heading south...

impressions of bangkok are mixed. on the one hand, it's a clean, modern, bustling city with kind people, fantastic food, and it has anything a backpacker could possibly need. on the other hand, parts of the city feel like a traveler's disneyland, with the sorts of reminders of home that make you wonder why you would travel across the globe to buy bootlegged western dvds and hear nine inch nails blaring on the streets. evidence of sex tourism is everywhere, and it's hard to hide my disgust when buses full of western men unload for a night on the town. funny story about that...ask me in person and I'll tell you. ;-)

to be fair, we didn't have the time to thoroughly explore the city; we stayed mainly along khao-san road (aka backpacker central).

...and the street food is incredible. 30 Baht ($1) will get you a steaming hot plate of noodles, chicken, and freshly chopped vegetables sauteed on the spot. yum.

after a couple of days in bangkok, the girls and i boarded a plane to phuket, the southern thai province that has some of the most beautiful beaches (the area was also one of the hardest hit the 2004 tsunami.) it's been an exciting couple of days. snorkeling, kayaking, and hiking through caves, oh my!

tomorrow i'm heading west to go scuba diving with some college classmates... here are some pics of the thai adventure so far!

Here's a picture of the route from Ko Phi Phi island (where the movie The Beach was filmed) to Au Nang beach (Krabi).

Kayaking adventure through the caves in Bor Tor, near Krabi...
action shot...


here's one of the cave paintings...pretty cool to see 2000-year old graffiti ;-)

oh yeah...and it's rainy season...monsoon boat rides are a blast...