Vegan Victuals: The Blog |
More Quality Time With Elephants / Evening Wats a la Artsy Fartsy
Elephant Krall Pavillion in Ayutthaya Evening Wat tour
Making Blog (Out of Nothing At All)
After a day of bus travel, I arrived in Chanthaburi, the City of the Moon. Contrary to the name’s translation, the city’s main draw is gem stones. As the hub of the global gem stone trade, visitors can ooh and aah at piles of gems being inspected and purchased at the countless stores lining the [...]
The Intrepid Are Rewarded
The morning brought indifference and a lack of motivation. Embarking upon a day of travel requires more than knowledge of bus stops and schedules but an accessible brain ready for the challenge. Energy both physical and mental. A good breakfast helped and I marched out of my room determined and optimistic for fruitful journey. It [...]
Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, Bridge On The River Kwai, Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California baseball…
Wanting to make the most of a day here in Kanchanaburi (or getting lazy?), I booked a leisure day tour to hit a variety of sights in the area. My air-conditioned mini-van brought me to Sai Yok National Park, a 500 square-km park that includes the Sai Yok Noi waterfall (60 kms outside of Kanchanaburi) [...]
Warheads, Tigers and Wild Brogs. Oh. My.
Last night I awoke to the pounding of the tin roofs around my guesthouse. Startled and helpless,I thought the worst. Transient looters? Back-alley bandits preying on the seclusion of my rented room? Drunken tourists? Emerging in the morning, the noisy culprit was clear. Mangoes. They were all over the place at Sam’s River Rafthouse. Arriving [...]
Hua Hin Sights
Parade for the novice monks. My view of the Hilton. Sofitel’s very worthy topiary garden: Little Thai guy who played peek-a-boo with me the whole bus ride North.
“Hua Hin” Pointless Blog
Ugh. I am officially ill. After a 3-hour minivan ride with slovenly coughing farang, immunity is compromised. I feel weak and tired (and not hungry!) I guess it is better I am here in the lazy beach town of Hua Hin with nothing to do besides access the internet. The town boasts few attractions yet [...]
Ko Phangan: Same Sh*t, Different Island
After last evening’s a 1-hour boat ride from Ko Samui, where I was determined not to spend the night, I found myself amidst more of the same tourist hustle and bustle on the home to the infamous Full Moon Party, Ko Phangan. After trekking the entire island for cheap accommodations, even more so an impossibility [...]
Oh Samui
With mixed emotions, I headed towards the Donsak pier in Surat Thani to catch a boat to Ko Samui. Surat Thani is the gateway to this heavily developed and very expensive island and my home last night, the slick dealings and price of my room clearly foreshadowing the hell that would await me in Samui. [...]
Shaken & Stirred
I toured the beautiful Phang Nga Bay by longtail boat with the aforementioned American couple and a previously unmentioned German couple. (I’m the fifth wheel!) The Americans had recently moved from Seattle to India where wife just got a 2-year teaching contract at a primary school and is now on spring break with her retired [...]
Just Another R-Rated Buddhist Hell Post
After a good deal of time in Phuket Town, it was time to change home base. Being as far South as I’d get in Thailand, I headed North to Phang Nga Town. Phang Nga hosts a nice variety of attractions, the most famous being Khao Ping Kan, often referred to as “James Bond Island”. Again, [...]
It’s a Helluva Day At Sea, Sir
My trip to the Similan Islands, a cluster of 9 remote islands within the Andaman Sea, is a marked departure from my budget-savvy habits. Their inaccessibility and price steering most backpackers to other more developed islands (and those with reputations for the “party hardy”), I couldn’t resist the opportunity to experience their isolated beauty while [...]
