The Rough Life of Southern Thailand... Yea Right

So the other day I took a little boat ride to an uninhabited island with my old buddy Sebastian from college. (and my new buddy Mah-Wee from the island) So off we go...

As you can see... the water was just awful!

And around this corner...

And after a brief climb of some sharp rocks trying to not kill myself... [note to self: next time bring flip-flops]

Manu Bay. (The Lagoon where the movie "The Beach" was filmed.)

I wasn't the only one camera-happy.

Then a little more climbing for a view of:

Nature's Perfection. I think this shot sums up my feelings on the place in general. But here's a few more anyways: (One can't help but get camera-happy when surrounded by such beauty.)

Then around this corner...

Pretty beach.

Then around this corner...

Yet another pretty beach.

Then around this corner...

You get the idea. I'm not sure how water can be so clear and so blue at the same time. The dark spots are rock or coral, and the light spots white sand. You can still clearly see the bottom at about 20 ft. or so. This is pretty close to where I did some snorkeling the next day in a shallow coral reef. No digital under-water shots. :(

But anyways... enough of my silly, sappy rantings about pretty water and rocks.

After a full day in the sun, a beach-side full-body aloe vera massage was 100% in order.

Kho Phi Phi. (Phi Phi Island) This is where we stayed for 3 days. Where time doesn't matter, there're no motorized vehicles, and your biggest worry is just all the money that's slipping through your fingers ever so quickly.

There were exactly 233,483,202 (give or take a few) steps to get to that vantage point above, so many stops to rest were made. This little guy was making a similarly exhausting journey across one of the stairs, as well. So I gave him a hand. I would've liked it if some huge creature just picked me up and put me where I wanted to go.

South Thailand is a bit more heavily Buddhist than the North. (where I live) Buddhists really like to wrap things (especially trees) with colorful cloths. Maybe for good luck or something. They're all very superstitious. After over a year here, I still don''t even pretend to understand it all.

The view from my breakfast by the beach.

During down time, this was my favorite little place to hang out. Comfy lounging areas and good entertainment at night. Which was mostly...

...people playing with fire.

Limbo, jump rope, etc. Several tourists, after a bit too much liquid courage, probably singed some eyebrows.

But then my favorite... watching the fire dancers. Cool stuff. And created some unique lighting so... once again... I get to play with my camera! :)

Leaving Phi Phi on the ferry back to Phuket to catch my plane 'home.'

Patong beach on Phuket. I had an afternoon to kill before my flight so I thought I'd check out the super-touristy commericalized beach on the big island. Row after row of rental chairs, umbrellas, etc. Still pretty, but just not the same.

I haven't forgot about the flowers for my ladies, though. :)

So now that you've seen a bit of South Thailand, just let me know when you get your ticket to come visit me, and I could fairly easily be talked into going back again. My arm is easily twisted.

Much love to all,

Nathan Kimmons

Chiang Mai, Thailand

2 August, 2009

Determined to Party for the 4th of July

"Ya know, Nathan... it might rain Sunday..."

"Yea... it might... but it never rains ALL DAY here... so we'll be in good shape..."

I should've known better than to say something silly like that and tempt the weather to prove me wrong. Mix together my dogmatic weather preditions in this country and our trying to celebrate on the 5th of July instead of the 4th... and karma just chuckles apparently.

So my plans for American football, tug-of-war, water balloon tosses, grilling, fireworks, etc out at the farm were shot when it started raining that morning... and didn't stop for two days. Seriously... in my year here, I've never seen a day when it rained an entire day without stopping.

Tell ya what... here's a brief description of the 3 seasons here:

Rainy Season: June(ish) thru September(ish) - 30 minute to hour-long showers pretty much everyday off and on, temp: 60s-90s
[*I don't mind rainy season... just have to do laundry pretty often to avoid mold... gross]

Cold Season: Sept. thru February - maybe down to 50s at night... up to 70s during the day.
[*Aj. Nathan's favorite time! I get to wear my blazers to class and look all professor-like :) ]

Hot Season: March -June - ...bloody HOT
[thankfully I was in the States for the brute of it]


But anyways... it rained all day, but I was determined to have my 4th of July celebration regardless...

