On the Road!

Some of you may be wondering.. "where the heck is Chelsea?"

Well I haven't had time to blog about Ko Tao, Ko Phi Phi, the heavy rain and flooding in the south of Thailand, my sketchy boat experience, Laos, tubing, Chiang Mai, Songkran, nation wide water fight, adopting an elephant,ziplining, and now Cambodia, because I am still on the road! I made a very last minute decision to change my Bali flight so I could join Jenna and our friend Kianna and Alysha for a Cambodia trip! I'll be back in Khon Kaen on May 7th after Bali and will begin updating then! I'm having a BLAST!

Ang Thong Marine National Park

After full moon, us girls all went our separate ways. Some stayed to do more islands, some went to Vietnam or various other countries, and some did some Thailand traveling.  Jess, Olivia, and I decided to do some island hopping together and stayed at Ko Phangan another day to visit the Ang Thong Marine National Park.  We switched guesthouses to a place near the pier that was recommended in our lonely planet guide. It was pretty cheap for the three of us and had air-con, a television, and the most comfortable bed I've slept in in Thailand! Since we were still a little sleep deprived from full moon, it was an amazing decision on our part.

See the King Kong shape?

We decided to do a boat tour of the Ang Thong Marine National Park.  Its between the two islands of Ko Phangan and Ko Samui and is made up of 42 islands.  Most of the islands are close to one another and are different sizes and shapes.  Most of them are covered with tropical forests and named after their distinguishing geography, a kind of descriptive appellation, such as 'Sleeping Cow Island' and 'Three Pillars Island'.  Caves, hidden lagoons and white sand beaches are there to be explored and snorkeling among the shallow coral gardens is popular amongst the day tours.  Ang Thong National Marine Park is famous for its natural beauty and all of the islands are uninhabited and undeveloped except for one. This island, Ko Paluay, is inhabited by sea-gypsies who still earn a living from fishing. 

Our tour we chose was little more expensive than we would have liked (1600 baht), but it included the park fee, snorkeling, a buffet lunch, and a boat tour of the various highlights. The weather was pretty good, partly cloudy, and we were able to enjoy the snorkeling and time on the water. While the rest of the group kayaked, the girls and I decided to do some cave exploring.  On the big island where we had lunch, we found a sign and rope path to climb to a cave with a shape of a lotus flower inside.  It was a little more challenging to do since we were in our bikinis, beach cover ups, and sandals and we were sweating profusely when we reached it, but it was pretty cool! We also went to Ko Mae Ko (Mother Island). Here, an emerald seawater lake in the middle of the island is encircled on all sides by limestone cliffs, but linked by an underground tunnel connecting with the sea. It was beautiful!

That night, the girls and I decided to try to budget for dinner so we went to the local night market.  And it was AMAZING! Jess, Olivia, and I had a challenging time deciding on one thing to eat. We all ended up getting smoothies, egg rolls, and Jess and I split pad thai and a banana, chocolate, coconut rotti (pancake). Needless to say, it was delicious and probably my best night market experience in Thailand so far. After that, we went back to our guesthouse and went into a food coma, plus we had to wake up for the next leg of the adventure.. Ko Tao! 

The cave!

Yummy smoothies!

Tasty rotti!!!

Ko Phangan: FULL MOON!

I'm back in Khon Kaen for 24 hours and heading to Laos tomorrow morning! I have spent the last 2 weeks down at the islands and had an amazing time! I'll update as much as possible but may need to save the last two islands for when I'm back!

I started my 2 months summer break with a bang.. a Full Moon Party! Full Moon is very popular and a must-do amongst the backpacking community. Its basically an all-night beach party that takes place on Haad Rin beach on the island of Ko Phangan on the night of every full moon.  The beach is filled with people drinking buckets, body paint, various bars and different stages of music ranging from R&B, drum and bass, house, dance, reggae, and top 40.  The party draws a crowd of 20,000 - 30,000 every full moon and is ranked high on lists of the worlds most popular beach parties and lasts until the next afternoon.  Naturally, me and 10 English teachers decided that we had to do experience it!

