Kickin’ it on Ko Lanta, a beautiful little island, with amazing beaches. Life is good.

Don’t Cry

I have so much to share. Well, I’ll start from the beginning. Mexico was sweet, but soon we were back in San Fran, but only for a day. It was great seeing friends, and restocking on supplies, but soon, I was back on a 747 on my way to Bangkok. This is where the misery started. Adrian and I were taken to the airport, and I kind of dropped the ball a bit. I thought our flight was at 1:05am, but it was really at 12:05am, and here we come strolling in at 11:30pm. Talk about cutting it close, we threw our bags on the conveyer belt, said sorry, and pulled a Home Alone running across the the entire airport. Our only saving grace was that security was fast and smooth. Which by the way, for some reason I’ve been randomly selected every time, pushed to the side, and given a pat down. I figured out how to get this done quickly though. When they start grabbing my legs, I just say, “alright, free massage.” This puts them in an awkward situation, and they rap up in a few seconds.

We get on the plane, and it was crowded to say the least. Adrian was freaking out because he didn’t get a chance to take his contacts out, and I was just wanting to drink some water, which didn’t happen for another seven hours. The plane takes off, and so we begin our 14hr! flight. I passed out for probably six of those hours, and then it hit me. My body started feeling achy, and I was getting really hot. At first I wrote it off, thinking it was just a lack of water, and I’m tired. But it didn’t go away. I missed my first meal because of it, and I was starting to feel really bad now. When we arrived in Taiwan for our connecting flight, we still had to wait another three hours. I realized now that something was terribly wrong. And here’s my thinking.

When we were all in Mexico, it wasn’t as warm as we thought it would be. 65F degrees was the norm during the day, and it was very chilly at night. Before our trip was coming to an end, I started to feel a small sore throat coming on. But as long as I get sleep, and take it easy, my body will handle this with no problem. Here’s where I screwed up. We walked out on this huge pier, between 300 and 400 meters straight out into the ocean. We’re all standing there, and we started joking about what if we jumped off this and swam back. They dared me to go for it, and I replied, “for $100 I’ll jump off and swim to shore, or if someone does it with me, I’ll go for free.” I was totally serious, I just wasn’t prepared for it to actually happen.

My heart rate is beating so fast just thinking about it again. So I’m hangin’ there, listening to my Ishuffle, and Nick say’s, “I’m going for it. You doing it with me or what?” I was taken by surprise, and had no time to think. He started stripping down to his shorts, and was making a run for it. He didn’t want to think about it, because that’s when you change your mind. He runs down to the very end and takes a leap for it. Mind you now, we’re almost a quarter mile out, and it’s at least a 50ft jump. At least. I had no time to think. I wasn’t going to leave him out there by himself, and after all,…I kind of did initiate it.

The whole time I’m screaming, “Nick! Wait up!” He was moving, and I was running late. I get to the end, and think, as I’m glancing at the enormous drop, “f@ck me. What did I get myself into?” With no time to think, and hardly anytime to catch up, I dove. I felt like I could of counted to 10 as I was falling. BOOM! I hit the water, and immediately started making a swim for it like an Olympian. I was a bit stalled at first. The water was extremely cold, and I felt like I was suffocating due to the shock from my body. I was struggling to breathe, and when you struggle, you start to panic. But a couple minutes later, I was calmed down, and making head way towards Nick. He waited up for me, and we both looked back at the pier shouting. All the locals fishing off it must of been thinking crazy gringos.

Thinking this was going to be a piece of cake as we approach the shore after nearly 10-15min of swimming, I soon discovered something was terribly wrong. Nick some how managed to get into the surf, and glide right onto the sand effortlessly.  Mother nature was not so nice with me. I had horrible timing, and was thrown with a huge swell. Now, I’m use to this with surfing. However, it’s been a while, so you lose your confidence, and second, I had just swam for 15min, and was a bit tired, and was afraid I wouldn’t have the energy to fight for the surface if I should get sucked under. Not to mention, and I also got caught up in a small under toe. This is where I starting doubting myself, and that’s no good.

I pictured ATVs driving to the shoreline, and some lifeguards running to save me. I thought to myself,…..no…..not today. I kept calm and starting swimming with the current not against it, and when this wasn’t enough, I started shouting for Nick to come help me. After being reassured that someone was with me, I made it to shore eventually. I couldn’t stop shaking. I mean I was shaking sooo much from the cold, and it didn’t stop for a couple of hours. My body, which was fighting a virus, had to devote all it’s energy to keeping me warm, and pushing me out of the water. Later that evening my ear was aching, and I felt sooo bad. Live and learn, right?

