Trip of a Lifetime

Cobras and Beaches

Hello faithful readers! Well you'll all be happy to know that I've actually done something new and interesting in the last few days - a change is a good as a rest, I suppose, and I've been surprisingly reunited with a couple of my favorite world travelers. While I was in Ao Nang, a small town just outside of Krabi, talking to Calahan, one of the Canadian fellows I met in Laos, I discovered that he was also in Ao Nang. Amazingly, he was about one city block from where I was sitting, in a different internet cafe. We met up, and he informed me that Ray, one of my Full Moon party buddies, was on his way to the very place we then stood. What ensued can only be described as a massive gong show - we get along amazingly well, and... How shall I put this... Together, we are possibly the three most immature men on the planet. I'm talking fart jokes, followed by mom jokes, followed by strange sounds and inexplicably random movements... Complete lunacy. I've not laughed this hard in a long, long time. Normal people just shake their heads in disbelief. My brother would fit in quite nicely I think... At any rate, we the three-strong-gong-show ventured out to Rai Ley, a set of four beaches that are supposedly some of the most beautiful in the world. Before I show you some beach pictures (A special thanks to Ray and Cal for giving me access to their cameras!), let me show you the bungalow we stayed in, for about 3 dollars each, per night. http://www.geocities.com/spiker43922/IMG_0921.JPG Pretty awesome location. The beaches at Rai Ley are amazing mostly because of the huge limestone cliffs that jutt out of the sand just behind the treeline. Some of the best climbing in the world can be done here, although it's quite expensive and didn't fit into my budget. Plus I'm still not done working on my tan :) http://www.geocities.com/spiker43922/IMG_0924.JPG http://www.geocities.com/spiker43922/IMG_0936.JPG Here are some pictures of me & the boys, and some Swedes we met up with at the beach. I should explain that the reason Ray is perched on the wall while holding a pellet gun in one of these pictures is that he was trying to shoot me while I was in the shower. No, really... http://www.geocities.com/spiker43922/IMG_0953.JPG http://www.geocities.com/spiker43923/IMG_1044.JPG http://www.geocities.com/spiker43923/IMG_1053.JPG http://www.geocities.com/spiker43923/IMG_1066.JPG While on the beach, we went and saw a cobra show. I wasn't really sure what a cobra show entailed and, as it turns out, it's just an absolutely crazy man who gets in an enclosed space with huge cobras, mostly for fun. He had obviously had years of training, he was one step ahead of the snake at all times, and always distracting it - most of the time with his HEAD, by moving it from side to side just enough to keep the cobra busy... I guess? He never faltered, always staring at the cobra intensely to make sure it didn't... uhh.. Kill him, as it were. Of course, the cobra was not a happy camper, and it lunged at the man many times, though in the end they were all unsuccessful. The man actually bent down and kissed the snake at one point, right on it's head, using his hands as distractions. Why one would want to kiss a snake is beyond me, but the man was quite obviously a lunatic, so I didn't ask. All in all, one of the craziest things I have ever seen. http://www.geocities.com/spiker43923/IMG_0996.JPG That cobra was about 12 feet long, by the way. Amazingly though, the cobra show is not the coolest thing I've seen these past few days. It was overshadowed completely by my experience at MacDonalds. Having not been to MacDonalds in I don't even know how long, we decided to take a trip to our friendly neighbourhood Thai franchise. What we found there was undeniably awesome. You have not truly indulged in the greatness of MacDonalds until you've had a "Samurai Pork Sandwich". Couple that with the ever tantalizing "Chicken Prosperity", a tried and tested tastebud pleaser, and you've got the best thing since sliced McBread. And what goes better with the Samurai and Prosperity combo than MacDonalds' own house made sweet chili sauce. Simply amazing. Well, that's all I've done in the past few days, and next we're off to Ko Phi Phi, one of the areas hardest hit by the tsunami. Ray, Cal and I are hoping to do some volunteer work over there, cleaning up beaches and picking boats out of trees, that kind of thing - I feel I owe it to Thailand to help at least help a little bit. I've really enjoyed being here, and I guess this is the best way I can say thanks. Keep those emails coming, I don't want to get lonely over here :) Spiker

posted by Spiker @ 1:28 am