Krazy Koizumi

So Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi visited the Yasukuni Shrine Monday. This controversial visit happens yearly and always causes mixed emotions. The Shrine is dedicated to the fallen soldiers of Japans previous eras including some who led and committed atrocities during the early 20th century. Check out the article and the shrines sight for a little more info and let me know what you think. Just a visit in memory of fallen soldiers or blatant disrespect to the victims or something else completely ?


http://www.yasukuni.or.jp/english/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4352130.stm

Back In the High Life Again

Well im back in the U S of A. Oh boy.

Its strange how being immersed in other cultures for jsut a short period of time will make you amazed at what you left behind. Most people have culture shock upon entry to other countries, i always seem to have it upon return to mine. Overall the trip could have been longer but was excellent none the less. I will continue the story but ill be doing it from my trusty Mac and in my spare time. Which until Oct 31 ive got a bit of. So here we go.

Ko Phi Phi was beuatiful but the vibe was lacking and there as much more to see. Originally we planned to head to Koh Sok National Park but a place called Rai Ley sounded much more appealing. We paid for a boat ticket and room at a travel agency since they had the cheapest prices.
To our suprise, not really, the longtail boat driver wanted more money cause there were not enough people to make the trip worth his wild. After about 45 minutes he found more people, but not enough, we finally got him down to only 50 baht more and we jumped it the boat. He tried to find some more people as the boat slowly drifted away form the dock without him in it! Tossing the rope to him four times he finally dragged us back in and off we went out into open ocean on a 20 foot wooden boat powered by a 4 cyclinder engine attached to a propeller. He controlled it with a piece of rope attached to the throttle. It was raining and there was a little swell which made the ride slow and interesting. The coastal views were amazing.

After about 40 minutes of ups and downs of the ocean we arrived to some mangroves and had to wade with our bags to the shore. We walked to our hotel "Diamond Cave" which was quite nice for the money had a hot shower, decent bath, 3 beds, and a TV. Not to mention the nice view of the locals houses and trash pile off our balcony. Next stop were the two killer beaches Rai Lay is known for. The first was a fifteen minute walk across to Rai Lay West which is a long white sand beach with a killer view of the surrounding islands and bay. It was a little crowded and had a few resorts on it so we headed over to Prahnang Beach with its majestic caves and isolated beach . As soon as you eneter the beach via the footpath lined with merchants you first see all the food hawkers and then a huge rock with stalagtites and a beautiful cave. The cave was fun to run around. We found some cool side caves and photo-ops.

Back to the Hotel for matinance and off we went to the Skunk Bar. We had meet a guy earlier in the day who owned this pleasant establishment and said he could offer the green we inquired about. The journey there was a 15 or 20 minute walk from our hotel through other hotels and past other bars topped off witha 5 minute walk down a dirt trial. It was proabably one of the best bars we went onthe entire trip. A typical reggea bar, but with tons of places to chill, cheap beer, and beautiful setting. Plus the ganja was easialy obtianed and you could smoke anywhere. After procuring our goods and papers we enjoyed a smoke and a drink with the owner. An awesome guy who moved form Phi Phi after the Tsunami and built the place with his own habds, which was obviuous. Deciding food was in order, we bid farewell and took the hike back to find food. Unfourntualty the food wasnt as good as it cold have been and i even got another look at it later. We hit up pretty much every bar on the Island that night, one inparticualr had a cool little reggea band but when they let to Drunken white guys come up and sing "No Woman No Cry" with a harmonica and all the good turned to bad. Already three sheets to the wind we headed back to the Skunk Bar where i smoked not one but somethign like three spliffs too many. Trying to rally Matt to go i finally stumble down the trail and took a look at just what it was i ate earlier. Yellow curry W/ some still unidentifiable vegateble. Hmm..

By the second time i woke up the next morning i realized it was going to be on of those days. I do believe we left the hotle room for One or two meals and munchies druing our HBO moviefest. Indiana Jones, Back to the Future and some other classics helped me nurse the secondof my only two hangovers of the trip. Luckily the day was not wasted due to the fact that it rained most of the day. Hard too. So i really didnt feel too bad about the lack of sun or beach in my schedule.

We decide to leave the next day but were invited to go to on a boat exursion with a guy form South Africa Matt had met one drunken morning on Phi Phi. "Meet" meaning the guy was our neighbor and at six in the mmorning Matt stumbleed up and the guy said "I thought i was fucked up until i saw you" Or something to that effect. He told us to meet himn at one while we wandered around the beaches. In the meantime Matt decided not to go. So I meet, well call him Dave, and he informs me that the other folks completely flaked so there was only three of us for the ride. Now we had to find more people. It just so happend that three girls were sitting at a table finishing lunch and Dave coerced them into fitting the the other part of the bill. We pick one of the many boat men and off we went.

The next four hours were spent cruising around 4 islands with pleasant stops and mild hikes. We simmerd, soaked and played football on uninhabited beaches. The highlight was swining in a cave off the last island. Coming back to well deserved beers. I finally went back to see Matt and brag about his missed pleaseantries over some dinner and "Nancy's". The following night was another of inhebriation minus the debauchery. The next morning we finally mustered the will to leave another paradise and find another. One more longtail and were back to Krabi. The sea was calm and ride was pleasant chatting with Jens (pronounced Yens) who would come in to the picture a month later. Until then - Z

Ph**k Phuket! Phancy Phi Phi?