When we arrived in San Fran, my other ear starting acting up, and especially with all the moving around, and being thrown back onto a plane for 14hrs, my body had had enough with my BS. So, when we got on a plane from Taiwan to Bangkok, this is where retaliation came into play. I was miserable, and feeling extremely bad. I kept thinking, “don’t worry. We’ll get to Bangkok, and I’ll OD on ibuprofen, and all will be well. I hate taking drugs for sickness, but desperate times call for desperate measures. If only it were that easy. We finally touch down with land again, and start making our way to baggage claim. When ever I get really sick, my humor is my best man. I just joke about the situation, and try and get through it. I tell you, humor is key. Laughter truly is the best medicine, and I’ve proven that.

We get around a corner, and this is where we discover that Thai immigration has only 8 officers, and there’s about 2000 people lined up. I couldn’t believe it. Par for the course. I was taken back and thought I would never make it. But I said, “be cool. you can do this.” It had taken one hour to make it through. I was on the brink of defeat, and I was throwing all my energy into just standing up. I couldn’t sit, and more importantly, I had to look alive and well for the officer. I had to look like I was all there, which was something I was far from. My body, especially my lower back and kidney’s for some reason, were aching to the max. I don’t know how I accomplished this task, but with a little Bob Seger stuck in my head, I pulled it off. Grabbed my bag, and chugged back a couple of ibuprofen’s. It definitely helped out, but I was hurting.

After three hours of traveling across the city of Bangkok, via train, subway, boat, and “tuk tuk”, we finally made it to Khao San Road. This is a popular area for backpackers to kick it. It’s like “the” area to stay, if your cruisin’ through. For the first couple of nights, Adrian and I decided to splurge and pay $11 each for a nice room, with our own shower. With both of us jet-lagged, and my body slowly dying, it seemed appropriate. What I should of done was take it easy, and lie in bed for the first couple of days. But with Adrian anxious to get out and see the sights, I decided to roll with him. So a “tuk tuk” is a three wheeled little motorcycle cart, if you will, that is cheap, and quite the experience getting around in.

It was our first day to hit the streets, and after much rest, but still feeling bad, we were ready to do this. Our first tuk-tuk driver says he can take us where we would like to go, but first we have to go to a tailor, and look interested for five to ten minutes. We were both like, “say that again.” Apparently if he takes us to these tailor’s, he gets free petrol due to some promotion going on. He said the ride would cost 10 baht, which is about 30 cents, so we thought what-evs. Going to these tailors’ was a trip. I had to walk around, and try a pure Kashmir pee coat on, and pretend to be interested in it, just so I could get a ride to the Grand palace down town. Let me tell you, they get pissed when you don’t buy one either. I could of bought that coat for $60, quite the steal, but had to explain to him that I’m on the road until May. I have to consolidate my money as best as I can.

We checked out all the Buddha’s and palace’s, and the whole time I was walking around feeling like I’m drunk. I was light headed, and very weak. I personally didn’t care for all the sites, and religion’s structures just aren’t my thing, but it’s something you have to see I suppose. Eventually we moved out of our cozy room, and settled on something cheaper, and surprisingly much better. Ch II guest house is the name of the place we are at now. The first few days were alright. I’ve never had a foot massage for half an hour only cost me $3, and boy…do they feel amazing. Orange juice is abundant around here, and you can pick up a pint that was just squeezed for less than a buck. And street food is everywhere, something I’m not a big fan of. Not just the street food, the food in general. I’m not really diggin’ it, and that’s probably why I’ve lost 5-10lbs. When it comes to street food in Latin America, I can’t get enough, but this Asian cuisine is new to me, and will take some time for me to acquire a taste.

There are a few things though I do like. Banana pancakes, with an egg in it, and frosting is a must, and the spring rolls are very delicious. But everything seems to be fried in oil. I mean everything, and you really have to want it. The other day, after getting our teeth cleaned, which I’ll get to in a moment, we cruise down the street and some woman has this huge dog tail over some hot coals right in the street. She said she was preparing a dog tail soup, something we were not going to try. Yuk! This road is very busy, and seems to be a place for only partying. I mean, it’s nice to have a beer or two in the evening, but everybody here just has the mission of getting super drunk, and smoking cigarettes all night. Another thing too, there are sellers everywhere! Everybody wants to sell you something, and when they keep bugging you, it can really get annoying. I have too much heart to say get lost, so instead I find myself tying to talk my way out of the sale. We’ve gotten better at this now, and the trick is, just don’t stop walking.

