Ihpthailand's Blog

last update (most likely, but ill probably do it in tokyo again)

ihpthailand — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:55:54 +0000

just a couple amazing things – last night i had a beer at the hotel bar, and met the bartender, a 30 year old guy named tik. he brought me one of his budahs to wear around my neck tonight, and we also ate grasshoppers together. cool night. leaving in 1 hour for the airport.

the end

ihpthailand — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 09:58:29 +0000

left ko tao on a ferry boat around four pm, landed in chumporn, and hung out there for a few hours. then took the overnight to bangkok, checked into my hotel. i basically have seen a few movies, read a bit, and had a good meal. i leave in five hours for the airport, and im really excited to be home, but thailand has been incredible, and i will miss the food, and the travel, and the people who i met. im looking forward to talking with everyone and exchanging stories from the last five weeks. see everyone soon!

ko tao

ihpthailand — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 09:53:32 +0000

well first a little update on the end of my trip in ko samui. rented a motorcycle, looked for laem set inn, which was apparently some of the best food on the island. unfortunately, it burned down. so i found a really fancy place called “z” for lunch. had prawns and a whole steamed white snapper with good stuff on it. garlic, lime, chili, etc. left the next day on a catamaran for ko tao. spent a really long time looking for lodging with these two germans, victoria and mario. got very lucky and found an open bungalow right on the beach. when its high tide, the water hits my steps. it poured that night, right was people were starting to eat dinner on the beach. i met up with victoria and mario for dinner, drinks, and fire show. next day, lay on the beach for hours, worked on the heart is a lonely hunter, met two more germans, moritz and kevin. went out for a damn good lunch. some fish curry variation. also tried “noname fish” – still have no idea what it is. “made party” with the germans at a bar on the beach. woke up early today, went on an all day snorkeling trip around the island. saw many barracuda (kevin and moritz and i will eat an entire one tonight – beach grill) and some other strange fish. stopped at ko nangyuan – tiny island, very beautiful. this is the most incredible place i think ive ever been. not really wanting to come home. i miss the bros and fam. so coming home will be good.

a quck food update

ihpthailand — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:29:57 +0000

well first, a quick account of today’s travels. ate about 10 pieces of toast for breakfast. it’s not that that’s what i really wanted for breakfast, but it was a free brunch at the guest house im staying at. took a walk, bought a green side bag, rented a manual motorbike. drove about 20km to the immigration office. had to wait two hours to get a seven day visa, so i went out for a quick bite. spent the next four hours going around the entire island, about a 60km ride, but i did a little exploring. almost fell off the bike upshifting on a massive incline. but it was worth it for the view. anyway, came back around dark, had a quick swim. now here was the purpose of this update. the meal. i decided to treat myself to a really fancy thai meal, so i walked down the street. so no, this time i didnt eat at a night market ( ). sat on the water, had my chair pulled out, and my napkin put on my lap. had these little rice wafers with tuna and peanut sauce. then had fresh prawn spring rolls with a little plum chili sauce. then had a whole fresh sea bass *must have been a baby since it was the whole thing* fried and topped with a chili sauce, charred basil, and kafir lime leaves. damn. that was a good meal. i didnt take pictures. oh also ate a kilo of mangosteen today.

in ko samui

ihpthailand — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 05:31:49 +0000

so listen to this song while reading the post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAdZzr0ysxg

its a really popular thai reggae song. i took the overnight from chiang mai to bangkok. shared my set of berths with some people from paris. i had the upper berth, and the size differential between thais and the rest of the world really became apparent. got into bangkok 2 hours late, went to the movie theater and for 600 baht sat in a reclining movie chair and had “table” service. fun. made my way over to hualampong train station. suddenly realized i hadnt extended my visa yet, frantically found out that i can get it done in ko samui. got on the overnight to surat thani, my berth mate immediately wanted to go to bed. i had bought a bottle of wine, cheese, and dried sausage…paul theroux got to me a little. got into surat thani around eight in the morning, had a bite, got on a 2 hour bus to the coast. i still hadnt changed clothes (in two days). blech. got on my penultimate form of transport – a ferry to ko samui. then took a cab to hat lamai – the second largest beach on samui. im staying in a place called utopia. i have a small fan bungalow next to some dutch girls i met on the ferry. spent most of the day at the beach, reading, swimming in the clearest and warmest water ive ever been in. had a really good red seafood curry for lunch (the seafood is out of control down here) and fried pork with chilies for dinner. went out with the dutch girls to see mai thai fighting. kind of awful to watch – the kids are about 12 or 13 years old. and they kick the shit out of each other. went to bed after a few beer changs. today ill just chill at the beach, tomorrow i rent a motorcycle to tour the island (which is huge, about 20 kilometers across each way), get my visa extended, and do a bit of snorkeling. ill stay here for another 3 days then off to ko phan gnan.
until the next time…

back on the road. soon.