Phuket Sucks! Japan Rules !


Granted Phuket is beautiful, but it just was not my scene. Bought some tickets the next day and headed off to Ko Phi Phi. One of the many islands claiming stake in the movie "The Beach". The ride over the hill to the dock was quite beautuiful, hills of green against a back drop of turquoise and jade. The boat ride was boring, hot and long although the anticipation of arriving was enough to make it exicitng. We arrived in paradise only to be greeted by swarms of touts, trying to drag us to their spot. We eventually got suckered by a guy who made us walk way to far as people were zooming by on motorbikes with sidecars as we struggled though crowdes and uphill with our guy telling us "just a little more". After what seemed like forever we ended up at a nice place but were to infatuated with the idea of beachfront property to take it. Bad move on our part. We eventually settled on what seemed liek a nice place for more money which i can safely say now was one of the worst places ive stayed in. First things first. We hit the pool and beach. Next was dinner at the Bamboo Cafe for the best Thai food at so far. Tom Kah Soup and Cashewnut, Tofu & Chile with rice. Our staple. After that came drinking. FIrst at the "Reggae Bar" where we watched a fake fight with a guy who pretended to be our friend. He basically tried to sell us weed and then pretty much ignored us the rest of the time. We were just more rich "farang" entering and exiting his life. $$$
The "Muay Thai", if you could even call it that, was funny. Especially when they picked people from the audience to join in. In other words two really drunk white guys attempting to beat each other up in Muay Thai style. Turned out to be a nightly routine for them, not for us. We then headed next door to a happening spot, which was really just a sleazy joint offering free buckets to maintain a crowd. On to the real destination. Hippies.

Hippies was actually right across from our hotel, which turned out to be be a blessing and a curse. The blessing was that we could stumble home if we so decided, the curse being the bass thumping until 6:00 AM. That night we learned more of the Phi Phi doctrine. Buckets, Isrealies, and Fire Shows. All interesting at first, they became very lame or rude in some cases. Fire shows are standard practice everywhere in Thailand i would soon come to find out. Mezmerising if done right, extremely boring and cliche if not. I stood the thumping only until around 3:00AM while Matt may have seen the sunrise.

The next day came the sun and the beach. Quite nice. Lounging all day, Bamboo Cafe for meals and Hippies by night. Standard Phi Phi. Hell we even thought of leaving after 2 or 3 days but kept waking up past our checkout time. They wanted us to pay almost as much as our room to leave so we kept staying. Most of the weekend spent in Phi Phi was a hazey one. Matt even hung out with some Katuay one night. I believe the messed with him pretty good, cause they kept taunting him everytime we saw them on the island. Its pretty small.

With all its madness one musn't forget that Ko Phi Phi was also one of the areas hit pretty bad by the Tsunami. the signs are still quite obvious: buildings in ruins, whole areas of palms trees wiped out, plates still washing ashore, the boats dredging sand form the bay, piles of ruble, piles of trash etc. 1,300 people died due to the waves and im assuming that the island hasnt been the same since. Juding from the pictures and evidence it sure dosent look like it. Even our "friend" told us a story of him saving people as well as dealing with the dead. Strange enough, for a place in semi-mounring they need people to party there. In fact they want them to. Its their only real source of income.

When we finally escaped the vortex on a Monday on the last boat. We spent that day lounging on the beach watching the clouds roll in. We arrived to Krabi town and as usuall were ushered into a hotel for more than we wanted to pay. I remember hearing "railei". It took forever to find food that night, but we actually found a little night market with an english menu, cheap and delicous food. As I went to sleep that night, words lingered in my ear. Railee. Or was it Rai Lei? Turns out it was Rai Lay, it just sounds like the former.


NOTE - As for the current status of my whereabouts: Kyoto, Japan. Busy and Beautiful. Im sitting in a Ryokan style room with paper doors that have locks on them. My mothers sleeping, and Naomi is practicing her Kanji. Of course more on that later.

-Z

Is this for real?

This S*** is F**KED UP

www.bonsaikitten.com

Very reminiscent of this site

www.savetoby.com

In Transit.

Okay so Im 4 days away from Japan and about one month behind on the blog, I figure over the next few days ill pump a few out. Currently Im in Chiang Mia, Thailand. Its flooded here, but kinda fun walikng around in big puddles. Reminds me of being a kid. Ive spent most of the last four days chilling with Monks and Singaporeans. Yup they call themselves that. The monks are cool and super fun to talk to. And hey ladies watch out cause if you touch them theyll explode! Singaporeans are are cool too but not as cool as monks. Its been good times but the notion of returning to work and Amerika is a tad unsettling. (Except for the Naomi part!) Im thinking return trips are definetly in order. Thats basically an open invatiation to go with anyone who has the slightest notion of jumping on a plane. Well Ill continue this blog as soon as i get to Bangkok. Im hopping on bus for a 9 to 11 hour bus ride. Well see how that goes.... Z