So our third day in, and Adrian and I think it would be a good idea to get our teeth cleaned. We picked some clinic off the side of the road, and payed only $30 to get them looking and feeling good again. Big mistake. Adrian decides to go first, and he seemed a bit nervous. Maybe I was being naive, but I didn’t have a second thought in my mind. It takes the woman, and her co-pilot, who was just the receptionist a few minutes earlier, about 20 minutes to get Adrian done. He walks out, and say’s it was fine, it just hurts a little in the beginning. Yeah right. So I’m next, and I go in there, and ask her a few questions. Not understanding what her answer’s were, I just kicked back, and opened my mouth. This is where the torture began. She went to town on my teeth with this little scraping tool, and showed no sighs of compassion. 

The whole time I’m helpless, with tears running down my cheeks, and she proceeds’s to rip off my gums. This is what it felt like. There was no, “oh, sorry…did that hurt?” like it is with my real dentist back at home. This was a race, and she was determined to get it done as fast as she could. She tells me to lean up, and rise. This is where I spit all this bloody mucas, and I’m thinking, “ohhh yeeee” She gave me the mirror, and to my surprise, my gums were all bleeding. I couldn’t believe it, and she continues on to tell me, “the gums will stop bleeding in two hours.” Two hours! What! My dentist at home never tells me this. In fact, they never bleed! I also got the impression that she didn’t clean the tool after she cleaned Adrian’s teeth. Stellar. Our only saving grace was that we were the first clients of the day, so at least we know that it’s just us, and neither of us have rabies.

It was painful, but only thirty bucks. And our teeth did feel much better, but that’s the last time I do something like that. But I still had a few things to accomplish in this city before we moved on. Our next stop was the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in central Bangkok. I needed to get the new Japanese encephalitis vaccine, and had purposely waited to get it here due to the cost of it. It’s $14 here, and a one shot process. Back in good ole’ California, it’s $248 for each one, and there are two to be given. We get to this place after having a hard time finding it, and I was still feeling pretty bad. But I figured I’d just play it off, and get this done. The nurse calls me in, and starts asking me lot’s of questions. One of which was, “are you sick?” I felt reluctant to say yes, so I just said, “oh, just a little cough, but I’m good.” This was far from the truth.

She then seemed really interested and took my temperature, and found out I had a fever. Shit, I thought. I’ve been caught. There’s no fooling her. She then goes on to explain that I should wait until I’m back to full health before I go ahead with this. After all, they’re basically giving me a piece of this live disease. Probably a good idea I told her, and we were out of there and back to square one. Our friends Mike and Rayna were arriving in a couple of days to join us, and especially after that experience with the teeth cleaning, I had had enough, and decided to rest the entire next day. This worked out beautifully. My body fought off what ever I had, and I was feeling much better. Not quite all better, but enough.

I was strong enough now to go back and get my JE vaccine, which I was given, and it was a piece of cake. Two down, two to go. I needed to get some more passport pages put in, so I needed to find a US embassy. $82 later, and I now have a book with 60+ pages! It’s crazy big. Yesterday was the biggest day so far. I made an appointment with a well respected dental clinic here in Bangkok, and was going to get my wisdom teeth removed. Back at home, in the US, it would cost nearly $500 per tooth, and in Thailand it’s only 30-50 per tooth. So I thought.

So all my bud’s decided to come with me, and they were really reassuring on how gnarly it’s going to be. With all the pain, and swelling, and after being drugged, your not going to be able to move, they kept saying. We get there, and I was getting really nervous. I mean really nervous. I sat down at the office, and answered all the questions they gave me, and signed that piece of paper that basically says, if you die, were not responsible. Yeah, that’s my favorite part. I said my good-byes to my friends, and told them what to say to certain people if I should not come back. I was joking around of course, but half of me was serious.

