Bangkok

After meeting up at BKK at about 130am Steve, john, and i headed off to find a place to stay for the night. Lucky for us we are smart travelers and know the areas that we enter well before we get there. Headed to Khao San Rd cause we knew it was an "international freak show" and easy to find a cheap place 24 hours a day. Lucky for us we had a taxi driver who not only gave us a good deal but also thought he was Michael Schumaker so we were burning rubber at every possible corner. Made it to the road unscathed and walked our way down amongst the drunk Englishmen, girly boys, and street vendors to try to find a place. First few we checked were full which did not bode well but we had to press on and luckily we did and found AtHome. Little bit off Khao San and on a beautiful alley. Got a room with AC for 600, not a bad deal at that time of night, or for 3 people (about $5 each). Decided to go out and have a beer to celebrate our long days and recent successes and headed back only to find no beers after 1am so after being hit on by drunk thai chicks playing pool we headed home and luckily there was a place next to AtHome where we had beers both cheaper and colder. After a slight debacle w/ the bill and Steve trying to pay 3000 instead of 300 we made it out and the proprietress even let us keep the glasses so we could have a drink in the room.

Woke up the next morning to the roof of the place being destroyed so after a solid 4 hour sleep we were ready for the day. Got some brekky and met Mr B while waiting to change money. He wanted to take us on a tour of the city via tuk tuk for 5 baht each which is like 12 cents or something. We later read it was the classic scam to take us to travel agents and suit makers. We didn't need any suits made so that kind of pissed Mr B off and after a yelling match and multiple threats he stopped and we got out. Luckily we got to see the Standing Buddha which was like 60ft tall and some other temples before the trip went sour. Also, 3 big guys on the back of a 3 wheeled motorcycle doesn't really work out. Went and saw the palace which had enough gold to cover the dome of the GA capital 100 times over and the emerald Buddha which is most prized and has caused wars after the king of Laos stole it. Headed to Chinatown because there is one in every city and you have to go check it out for cheap stuff so we did and it was crowded and cheap and dirty like them all. Took the water taxi home and saw Wat Arun at sunset which is certainly a site but the sky wasn't great that day. Postcards looked much better. After dinner of street pad thai headed out to mui thai boxing and upon arrival found out it was much more than expected. Hung out anyway drank beers, stood on buckets and sat on walls to see over the wall to the stadium, and talked w/ the locals about whether to bet on red or blue. Good times and after several tries of bribery and getting thai people to buy tickets for us things didn't work out so we took off. Stopped off at the night market for a beer and while we were finding it our tuk tuk driver got a better offer and took off. Had a look around and found another and got back after a long windblown ride. The rest of the night is a blur but there were discotheques, Ms Laos and Ms Cambodia, some sweet Thai girlfriends, Red Bull, facewash, pool, and plenty of Changs.

After going to bed at sunrise one would think that waking up at 9-10 is normal since we had done just that the day before but today after walking downstairs and starting to order breakfast the waitress showed us it was 330. In the afternoon. So that's why i don't have a hangover, hmm. A few short talks and a walk around later Steve and john are off to the bus to go to Krabi and i have a walk back and look at a 6 story high class mall, some super sweet weekend market, and elephants walking down the street. Fed him bamboo or something for only 10B, really good deal to me for one on one time with the guy. Made the 5 mile walk back and had an easy night w/ dinner, finding an alarm clock, and a few beers at the local bar. Went to bed about 12 which was still a mistake since i couldn't sleep past 5 because of all the sleep the day before. Got up and walked around before people were up and it was a completely different scene. Met Jo at the airport, hung out for the day, drank some tea, and headed out on the night bus at 6p.

Night bus was sweet with multiple stops to feed you at odd times and smoke breaks for the drivers and passengers. Wasn't too bad though just tired by the time we got the ferry to Rai Leh Beach where Esto and John had ended up. Lucky after being soaked by waves on the long tail boat ride over Esto was there with a whistle and to point us in the right direction to Viewpoint Resort. The place was a beaut and included a pool. This town looked pretty darn cool but not before brekky and a nap.