ihpthailand — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:36:46 +0000

well. im basically all better save the very occasional feeling of death in my limbs, so i thought i would write a full update. ive been staying with udom and his wife aura (udom is a a friend of mitchell warren’s – a guy i worked for after my first year of college). they live about 30 min outside of chiang mai in doi saket. she is an anesthesiologist at chiang mai university hospital, so i was in good hands. ive been sleeping eight or ten hours every night, woken up briefly at eight am by the national anthem (which plays on loud speakers outside). today was special, because it is thai mother’s day, and no less important, the queen’s birthday. a national holiday. oh, and udom and aura have two dogs (the first domesticated ones ive seen here) called mojo and mana. yesterday, i went out into the city with aura (udom left for kanchanaburi for a conference), paid my bill at the hospital (which was a heaping 30 dollars after insurance), went to wat suan dok which hosts a mausoleum of pieces of old dead kings, princes, and their female counterparts, then i went to the night market and got some great little gifts. finished dharma bums (which is a new favorite book). and i am my father’s son because i laughed out loud for the first seventy pages of his favorite book (or at least one he likes to talk about). yes, kitchen confidential. but anthony bourdain is quite brash and reminds me of all the loud people in new york and northern new jersey who piss me off. regardless, im going to finish it before i leave tomorrow (it belongs to udom). this book is a brief break from a new one i started – the great railway bazaar (paul theroux). hes also a real pretentious asshole, but the book has excited me for whatever the 10 hour train to bangkok (and then the following 11 hour one to surat thani) has in store for me as roommates.

today, i woke up late, went out to the street, and took a yellow sawngthaew (a pickup truck with two rows of benches) from doi saket to talat warorot, a market right outside of the moat that surrounds chiang mai. then i took a red sawngthaew (the red ones go around the city) to lunch, met this british girl named susie who did a phd in linguistics at ucsd, now a school psychologist in london. she and i took another sawngthaew to the base of doi suthep, and took another car up to the top (about 20 km) to wat phrath doi sutep. some great pictures, an elephant climbing 300 stairs. i introduced susie to a mangosteen – my favorite fruit now. i made a video of how to open a mangosteen. walked around a bunch, left. took a truck home. tomorrow night, im taking the overnight to bangkok, and then that night, i have another overnight ticket from bangkok to surat thani in the south. from there, im going to spend a few days at ko tao, then ko phan ngan, then ko samui (i think in this order). those are all islands by the way.

until then.

arrived safely at udoms house.

ihpthailand — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 13:39:24 +0000

about 30 min out of chiang mai. left my passport at the hospital until insurance sends guarantee. and now, to sleep for five days. ill check in as much as i can.

ARGGGG

ihpthailand — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 06:04:41 +0000

just kidding about being able to leave today. insurance doesnt open until monday. plus, in the last two hours, my eyes feel like they have bricks hanging from them.

feeling a little better

ihpthailand — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 04:42:47 +0000

so after my initial visit to the hospital five days ago and three great night, i am leaving. i have dengue fever (look it up on wikipedia, its nicknamed bonecrusher disease), and i have never been in this much pain. ever. but last night they took me off the iv, ive gotten my appetite back mostly, and my fever has started to plateau (around 100 ugh). but its going down slowly. the doctor is only releasing me because i have a friend of a friend who is a doctor, and im staying at her family’s house outside of chiang mai. my platelet count is the only thing right now i have to worry about because its still dropping, but isnt at a dangerous level yet (im still >100,000 !!, but its gone from 198000 to 124000. but i dont need to take blood to check for these symptoms cause if i start bleeding, well, time to go back to the hospital). also, the pain in my muscles is amost gone, still hurts a bit to walk, but the doctor says that will go away soon enough. alright, enough with the jargon. its awesome not to have the iv in. i can take a real shower. also , it was so great to hear from people who called. thanks. ( )
the doctor wants me to stay at udom’s for five days, and then plan the rst of my trip around where good hospitals are. so this changes my plans to go to the mountains and to laos, but i think i may go to a travel agent and arrange a two week trip to the islands (of course, islands populated by large hospitals). i have some classic pictures of my hospital room and attending nurses giving peace signs. ill keep you all updated.

oh but i did do some cool stuff in chiang mai for the 5 hours i wasnt sick

ihpthailand — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 04:57:28 +0000

walked around the whole city (inside the walls), had really good soup, went to the womens prison and got a foot massage from an inmate. got some good gifts for people made by thai prison inmates.