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

I’m saving all my words for Vietnam so no greeting this time. It’s going to be very hard to describe all 3 weeks we spent in Vietnam in one short email, but I’m giving it a shot (if anyone values brief communication, it’s me). Although we stayed at seven very unique places (Hanoi, Halong Bay, Sapa, Hue, Hoi An, Na Trang, Saigon) I definitely see general themes and characteristics that ring true for Vietnam as an entire country. These include 1.Insane/Incredible Traffic; 2.Karaoke; 3.Interesting Food; 4.Unique Transport; 5.Football (soccer); 6.Contrast.


1.Traffic – I know why they don’t shoot car chase scenes in Hanoi, because it would be pretty uneventful when the hero crosses to the wrong side of the road weaving through cars going the wrong direction and pulls up on a family of 3 on a scooter doing the same exact thing while transporting their chickens to the day market. Traffic in Vietnam mirrors the ocean where the whales (buses) and big fish (cars) cruise along without a worry while all the minnows (motorbikes) jock for every square inch of space and dip a dodge their way to their destination.


2.Karaoke – Vietnamese love karaoke and will always invite you to enjoy these private rooms of bad singing, fruit plates (sometimes flying), and endless snacks and drinks.


3.Food – If it is alive, it can be eaten in Vietnam (with one exception, human), and the more obscure the more of a delicacy it is. I’m very proud of our American stomachs (and tongues!) through everyone of these cultural delights/fear factor challenges.


4.Transport – woven boats the shape of a rice bowl, bicycle and human rickshaws, tuk tuks, 3 person bicycles. They’re all fun


5.Football – this sport is everywhere (except America), especially Vietnam.


6.Contrast – contrast is seen in Vietnam on so many levels. The people have a huge contrast in personality between their tough-negotiating, thick-skinned business owner/vendor vs. their warm, welcoming, friends as family hospitality shown to outsiders who are willing to connect. The country is a great contrast between old world tradition, craftsmanship, and practice vs. new generation modernization, tourism, and technology. If I give more examples, I’ll have to make a sublist in this list which would just be confusing so on to the pictures:


North Vietnam with our crew of 5.

South Vietnam with the remaining 3 munchskateers.





Cambodia will be coming soon! Until then, eat something crazy…


Love and Wahoo’s fish sandwiches,


Tyler

Text-based Travel Mates,


Indonesia part 2, so much to write about…All I can write to (re)introduce this place is…wow, this country really has a place in my heart/mind/future.


After the boat trip, us “Colorado Boyz” returned with the rest of the STN crew to Kuta Beach, Bali. Kuta is the biggest tourist town in Bali and amidst the chaos of scooters, surfers, tourists, and American restaurant chains (Pizza Hut, Hard Rock Café, McDonalds), Kuta felt like home. This homeliness was largely based on the relationships with local people that were built through consistent interaction including: morning fruit purchases of Mangosteen and Passionfruit (Pudu and Pudri), surf hoots and hollers followed by soccer kickaround sessions, bizaar/fun/loving/smartass comments to local vendors, and chickenfighting/airplane/jungle gym/wrestle sessions with local rascalmonkey kids. Kuta highlights include:


* Circus on The Beach night that included a 5 level human pyramid that consequently inspired a $5, 1.5 hour, full body massage


* STN banquet with local cuisine, friendly guests, and Balinese dancers how loved to pose for 2+ hours of photos with kooky surfer tourists


* Day trip to Ubud monkey temple, where Kevin “young hercules” Sweeny got his bag of 30 Bananas snatched by a 2.5 foot tall 35 pound toothy snarly gremlin (a mere 2 minutes after purchasing them outside the temple) to which he responded in pure fear and prancing excitement


* Incredible 5 star, $8 dinners at TJ’s Mexican food and The Balcony where favorite dishes were sampled, loved, shared, and repeated following nights…Chili’s eat your heart out (and then charge me $15).


* Scooter chaos: picture thousands of people playing a game of transportation charades, who have just pulled the action card of “fish swimming through a tunnel”


You have now earned the right to look at our pictures from Kuta, thanks for reading!

From Kuta, 8 of us stragglers stayed in Bali while our friends returned to Hawaii, Sweden, Bangladesh, California, and Florida. We decided to take our show on the road and head to Uluwatu (30 minutes south of Kuta), soon to be known as Paradise or Shangri-La or El Dorado or Nirvana or Heaven (depending on your religion/ethinic background/cultural upbringing/sensitivity level). All of you who weren’t completely offended and are actually still reading, Uluwatu is indescribable, it is __________.


We stayed at a homestay called Thomas’ that fed us meals of our choosing and gave us a temporary palace (without a/c, or warm water) overlooking completely transparent water, 3 world-class surf breaks (Uluwatu, Pedang Pedang, and Bingin), and a local laidback vibe where worries (and Blackberries) have never existed. At night, this view lost nothing with an unadultured night sky mirrored by hundreds of gleaming fishing boats, and our lovely addition of night-time festivites that included: a guitar and water jug jam session, freestyle battle, freestyle game of “Sit Down!”, and of course the game of Farkle.


That should be enough to introduce these photos, please enjoy (if you don’t you should probably go to the doctor)


Colorado Island Boyz,
Tyler, Ryan, and Jason

Patient friends,


So much has happened in the last three weeks that I’ll be writing about Indonesia in 2 doses (just to keep you wanting a bit more after this email). The first portion of our trip was spent with Surfing the Nations, a humanitarian Christian organization based on the North Shore of Oahu Hawaii. To learn more check em out at www.SurfingTheNations.com, they are a group of truly amazing people with a very unique perspective and purpose (that’s my plug).


