Jackass, Mama and Mushroom Shakes

My days are slipping away from me as I realize that I have been here a whole month! I am still on Ko Phangan and if I hadn’t already booked my ticket to continue on to New Zealand, I probably wouldn’t leave this place. I am having a terrific time.

The best thing about traveling, to me - are the people that you meet. And this trip has been full of people from all over the world that I am getting a chance to meet and spend time with. I have hung out with some cool American guys who gave me an interesting perspective on their country. Hanging out with them gave me a recharge at a really important time. I was feeling homesick and wanting to go home. Hearing them banter between one another made me think of everyone at home and how everyone was so excited about this trip for me. So I will continue on…..

I am still hanging out with Chris from Surrey and his girlfriend Lucia, and her friend Leyna, have arrived. It has added some fun into the day as now there are more of us to hangout with.




Gizmo and Lidia, from Spain, are still here and the more I get to know them, I figure they are the sweetest people I have met so far.





We went on a snorkeling trip recently and I got reacquainted with a guy I met here last year, Geoff. Turns out he returns to Ko Phangan annually as well. This guy is a true jewel. I also met Michael who is from Denmark as well as some ladies from the States. Michael has turned out to be a riot. He is open about so many things and just generally a good guy to have around. Michael, Jen (American chick) and I, had a fantastic evening of mushroom shakes and whiskey buckets. Then having Geoff meet up with us later to close out the evening was a memorable night on KPG for me so far.




I also have 2 stray dogs that have adopted my bungalow and me. One is a cute white little puppy that looks about 12 weeks old and the other is his mom. Both follow me everywhere and have even taken to swimming with me when I am on the beach. They are adorable. I call the white one “Jackass” because he is trouble at the best of times and his mom is “Mama”. I know, not very original but she was named by another bungalow and I also found out it is the Thai word for dog. The thing I like best about these dogs is that I get the benefits of having a dog - their love and faithfulness, without having to clean up after them or worry about taking responsibility when Jackass goes garbage diving.

So what is coming up that I can tell you about??? I have some diving trips planned, a couple of birthday bashes and a party at a beach bar that will have some killer fireworks put on by some guys I know. Exciting times ahead for sure!

Hope you are all well and having fun. Sandy kisses from Haad Yao….

Paradise found!

I have finally made it to paradise. After a long train ride and 3 hour ferry ride, I arrived onto Ko Phangan. I met a boy form France named Thomas and he is hitchhiking around the world. He has already been to 12 different countries and 4 continenents. We shared a bungalow at my favorite place Haad Yao Bungalows and we have settled in quite nicely into the lazy routine of the islands. Sandy and Lyle found an inexpensive resort with pool just down the beach and they love what Ko Phangan has to offer. I wish that I could tell you about an amazing assortment of adventures so far, but honestly my days have consisted of sleeping, swimming, eating and repeat. The thing I like about this particular beach is that not only is it one of the nicest beaches on this island, but it’s family orientated and people tend to stay here a while. At my bungalows, I see the same families who stay quite a while here again and it’s nice to see them again. I am hanging out right now with a couple from Spain who are here for 2 months and a guy from Surrey who is planning on staying here for a while as well. Once you get down this way, it’s easy to just end up chilling for weeks on end. This beach does have it all though, great snorkeling, a variety of restaurants and there are a handful of pubs and bars that have “parties” on any given night of the week. There is no reason to leave here. It’s going to awfully hard to pry me away from my hammock in a couple of weeks when I have to head to New Zealand.

Lyle, Sandy and I heard about this food festival they were having in the main town of the island called Thong Sala. It’s a 4-day Buddhist holiday so we went to check it out. I have to say that I was very surprised at what we saw. There was a stage set up with live Thai entertainment and all around it was vendor after vendor of Thai food I have never seen before. And the seafood was amazing! We just picked up plates of steamed prawns for $1.50 . It just didn’t seem to end. It really was an excellent way of once again sampling the variety of food Thailand has to offer. I need to mark it down on a calendar for next year!















Anyone who has been to Ko Phangan is aware that other than the taxis (which really is a big open van) the preferred method of transportation by the locals and tourists are the motorbikes that you can rent for $6 a day. And if you have ever been here, you also know that the island has steep hills over most of KPG and that it is dangerous for people who aren’t familiar with the roads or rising a bike. There is something called the Ko Phangan tattoo that you seen on a lot of people which is essentially road rash from a bike accident. I can say that it is more likely that you will see that on the beach than ugly Europeans bathing topless. It really is horrendous and Chris, the guy from Surrey, is lucky to be alive from such an accident. It can certainly put a damper on your holidays as you can’t swim for at least a week and it easily gets infected because of the humidity. On another note, what also surprised me were the ages of the kids riding motorbikes as well. They barely looked old enough to reach the pedals let alone drive their own bike.

Anyways, that’s all for now. It’s getting hot out and I need to get out and enjoy some of this lovely sunshine. Love the emails that I get from all of you. Kisses, Merie.