First order of business: Build an ark! Ok... maybe not an ark, but the S.S. Baht was a fairly solid vessel if you ask me. She floated around the accumulating lake around the teacher house for the better part of a whole day.

After getting drenched going to the foreigner supermarket to buy supplies and getting all the food prepped, it was time to start grillin'!


Also, our grill was broken. Not to let our spirits be 'dampened' (da-dunk-tsssk! "Ah, thank you..."), I took the rack from it and we began to build a fire under the shed by the school. I started on my own, but I guess guys of all cultures love to play with fire. Soon several people were gathered around stacking, lighting, etc.

Environmentalists would problably freak at the idea of starting a fire with a plastic bottle, but it worked. Enviornmentalists would probably lose their mind in this country anyways.

Before long, I was relieved of my job of building the fire, so I decided to make use of the leftover charcoal and decorate the place.

Finally with a nice (albiet small) fire going, the BBQ chicken went on.

But once again, I was soon relieved of command. "Ajan... we can do..." Apparently they just can't stand to sit there and watch me do it. I'm not sure they get the idea that I really do enjoy it. But oh well... The fire wasn't staying very hot so they kept using cardboard to fan it...

Until Lanunan (clever guy that he is) rigged up a high-tech solution.






About 3 hours later (9:30pm or so), it was finally time to eat. Home-made cheeseburgers, BBQ chicken, chips, soda, watermelon... the works! It actually turned out to be pretty fun. We listened to American music from the laptop, watched a movie after dinner, etc. Kind of a lemons to lemonade type thing.

And of course... ICE CREAM! The local place in our village made us a couple kilos in that metal keg-looking thing, so everybody had more than their fair share.

"Dr. Love" (Jay... one of my students from last year) came to visit for the weekend, so it was really great to see him. He once told me if he ever got a girlfriend, he would take her to buy a hamburger. Apparently, hamburgers are the perfect symbol of love:

I would tell the whole story, but I don't remember exactly. Something about this old couple who he saw splitting a hamburger, and the man letting the woman eat first. He asked them why they didn't just cut it in half or get their own... Come to find out, they only had one pair of dentures to split between to the two of them! This promped Jay to think that the hamburger is the perfect love food. "It takes both pieces of bread to make a hamburger... with only one piece, it's not a hamburger..." I miss Jay. :)

In other news from Jay, he's currently at a university up here getting certified as a teacher. He plans to build and run a school up on the border to help the poor people up there close to his home. Last week, he called Erika asking for advice on how to write a letter to a queen. A few days ago, he heard from one of the Queen's secretaries that the Queen of Thailand might be interested in helping fund and build his school when he finishes university, so he is writing a letter to Queen Sirikit this week telling of his plans. This is pretty exciting for all of us. We love to see Legacy graduates doing something on a big scale. It makes teaching at a small language school with less than 20 students really seem worth it sometimes.

Until next time...

Peace and 'burgers!

~Nathan Kimmons

Chiang Mai, Thailand

14 July, 2152

The Small Joys of Life... Take-Out Khao Soy

Khao Soy... those two simple little Thai words can combine to bring a relaxed dreamy smile to my face like none other. Why? Well it's simple... for 25 baht ( at the current exchange rate, that's about 71.4285 cents... approximately), I get a full belly and a culinary experience that is difficult (nare I say impossible) to match in the States. Certain Taco Bell Bell Value items may be close as far as value, but this still reigns supreme I think.

Step #1: Survey what we've got:

A bag of boiled egg noodles and fried egg noodles with a dash of parsley (yes, it's the same exact noodles cooked two different ways... necessary for the texture), a bag with the sauce and chicken, and assorted veggies (pickled cabbage, shallots [small onions], lime wedges, and nam pit [chili paste]).

Step #2: We dump the two kinds of noodles into the bowl... then we shall add the sauce and chicken. Khao Soy sauce is essentially red curry soup with a touch of ginger.

Here, I try to display how the whole 'sauce-in-a-bag' thing works...

Take 2!!!

Now we have the finished products. Mine on the left, with the extra veggies and chili paste, then Erika's on the right. Pair this with your beverage of choice (I've heard that Singha beer is an excellent pairing... just what I've heard) and hold on for the taste buds assault.

Need I say more...?

Peace and love... livin' the good life,

Nathan Kimmons

Chiang Mai, Thailand