The pool is calling my name!

This pool is amazing. I really want to lay out today, but time is tight as its our last day here. Maybe I can squeeze in a late afternoon session?

Rest

We treated ourselves to 2 hours of pampering last night after 5 hours at MBK center. Matt got 1 hour Swedish and then 1 hour foot and head/neck/shoulders. I got 1.5 hour foot and head/neck/shoulders and a lame manicure.

Self portrait on the wall at diamond cave

Just hanging off the wall sweating noodles.

Hanging off the side of a cliff

Thought you might enjoy this one. I climbed up the rock face, anchored
in, and boldly pulled out the iPhone just to take a picture.
Thankfully I didn't drop it, otherwise there would be no more blog
posts or iPhone photos.

My recent promotion

As you may now know, I am now considered an "executive". Here I am at
my new "executive" desk with my secretary in my "executive" room.

Bangkok - a switch of pace

We finally made it to Bangkok. What a change. We went from small beach
life to big city living! Were in the executive suite in the Hilton
right on the chao praya. We have the most stunning panoramic views of
the city right out side our window on the 27th floor. Having arrived
late last night, we were hungry so we decided to go search for food.
It's quite a challenge to even begin thinking about what area to go to
in a city of 34 million people. So we ended up at the saen som night
market. Every second we are getting asked to buy someones goods or
asked to get in someones tuk tuk! It's almost stressful and
overwhelming to deal with. I much prefer the less pushy people of the
south. The city folks are like bees relentlessly swarming around you
until they get a piece of your pie. Anyway the city is nice to be in.
We love it here and are going to explore more of the areas we didn't
see on our last trip here.

MB

Time to climb

Well it's been a couple of days since my last blog. At first it's
really cool to know that you have wifi on a penninsula that is
completly run off of generators. But then you sit and think "why am I
using my vacation time to fuss around with day to day technology
nonsense, like blogging from an iPhone, when I should be climbing or
something. So the last two days have been very chill for us. We've sat
around on the beach, kayaked around the penninsula, eaten great thai
food, swam at night to see the phosphorescents glow, and well sat
around some more. We've been hanging out with our friends who live
here. We've net some cool locals and travelers. Right now as I write I
am getting tattooed traditional Thai style with bamboo. It's quite
different than the gun and autoclave method we all know in the USA.
Tomorrow Nikki and I are going climbing up at diamond cave and
possibly on tonsai. How could we pass up climbing in the most
magnificant spot? That's like not snowboarding in winter in France.
Well be in railei tip Wednesday evening tjen off to bankok. I'll try
and shoot more iPhone photos for you.

Matthew Brush -iPhone

Just arrived back in railey beach.

Check out the low tide. It's a new moon and the tide is an ultimate
low. Well be able to walk out to caves that you typically can only
kayak to. There were many boats getting stuck today

Matthew Brush -iPhone

Am solo kayak trip.

Out this morning for hours. Parked my kayak in the lake weeds and
watched langur monkeys leap from tree to tree. Quite entertaining I
must say. Thought I should it least snap an iPhone self portrait.

Paddling in khao sok national park

My friend sula.

His name is sula which means tiger in Thai (Siamese). He lives at 500
rai, the floating bungalows in khao sok national park. He was a great
eye in helping spot the monkeys. This was only caught with the iPhone
of couse, but I had a vhance to get some great portraits of him and
how other family members. This shot was this morning as I just came
back from an early am nature watch.

Snail eggs

So this was something I found facinating. The pink globs you see in
the photo are snail eggs. When kayaking through the lake you'll see
these giant freshwater snails. Some of them the size of golf balls. Go
figure, mother nature speaks in hot pink!

