Mar 2007

• NOTE * I've added pictures...Scroll down to see them

My 2 days in Chang Mai were great. After my week of dryness, I met up with a dutch guy I'd met in Vang Vieng and a Swedish guy I'd come to Chang Mai with and we went partying late.

The next day I met up with my mate Dan and realized that I'd forgotten how mad/fun he is. We ended up getting chased by a ladyboy with a razor (because Dan threw a bottle of water at him/her and kept yelling "witch!witch!") and later on, Dan decided to steal a tuk tuk so it ended up with Dan driving the tuk tuk around with me in the back. Everything ended up all right though.

Yesterday, I moved into my CELTA pad and it's pretty nice. Actually, it's nicer than any place I've lived or stayed at...since I left Canada, maybe... It is pretty remote though, so although it will be good for studying, it does feel a bit like a rehab clinic.

Probably won't have anything to write until the weekend, as I'll be studying and prepping most of the time.

Can't believe I ended up in Bangkok for a week...At least I'm outta there now. The first few days were a blast (except for the fact that the first place I stayed had tons of bedbugs), I partied it up in Khao San Road and had a ton of fun, but unfortunately I ended up getting a massive stomach bug so I spent all week taking antibiotics and chilling out around the guesthouse. It wasn't that bad though, there were a lot of interesting people at the guesthouse so the time actually went by quickly. I ended up taking a pretty dodgy (so-called) "VIP" bus that probably broke down about 10 times on the way up, but hey, what can you expect for only 350 baht?

Tonight I'm going to head out on the town and tomorrow I'm going to meet up with my mate Dan from Australia. On Sunday, I have to move into my place to start my CELTA. It's going to be a month of hell, so if I don't update my blog for a while, that's the reason.

Take it easy everyone!

Hey everybody...I'm back in Bangkok now after a week in Southern Laos. Anyways, like the title says, Southern Laos was amazing. I took an overnight bus from Vientiane to Pakse, then jumped on a bus to Champusak.

Champusak is the old capital of Laos, and it has the Lao version of Angkor wat (although even though I haven't yet been to Angkor, I'm guessing the Lao version is a lot more dilapidated). I hitched a ride with a farmer to the temple and spent the day checking out the ruins.

After that, I went back to the guesthouse, which had a restaurant on a balcony hanging over the Mekong - it was an amazing view. Not too much to do at night, so I just chilled out and went to bed.

The next day, I hopped on a bus to Don Det (Det Island) in Si Phan Don (4000 Islands). I met an American guy and a Dutch girl and we rode a pretty crappy public bus, which ended up blowing a tire and breaking down for 2 hours in a tiny Lao village. It was actually an interesting experience though, and I didn't mind it.

Si Phan Don was amazing - one of the most beautiful places I've seen so far. The Mekong river fans out and forms a bunch of little islands that you can swim between. On Don Det there is even a nice (although small) beach. Don Det was pretty chill, there isn't electricity on the island so most guesthouses run the generator until 8 pm, after that there's no electricity except at the Reggae Bar, a bar where you can get all kinds of "happy" meals and there's even a trampoline from the bar into the river.

I'm probably going to be in Bangkok for 3 days or so, after that I'm going to start heading north to Chang Mai as my course starts next week. Can't believe I'm going to have to study after a month of doing nothing at all....