imagine there's no country

and goodnight



it was short but nice. stayed with some amazing family friends from southern california in ho chi minh for x-mas. a lot more pictures and videos to come. thai internet doesn't mesh well with certain websites so its not always easy to get these things going...

Bangkok blurb 2

of course, everything on this blog is about a month behind. it'll take me a while to get everything up from the cambodia and southern thailand trips, but heres a little something in the meantime...

as with all of the pictures on here, click to enlarge.



some people build out onto the river. its like squatting since because they're over the water they dont have to pay the government anything.


reclining buddha




in the bottom left corner is a large doorway if you want an idea of the statue's size...






grand palace (for the royal family)


one of two couchsurfing "meetings" i've gone to. about 30 or so people at a beer garden, about 20 different nationalities.



temples
they have these government sponsored work out dances in public places all over the city all the time. pretty damn entertaining. despite the rice with every meal tradition, a lot of thai people dig western fast food. dancing the pounds away...


one of three skateparks

commute by boat. it goes down a pretty narrow canal that cuts through the city. they have to lower the roof by a pulley system when it goes speeding under low bridges.



i'll give em credit for trying


view from the roof of my massage school


looking the other way


one very common type of bus. reminds me of a boat. about 24 u.s. cents for a 50 minutes ride.




in my defense i was dead tired and kept the first take

red tape

postponed until tomorrow. Lots of additional costs. getting a visa for vietnam has been a hassle.

The King's Birthday

ok. the quick run down. kings 82 b-day. he's the longenst ruling monarch in the world. 99% of thai people would die for him in a second and revere him basically like a god. every shop and house has a picture of him. he's a super amazing person.

for his birthday there was mass celebration. millions of people in thwe streets, free food, free haircuts on the street (not sure what for), huge stages everywhere with bands and singing and plays, mui thai, other pro sporting events, parades... because pink is the color for the kings health and he's been sick for a while everyone wore these pink shirts instead of the usual kings color- yellow

got together with a bunch of people i met in my massage classes and went out.

democaracy monument

















going home

islandsssss

snorkeling is the raddest. even saw these guys.

graffiti

Pattaya

had to. its like 30 bucks.



me



nick





we took a little trip to check out an island. this was on the way

on the way back a sudden rain and lightning storm came in for about an hour. this video is when we left port but it got pretty wild during the 1 1/2 hr trip. everyone on the boat had life vests on and there was tons of lightning and the boat was listing quite a bit.

got back to town and all was well, just a little wet ground.



rad architecture

pattaya coast





ants carrying a live grub up a tree

personally, i'd say this guy should get a raise


Thai pancake...... the best. this one has chocolate on it, but most of the time its egg mixed with banana, poured into a dough ball. sometimes no egg too.

Nightlife:
tuesday night or something down walking street- a pretty long street that shuts down everynight so people can walk through. a ton of people, bars, go go dancers, muay thai boxing, other things.


the girls scream to get your attention so you'll sit down at there bar...

Phimai

nick and i arrived from the airport and got some food in bangkok then left almost right away to go to Phimai (about 5 hours bus ride east of bangkok). we left with my step siblings and their dad. i have a lot of extended family in phimai that i visited once before 3 years ago. nick and i were warmly welcomed. that week was an annual festival with the main event being boat races.

nick getting his morning meditation on




boat races


assorted insects





these are some pretty unique ruins from the civilization that built angkor wat in cambodia. about 900 years old, centered around buddhist practices.







relatives


one of the largest trees in the world. trunk to branches to the ground to roots back up a few feet away as another trunk.


a small part of the tree


some girls with traditional style for the show that night

getting a ride on a three wheel bicycle taxi

nighttime show for the festival. this picture is of an intro play, the main event took place in the ruins. it was more of a sensory performance- lights, fireworks, music, dancing (at one point involving two large groups doing choreographed dances in between several large wooden poles being slammed together at there feet- timing really counted with that one)










part of the festival was a small carnival with rides and games, some pretty rough bumper cars and this guy... 100% vertical wall

people handing him tips




no hands, sitting sideways



nick eats some grub


playing music for the boat races

the view from the roof of my relatives house


step-niece?

this guy was in the bathroom two days in a row. you can imagine how i felt going in their at night when it was dark and i was feeling for the light...

overall we spend three days there. a lot of fun. the festival, riding on the backs of trucks and motorcycles, staying up super late playing card games with relatives (ending only when we realized there was a fire in another room caused by a fan). we spent the last evening eating at a really cool restaurant built over a small lake. each dining area was its own platform about ten feet up from the water with a thatched roof and walkway to the shore. very traditional. low table with everyone sitting cross legged around it. good times.