3 days deep in the jungle - 500 Rai

So it's been a few days since the last blog. Well that's because we
took a 2 hour bus ride north of Krabi into the national park called
Khao Sok. From there we took the most scenic one hour boat ride up
this lake surrounded by huge mountains and thick jungle. The water was
as turquoise as any cascade lake if you've ever hiked in the northern
cascades. We then ended up at the end of one of the many fingers the
lake has. From there it was an incredibly humid half hour hike
through the jungle to another high elevation lake. We then met some
thai folks who loaded up our stuff onto this flat bamboo raft with a
lawn mower engine on it. They took us up the lake a bit to these
floating bungalows nestled into the jungle mountains where these
families live. The bungalows were 8x8 in size and had a thatched floor
that felt like it would give way at any time. These families didn't
speak a word of English but they were the friendliest most hospitable
people we've ever met in our trips to Thailand. They cooked us home
made meals every day! A typical day up there would be to kayak in the
early am to watch wildlife in the jungle canopy, eat, hang out and do
nothing, eat, do nothing, then eat and go kayaking in the evening.
The wildlife sounds you here are crazy! You basically wake up to the
whole jungle shouting "good morning". It's truly the most intense
audible experience you can have in the wild. More intense than costa
rica was. I even have audio recordings that I made of the female
gibbons giving there mating calls! Daily in the morning or evening
you would watch the langur monkeys leap from tree to tree, eating
fruit. Countless bird species are active at all times of the day. We
also went on a night time jungle safari and saw a herd of Red Bull,
which are very rare. Yes it's the animal on the energy drink. It would
poor rain at night and clear up by morning. There's so much more to
tell in detail about this little adventure. Definitely visit khao
sok! No cell service, no tv, no electricity, no nothing! Just a
thatched group of floating bamboo bungalows and nature all around you.

And we're off!

Off for an adventure...we will be without contact for 2 to 3 days.

Lagoon photos

The most amazing place you'll see! But only of you can endure the challenge of getting there

The princess lagoon. So most tourists know about the beaches and where
to to and what not, but only a few know of this place and I can
promise you those who attempt to get there turn around when they see
the first vertical descent you have to do . Fortunately for us the
local who plugged us in with our house told us about it. From the
viewpoint (last post) we hiked down into the crater of the mountain.
It was like 200% humidity and the Mosquitos were feasting on our
flesh. Once Nikki and I got to the first cliff descent we looked and
pretty much said no way! I was pretty frightened by it. Sure I was
destined to get a shot of it but not with the risks of dying or
breaking a bunch of bones. If you get hurt theres no way you're gonna
get any medical care until you get to the mainland which would easily
take all day. So as we turned around this wacky german guy showed
up. He had been down there before and said he would show me the
route. I was eager to see this place so I went. Nikki went back down
to the beach. I descended three cliffs ranging from 40-70 feet. One
of them I even hadto crawl through a little hole to even get on the
cliff! It was pretty scetch but I had to see it. I got to the bottom
with all my camera gear and at first glimpse drpped my jaw. It was
like nat geo eat your heart out amazing!! Surrounded by jungle
cliffs, stucalite rock, countless caves, and this bizarre orange mud
lies an emerald green lagoon. It was unreal! The photos don't do it
justice. And boy did I have a hayday in there! The only downside to
that journey is that I have well over a hundred mosquito bites and
still counting.

Matt

Matthew Brush -iPhone

The lagoon

Our 6:30 am hike.

So last night we had an amazing dinner right on the beach. The stars
were out and it was just plain Awesomeness(if that's even a word).
Beacuse where we are staying has no power, everything is run from
generators. To conserve they shut them off at 6am. We only have fans
in our house which barely keeps us cool at night. At 6 am they shut
off the generator for 3 hours. So by 6:30 which is just at sunrise,
you'll start sweating and realize that it's time to get up. If you
don't wake up from the heat you'll only have another ten minutes
before the cicada choir starts singing in full force! And they are
obnoxiously loud, buy also very cool to listen to. So we were up. Poor
Nikki didn't want to go but I had insisted we hike up the mountain
(photo below) to catch the early light and check out the view. We
were the first tourists out for the day. The beach was quiet and the
rocks looked amazing. As we got to the start of the climb which is
literally strait up with a rope to assist you, we were surprised with
a morning monkey show. There were roughly ten lemurs bouncing around
the tree tops and putting on their version of the "hey look at me"
show. I would whistle at them and they would just stair and wag there
long furry monkey tails. Anyway we started our climb not hike. It was
surprsingly tough, though we made it up. The view was spectacular.
You can see railay beach west and east and then off in the distance
(photo left). Is ton sai beach which is where some of the world class
rock climbing is. From the top we headed back to the trail here it
forked. The sign said "lagoon". And so we started heading towards the
lagoon.

