Meeting Up With Chris & Crew... & The Rest of South East Asia

From Pai I took a van to Chaing-Mai and a train to Bangkok. The train from
Chaing-Mai to Bangkok was 13 odd hours and I went 2nd class with the locals. I
brought all kinds of yummy Thai treats with me and a sleeping pill courtesy of
Pierre. I was worried at first as I didn't see any beds. The landscape was
beautiful and people watching the locals on the train also made for great
entertainment. Four hours after our journey began a conductor came to our car
and moved the seats into make-shift beds. My bed was on top and I climbed up and
took my sleeping pill as soon as I could.

I woke up what felt like 5 minutes later. We were in Bangkok, at about 5am. I was to met my friend Chris along with some of his friends at a designated guest house they had selected the night before.

Side note: A little about how I met Chris
Chris is one of my best friends. We met about 3 years ago in Ios, Greece. I was
coming back to my guest house half drunk at about 6am when I spotted him and another gentlemen sitting at a table in the guest house's common area. I sat at their table, and chatted wildly about the crazy mishaps of the night before. I will never forget how he looked at me wide-eyed and smiling - marveled at my craziness. From that moment he joined our little group and we all went out that night and many nights following for many a debauchery.

I met up with Chris a few months after Greece in London. After that I didn't see him until about two years later in Australia, but by then we had already developed an amazing friendship.We are extremely alike and our love of travel and hate of conformity keeps us connected. We keep in contact as much as possible and try to
mesh travel plans whenever plausible.

Now I was to met him in Bangkok and to do some traveling. He was to spend 3 months in SE Asia traveling through Thailand, Vietnam,and Laos. My plan was 1 month in Thailand.

After a bit of an adventure, I found a guesthouse near the one Chris had mentioned (his was booked) and decided to take a shower. I was in my room when I heard Chris' voice asking reception about me. I ran out and the group was formed: Chris; Alex, Chris' friend from London and fellow Aussie - definitely one of us; Sammy, Chris'
younger brother and my future diving buddie; and Tina, Chris' German-Aussie childhood friend.

Bangkok is so crazy. Its packed, dirty, beautiful, crazy, and drunk. Koh San Road
is open 24 hours a day. Trannies in the streets, hookers, food stalls, and gringos. We did the turist spots and dank buckets in Koh San Road at night. We even went to a ping pong show in the red light district where naked gals threw ping pongs across the room and pulled things out of their hairy vagingos. Ew. We even had a little bit of a scare when I argued with their pimp because he tried to over charge us for the show. Note to self: arguing with Thai pimps in the middle of the red light district might not be the smartest thing. After 3 days in Bangkok we headed to Koh Tao for some sun.

Heading to Koh Tao
Our train ride to the port to Koh Tao was a bit longer than planned, but I was able to get some shut eye. When we arrived at the port we found that we had 2 options: to stay at a hostel in the port town and get to Koh Tao on a ferry the next day OR to stay up all night on a cargo ship. My vote, as you can imagine, was to stay up all night. The group was in consensus and so we did. Sammy took a moped with a local to get us some captian morgan so we could drink some cap and cokes on the ship. We
spent the whole night on the top deck dancing and drinking!

Sammy and I decided to get our Open Water Diving course done in Koh Tao so we negotiated with a sales guy and got free rooms for the whole group. We stayed at Coral Grand Resort at the end of one of the beaches in Koh Tao.

The diving course was amazing and as soon as I was done I was okay to drink and I had a few days to make up for! The various bars on the beach allow people to either have a chill night or a big night, depending on your mood.

One night after my open water course and many a bucket we decided to jump through a ring of fire. Chris dislocated his shoulder and I melted 2 bracelets. The full moon party in Koh Phangnan was coming close and we had to get accommodation. I wanted to stay to get my advanced open water certification and Chris couldnt carry his bag because of his shoulder.

So Chris and I stayed behind while Alex, Sammy, and Tina went searching for accomo.
Chris hung out during the days on the beach while I did the course. At night we had drinks and some food. We got THE best Thai massage I have ever had to date (Thai foot message) on the beach one of the days after "drinking some beers" ;).

One night we were starving and all the cheaper food places were closed. We walked to a little side street and next to a trannie cabaret we found a little food kitchen run by one of the performers. The trannie created one of the best Thai food experiences of my life! We went there every night after that whilst in Koh Tao. Who knew Thai trannies can NOT ONLY perfectly imulate Liza Menilli, but also cook some mad green curry?

Koh Phangnan
After a peaceful few days in Koh Tao we were a bit reluctant to see what awaited
in Koh Phangnan. The full moon party was that very night, so we couldn't wait any longer. We relaxed all day and at night we got a huge group together of people we had met in Koh Tao. Some of the girls I had done my advance course with were staying at the guest house in front of us so we all got together there for a few pre-drinks
before the festival.

After a bit of a dress mishap one of the boys gave me a shirt and one of the girls let me borrow a belt for the festival. We went in a packed truck-taxi and I was already a bit tipsy when we arrived on the beach.

The festival in Feb had about 12,000 people. I got lost and found a few times, however I didnt mind much because the vibe was so great that it didn't matter. It was one of the times that I was lost that fate stepped in once more.

Someone was hugging me and I wasn't sure who. When I he let me go I saw that it was Manu, Pierre's Swiss friend from Pai. He called Pierre over and we reunited! I hung out with Pierre the rest of the night and for 2 months after that.

I woke up in his bungalow on the other side of the island. We had beers for breakfast and another 4 days past as if they were an afternoon. I went to
Chris' guesthouse and got my stuff. They were going to Koh Phi Phi on the
west side of Thailand. My intention was to meet up with them... but I ended
up moving to the north side of the island with Pierre and Manu. I haven't seen
Chris since.

My Swissys: Pierre-Tell & Manu
The days with Pierre and Manu were sporadic, adventurous, interesting, tumultuous, and fun. They both spoke little english, so I got to practice my french. Pierre and I had a little love connection, but Manu and I became great friends. They are my
friends and my brothers. Some nights Pierre got too drunk so Manu and I would chat about everything and anything. One day Pierre and Manu's Thai visas were going to
expire, so we decided to go to Singapore. From there, we randomly decided to go
to Bali. From there we randomly decided to go to Java, then Sumatra. I canceled
flight upon flight as I didnt want it to end.

Traveling with Pierre and Manu was an amazing experience that I will never forget.
We met people along the way, made friends with locals, discovered a little about ourselves and each other. There is so much to say about our experiences and our days in Thailand, Singapore, Bali, Java, and Sumatra together. I could write a book on those 2 months alone. We woke up and smoked cigarettes on our balcony every morning - no matter what country we were in. We fought about random things, cried about the past, struggled to find our way, and found it. I cried on the day we parted ways as I felt so close to the both of them. I feel like they effected me and have evolved in a way because of them. I am sure someday we will sit on a porch somewhere in Switzerland smoking cigaretts.