Koh Chang

So after spending a couple of days in Bangkok, we decided to get out of dodge. Bangkok didn't end up being as bad as I thought it would. We met a super nice Thai student outside of the University who broke Bangkok down for us and drew on Trenton's map the places he insisted we visit while we were in town. Highlights included the 15 story Buddha as well as haggling over prices to get a suit tailored. Basically if it wasn't for this guy we would have been lost and confused. See dad, not everyone is trying to scam us!

From Bangkok we went to an Island called Koh Chang off of the south-east coast, where I am now. I've never been in any kind of tropical climate before so it has been a pretty amazing experience for me. Right now I'm staying in a thatch roofed hut literally on the beach for $6 a night. We hiked through the jungle to a huge waterfall where you can swim near the bottom, which was one of the more beautiful things I have seen. The only setback was this group of about 15 obnoxious English frat boys who were chanting school slogans and horse playin' while we were up there. Fortunately one of them dropped a couple 100 Baht on his way out, which I found and gladly used to buy dinner that night. Thank you Manchester United!

Although I have been having a lot of fun so far, I've had mixed feelings about Thailand. There hasn't been one point yet where I have felt like I was I guest in someone else's culture. I like the feeling of having to adapt to someone else's lifestyle and traditions, but here it is the opposite. Everything everywhere is catered towards tourists. This must of been what it felt like to visit one of the French or English colonies. It's all Australian/European/Americans living laveshly with poor Thai people always there ready to serve. Although the majority of them are extremely kind and happy people, I can't help but feel a guilty sometimes. Hopefully I'll get more of the experience I am looking for once I get out into rural Cambodia/Laos, which will be soon. I'm thinking of going to India for a couple of weeks now too, so we'll see what happens. Gotta go for now. Until next time. -Ben