Typical evening while on vacation

As you can imagine by this photo, its almost 7PM and the sun is almost set. Matt set up shop a bit ago and I have some time to kill. Crazy to can be in such an exotic location and still blog. We have set up camp here at this amazing private property which sits right on the beach.

Sorry the photo is so lame and dark...thanks to the blackberry.

N

It's completely safe trust me

So here's something you see quite often. A family of four on a small
motorbike. And of course, no helmets.
Mom in the middle with 2 kids up front and 1 in back.

Front yard of bungalo

Bungalo

Our bungalo on railay beach

In railay

So we are now in railay beach. We met these nice folks from the states
who live here. They hooked us up with a connection to a private beach
club
On the west side. We have this awesome bungalo tucked into the trees
with a huge rockface behind us. Getting here by longtail boat is the
only way. .... And of was the most beautiful boatride. Too bad I
couldn't get any shots since the waves kept crashing over us and
getting everything wet. The wildlife noises are crazy. Cicadas, all
kinds of birds and othet bugs monkeys I'm actually siitting on by
porch waiting for some lemur monkeys to arrive. Early morning well be
hiking to a lagoon. Oh and I want to mention out room only has a
bide'. oh well we learn. Off to the beach to watch sunset.

My poor swollen feet!

Like I said..not pretty and VERY painful. Anyone who knows me knows I have pretty skinny feet...and now look. Hope the swelling is gone by tomorrow.

I can't believe we are finally here

Well, today we woke up at 7:45am. Had a pretty gross breakfast. Spent about an hour online and talking to the front desk girls about their favorite beaches. Right now we are heading into town and I'm going to buy a day backpack and a sarong. I left my sarong/scarf my mom bought me in the lounge in Singapore, after I woke up from a 10 minute power nap. Still mourning the loss of it.

In a couple hours we plan to head to koh phi phi don and going to cess out the situation. Then we'll rent a long tail and travel within and to all the beaches around phi phi. Fortunaley, we have a friend that knows some people on this island, so we are hoping to get hooked up with a place to stay and at the very least gain a lot of valuable info.

Unfortunately for me, I'm experiencing some of the worst swelling in my entire life, to the point where it is really uncomfortable to walk and even stand. When I look down, I feel like I'm staring at the feet of a 400 lb woman. They went down about 2/3 overnight, but still have a ways to go. Anyone have any tips???

Ok, signing off and heading out!
Nikki

The persistent almost stalking lady boy

So lady boy is what the locals call them. Anyone who is familiar with
Thai culture knows about the crossdressers or trannys as I call them.
So after Nikki and I enjoyed the beautiful sunset and a nice authentic
Thai dinner we opted to seek out a massage. After searching around and
finding a good place, we were instantly being sold by a deep voice
yaking Thai he/she. Boy did he have his eyes set on me. We decided to
go to another place and he/she tranny followed us!! We left the
second place and he followed us or should I say me to the third place.
I told Nikki that I wasn't letting him lay a Finger on me and that she
needs to take him of that's all we got. I was told to take off my
shirt and there he was. Nikki was like"um no he wants to have a
woman". All of the Thai massage ladies started laughing and saying "go
home lady boy, go home!!". Anyway this little homo had his eyes set in
me and must have been determined to massage me. I was terrified!! So
I ended up getti g a killer massage from a nice Thai lady named Uzi.
I'll go see her again. 1 hour of heaven for a whopping $8 on the beach
listening to the waves crash in. Phenomenal! After the massages,
Nikki and I went to a little strip where all the lady boys and hookers
hang out. What a sight to see. 70+ year old white dudes with teenage
girls. Sick! Well I got soMe photos on the other camera while hip
shooting the scene. So our first night was. Eating great Thai food
watching the sunset, riding around on a motorbike in flipflops,
running from a lady boy dying to massage me and finishing off the
night observing the lady boys and other Thai hookers in action. I'd
give the night an 8.5 simply due to the entertainment. Our kankle
ankles are slowly beginning to shrink back to normal! Tomorrow off to
am island. Not sure which one yet. That's the beauty of this place.
You don't needs any plans!