Jess and I made the 25 hour trek of two buses and a ferry ride to get to the island the day before the party.  We were the first of our friends to arrive and were greeted with some drizzle which escalated to rain.  We crossed our fingers and hoped it wouldn't rain the night of the full moon.  Slowly throughout the day, the rest of the group arrived making the final count 15ish girls all staying at the same bungalow guesthouse. We had two to a guesthouse so needless to say, we took over the Triangle Lodge.  We decided to stay at a beach about 10 minutes outside of Haad Rin because it was quieter and our belongings were safer there, we had heard of a lot of theft and noise at other guesthouses near the party.  The night of the full moon was rain free and we were all armed in neon colors wearing clothing we wouldn't mind getting neon paint on.  We all piled into a songtell and were driven up and down the windy roads to the party.  Although we weren't all able to stay together as a group the entire night since there were too many of us, we were constantly bumping into someone we knew even amongst the thousands of people. I was able to meet up with my friend B.C. from UCSB, she is living here in Thailand working for her dad in Hua Hin.  The girls and I spent the evening dancing, meeting people from all over the world, snacking on some rotti, watching fire jump rope, and enjoying the full moon scene.  A group of girls and I were out until 9am and grabbed breakfast on the way home and spent the rest of the day napping on the beach to catch up on sleep! It reminded me a lot of Halloweens at UCSB, but all in all, it was definitely a fun experience!

Chelsea and Chelsea!

Jumping for joy, Full Moon sunrise!

Adios Amigos!

Its the moment I've been waiting five months for... summer break!! I'm leaving early tomorrow morning to take a bus into Bangkok, then another LONG bus ride to get down to the islands! I'll be down there until the beginning of April living island life, sippin banana smoothies and trying to escape the heat by lounging in the clear blue ocean.

Tentative Schedule: First stop, Koh Phangan! 14 of us girls are all staying at the same hostel for the weekend to celebrate the full moon (every full moon, thousands of backpackers/travelers come to Koh Phangan for a huge beach party, it should be like UCSB Halloween but Thai style and minus the Halloween costumes). Then to Ko Samui to celebrate Jess' 24th birthday! Then back to Ko Phi Phi, my most favorite place I've ever been to, and then to another island called Ko Lanta. Nothing is set in stone so I may pop over and check out some other places too.

After an island binge, I'll head back to Khon Kaen for a few days to clean myself up, do some laundry, and reconnect with the outside world (AKA update my blog and post pictures on facebook to make everyone I know jealous). Then to Laos with Jenna and some friends! Then to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand for Songkran, which is Thai New Years and is celebrated in a water fight style. Bali at the end of April for one week and that leaves me two weeks for another destination which is still undecided!

My friend Meredith sent me this link (thanks Mer!). I've made it my new goal to see all ten of these places! Four down, six to go!

http://www.touropia.com/top-attractions-in-thailand/

Happy Summer! :)

Schools Out For SUMMMER!

This past week was “Pride Day”.  We spent the last two weeks of school strictly practicing for Pride Day in order to impress parents and show off the skills of the students as well as present graduating diplomas to the KG 3 class, they are now in grade one!  The week before the big event, some of the Thai teachers took me to search for a princess dress to wear as I was to be in the show. After going to countless costume shops, we found only ONE dress that would fit my “farang” body. And it wasn’t flattering.. pink with ruffles.  Lets just say that I pray that none of my friends make me wear a bridesmaids dress this bad! 

Pride Day is the well-anticipated event of the year for the Kindergarten Program, all six KG classes do a dance performance and this years theme was Disney.  Dances varied from “The Little Mermaid”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “Mulan”, “The Lion King”, “Pinocchio”, and my class did “Aladin”.  Pride Day was held at the Khon Kaen Hotel and the friends and family of the students purchased tickets to the show in which they were able to enjoy the show as well as enjoy dinner.  The story line for Pride Day was a little princess couldn’t sleep, so the big sister princess read her stories that corresponded with the dance shows.  I was chosen to be the big sister princess and a half foreign girl, Carriad, in my KG 3 class was chosen to be the little sister.  Carriad is very mature for six years old and I had an awesome time practicing and performing the play with her.  I honestly talk to Carriad  as more of a friend than as a child, she is one of those smart and emotionally intelligent children that blow me away and I forget that she is six years old!  During practices, we chatted and giggled with one another and she was never afraid to ask me questions including “Teacher Chelsea have boyfriend in America??” She made the show so much more enjoyable for me!  The Thai teachers prerecorded our voice so we didn’t need to worry about memorizing our lines, only lip-syncing.  One of the Thai teachers did my hair “princess style”, which I thought was more of a cross between Little House on the Prairie and Sound of Music style.  I had to do a very quick costume change in between giving my graduating KG 3 class their diploma’s and the performance show but I was able to pull it off. Along with my crown, I put on my happy face and was a Storybook Princess for a couple hours, the parents and kids loved it! I’m not too sure I’ll have a career in Disney when I come home though. Maybe in a different dress. And hairstyle.