Jason and I started our journey from Kuala Lumpur to Bali with a delayed Air Asia (yuck!) flight and late arrival to Bali (10pm). We followed Ryan’s prescriptive directions , and arrived to his welcoming screams, hoots, and hollers of joy to finally have his travel companions join him, rather than follow in his footsteps (if this sentence doesn’t make sense please read the last post where Jason and I missed our Australia flight and subsequent Kuala Lumpur arrival to meet Ryan).


The details of the STN boat trip were vague so we set off with what little knowledge we had; a street name “Poppies One” and the name of the hotel “Ayu Beach” that the STN crew MIGHT be staying at. After a good hour and a half of Indonesian scavenger hunting, which included the random yelling of our contact’s names “Chris Rehrer! Tom Bauer!”, we stumbled upon our 4th hotel of the night to be greeted by Tom Bauer (picture a flowing white haired Moses in boardshorts). Upon our late arrival we were welcomed as one of the family and informed that the boat trip was leaving the next morning at 7am; what a close call, whew!


The Surfing the Nations group was comprised of charging Hawaiian loc dogs (shoots!), crazy fun and hilarious Swedes, smiling and occasionally biting Bangladesh boys, laidback Californians, eager Floridans who only know how to surf Hurricanes, and us landlocked “Colorado Boyz”. The group was about 50 people distributed between 4 boats, where you live/play/eat/sleep/dance/jazzercise/jam session/scope/swim/and overall enjoy the paradise that Indonesia so naturally provides. Our boat was the guys boat, rightfully named the Coconut Boat. Through the seven days there were many activities, places, and events that can be much more efficiently addressed in a list so enjoy my efficiency/laziness as I number the days:


1: Leave in afternoon, go to nearby island Noosa Lombongan and surf Shipwrecks at sunset, learn to jump off boat with surfboard and catch first wave in Indonesia a 3-4 foot mellow and peeling right, “Welcome to Indo”


2:Arrive in Lombok and surf Desert Point which is small and full of longboarders and party waves. Evening jam session with Jason, Ryan, and myself including reggae riffs on the guitar and freestyle lyrics. Including a fiberglass boat roof that imposed an uncomfortable late night itch followed by a 3am shower.


3:Lombok in morning with bigger surf at Desert Point, tiring swims in the ripping current to access flips and backflops off of our neighboring boat. Gili Island in the afternoon which included soccer with the local kids and walking the island with a couple of them (Harry, Danny “ladies man”, and Johnny) who scaled 30 ft coconut trees for us to enjoy as a refreshing beverage to compliment our island sunset; I really wish I had a camera for this moment (this is what traveling is all about, enjoying the locals lifestyle and connecting with people)


4: Sumbawa Island where we cliffed jumped in beautiful Yoyo’s cove and I performed my 2nd wonderful backflop off a rather high cliff. I was a little out of it for the rest of this day while we sailed to Scar Reef, but do remember night time when the always optimistic and radical Alan found an 8 foot poisonous sea snake in his bed. Upon our discovery and congegration, our boat’s noise was overcome by the sound of roman candles firing double-fisted off a neighboring boat, which was reprimanded by the 3rd of 8 shots and was followed with the phrase “I can’t stop em, I can’t stop em” (hilarious, thanks Tyler Bitner). Ryan also happened to comment that the surf had been so mellow and relaxing that STN should be Stoneskipping the Nations.


5: Swell hits Scar Reef and turns on a wave machine that produces constant lines of 14-18 foot reeling and hollow “bombs” that you could easily drive a VW bug through. It was amazing to witness these waves and the crazies that tamed them it; this was also a full celebration of Jason’s 23rd birthday which also included a baby bird feeding of Chris Rehrer and a reggae dub man-choir version of happy birthday that Jason called “my best happy birthday song ever!”


6: Scar Reef is still pumping in the morning and I decided to muster the courage and commitment to charge after one of these monsters. After much contemplation I dropped in on a solid 10-12 foot set wave, planted my feet while racing down the face of the wave, and was suddenly “closed out” on my bottom turn and instantly thrown into the most powerful whitewash I’ve experienced (like an American 110volt washing machine plugged into a 240volt international plug and set on the “angry” setting). After multiple flips, spins, and the powerful muffled roar I found myself inside for 5 more set waves, sitting a mere foot above jagged reef, humbled and powered by the comradery that Chris was also stuck inside with me (misery definitely loves company, which also suppresses the onset of panic). It was a great event and intense experience and in the words of Chris, “awesome” (no he’s not a sadist, it truly was amazing to experience, although I’d rather make the wave and not do it again).


7: Commute back to our port and enjoy the rolling ocean and times shared through music, surfing, soccer, hanging with locals, and living life to the fullest.


I’m getting too wordy with this email and will now direct you to the pictures; or if you’re like me, you scanned this email, realized it’s long and you’ll read it later (which you won’t) and will go straight to the photos below.


We are alive (fully) and breathing (sometimes underwater). Thanks for caring,


Tyler, Jason, and Ryan (our latest addition, aka. “Newbie, New Guy, and Wolfie”, honestly he’s never known by any of those names)


SAME PICS AS BELOW/BEFORE