Action In Relaxation

Fri-amly,


I’m writing as I’m leaving Southern Thailand on the airplane to Macau; while the smile is fresh on my face and my heart still has that smirk of contentment. If I were still traveling with Ryan and Jason, they’d laugh at my repetitive self and quotable phrase of, “I could live HERE”.


Southern Thailand is incredibly beautiful, and has some of the best beaches in the world (without surf). Please go there sometime in your life if you like sun/beaches/food/relaxing/islands/scuba/fresh fruit/all other likeable things that exist in this world. I’ll let the photos do most of the talking. If I have a list for Southern Thailand it’s people:


1. Lee: Emily (from my chronologically previous Indonesia & KL post *that are yet to come) and I flew directly from KL to Krabi and happened to sit with a proper-nice English gent, Lee, who had spent the previous 9 months in Ao Nang. He had recently landed a job as an underwater plant life surveyor (1 part scuba, 1 part biology, 1 part note taking, 3 parts fun) and was now moving back for at least a year. Lee and I talked the whole flight (I’m not flight talker either); and this convo eventually lead to a connection and introduction to Ismail.


2. Ismail: is an overly hospitable Moroccan soccer player with the best crackup-cackle-giggle. He ended up in Ao Nang after bouts in France, San Francisco, and Hawaii and is now established with a local wife, 2 kids, and his bungalows/touring business. Ismail booked us on trips, treated us like family, and after Emily headed home to SD from Bangkok there was only one place to go: back to Ismail’s Anawin Bungalows. (


3. Longtail Boat Crew: Captain Snoop, Dan the Man, Cokai, and the nick-name-less rest of the crew. During a 4 island tour with another finicky/gabby/uptight guide, Emily and I were totally drawn to make friends with the boat crew because 1.Emily noticed Capt Snoop’s dashing good looks; 2.I noticed how dashingly amazing it was that Capt Snoop was handling a full-size straight 6 engine with little effort on his thin frame. So we did, we became great friends; and when I later returned to Ao Nang, we shared more laughs, meals, the Liverpool victory over Man U (where they were the only locals at the Irish Rover *classic), and plenty of coffee which he kept coming as a sign of his bright personality and hospitality.


4. Olivia and Aubren: are my friends that date back to the highschool days and are now flight attendants/stewardesses/stewardii/seatbelt buckling gesturers/silver cart pushers/avionic serving engineers/whatever the pc term is, who get to fly for next to nothing and make this travel thing a career and a breeze. I’m slightly jealous, although I don’t think I’d look too good in the uniform, or would I? The four of us toured Ko Phi Phi and caught an incredible sunset via boat. They continued to tour Thailand and had a wonderful time with tigers, elephants, tuk tuks and all the fascinations Thailand has to offer (except ping pong).


5. Pad Thai crew.: Cha, Ma, Nam, and more food carters who have names like Un, Ing, Um, and Am, seriously became my sole source of food for lunch and dinner. I rotated the street-cart offerings of: BBQ chicken & corn, chicken & rice, beef & noodles soup, fruit smoothies, pancakes, mangoes and rice, and of course Pad Thai. Gritty street price for these entrée’s is typically around 40-60 baht or $1.20-$2. My frequent visits, guitar seranades, and Emily’s charm quickly established a fun friendship that later lead to betting on Premier League games, assuring other tourists of their food’s cleanliness, learning how to cook, ice creams, and business proposals from Cha who wants to come to the US and run a Pad Thai cart.


6. The footy fellas: big-whiney Drogba, quick-feet-no-teeth, the two sissy twins, clumsy tank the fullback, 1 touch skinny, the technical center mid friends, and so many more. Ismail mentioned playing soccer every day at a local “stadium”, which was a field with goals nestled in the greenery of the limestone mountains. Motivated to play some good soccer I purchased a used pair of Adidas cleats and a soccer ball for less than $40 in Bangkok. I then joined the locally committed players for some of the most physical, challenging, and technical soccer I’ve played in a while; an entertaining challenge and great fun with these guys.


Time to fill out my immigration card and health declaration.


