Thailand: the beast in the east.

Well, the last ten days have been pretty hectic.

The island of Langkawi was beautiful. We rented a scooter one day there and explored different beaches and trails. We went to ride the worlds steepest cable car, but it had been closed that morning due to technical issues. The vibe was pretty laid back and was generally pretty affordable. After 4 nights there we took off for Thailand! Our 4th country of the trip and hour home for the next 2 months.

We booked our travel ticket through our guesthouse, we paid him for the entire trip and he arranged for a cab to pick us up at 8am. After the taxi and the boat to main land, we rode in a flat bed across town, waited 90 minutes for a bus ride, then in a tuk-tuk to a travel agent, waited an hour for a van, drove to a car ferry, got stuck in a traffic jam, took another car ferry before we arrived in Koh Lanta 13 hours later! 

And.... Koh Lanta was not what we had anticipated. We read many things about the amazing beaches, which they most definitely are. But there was no sign of life away from the beach front resorts. Most food was westernized with western price tags. Our expenses gave us some anxiety and we quickly decided to cut our island hopping short. We stayed 3 nights, then took a boat to Koh Phi Phi for 2 nights.

Koh Phi Phi's geography is astoundingly dramatic. However, the town is built for parties and clubbing. Not exactly what I am looking to experience on the other side of the world. But we knew that's what we would find there and had already decided to "do as the Romans do". We teamed up with a couple Aussie's and lived it up both nights.

Now I am at Tonsai beach on mainland Thailand. It's very relaxed here. There is only one dirt road running through town. It's considered one of the best winter climbing locations in the world. It feels a bit more like the Yosemite Valley than the beach front clubs of the previous stops. We will be posted up for some time as we await the arrival of Jesse and Jessi Timm, and Micah and Jamie Lichte.