Finale song "Rainbow Connection"

Yee Haaaaw!

Two weeks ago, Jess and I noticed a flyer at the gym. Luckily, it was half in Thai and half in English. “Cowboy Party. Food and refreshments. 500 baht -non member. Member-Free”. The main manager lady at the desk said “Cowboy Party! You come?” I immediately looked at Jess with a huge smile, “Heck yes we are!”. If I love anything, its American themed parties and country music. When we left that day, they had us sign a sheet as our RSVP.

After waiting in great anticipation for two whole weeks, Jess and I were a little weary about what to expect. Yes the party was at the beautiful hotel but we didn’t want to get discouraged so we kept our expectations low. “Dude, what if there’s no food? What if there’s no drinks?? Okay, we’ll just stay for a few minutes and scope it out.” As soon as we walked into the underground bar where the party was being held, we were greeted by two employees in full cowboy outfits, plaid shirt, boots, hat, and bandana, and they were sure excited we arrived. Luckily my mom sent me a plaid shirt for my birthday as I left all my country gear back home, I sure didn’t think I’d need it here. They had us sign in and snapped a picture of Jess and I under the greeting message. We then went into the big bar area and were pleasantly surprised.. scratch that, we were EXSTATIC! We saw tables and tables and tasty food, waiters walking around with drinks, and maybe about two dozen other members (don’t even ask, yes we were the only foreigners of the entire evening). All of the employees that work at the gym were dressed up and very happy to greet us (there are only six guys that work at the gym and two of them speak semi-English so we have gotten to know one another). Jess and I plopped ourselves on the couch and grabbed a glass of wine. We were immediately approached and encouraged to sign up for a karaoke song.. (For my UCSB friends.. karaoke here is very different than a night at OTT. For my non UCSB friends, OTT is a popular place for 21 and up students to go on a Wednesday night, it gets extremely packed with people and karaoke goes on until closing. However here, Thai people don’t karaoke as an activity to do with friends after a few drinks, they often wake up in the morning, turn on their TV, grab their microphone and sing some tunes to start off their day. They absolutely love to sing and will do so in front of an audience stone cold sober, nothing like OTT. I don’t think I’ll ever enjoy karaoke the way Thai people do.) My first reaction was “no way am I doing karaoke” but with Jess’ encouragement, I agreed to perform a late night song. We decided on “Don’t Stop Believin” by Journey, probably America’s most well known and over played karaoke song but we both love it and it’s generally a crowd pleaser. After that, we grabbed a plate or two of food.. honey baked ham, teriyaki chicken, bread rolls, mini pizzas, and a huge variety of different cakes.. carrot cake was the only one I could distinguish but I had others that were even more amazing.. some 4 layer cake was my favorite (I don’t know what the four layers were, but it was amazing so I didn’t want to ask and have it ruined for me). Our drink choices included white and red wine, beer, water, and coca cola. With our time limit in mind, we kept the refreshments coming and enjoyed the party.

Party Time, Thai Style: I’ve come to realize that Thai parties are more like shows. Of course there were games. Hula hooping competitions, pop the balloon between your legs competitions, a dance performance of a popular Korean pop song "Sorry Sorry" by our the gym staff, and song after song of karaoke. It was mostly older women performing and a few younger ones singing to Thai songs, and a few people busting moves on the dance floor. One young woman sang “I Will Survive” and two older women ran to Jess and I, grabbed our hands and said “After eating, need to exercise” and insisted we dance with them. During another song, another young women ran over to us insisted we dance because “this song is good luck and make you rich if you dance”. Okay I need a little money, I’ll dance.