Going South....

When they mean no frills, they mean it. Lyle, Sandy and I left Chiang Mai on one of their budget airlines names Nok Air. For about $65 we were able to fly 1.5 hours to Bangkok. The agent that sold us the ticket said that all they can guarantee is that it is cheap and safe. That freaked us out a little as we didn’t want to take a flight that may be cancelled and for some reason we weren’t so certain that it was going to fly. They were 2 hours late and changed our terminal. When we actually were boarding, I was amused that the company has a bird for it’s mascot and that the nose of the plane had a huge painted on beak. The stewardess’s were dressed in these cute outfits that looked like we were going out to space and not to Bangkok. I wonder where I can get my hands on one of those?

The new airport is actually one of the nicest that I have seen. It’s all glassed in with all these crazy angles and beautiful flora in the centre. I would have thought we were in a solarium and not an airport. Back to the big city of anything goes. Were here for a few days to sort out our next place. Incidentally, I was able to book my flight to New Zealand. And also my trip to Disneyland! Whoohooo! Sandy and Lyle have decided to fly to Surat Thani and take a ferry over to Ko Phangan and I will take a sleeper train down and meet them the next day. Seeing as I am here longer than they are, and I actually like the train, I figured it was best to just meet in paradise. If only those toilets improved though….

Anyways, just a quickie and some more pics. I am behind on posting this and I am actually already working on my next post. Here are some pics I got off someone from Surrey I met named Chris. This was what he saw in Bangkok....

Hope you are all well!

We'll always have Chiang Mai!

Chiang Mai. >SIGH< What can be said about this city? If I wasn’t so relaxed I could probably think up scores of things, but really, I can’t. I am in the northern part of Thailand where the pace is a lot slower than Bangkok and it is teeming with amazing food and culture. This is normally where travelers go for treks, cooking and language courses, etc… I love coming here. The climate is agreeable. It’s like an early summer day and it’s not humid. And what I like is it that Chiang Mai has all these wonderful little alleys or soi’s where most people just wander thorough. I can honestly say that most of my time spent has just been walking through the neighborhoods and staring at the locals. I am such a tourist!














And if you haven’t heard enough about the food I have been eating… there is more! The great thing about up here in Chiang Mai is that they focus more on natural, whole foods. Like Thai food isn’t already fresh and amazing! It seems like everyone is more focused on healthier living. There are a few herbal steam houses, a lot of yoga studios and places where one can take a retreat. And I am going to have to say that this is the first year that I have noticed the abundance of hippies that have made their way here. Sure, who doesn’t love a great hippy now and then, but I am shocked by how many have come here. Now that I think about it, how do thy travel? I’ve never seen one at an airport? Back home, they hitch hike everywhere or drive old vans. I had no idea that hippies to travel internationally. There are a lot of them that transform over night from Ko San Road, with their newly dreaded hair and cheap new digs, but where have all these other ones come from? Do they dress up a little before they get on a plane?

Something interesting about Chiang Mai is that they have literally built on top of their original city that is hundreds of years old. Everywhere you go, you notice these brick ruins or a crumbling Chedi or Wat. It’s a little bizarre, but atleast they haven’t plowed down their heritage sites for a …. McDonald’s.



















I have fallen into a routine here in Chiang Mai. Morning breakkie at Nice Kitchen, walk, massage, walk through market, shopping, and then before bed herbal steam. Nothing too exciting to write about. Lyle and Sandy have been doing the touristy things during the day and having a fantastic time. So far, they’ve done a trek where they got to ride elephants, a cooking course and they have also gone to the flower exposition at the Royal Winter home. I have just been walking through the city and feeling like a local. One day though I did get lost and I was rescued by these old women from Germany who were coming back from a dog show. They were dog lovers that rescue the stray dogs and steralise them. Thailand has a huge stray cat and dog problem and because they are Buddhist, they just let them wander everywhere. In some parts it can be annoying as the dogs like to travel in packs. It breaks my heart to see all the kitties roaming the streets going through all the garbage. Leo and Subee have it so good! So, these old ladies were in the back of a truck with all these dogs and bags of rice etc… I just climbed on in and they spent the afternoon showing me around and chatting with me. Sometimes, you just have to be open to any experience that comes your way.




I have also had a fantastic few days with this rock star guy from South Africa who had a lot to tell me about what the gay steam baths are like here in Thailand. And after an amazing Italian dinner and horribly strong cocktails at a Thai reggae bar, I lost him forever to the Go-Go bars of Chiang Mai. Charlie! Where have you gone!?! We'll always have Chiang Mai...



So there you have it, my Chiang Mai experience in one post. We are heading down South soon for some beaches and diving. I hoe you are all doing well. I have added some pics of the markets as well just below. I could spend all day looking at all their different fruits and vegetable displays. I love hearing from all of you. Can you believe it's been 2 weeks? I thought it had only been a week. Where is the time going?

Kisses, M.