We are awesome

Hey guys i know it's been quite some time since i have written in this space but feeling compelled to write when there is nothing exciting to write just really doesnt do it for me. Sorry. I'm sure you all care.

Well if you havent heard i am studying in China this summer through Pierce Law School which is some IP school in NH. Pretty cool i'd say but it may just be more of an excuse to travel. Fine by me. Well I will be studying starting the 16th of June, or maybe the 14th, or 12th, who knows. At any rate I decided to come on over a little early and get a little time on the beach and see a little bit of the world that havent previously seen. Pretty cool idea huh? Yeah, so i talked my little bro into coming with me to Thailand for a few weeks before he goes to Augusta to write for the paper and i go back to school to become the world's greatest international intellectual property expert. Yes, that's my aim. And he in turn talked his roommate/friend into coming too. My friend Jo from England will also be along on the adventure and she is getting here tomorrow, which would be Monday (haven't quite figured out time differences yet and i think i may be a day ahead of you guys back in the states, but not really sure). So that's our crew for Thailand and we should have some good times, and make some good stories. Well we already have actually...

First, I had a day to myself in Seoul since my pops got the ticket for me through frequent flier miles i had quite a route and quite a few layovers. I left wednesday night at 8 and Steve and John left the following day at 1pm and we were to be on the same flight from Seoul to Bangkok. Needless to say they didn't make the flight and I was alone again (lyrics?). Yeah, but back to Seoul. I get there at 630a after a 12 or so hour flight from LA which wasn't so bad except for the fact that we didn't have our own TVs and not that i would have watched the movies anyway because i was quite tired and they were in Korean but i would of liked to have that option. Anyway, flight was ok but no free liquor so i had to go old school and just try to sleep on a plane substance free. I did a pretty good job with the use of the sleep mask but when they serve you dinner when after you takeoff at 1am and then breakfast a few hours later and then you magically arrive somewhere completely new and it's morning still (630am) you kind of wonder what the hell happened. Maybe it's just me but losing a day of your life going somewhere may not be worth it.

Flying into Seoul is way rad. The airport is high tech and looks kind of like a cockroach or something. They have Hyundais everywhere but nobody seemed to know what i was saying when i told them that we (Georgians) just got a Hyundai factory in ATL. Oh well, if they knew they would think it was cool i'm sure. The airport is about an hour outside of the city and on the busride in i saw rice paddys (is that what a rice field is called, please get back to me on that) and tons of really tall apartment buildings. I got in the city about 8am before anything opened and started walking around and since almost nobody knew english and i hate to say that my korean isn't great there were problems. Well, not problems just didn't know where to go, what to see, etc. So i walked. And walked.

What i saw was a city that has a cool world cup stadium, old palaces, a few pagodas, an art/antique district, and lots of pollution. Good day, saw the oldest palace in Cora (who i told a girl who surveyed me was going to win this summer), a cool park with the oldest pagoda ever (1400 i think, who the hell knows if that's really old though, especially in the scheme of things, ya know?), and a bunch of shops. Ended up not buying anything and still spending like 20,000 Won. What up with that? Had a good lunch of beef soup w/ noodles and stuff and was pleasantly surprised not only with it but with the array of kim chis that they gave me, and refilled free of charge. The fav one was a bit like seaweed salad w/ sesame. Also got salad and rice and all kinds of stuff for 5000, pretty good deal i think. Got back to the airport after reading in a coffee shop for a spell and found out the ATL flight that steve-o and john were on was late and they wouldn't be making it. I got into Bangkok about 9p and found out they were on the flight to get in at 12a so i decided to wait for those kids bc i didnt want to split up so early. They got in late and took forever in customs so about 130 they saunter out and turn in circles and don't see me but luckily i am flight of foot and made it to them before the left. We got a cab and 45 minutes later we were in backpacker paradise on Khao San Road. No place to stay and not knowing where anything was. Luckily it worked out because we are awesome.