Word came that they didn’t have “Don’t Stop Believing” in the system.. Shoot. We browsed the karaoke program and I was definitely looking for some Taylor Swift but decided on “Umbrella” by Rihanna, their English selection wasn’t as large as we were lead to believe. At 9pm it was our stage time. We hit most of our notes but it didn’t matter, the crowd loved us and there even numerous people dancing on the dance floor and singing along. In my experience, there are many Thai people who know popular American songs and can even sing along but can’t speak a drop of the English language. Jess and I were given roses by a couple people during our karaoke session, which is often done if someone likes you or your performance. I think everyone there was excited that we were participating in the events and having a good time. We topped off the party with two more performances, Britney’s “Opps I did it again” and Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”. Funny, I didn’t hear a single country song the entire night.

Winner Winner!: At the end of the party, they thanked the members for attending by giving away numerous prizes.. bottles of wine and other alcohol and free gym memberships. It looked to me they were randomly selecting winners from the slips of paper with the names of people who had attended. Just before the last prize was called, I gave Jess a look and said “I’d love to win right now!” Just then, the people calling the names looked over at us and excitedly yelled into the microphone “Chelsea FreemAn!” I couldn’t believe it, I love winning prizes! I ran up to claim my prize and received numerous congratulatory handshakes in between my jumping and spouts of happy squeals. I’m convinced they rigged it, but I’m fine with that. It ends up I won a voucher for a one night stay and breakfast at the hotel! Since I am neighbors with the hotel, I don’t exactly need it so I may see if I can use it at another location, like in Bali!

Party Crew before the after party

After Party: After the Cowboy Party, Jess and I asked the guys “Where’s the after party??” Jess and I ran home to change and we ended up going out to a club called “U-Bar” with a few guys that work at the gym and a girl we see working out there a lot, she’s half Indian and half Chinese and speaks excellent English. The club is about a five minute walk from our apartment and is popular amongst the Thai people my age. U-Bar would play 30 minute spouts of American pop music in between the live Thai bands and I particularly enjoyed when “California Girls” came on and I tried to explain to the others the song is about where I am from, but I’m not sure they understood what the heck I was saying. Note about Thai Clubs: Thai people don’t normally dance, they kind of just stand around at the table and drink.. but I was with a fun group and we danced around and had a great time. The two gym instructors that know okay English both teach dance classes like Korean hip hop and dance aerobics and inquired why Jess and I never do those classes. I laughed and tried to explain that I am VERY uncoordinated and an awful dancer, but they didn’t understand since I was dancing at the club. I may get suckered into trying one of those classes soon. They were all very concerned about Jess and I having a great time and asked “Chelsea, you happy?” every few songs or so. “Yes yes, very happy”. I had a great time and enjoyed a night filled with prizes, games, karaoke, food, drinks, and going out with new Thai friends.

 

Imagine these guys dancing like the video below

Ko Chang!

FINALLY.. what many of you have been waiting for.. I've had a few friends ask me why I haven't updated in a while.. I'm just thrilled that you, my friends and family, are still reading and interested in what the heck I'm doing here!  So here’s the dealio on my adventure to another beautiful island!

Last weekend was another three day weekend and I crossed off another island on my list of many places to go! Ko Chang is Thailand’s third largest island and is five hours out of Bangkok and near the Cambodia border.  It has eight different villages and the girls and I had plans to stay at “Lonely Beach”, a beach popular for backpackers to stay at.  