I’ll be back in the US of A in less than a month so I can genuinely say…


I’ll see you soon,


Tyler

Dear Jane (America),


I’m breaking up with you because I have a new woman in my life, her name is Asia…


I am totally kidding and still do love you America(ns), but if Laos were a girl she’d be one of those secretly beautiful ones like the movie……….thinking………. “She’s All That” (one of those really cheesy Freddy Prince Jr. movies where he’s this stud who transforms the nerd girl into the prom queen) Anyway! Laos is Asia’s best-kept secret beauty and I would’ve never ever ever thought of visiting it (except I just did, and I’m glad I did).


I think Laos is still off our American radars as a travel destination because:


1. It is still developing and totally not a part of our first world yet


2. It doesn’t have any major natural resources that we’ve found a way to exploit (Totally Kidding about the exploit part, I’m all for industry specialization/trade creating wealth/all other global-economization-omics-etrics-ology)


3. MOST IMPORTANTLY, it is a very humble/mellow place that doesn’t boast of it’s beauty and potential tourist attractions.


To elaborate on #3, this is seen in it’s happy and laidback people, who may be selling something at the local night-market but don’t hound tourists with “You Buy! Cheap Price! etc.”, but rather sit there content and greet any interested parties with a smile and a hello “Sapaidi”; as well as in the scenery which is beautiful and tranquil but also seemingly humble with careening rivers, perfectly green and peacefully maintained rice paddies, even the egotistical cragged limestone cliffs of Vang Vieng are softened by unique and dense vegitation. Ok, I’m starting to sound like a tour book full of run-on sentences here so I’m going to get on with the happenings….


The 5 of us (Tai Lai Lai, LBJ, Swoops, iMatt, and Biceps) immigrated from Thailand to Laos via longboat over the Mekong River. From there we caught a 2 day slow-boat that stopped in Pak Beng overnight to the town of Laung Prebang. We bussed from LP to Vang Vieng and then later bussed to Laos capital Vientiene. Highlight reel:


 I found bullets that are Apple icons, iMatt would love this! (if the bullet points don’t show up right, you’re obviously not on a Mac so get hip and buy one now, after saving up for a couple years)


 Boat Trip: Playing guitar on the roof of the boat, being told to get down, acting like we didn’t understand and having our disciplinary take a group photo of us


 Pak Beng: Going to bed at 10pm when all the town’s power (that runs on generators) is shut off


 Laung Prebang: The cruiser bikes with a banana seat over the back tire and pegs. Pegs rock!


 Vang Vieng: Two-way tie, 1a.Water Cave! and 1b.Swiss Family Robinson meets Cabo spring break Swim Bars with mud-pit volleyball, 30 ft water swings, sketchy waterslides, loud music, and the ability to simply tube (or kayak) down river if you want to leave


 Vientiene: Bowling at the LBC (Laos Bowling Club); FYI: Laos people love their recreation and are often seen playing hardcore badminton (seriously, like indoor arenas for badminton serious), bowling, volleyball, and extra difficult small ball giant table billiards.


For those of you who were lazily and improperly diagnosed with ADD, and should probably just have a little more patience, the pictures are FINALLY here.


Remember, we love you all and are just as jealous of aspects of your American life as these experiences may make you (weird sentence, good luck diagramming this one).


Until next blast,


Ty, Jay, Dubs, , & Benny


Ps. I love lists (can’t you tell). Realized I can’t even journal, even though many people have recommended it for this trip, so I’ve made a bunch of lists instead. I mean really lists are much more efficient, effective, visually pleasing, reader friendly, and convey a message to a much more broad audience. Go Lists


Pps. I’m kinda feisty in this email; probably because I had a full night’s sleep last night and am writing this from a full size bed next to a giant window, instead of on a crammed/sweaty/sickening buss ride. I hope I didn’t offend anyone too bad with my crass and immature and super-awesome humor.

I’m having too much fun in Indonesia to write a thoughful/funny/time consuming email blast. I’ll write next week when we return to Malaysia. We did return from our Surfing the Nations Indonesian boat surf trip (Bali to Nusa Lembongan to Gili Island to Lombok, to Sumbawa and circling back in reverse order) safely and have posted the first set of photos. Enjoy for the time being, because this is all you’re going to get! Patience is virtue…


Off to surf,


Tyler, Jason, and Ryan (our new addition)