Kalkutta

Yes, it was a dump...but more than a dump...it was the craziest thing I've ever seen. Picture a city built for about 2-3 million people as a port town and a central trading hub in the 19th century. At one time it was the jewel of the British empire, and considered it's second city after London. Then take that city, which, in it's day was very nice, and do nothing to maintain it in any way for 100 years (the British switched the capitol of India from here to Delhi in 1911, and the Indians kept it that way after their independence), don't fix the roads, maintain the pluming, fix the electricity, build modern facilities such as a hospitals, or do anything that a normal city would do over those 100 years. Sound good? Ok, that sounds terrible, but it gets worse....during those 100 years the population went from 2.5 million to about 16. It is a spectacle to say the least. You have to walk on the streets because the sidewalks are littered with naked people starving to death. I wish that was an exaggeration, but there were several dead bodies on the road just rotting. Also, just so you know, these naked starving people are of all ages from babies to the very elderly. There is a horrendous odder to the whole city which is somewhat masked by every shop burning incests outside it's doors. However, once in a while there are no incests, and the smell is unbearable. On top of that, the air is foggy with pollution, I was couching up black goop and was having stomach pains, from what I can only guess was the air, but who really knows. The streets are somewhere here, but I couldn't say exactly where, because cars just drive on roads made of garbage and human waste. I'm pretty sure there isn't a dump or even a garbage can in the city, only the streets, and it's awful. The food is also this way. I remember people telling me not to eat the street food before I came here. At the time, I figured it was good advice, but didn't think too much about it. Now that I've seen the food, all I can say is "DUHHHH!!!" it's like telling someone not to eat garbage, or sewage , of course I would never put that in my body! There was practically no redeeming factors about the city at all. In fact, what little tourist sights were there, were all built by the British, and were all in disarray since they left and to add to that they won't let you photograph them, so there is no evidence of anything nice in the city. I have actually been spending a ton of money, because I refuse to eat anywhere except the nicest of all nicest restaurants. Even those are kind of dirty, but I don't want to join my friends on the sidewalks, so I eat something. The buggers grab at me as I walk by, and plead with me. It is hard not to give money, but how could you choose who to give it to, the whole city are beggars. I ended up giving water and a few coins to one boy who was crying and just reaching for my water bottle. He was about 6 or 7, completely naked, and had apparently never bathed before. Honestly, I was in Hell! It was the most horrifying few days of my life, and I am so glad to be gone. I think those 2 1/2 days will haunt me for a long time.

Bangkok

We finally made it to Bangkok after a miserable night on a bus. The night was almost salvaged by us getting tanked in a small town beforehand off of some cheap Asian rum we bought. Once in Bangkok, The fellas and Ravit (at this point it was only Moran, Tal, and Royi) wanted to get the most expensive place on the Kah-son. So, we stayed in a fairly nice hotel, and got ourselves together. Immediately we headed to the giant mall. I got my computer reformatted after picking up a virus at some internet cafe along the way. I also got myself a nice set of I-pod speakers. Soon after this, we lost Ravit, but it was probably for the best. We finished off the night with a nice dinner, and we watched Inglorious bastards at the hotel. Nice night.

The next day I was convinced to go shopping once again, obviously it sucked. Nothing in the country fits m. Those people are crazy small. So, I bought nothing, got pissed off, and wasted a day.

The next day I went off on my own. I went to the Palace, which was amazing, and saw a festival for the king's deceased father's 100th birthday. Anyway, pretty cool stuff. That night, Ravit and I got a nice Moroccan dinner, and we just sort of went to bed.

Somehow I was talked into going to the weekend market with Ravit the next day. Again, nothing fit me, and I was beginning to get really annoyed at the amount of shopping I was doing. We ended eventually, had one last meal, and Ravit went home...kind of sad.

The next day I went on a short day trip to Aythaya, the historical capitol of Thailand. It was nice, but kind of boring. I have just gotten sick of Buddhist temples and shrines. When I got back, I ran into Amit, my diving instructor, and we had dinner and went to a ping pong show. It was the least sexual strip show I've ever seen. It was just the Pussy circus, and the girls just took turns doing ridiculous tricks with their vagina.

The next day I hit up a flight to India....the real adventure begins

So, I didn't leave....

I ended up staying an extra two days in Koh-Tao. I was having so much fun with the Israeli guys, and Ravit, that I just stayed and hung out. We didn't do too much...

We went to the beach one day, and snorkeled. Then, we got drunk and partied that night. Overall it may have been the most fun I've ever had drinking.

The next day we went on a fun dive (now that we are all licensed to dive). It was nice at first, and really fun. However, during the ascent I got a crazy pain in my head. Instead of heading back down, we just went up. My head was just in blinding pain for about 5 hours after that. It was one of the most painful things I've ever endured. I went back, went to lay down, buy nothing would help it. Nothing that is until my diving teacher took me to a coffee shop. The herb reall helped and I felt great ever since.

The next day Ravit, 3 of the Israeli guys (Tal, Moran, and Royi) went to Bangkok....for real this time.

The Southern Thai Islands

I arrived late at night (8ish) to find Ko Pha-Kgan was well, Israel in Thailand. All the stores were in Hebrew, all the restaurants served falafel, everyone on the streets (even the locals) were speaking Hebrew. I don't know how or why this is the case, but it is. I met up with Ravit, and we had dinner, watched a tribal fire show, and headed to bed (no, nothing happened).

The next day we decided that we would both be in Israel soon enough, and that we should enjoy Thailand. So, we headed to Ko Tao to take scuba diving lessons. We found a company called Bans, which offered courses in Hebrew, so the two of us signed up to take lessons in Hebrew. We were joined by 2 Israeli guy, and obviously had an Israeli teacher.