After the six hour bus ride from Khon Kaen to Bangkok, I met the girls at a restaurant called “Cabagges and Condoms” and needless to say, its known for its food as well as the decorative arrangement of their platters, condoms.  Unfortunately, I arrived just as the girls were finishing dinner so I grabbed Subway (which I was SO excited for) on our way to bus number 2.  At 5am, we arrived at the boat port and waited in the dark for an hour to take the 20 minute ferry ride to the island.  After the quick ferry ride as the sun was coming up, we arrived on the island and we were greeted by a huge sign in the mountain reading “Welcome to Ko Chang.”  The girls and I needed to take a 45 minute songtell ride to Lonely Beach and we were a little shocked to find it was a ghost town.  Yes, it was 7am so people were probably still sleeping but most of the small shops which were mostly tattoo shops, were closed and we didn’t see anyone out for breakfast yet.  We were unable to check into our bungalows yet so the girls and I left our bags at the front desk and hit the beach to take a snooze, we were all exhausted from the lack of sleep on the overnight bus.  Unfortunately, this was when my trip took a turn.. maybe more like a tumble. When I left Khon Kaen the day before, my right eye was a little red but I didn’t think much of it.  Of course by the time I had arrived to the island, it had gotten 100 times worse, to the point that it was producing so much gunk that I couldn’t see well (Sorry, not a pretty picture).  Within three hours of arriving at the island, my body goes even more haywire and busts out with a fever blister/cold sore on my face.  I used to get cold sores a lot growing up and occasionally in college and when I was packing for the weekend, I remember thinking that I wouldn’t need the medicine I brought from the US and tossed it back into the drawer.. wrong! So I basically spent Friday wondering around the beach red/gunky eyed and in pain from my fever blister.  That night, I tried to make the best of it and the girls and I were looking for something fun to do.  It hadn’t even crossed our minds that it was a Buddist holiday, so not only do Thai people not drink of these holidays but they also close the shops, bars, clubs, restaurants, everything early.  Luckily, we found one bar with a live band that played western music later into the night and we ended up having a great time.

The next morning, my eye infection had spread to my other eye and my cold sore had gotten worse so I immediately decided to go to the international clinic on the island (the pharmacy near my hostel was closed for the weekend).  I spent the long songtell ride very frustrated that I wasn’t feeling the best for this amazing weekend the girls and I have been planning for weeks. I didn’t feel like being in the sun or going in the water and was upset that I feel like I have been sick for a month straight with a cough/nose thing.  The clinic was actually very beautiful and everyone there spoke perfect English.  The doctor sent me home with four different medications, drops for my eyes, antibiotics and cream for my sore, and allergy medicine.. He basically came to the conclusion that he thinks I’m allergic to Thailand and that I have an eye infection and because my immune system was already down, it was a perfect time for a cold sore to make an appearance.  I left the clinic even more P.O.ed than I was when I arrived.. the bill was triple the amount it would have been in Khon Kaen and I couldn’t imagine staying in Thailand if I were to stay sick for the next eight months. I was a bit grouchy but went back to meet the girls.  I spent the rest of the day lounging in the hammock at our bungalow (Jenna and I were roomies), drinking banana smoothies, and enjoying the beautiful beach.

Sunday was time to trek back to Khon Kaen.  I missed the ferry at 7:40, so I missed my first bus and was a tad stressed.  Luckily, they just threw me on the next one and I made it to Bangkok with just enough time to hit up Subway again and get to the other bus station, ten minutes to spare! I plopped myself down in my bus seat for the final leg of the race, enjoyed my ham and cheese sandwich with lettuce, green peppers, and southwest sauce, then slept for the rest of the ride.

Ko Chang is truly a beautiful island and much less touristy then Ko Phi Phi and even Ko Samet.  Even though I was feeling pretty crappy and discouraged, I tried to enjoy the island as much as I could, which wasn’t hard to do.. it was sunny, warm, and beautiful! Plus, I was there with amazing girls who I can always have a great time with.  I also bought to tye-dye beach cover ups so I left Ko Chang with something more than an eye infection and cold sore. And I tried a new food.. Tofu! Trying a new food is HUGE for me, I don’t often do it but Chelsea (a girl I met at orientation who came to Ko Chang) gave me a nibble off her dinner plate one night.  I liked it so much that I ordered Sweet and Sour Veggies and Tofu for myself the last night!  I think I’ll try to figure out how to cook it on my hot plate.  Being sick on the island definitely wasn’t ideal but I guess that’s all part of the adventure of traveling, expect the unexpected!  Plus, I’m building up my immune system.. If my body can survive Thailand, home and other traveling will be a piece of cake!

Dinner with the girls

The cutest thing I've ever seen in my life. Mama Cat adopted baby monkey into the family!