Guest Writer

Apparently I can expect a new wave of readers for a brief period of time.  Unbeknownst to me, my sister Melissa told people that while she was travelling with me that we'd be sharing this blog so that if someone wanted to read up about her, all they would have to do is look here.  Of course I have no problem with that, but a little heads up would have been nice - I mean, I might have to reevaluate what I'm going to write and how I'm going to say it now that I have a wider audience.  Who am I kidding?  I'm not going to sugar-coat anything for you.  That being said, let's discuss my personal favorite topic: bodily functions and the bathroom.  To put it somewhat politely, I've been going to that bathroom much less frequently than normal lately (we're talking 5 days straight at least).  I'm in no pain or anything, but one has to wonder, where the heck is it all going?!  If anyone can enlighten me on this topic I would greatly appreciate it. 

Muay Thai Match - swing and a miss

Alright new readers, now that we've been introduced, let's talk about what Melissa and I have been up to.  Our first couple days together we explored Bangkok where we did everything from going to a Muay Thai match (actually 8 of them for 3 hours, quite the extravaganza) to watching some 200 odd people do aerobics in the public park for 40 mins.  After Bangkok, we ventured down to the island of Koh Chang in the Eastern part of Thailand.  The bus ride itself came straight from the devil himself.  With a demonic baby on our left that never stopped screaming in its waking moments (what a horrible way to live right?) to the couple in front of us that couldn't go 5 mins without kissing each other - well, suffice it to say that 5.5 hours never felt so long.  I suppose things could have been worse, but for all my travelling experience lately, it hasn't been nearly that bad in a loooooong time.

Once on Koh Chang, Melissa and I managed to do nothing for about 3 days straight.  I suppose this a matter of opinion, but let's be honest folks, I woke up, slowly got out of our bungalow (literally, straw covered hut), walked down to the deck/lobby area where I soaked up the glorious shade and read a book.  By mid-afternoon, I'd grow hungry, walk 7 mins into "town", consume food and beverage(s), walk back, read more, lounge more, nap, fart, go the bathroom, read some more, walk up the hill to the bungalow, watch the sunset, walk back into town and now repeat the previous steps until bedtime (minus the sunset part).  Life's pretty difficult on the road sometimes, let me tell you.  Melissa is having a hard time adjusting to this schedule, but I suppose she'll tell you that (in her own words) in a bit.

Sunset from the front porch of our bungalow

We left Koh Chang by way of minibus to the city of Ayuthaya, the old capital of the Thai Kingdom.  Our minibus ride was phenomenal.  Either our driver tried out for the movie Crank or actually believed he was living out the storyline of "Speed."  Maniac-man wove between traffic and straddled the edge of the rode at intersections so that he could by-pass the line of traffic waiting for the light to turn green.  Haha, at one point, someone in the back seat even threw up.  Now, I can't be certain whether or not the driving was to blame or whether they were genuinely sick, but I think we can safely assume the driver didn't help the situation.  Ultimately, I suppose you just have to pick your poison.  Baby and couples from the 5th inner circle of hell conspiring against your sanity, or Mr. "life is a video-game" driver.  Haha, all part of the fun!

I've blabbed on long enough.  The title of this post is indeed "guest writer", so I suppose I ought to let her give her 2 cents.  Here she goes ------------

Hi all!!! Well, to start off, most of what Jeff said is true! We did however walk about 25min, one way, to a different beach in Koh Chang and that walk was HOT and hilly. It was beautiful though! Unlike Jeff, I also swam (instead of read) and played volleyball with a group of four Canadian guys. They have been friends since elementary school and are now travelling after college. Pretty amazing.

To continue on with our trip we have been seeing many Wat's in Ayuthaya. Wat's are temples, if you didn't know. We walked around the city today for probably 5 hours looking at different ones. All of them are amazing!!!!!! I won't say much about them, because they are things you just have to see, but I will tell you one story. Outside the Wat that holds the biggest Buddha in Thailand a young lady (about my age) was sitting there with a kid from the streets. She had given the kid an ear piece of her ipod, and they were listening to music together. The little guy (couldn't have been older than three) was just smiling and giggling, and holding onto her leg. It was really precious! He had clearly made a new friend and wasn't ready to let her go. Throughout our walk today the kids along the road would be so excited to see us, they'd stand up, yell something to get our attention, and just wave like crazy with the biggest grin on their faces. I once heard a quote that goes something like, "So many languages in the world, yet a smile speaks them all." It's been fun to see how true that is.

Melissa in front of Wat Chai Watthanaram

Okay, I'm sure this is getting pretty long, and I'm going to make Jeff add some pictures to help you see how amazing everything is. Thanks Jeff for letting me be a guest writer...(maybe if I'm nice I'll get one more post in before I return home). :)

This is the first and last video I will ever attempt to post.

It took about 3 hours to upload. I pray it works.

Melissa shot this video - before watching, pick your horse...

Red or Blue?