Phuket

There's nothing like "Wingin' it" in a foreign country where you barely speak the language... We booked our tickets and flew from Chiang Mai to Phuket. Other than the flight, we knew nothing. No idea where to go, where to sleep, what to do... while a little scary, it was empowering to get off the plane and think "ok, so now what? guess we will figure it out..." All i knew was my friend Sheridan that we were supposed to meet up with took a cab 45 minutes south of the airport. No idea of the town, hotel... nothing. So we caught a mini-mus to Patong which is 45 minutes south, and crossed our fingers.
Patong has a thriving night life full of bars, drunk foreigners, late night shops and massage parlors the size of a shoe box, and miles of tuk-tuk (cab) drivers lining the streets trying to get you to take a ride.
Lesson number 1: Dont be afraid to negotiate.
Nothing has a set price accept for bars... everything is negotiable. And the starting price is usually double or triple of the lowest price they will take. Of course, the price is so cheap compared to the States, you almost feel bad negotiating... but dont. As soon as they see you as a "tourist" they are taking you for a sucker. At least in these tourist areas they speak some English...
The beach was narrow and littered with trash, but the temperature was warm in the no-wave ocean. The water just lapped the shore, occasionaly beaching a beer bottle or cigarette butt. With no word from Sheridan, we decided in the morning to head to another beach town and try to find the "Paradise" everyone talks about when mentioning Thailand Beaches. Of course, what we found next made Patong look like a sanctuary...
We took a taxi for an hour to Phuket City to catch the 3:00 ferry to Ko Phi Phi. The ferry ride was 2 hours and beautiful the entire way. Islands pop up out of no where, with high steep cliffs and no beaches to go ashore. Most are uninhabited by humans simply because there is no way onto them. The land forms are crazy and steep, and it is hard to imagine how they formed in the first place. With high hopes to see Ko Phi Phi, the place they filmed Leonardo Dicaprio's movie "The Beach", we excitingly awaited our arrival... Too bad it was nothing like the movie. Ko Phi Phi is actually two islands. The larger is Phi Phi Don, where the ferry drops you off, and the smaller that the movie was filmed is Phi Phi Lay. However, the later is only visited by a tour boat and there are no hotels or town to stay in. Looks like we are staying in Phi Phi Don then...
Lesson number 2: dont ever pay for a room before seeing the place and the surrounding area.
At the end of the dock the ferry drops you off at are several "travel agents" and stands waiting to convince you to stay in one of their many offered hotels and guest houses. The walls are covered with pictures of the rooms in each hotel offered, along with a star on a map to show its location in this small beach town. Once you find one you like, or think you will like anyway, you pay the travel agent and someone comes to take you and your luggage to the hotel. We chose a bungalo with a "3 minute" walk to the beach. However, they never said how long it would take to walk there from the dock... or mention having to walk through the slum-like section of this shanty little town. The further we walked, the more disappointed we got. The streets are narrow and full of stray animals, young Thai children running around barefoot and Europeans on vacation. There are no cars, only Asians on bikes nearly running you over.
Once walking beyond row after row of bars, internet cafes, tattoo shops, and message parlors, the land opened to a smelly field with a stagnet stream and trash as far as the eye could see. This is Paradise? WTF just happened? We get to our grungy bungalo and headed to the beach in hopes it would somehow be spectacular enough to make up for our first impression of Ko Phi Phi... no such luck. It must have been low tide because the water was shallow for hundred of yards, and foamy from filth and barely moving ocean. I wouldnt even put my pinky toe in that water and was amazed as the number of foreigners frolacking about. We attempted to eat at the "Paradise Beach Resort" but had to use one hand while the other shooed away the flies. Talk about false advertising.
It only took 25 minutes of walking the town to be fearful we could get malaria or hepatitis just being there. The actual risk was probably way less than we were imagining, but the fear was enough to keep us locked up in our shady bungalo watching whatever cheezy movie was on the 1 channel in English for the rest of the night. Why the hell did we spend all this money and travel this far to stay in our rooms all night? I went out solo to get water and was told by a British guy that, "you bloody Americans have too high of standards. Go to India and see dead people on the street, then you'll see that this place is Paradise." Wow. No thank you.
And yes, maybe as American we do have too high of standards after being spoiled our whole lives, sheltered and blinded from the "real world." And I get this, but is it too much to ask to walk 10 feet without seeing trash and decomposing food lining the streets in a place refered to as "Paradise"? I realized this entire region is more litered than most because there are no trash cans in sight. There must not be a trash service like America's "Waste management" so everyones throws it on the ground. It started to look like this island had never recovered from the Tsunami and people were too drunk to care. I was more than relieved when I finally received an email from Sheridan with his location and an invitation to spend the night aboard the 130 foot sailboat he'll be working on for the next 7 months.
Lesson number 3: dont ever pay for more than one night at a time until you are positive you are staying
After working my magic and convincing the hotel and travel agent to give us our money back for the second night that we were not staying for, we high tailed it outta there on the 9:00 am ferry back to the mainland.
Lesson number 4: Always have sunscreen on at this latitude, even if it is 9 am.
The humidity was high; the clothes were off. 50+ sunburnt foreigners were spraweled across the ferry deck in bathing suits trying to sleep off their hangovers without melting in the heat. For someone who rarely sweats, I was dripping as if I had just gotten out of the ocean. But there was a smile on my face, trusting that Divine was sending us somewhere amazing that could revive our expensive and hellish trip thus far. This time, I was not let down...

Sohgn kran

The festival has begun. The Buddhist new year has arrived and the next 5 days are proven to be wet. It is a "cleansing" period so the streets are packed with people loaded with buckets of water. You cannot walk or even drive two feet with out getting drenched. Soaked to the bone, I smile, as it is a blessing to be hosed down in this heat. New years for them, Easter to me, today is a day of celebration. Divine leading the way with every step I take. All is well in thailand... My new home.

Arrival...

I am finally here. The land of the Thai. Humple people who are always kind and have a smile on their face. Beautiful people. Beautiful place. The energy here is peaceful and resonates deep into my soul. My purpose is not presently clear, but I know I am meant to do something here. Possibly provide medical knowledge to the hill people who do not come down from the mountain. Their dilect is different so they cannot communicate with the city folk. They grow and raise their own food and are self sustaining. Many have parished from lack of medical treatment and would benefit from even basic knowledge in this regard. Freasher water would help too. Regardless I know I am meant to help and make a difference here... Time will tell and Divine will show me the way. Of that I'm certain...

The Journey Begins...

2 flights down... 2 to go. Baltimore to Denver; Denver to LA... LA to Taiwan; Taiwan to Thailand.  24 combined hours of flying... 30 with layovers. 

An adventure at hand... a journey begins. The future unknown but experiences of a lifetime are a definite... gaining perspective.