They send me upstairs, and I have to say,…this place was looking really professional. Everything looked clean, and everyone spoke English, and were very nice to me. So the Doc brings me in and asks me what I want done. I explain that it’s time for these four little dudes to leave. They give me an X-ray, and tell me that two of them are going to be complicated, and two are going to have to be surgically removed. My heart was beating now. I guess the only reason I was nervous, to be perfectly honest, was because I was in Thailand. She then tells me that two of them will cost $60 each, one is going to be $150, and the only stubborn one that is growing side ways is going to be $180. So much for thirty bucks each.

I was sent back in the lobby to wait, and this is where it hits you. I had too much time to think, and was trying to calm myself down. Eventually though, the time had come, and I was sitting in a chair, getting prep’d. The doctor was nice, and I had no doubt in my mind, but you still worry. Come to find out, they were only going to numb the mouth, and not put me under, so I was going to have the honor of being awake during this two hour operation. The shots were the only time I really experienced any pain, but that’s not to say it was an easy procedure. There were a few times his tool’s slipped, and I constantly felt like I was going to joke whenever I swallowed. It’s just so much more difficult when you can’t feel you mouth or tongue. When he pulled the two top ones, which were the easiest, it felt like a plant being pulled out of the soil. The bottom ones were a project, and this is when I was sweating most of the time.

Finally though, he was done, and he told me everything went smoothly. I was still all with it, I just couldn’t feel my face. All my friends waiting downstairs expected me to be drugged and gone, and when I came rolling around the corner, they were surprised. After taking almost two hours to get home, I was feeling fine last night. I had no swelling, no pain, I made a couple of phones calls, drank some milk and was doing great. That is until this morning. I’m doing good I guess, all things considering, but my face looks like an unshaven beach ball now. The good news is, I have no bleeding, and no pain. The bad news is, I can’t eat solid foods for the first day or so, so I’ve been drinking yogurt and smoothies like they’re going out of style. I still can’t believe I had my wisdom teeth taken out in Bangkok, Thailand. Oh well though, for only $560 including my medication, x-ray, and operation, that’s too much of deal to pass. Being a constant traveler, my money is very precious to me.

Now I’m laying in bed resting up, and the day has been cruisin’ by pretty quickly. I’ve been feeling good, and I”m ready to move on. I’m ready for my body to feel pleasure from the sun, and not trama from being constantly sick. Tomorrow we have a bus booked to take us down south of Thailand, to all the famous beaches and islands. We’re all super stoked. I’m done with this city, and have been needing some beach time. Just lying in the sun daydreaming. Perfectly therapeutic for the mouth to heal. 

Until next time,….

Born To Run

I’ve had better days. Right now I’m in Bangkok, and I’m not doing so well. I’m sick with something, not sure with what, but it’s something I haven’t felt before. No doubt in my mind it’s from Mexico. I have body aches & pains, very weak, and for some odd reason my mouth hurts to open. I can hardly chew. I’ve had it for a week now, and it show’s signs of recovery every now and again, and then it hit’s me. I’ll have a brief moment of good health, and then back to feeling pretty bad. I’ve lost weight as well.

I have so much to share about what I’ve seen in this city so far, which isn’t much, but plenty given my situation. I was born to run around and explore, not to lie here with so much on my mind.

Soon I’ll write. My health is priority one right now.

separate ways

Baja has been extremely great to us, and now it’s time for us to go our separate ways. It’s sad, but the adventure continues. It’s been 10 amazing days, and we’ve seen so much, and eaten even more. We’ve spent the last few days in Rosarito, right on the beach, and the motor home has been killer. Today was a lounge day for us, just cruisin’ the streets, eating some food, and we took a long walk on the pier today. Nick and I jumped off it, and swam back to shore. The water was very cold, and not forgiving.

We spent the next couple of hours trying to find a hot tub, and after failing to achieve what we thought was a simple task, we headed back to the beach, and napped. Baja is such an amazing piece of land, with so much beauty, and filled with some of the nicest people I’ve met. Everyone here jumps at any opportunity to help you, and they’re always happy. I’m really going to miss Mexico. Coming down here was a tease for me, and gave me a taste of what I’ve been missing for a while now. I love Latin America, and I’m very anxious to come back down here and continue my crusades.

For now though, we have to return to California. But for Adrian and I, we’ll only be in the Golden State for one day. We fly into Bangkok on Tuesday, and that’s where we’ll move on with the rest of our journey’s. Four months, beginning in the land of a thousand smiles.

Hasta luego Mexico…