Until next time,

Matt & Nikki

Matthew Brush -iPhone

Our first night in ao nang, krabi

So we finally settled in. Right outside of our little bungalo was a
banana tree. Guess which monkey ate from the tree? Oh, and they were
delicious! So having been here before we knew that we didn't want to
rely on taxis and tuk tuks so we rented a little motorbike. Imagine
that. Me driving and Nikki hanging on for dear life on the back.
Actually she did quite well. I don't even recall her telling me to
slow down even once which was unexpected. I seriously debated bringing
my camera but then I thought. Why not. Were here and I didn't drag all
my gear out here for nothing. I opted for the camera and only one
lens. The 35. The clouds were heavy and dark and we weren't expecting
much so we went to this little outdoor beach restataunt. Yep. Thai
food for two for under $9. Before we got our food the light
dramatically changed and illuminated the sky like you wouldn't
believe. I snapped I e or two with the iPhone so I could it least
blog about it bit then I thought to myself. I have to get that shot.
There were a bunch of long tail boats in the water so I decided to go
in the 76 degree ocean and try to get an up close shot of the
longtails with the skybon the background. And I got some killer
shots! Well they coulda been better had I brought by tripod. Oh well.
So here's a glimpse of what we had dinner to obour first night! Lovin
it!

Finally in Ao Nang

After 37 hours of flying and sitting in airports, we've arrived!
Right before I took this shot we flew through some of the most amazing
cumilous cloud formations I've ever seen. They were larger than life
marshmallow popcorns with density and color. Anyway were safe and
exhausted. Both of our feet look like elephant kankles from the
extensive flying. We are staying in this cute little jungle bungalo
about 5 mins from the beach. Tomorrow it's rock climbing in railay and
then off to koh phi phi.

Now I know most of you would expect far better photos to acompany this
blog, however. I'm not traveling with my computer so I have no way to
post the good shots. I'll figure it out when I get back. For now just
enjoy the readi g and the iPhone shots!

Btw. This is our second time here and of is just amazingly beautiful.
If you ever have a chance to go to SE Asia definitely make a stop in
southern Thailand on the andaman side. Off to rent a motorbike now!

Lah gorn

Matthew

And my favorite part of the flying so far.

The auto beer pouring machine. Pouring ice cold asahi.

This is what you get in the public restrooms

Drop a duece in the hole and then....wash your hole. Trust me. I do
much better with the one-ply.

Photo: sleeping traveler

I had to be real quiet to pull this one off. I literally was hovering
over this stranger who was tucked away in a corner sleeping. The shot
was worth the effort

Boredom in the wee hours of the morning at the airport. Hmm?

Well I had plenty of time to kill all through the night which explains
me setting up this new blog. Actually it's now 7am and I realized that
I haven't slept yet. Anyway boredom will cause you to take random photos

Matthew Brush -iPhone

It's no longer called duty free

It's simplified! Dufry. Must be easier for the native people to
pronounce.

Testing mobile blog upload

Nikki and I are just sitting in the Thai airways lounge

Matthew Brush -iPhone

En Route to Krabi

So here we are on Day 2 of our trip to Southern Thailand. Nope we aren't there yet. We left Seattle on Friday the 17th at 1pm. Landed in Tokyo at 11pm (PST), which translated back to more daylight!! It was roughly 3pm Tokyo time. We endured a nice 10 hour flight and we were bumped up to Economy Plus thanks to Nikki's United Status! More legroom is always a bonus on these long flights. After wandering around the Tokyo Airport and being overwhelmed with how obsessed they are with their digital gadget culture, we decided to sit down and eat Sashimi! We then boarded the next flight which would put us where we are now. The Changi Airport in Singapore. The flight from Tokyo to Singapore was 7 hours and we got the WORST seats with the LEAST amount of legroom on the plane. It was so bad, I had to straddle the seat in front of me so my knee wouldn't get messed up. Anyway, here we are again wandering around another airport in Asia. We landed here at 1am in the morning and it's supposed to be our daytime. Yikes I'm all confused now. It's 4am while I'm writing this post at some internet terminal. I even downed an Americano at 3am because it simply felt right.

So in a few more hours we will then board the plane to fly up to Bangkok and sit in that airport for another 4 hours! And then, take our last leg of flying down to our destination, Krabi Southern Thailand. All in all, I think we've calculated that we are spending over 32 hours in and out of airports.

I promise the next post will be more exciting. Since I don't have my computer with us, we will only post when we find internet cafe's that don't charge us for wifi. You can also see photo updates on Matt's facebook page.

Matt & Nikki