Thailand

I have wanted to go to Thailand my entire life. Definitely on my top three list, which is Greece, Thailand, and Columbia. Columbia because that is where my Grandmother is from, Thailand because my dad spent a year there and I grew up hearing "stories", and Greece because its Greece and it is where democracy was born, gods battled, and islands sparkle. Right now I am going to talk about Thailand. We crossed the border and headed straight to Chang Mai which is in the north. Many head to Chang Mai to pursue outdoor activities such as trekking, rafting, climbing, bungee jumping, ect. We went on a day trek through the jungle and went white water rafting. The rating was nice, the trekking was beautiful. The town is pretty hopping with tourist, and the night market attracts many shoppers, I bought a few bracelets (I don't think I needed to add to my collection). We enrolled in a one day cooking class. The instructor (a super cute girl who kept talking about us becoming good Thai Wives, it involved us learning the proper cooking skills) took us to the market to buy the ingredients we needed or the day. We made delicious food and I bombarded the other students with questions about southern Thailand (they had already been and I needed info). It was fun and something different from our normal travel activities.

From Chang Mai we booked it to Kophang, an island located in the south part of Thailand and is famous for the Full Moon Party. The full moon party is exactly what it sounds like, a party that takes place during the full moon. Around 10,000-30,000 people migrate there, depending on the season, to dance, drink, and groove to the music. The beach was over taken by party goers and there were seven different sound systems set up playing Reggae, Trans, Techno, Hip hop, ect. We danced the night away, I lasted until about 4:30am but had to turn in at that point because my tired body could not handle anymore dancing. It was fun and crazy to experience such a party atmosphere, pretty much a rave on a beach. We rented a motorbike, again Kayo drove, and explored the island, stopping to see nice views and nonexistent waterfalls. We then head to Ko Tao, another island, only about an hour away from the first. Upon arrival, we quickly decided to enroll in a scuba diving certification course. We were both unsure about spending the money and the time to do it, but looking back on it, I am so glad we decided to do the course. It took three days, and we had class in the morning and dove in the afternoon. The first dive sort of gave me a minor anxiety attack, it is difficult getting use to breathing under water, but I quickly became more comfortable with it. We passed our written test with flying colors and are now certified open water divers!! The certification is good for life, and I really like this whole diving thing, so I am glad am now certified. Diving is very meditative, sort of like yoga, you have to remain calm always, keep a steady deep breath, and just enjoy everything you are experiencing. We saw so many beautiful fish and coral. With every dive, I fall more in love with the under water world. As we were diving I kept thinking about the movie 'Finding Nemo' and how Nemo announces to his teacher at school that he is from an anemity, of course with his mispronunciation and stutter, because he is "kid". For those of you who have seen the movie must know what I am talking about.

Next stop, Bangkok, crazy, crazy city. We went to a Mui Thai boxing match, saw a guy completely knock out his opponent, he had to be carried off stage in a stretcher. We visited a few temples, wandered upon a park where we watched teenage boys battle in break dancing, and we shopped. We indulged in sticky rice because we knew we were leaving Thailand and need a last dose of whole goodness. Had a nice day and half there and then boarded a plane to Indonesia. Kayo and I were talking about our Thainland trip and we decided that it was good, we really enjoyed all the places we went and the things we did, but it was definetly not as much as a cultural experience as India and Vietnam.