Bangkok and Ko Samet

BangkokàKo SametàBangkok

“Holla!  City of Squala’!”

                        --Mr. Chow, Hangover 2—

The train ride from Vientiane, Laos to Bangkok lasted nearly 13 hours but my accommodations on board were the best I’d had so far.  The air-conditioning was amazing and the beds exceptionally comfortable.  I managed to get a solid 10 hours of pure, deep sleep in!  Keith, Kyle and my German friends Daniel and Michael arrived in Bangkok just before 10:00 AM on Sunday, April 8^th.  We made our way to an internet café where we researched hotels and decided on a 4-star spot right in the heart of downtown as this was to be Michael and Daniels last few days on holiday so they wanted to end in comfort.  The five of us spent the day relaxing aside the outdoor 17^th floor pool and soaking up some sunshine, which fit the bill perfectly after a couple days on the move.  A little later in the evening, we headed out to a nice part of town for dinner before meeting up with a couple of girls Michael and Daniel had met during their previous stay in Bangkok.  The girls tried taking us to a bunch of different nightclubs but everything ended up being closed due to the month anniversary of the passing of the King of Thailand’s wife.  The evening ended up being rather uneventful even though we still managed to have a good time with just the boys.  At around 3am, Keith, Kyle and I headed home to our hotel, ordered what turned out to be some of the best room service I’ve ever had and went to sleep.

The ride from the train station to our hotel.  Keith always insists the he sit on Kyle's lap.......

Kyle, Daniel and I took a boat ride on the Chao Phraya through the city

The next morning, we met the German’s for breakfast and said our goodbye’s.  I had been travelling with them for the better part of a month off and on and it’d been an incredible experience.  I can’t wait for my visit to Munich in the near future, Daniel and Michael said they don’t partake in Oktoberfest anymore but if I came, they’d reluctantly make an exception!  It was now Monday and Keith and Kyle had booked their tickets back to the US for the coming Friday.  After discussing the options, they decided they’d like to relax on a beach for their remaining few days and so we hired a car to take us 3 hours Southeast of Bangkok to the island of Ko Samet.  Ko Samet is a popular destination for those that live in Bangkok due to its proximity to the city.  A comfortable ride in what our concierge described to us as a limousine, but in reality was a new Nissan Maxima, we arrived at a pier where we jumped on a speedboat and made the 15-minute run to the island.  Once there, we were greeted by aqua blue water, white sand, and sweltering heat.  The island wasn’t that large, roughly a mile wide by six miles in length with one main, primarily unpaved bumpy road connecting it all together.  We poked our heads into a few different hotels before finally deciding on a nice air-conditioned place with 3-separate beds. 

We made our way to the beach after settling in and proceeded to bask in the sun for the next several hours, meandering through different waterfront bars intermittently.  The next few days followed a similar pattern of inactivity as Keith and Kyle were looking to recharge their batteries from an eventful few weeks.  We rented motorcycles one day and cruised around the island.  Had an amazing beachfront dinner another night and had the opportunity to watch the largest and most entertaining fire show to date throughout my travels.  The highlight of the trip to Ko Samet that we all agreed on however was the last evening, we chose to do a 6-hour squid fishing trip after dusk.  We headed about 10 miles offshore on a large fishing vessel with 6 other people.  The crew turned on these intensely bright green floodlights over the water in an attempt to lure the squid.  We tossed in our hooks and line and within about 20 minutes, the squid started biting!  Keith ended up catching one, Kyle caught two, and the winner with THREE was none other than yours truly!  I took pride in the victory as Kyle, being the commercial fisherman, always catches more than I do!  Our catch accounted for 75% of the total haul for the boat, the other 3 Asian guys and 3 Asian girls gave up about 15 minutes into the trip and proceeded to drink copious amounts of booze instead which seemed to be equally entertaining.  The crew took a few squid right after we pulled them from the water, sliced them up as they were still alive and everyone proceeded to eat some after dipping it in a sauce they’d prepared.  While interesting, it’s not something I feel Keith, Kyle and I are going to make a staple part of their diet.  The others on board, however, acted as if we’d just been served food from the fountain of youth.  They loved every bit of it, it was intense, really, really intense.

Boat ride to the island

The old "Bury the sleeping dog in the sand" game!  A classic!

Gotta love two girls punching each other in the face while balancing on a beam for free booze!

Keith coming to the realization the food he just ate isn't settling well.

Is it so wrong that this brings me joy?  Men don't need sunscreen....

The fisherman formulating his game plan for the catch ahead!

The girl in the background is about to wet her pants in excitement for the meal to come.

Check out the huge blowfish! 

Keith, Kyle and mines catch of the day!

Similarities?

Before we knew it, we were sitting in a car headed back to Bangkok as our time on the island expired and the guy’s flights were just around the corner.  We arrived at a hotel within shooting distance of the airport in the early afternoon and after a quick soak in the pool and fantastic meal on the rooftop, we changed into some nice clothes and hopped into a taxi destined for Sirocco, the rooftop restaurant and cocktail lounge on the top of the 68-story Lebua at State Tower Hotel featured prominently in the hit movie “Hangover 2”.  We showed up to the entrance and took the elevator to the 64th floor and were quickly ushered to an area where we were required to buy drinks before being allowed on the now famous rooftop.  After laughing at the outrageous prices, Keith and I put the drinks on Kyle’s tab and headed out for a look over the city.  I had previously thought the view from 1-Altitude, the open-air nightclub on top of Singapore’s tallest building would be hard to beat but this was right there, if not a little better.  The city of Bangkok is huge with a population of over 10 million and with it brings a skyline filled as far as the eye can see with massive skyscrapers.  At night, the lights make it a real spectacle.  We stayed out on the roof for just under an hour, mingled with a few people and drained our accounts a little before getting another taxi and heading home around 10:00 PM.  Kyle had a flight at 5:00 AM the next morning to Seattle, Keith soon after to Los Angeles, and as for myself, I’d be hopping on a plane heading north to the city of Chiang Mai to continue my journey!

A shot at Sirocco, the world's largest open air restaurant.

I have to say, the past three weeks have been something truly special.  Keith and Kyle have been a part of my life for the last TWENTY years (Jesus, I’m old) and to have the opportunity to have them join me for part of this experience has been nothing short of incredible, even difficult to describe.  My only hope is that their time with me overseas has been as meaningful to them as it has for myself.  Thank you both, it has meant the world!