I have been neglecting my journals lately so I figured its time to let you all in on what I have been up to! I finished my time in Cambodia with a tour of Ankor Wat and 15 other 11th century Hindu and Bhuddest temples. Ankor was amazing I got up 2 days in a row to catch the sunrise behind it, me and about 500 other Japanese and Koreans with teloscopic cameras that could probably see into space! But it was very beautiful I will put up some pics when I get to Bali!
I caught a flight from Phnom Penh to Bangkok to meet up with Jaclyn finaly! I was pretty excited so I arrived a few days earlier and got a good guesthouse with AC and a hot water shower! (I hadnt had those things for about 3 weeks). The day arrived when she was supposed to arrive and I was headding to the airport, which is like 30 Km out of the city, but I thought I would check out my email before I left! One of my better ideas, turns out her plane had problems in Vancouver leaving for Hong Kong. I called home and found out that her plane had been circling Vancouver for 2 hours and had to land finaly! They had closed bridges in Van as a precaution! She ended up arriving a day later and everything was fine!
Was so great to see her again! We toured Bangkok for 2 days, I introduced her to my new favorite food Indian cuzine, and then decided to hit the road! We caught an overnight bus down to Ko Tao, a beautifull little island in the Gulf of Thailand! Jaclyn was a bit sick on the boat over because of unusually high seas and next to no sleep! Once we got on the island and she seen the clear turqouis water and white sand she felt heaps better! We got a bamboo bungalow right on the beach which cost us a grand total of 12 dollars a night, a bit pricey but we were spoiling ourselves! I did a refresher scuba diving course to dust off the cobwebs. We really go to know each other on this Island, on account of I had a bad BBQ beef scewer one night! I havent been sick 1 day for my whole trip and it finally caught up with me! I wasent sure which end it was gonna come out for most of the night.....and the bathroom wall is only made from woven bamboo. Jackie got to hear the whole production! I really disgusted myself, but she was awsome she got me some water and crackers and took care of sick lil me the whole next day!
We went on a snorkeling trip around the island the next day and seen some amazing coral and fish! The tour guides would throw bits of bread in the water and the fish would come from come from everywhere and swarm you! We took my camera and got some amazing pictures of the tropical fish! We left the island and started over to Ko Payam...a little known island not very popular in Thailand! We showed up on the Island after a bus and boat, to be rewarded wih the most brilliant beach I have ever seen! I have seen many beaches on my travels and this one took them all! We got off the boat and loaded ourselves onto a little motor bike taxi that drove us 20min to the other side of the island, on the "highway" a small concrete path that went form one side of the island to the other! We got to the beach and I figured we would get off and walk to the bugalows, but the driver just kept rippen down the beach doging the perfectly breaking waves to our right as they washed up on the hard white sand! it was an awsome experience! There is no ATM on the island and they only turn on the power from 6pm till 11pm every night! We got to the little place we were going to stay called Bamboo Bungalows and waited to get our room. As we were sitting in awe of the beach, there was this yelling and comotion behind us, and I looked back to see our two friends Ryan and Amy from home standing behind me and Jackie! I was blown away!!!!! They had emailed me the day before telling me to have a good Christmas and that they were going snowboarding till the New Year! But infact they had booked their ticket to Thailand the same time as Jackie and had kept it a secret for 3 months! It was so crazy to see them! I couldnt believe it, they video taped as they crept up and suprised me and Jackie!
We all spent Christmas on the island surfing the waves with kayaks, which if you havent tried it is so fun, and bodyboards! We did some snorkeling and had some great meals! Was a bit different being away for Christmas but I did recieve 3 people from home for Christmas....and they say Christmas isnt about presents!
|
