Well, after fierce negotiations back and forth I was able to get an extra week vacation out of my company. I will be arriving in Thailand again around the 3rd week of September and staying for 5 weeks. I am SO excited to be coming back.
Well the day has finally come and sadly I return home to Canada today. My time in Thailand is now down to a few short hours. Four and a half months have gone by so quickly! So many great memories .. so many new and wonderful friends.Without getting all sentimental I have to say that my almost all my experiences in Thailand were amazing. A few minor bad things but nothing worth mentioning. Such is life.I have utterly fallen in love with Thailand and her people and am already making plans to retur
Or should I say "Luxury Time Piece *****"? *
One of the things I love about Thailand (and Bangkok in particular) is you can pretty much buy ANYTHING you want .. and at cheap prices.Before I came to Thailand I never really bothered with watches. I always had my mobile phone so if I needed to know the time I could look at the phone.Then I came to Thailand ... walk down almost any street and you see shop after shop selling luxury watches. I finally broke down and bought my first "Rolex". I wore i
Well after being pestered by many people I have finally got the first of my photos from my Cambodia/Vietnam trip last month online. I now present Cambodian PeopleFlickr Page To See MoreI will be posting the rest of the photos over this next week. It's taking some time to edit and organize and over 1500 photos.
Fairytale of New York by The Pogues (featuring Kirsty MacColl) It was Christmas Eve babe
In the drunk tank
An old man said to me, won't see another one
And then he sang a song
The Rare Old Mountain Dew
I turned my face away
And dreamed about you Got on a lucky one
Came in eighteen to one
I've got a feeling
This year's for me and you
So happy Christmas
I love you baby
I can see a better time
When all our dreams come true They've got cars big as bars
The bus ride to Mae Hong Son from Pai was about the same as the bus ride from Chiang Mai to Pai. Rickety bus, winding mountain roads, and armed soldiers checking identifications (no laughing at me this time however).We rolled into Mae Hong Son just after lunch. First thing that I noticed about Mae Hong Son was in seemed more of a blue collar working class town. Not too many tourists. Urai had plans for us to stay at Friend's Place guest house. After checking in and having a very refreshing showe
Cool fresh mountain air never fails to let me have a good deep sleep. Even though I had gone to sleep at 7pm the night before I didn't wake up until 8:30 am the next morning. Being used to getting up (very) early every morning to feed the monks Urai had woken up at 6am. When I got out of the tent I saw her talking to the others who had arrived in the campground after we had gone to sleep.Seeing that I was awake Urai walked back to our tent. The others campers had kindly offered to give us a ride
Today I headed down to Phloen Chit area to buy a backpack and apply for my travel visa to Vietnam. I arrived about 11:30 and knew the embassy was closed from 11:30 to 1:30 so I went to get my backpack and eat lunch first.After eating I hoisted my new empty backpack onto my shoulders and headed in the direction of Wireless Rd (where the Vietnamese embassy is located). I reached a crossroad where I thought Wireless Rd was. I was standing on the corner trying to see a street sign to tell me if I wa
A couple weeks ago I boarded a plane to Chiang Mai to meet my friend Urai (from Bang Sai). Our plans were to travel around north west Thailand. I arrived a day earlier then her so I spent the time visiting some sites around Chiang Mai. I rented a tuk tuk for the day and had the driver take me to various wat. When I walked into the first wat I could see that something special was going on. I *think* the head monk was teaching or something. I checked to make sure it was ok to take the photo above
I sincerely apologise to the Thai (and Cambodian, Vietnamese et al) people for that piece of **** Christopher Paul Neil. I heard about his arrest but didn't realize until a few hours ago that he is Canadian.I feel a lot of shame that he's from my country. :(I hope he lives a long horrid painful life in a Thai prison.
Ever since I have come to Thailand I have thought about getting a new tattoo. I wanted to get something that will always remind me of Thailand.So .. yesterday I was walking around MBK and saw 'Jimmy Wong's Tattoos'. I talked to the young guy working there and explained what I wanted. He didn't quite understand what I wanted so I went across the hall to the internet cafe and printed out a photo of what I had in mind.Once he saw the photo he knew exactly what I wanted.His older brother is the one
If you're in and around BKK and would like me to photograph you please let me know. I am not a professional or anything but I think I am pretty good. I am looking to get more practice in photographing people.
You can see more of my photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/therascalking/setsI have some photos I took of some Thai friends that I can show but I don't want to make them publicly available. If you are interested in being photographed I can show them to you privately.
If you le
1. Yield to anything more metal than yourself.Exception:
Unless you're a dog.2. When offered rides in tuk tuks, massage, flyers for sex clubs, or a custom made suits it's much easier to say nothing and keep walking. Saying "Mai pen rai" over and over again becomes tiresome.3. The words "Asia Books" sounds strikingly like "Sex movies" to the Thai ear.I was walking down Sukumvit Road near Soi 15 looking for Asia Books. I knew it was there somewhere .. but just couldn't spot it. A lady asked me "
After spending a couple days in Ayuthaya I was then on to the village of Bang Sai for my home stay with a Thai family. While I was living in Bang Sai I helped the village children learn english. It was SO enjoyable there. Quiet, slow and peaceful. Quite a contrast to the insanity of Bangkok. hahaI enjoyed teaching the children so much I offered to return again. So this Sunday I am heading back to Bang Sai for another 3-4 days to help teach the children again.The rest can be seen here:http://www.
Last week I spent a couple days in Ayuthaya as part of my language and culture training in preparation for my volunteering. I got to tour around to some of the major wats. Here's some photos I took. The full photo set (and larger versions can be found:http://www.flickr.com/photos/therascalking/sets/72157602040062280/
After a week in Bangkok it was time for me to head north to Ayuthaya for my culture and language training. It was a hot Sunday (aren’t they all in Thailand?) as I hopped on the SkyTrain. My first destination was Hua Lamphong Train Station. It was here I would take the train north.Click to read the rest
Hey all,Check out some photos I took over the last few days!http://www.flickr.com/photos/therascalking/sets/72157601897406168/I have a lot more photos I took when I visited The Grand Palace yesterday but haven't posted them yet.Enjoy! Paul
Well! I made it!It's my first morning in Thailand and I am well rested. I think my body has adjusted to Thai time.
I haven't seen much more yet but friends have already asked me what I think of Thailand so far. All I can say is:- Thai taxi drivers driver SO fast and crazy! I thought I would die in a car accident on the way to the hotel from the airport.- Thai 100baht bills look like they say 900 in the bottom left hand corner. I had to stare at it for awhile when I got it as change. - Starbuc
Well .. my brain is too tired to write a journal about the flight across the Pacific. My body is so confused right now .. should I be sleeping? But it's 12:40pm ... Why did that cashier giver me Singapore money?So now I sit in the Singapore Airport .. one final flight away from the Land of Smiles.I think first thing to do is ... sleeeeep!
Well, the first step in a journey of a thousand steps has been made. My mom dropped me off at the airport and with a final warning of “Be careful!” I was off.Read the rest of the story here!
Today I went to the Thai Consulate in Calgary to pick up my application for a tourist visa.As you may or may not know the Thai Consulate is considered to be Thai soil. It is officially a part of Thailand.So now I can say I have been in Thailand .. I must say .. it's a lot like Canada.
