing rapidly along with its influx in tourism, but the juxtaposition between the old Cambodia and the new wave of foreign visitors is still very apparent.

Angkor Wat was immaculate, and it looked as though there had been a lot of time and energy put into its preservation. I really liked all of the sandstone carvings, there were tons of them, huge murals that spanned entire corridors, all with extreme attention to detail. It was amazing. There's not really that much I can say about a place like this, it's a lot to take in, and you really just have to experience it for yourself...

LAEM THIAN

Nick and Pete and I stayed on the east side of Ko Tao for a few days, at a place that was pretty far removed from the rest of the island. They ran a generator at night so that we could use lights after dark, but during the day there was no power. The snorkeling was amazing, and we basically had no choice but to do a lot of relaxing...