Everything was in Hebrew, unless it was really important, and then it was repeated in English for me. The course was 4 days, with 4 dives, and a couple of classroom sessions. Overall it was fantastic. I really loved diving, and everything that went along with it. I wish it was less structured and we couple just go around, but I guess that's why you get a license.

While I hung out with Ravit a bunch, it was obvious that I wasn't getting anywhere. So, one night I went out with the Israeli guys. We ended up getting messages. However, the ladies refused to give me a message. They insisted that I get all the calluses off my feet first. While I didn't want to do that, thy eventually told me that they would do it for free as a part of the message, because I suppose I needed it done that badly. Well, soon enough there were 5 ladies working on me. one on each foot, one on each arm/shoulder, and another massaging my back. It was really hard to tell what was going on, because so much was happening at once. They ended the whole thing with a 30 minute foot massage, and then they stretched me out in every direction pretty much all at once (remember there were five of them, so I was being bent in just crazy directions). I don't know how to describe the whole thing, however I can say it was amazing. At the end, my feet looked great (like a normal person's), and my whole body felt great.

The next day I finished the course, watched a film of our dive, and went to dinner with the group. Ko Tao was nice, and honestly I felt like I accomplished something.

Well, off to Bangkok...

Chiang Mai

As I headed onto the plane to Thailand, I saw a Spanish man that was on the boat ride I had taken several days earlier. So, I went over to say hello. He didn't speak any English, so I tried my luck with Spanish, and we chatted a little. Once we landed, we headed to the same hostel, and I had dinner with him, and his other friend who spoke Spanish. We went to a market, and got some street food. Everything was pretty good. We separated for a little, and then met up later that night at a street festival which was like an outdoor beauty pageant.

The next day, Fran (the first Spanish guy), and myself rented a motor bike, and headed to the top of the mountain. The temple up there was nice, and the royal palace was also very nice, but the best part of the day was after we wanted to return the bike, we discovered that we had too much fuel in it. So, the logical thing was to suck it out with a hose, bottle it, and try to sell it. Eventually we did, and had a good time trying.

I met up with the Israeli guy I met in Vientiane and him, along with a Polish girl who knew Fran, Fran, and myself went for a two day elephant trek. It was pretty cool. The animals were so docile, and just wonderful to be around. It was really one of the great pleasures of the trip so far. I really liked being around the animals.

The next day I headed to the islands to meet up with Ravit.

Nong Khiaw & Muang Ngoi Neua

From Luang Prabang I headed up a 3 hour bus ride north to Nong Khiaw. There was really nothing in this city. I mean that in a peaceful way, and not in a boring way. I just kind of enjoyed the day. I met and had lunch with a motley crew while there. I had lunch with a mother and son from Vancouver, a retired couple from Sydney, and a British girl about my age. It was very pleasant, just odd. After lunch I just walked the streets a little, read on my gorgeous balcony, and took a nap. I followed this by grabbing dinner with the retired couple and the British girl. It was just really nice.

The next day the British girl and myself took a boat up river to Muang Ngoi Neua. This was a truly spectacular city. It isn't accessible by road, and has no electricity. I met a couple of guys from Australia there, a dude from New York,a guy from England, and a Canadian who has been living in China for a while. This was the ultimate chill spot. We just sat, drank, ate, and sang. Apparently the guy from England, the guy from Canada, and both Australians were musicians, and all of the coincidentally were traveling with guitars. Apparently everyone was into classic 70rock, and we spent hours singing old Neil Young songs. I impressed everyone with my ability to recite almost all of his songs. So, after a few beers, I had no issue acting as lead vocals. All in all it was just incredible, but nightfall we were hanging out by candle light, and really just having a great time.

The next day we headed back to Luang Prabang by boat. This may have been the highlight of everything so far. The whole 6 hour ride was just so beautiful, I'm not really sure what else to say other than the pictures don't even come close to doing it justice. It is just something everyone needs to see and do for themselves on day.

When we got back, I headed to the same hostel, showered, relaxed, and then met the same guys (the British girl stayed up north). We had dinner, and a few more beers, and just enjoyed one of the most charming little places in the world.

The next day I had breakfast, and headed to a flight to Chiang Mai Thailand. Everything so far has just been great!

Lao...the first couple of days

I arrived in Vientiane and instantly met a nice Israeli couple. We had dinner at this small market, walked around a little and called it a night.

The next day I spent the morning wondering the streets seeing a bunch of stuff, none of which was that interesting. Then I had lunch in a nice restaurant, and headed back to the hostel. II then rented a motorbike. I was attempting to see this Buddha forest, but I searched and searched and searched for 4 hours and never found it. However, I had a great time just driving around the city on motorbike searching for this thing, but while doing that I really saw a lot of very rural areas. It turned out to be a great use of the day. When I got back, I had dinner alone, then ran into the Israeli couple from the day before, and had another dinner with them...what I won't do for friends. We ended calling it a night from there.

The next day I woke up early very ill. I had some stomach issues from something. II couldn't get off of the toilet. I had to fly to Luang Prabang, so I did, but I felt like shit! I got there, and walked around all day, but hadn't eaten, and could barley stay awake. As I returned around 7 to the hostel, I met some Americans and a Chinese guy, who invited me to dinner. I went, but didn't really eat. After this I just went to bed.

I then woke u feeling better, so I joined the people I met the night before to go to a waterfall. It was very nice, but nothing special. Honestly Loa seems like nothing special. I like it and all, but I'm not as impressed as I was with Vietnam.

We'll see what happens