Northern Thailand: November 11 - November 26 / October 15 - November 10 /

November 10 2009 -Eric: More videos! Still all out of order! First up a video of Nang Rong and the exploring we did in the area, then a video of a McDonalds we ate at in Bangkok followed by some flusing. We're back in Bangkok to get our visas extended, which we got done yesterday! Headed south to Petchaburi today!







November 8 2009 -Eric: Ok, these videos are getting really out of order from how they are shot, but that's how it is when you're rolling on unstable internets. A few new videos, one of our first day in the amazing Mae Hong Son, then part two of the previous Mae Hong Son video which is followed by Kyde's piglet encounter! Currently we are back in Bangkok for a couple of days to extend out visas...it's really weird how Bangkok feels like "home" to us now.







November 3 2009 -Eric: Two new videos, one is the first half of a brilliant day we spent exploring around Mae Hong Son and the second is a bit of a market here in Chiang Mai. We are getting ready to get on a 12 hour bus ride this evening! Hooray!





October 31 2009 -Eric: Here's a video showcasing one of our favorite places to stay so far!



October 29 2009 -Eric: OK! New videos! One is from October 18th in Ayutthaya, we somehow uploaded it a while ago but did not manage to put it on the site until now. The other two are from Chiang Mai!







October 28 2009 -Eric: Ok, got two more videos up! The first video has some really stunning wat footage. Just an unreal experience, I wish you all could have seen it in person. The second is the best bus ride ever.





October 27 2009 -Eric: The internet is still being difficult, but here's two more videos. We have like 6 or 7 to upload though! First one is from out guesthouse in Ayutthaya to give you an idea on what types of places we are staying, the second is from our visit to the "famouse" Death Railway Bridge right outside of Kanchanaburi - it is featured in the old film and novel "The Bridge on the River Kwai." Tomorrow we are on our way to Mae Hong Son to check out the higher mountains, we're excited.





October 25 2009 - Eric: Ok, internet has been hard to come by for video uploading, but I've managed to get a few up. These were shot on the 15th, 16th and 17th in Ayutthaya (eye-you-tye-ya), which seems like a million years ago now that we are so far from there now. More videos should come along, but here we go!









October 15 2009 - Kyde: Our first day in Ayutthaya has been a mixture of amazing and complicated. We took the train here, an hour long ride, at 28 baht for the both of us. We got confused about where to get off, but many people helped us out. We took a 3 minute walk and managed to get a hotel room. We checked it out and it looked pretty good. The rental guy had some good trivia about the states, weird but fun! Can you name 4 states that begin and end with the same letter?

We were off on a ferry to spend the afternoon in the city. First off, I managed to make a curry and slurpee mistake. Having just been sick for 3 straight days, I realized how fragile my stomach is. I did some step-sitting until my stomach figured itself out.

Setting my eyes on the ruins for the first time was incredible. It instantly made you feel ancient, like you had managed to time travel even though you still need to watch for motorcycles while crossing the streets.



They got even better when sun goes down.



Things seemed to get a little complicated as we made our way back to our hotel. We realized it was probably too late for the ferries to be running, so we had noted a bridge on the map. The bridge turned out to be a freeway and when it's the only way you've got to get to your stuff... you get movin'! We found where the freeway met the ground on our side and saw there was ample room for us to walk on the shoulder. I still have not figured out if the motorcycles were actually supposed to be on the shoulder, but we got a good number of honks and a couple zoomed past us and resumed riding on the shoulder. The bridge was atleast 30 feet off the water and it was about a half mile walk til we were close enough to the ground to get off.

Our guidebook had mentioned there are packs of dogs here and a direct quote advises you to "avoid eye contact and keep your distance as some will bite if you get too close." WTF! So, almost every dog we saw got us in a little bit of a panic. One dog actually came up agressively and sniffed Eric, but that was all. The 40 other dogs (lots of strays here) didn't care about us one bit.

We had been walking since about 3 PM with a few stops, so we were pretty exhausted. Seeing our place was wonderful. We were ready to go in and turn on our fan and just relax for a couple hours. Upon entering, I asked the guy who set us up with the room if it was okay to take a shower, I didn't want to wake anyone. In a drunken stuper he told me it was fine and asked "You stay here?" He had no idea who we were! It's fine if we wants to get hammered, we've got a room and that's all that matters. Until we realize our room has been drawing hundreds bugs since dusk because the light he left on! We tried to deal with it by taking the pillows/sheet and shaking them off. Moments after returning the bedding the bug were back.

So, we're not happy with our situation. Eric and I don't want to sleep in a steamy room with a million bugs sticking to our bodies and faces. Eric goes and get the guy (remember he's drunk). We show him the flies and he says "it's nothing." We explain we've tried to clean them up and they just come back. He said they won't hurt you and when you turn off the light they will go outside. So, we turn off the light and head to another hotel to see if we can get a room. Fuck this place!

There is seriously a place next door which a book promotes. We find it and there is no sign of life whatsoever. We're both pretty bummed and thankfully two tourists walk down the alley. They told us they are staying there and what the rent was. It was reasonable. So we ask to see what they have. It's a small amount more, much cleaner, has A/C and a river view! We might be idiots for not walking far enough! We tell the lady we'll be back in 5 minutes.

We head to the drunk hotel and get our bags. Again, fuck this place! We leave and the hotel guys wife starts yelling for him. We get our shoes on and bolt in the night. Felt pretty good. No, we didn't get our money back, but do you wanna ask for your money back from a guy who is super drunk and doesn't speak your language (as well as he did before we was drinking)? I don't either!

Next Page: Bangkok Sept 28 - oct 23