Bangkok Has Bed Bugs!

Caitlin and I arrived at Khao San Rd. at about 4am, and fortunately, the place I had in mind to sleep at was affordable and counted 4am as the following day - so we were really getting two nights for the price of one. We slept lightly until 8am when Kayleigh emailed that she made it, and we met her for McDonald's breakfast and brought her back to the room. The rest of the day, we just went to the Reclining Buddha (Wat Pho), walked back to Khao San and shopped around. I wasn't feeling great and called it an early night as the girls had a late one.

The next day, we found ourselves a nice rooftop pool to lounge at before the girls got their bus to Chiang Mai. I booked a cheap room at the guesthouse attached to Green House restaurant - biggest mistake yet.

In the morning, I woke up covered in what I thought were simple rashes, but I wasn't sure what it was. In an attempt to forget about the itchiness, I met up with my friend, Paul, that I met in Malaysia, and we went to MBK, the art museum and caught the new JT film, "In Time."

Closest I got to Turkey for this Thanksgiving month.

The rashes weren't getting better, and I stopped at various pharmacies and concluded that it was bed bugs. I avoided my room and hung around on the couches at the hostel. Then, I saw a bed bug crawling on my purse. After a full day of research, I knew a bed bug when I saw one. I Skyped home, and my brothers helped me figure out how to get rid of the monsters and found me a nice place to stay at for the night - sponsored by my parents.

At this point, I was nearly in tears from the pain, itchiness and leper-like welts forming all over my back and arms. Thinking about ridding my belongings of these awful insects was even more upsetting. This was the worst thing that's happened on my travels yet, and I was alone. At least I had the support of my family, and Dave's iPhone! I left everything but my money, passport and iPhone and went to the nice hotel. In the morning, I rushed around all day finding a place that could wash everything I own (including my backpack) and dry it for longer than normal. I still can't be sure if they really did. I even bought something new to wear on the spot and took off what I was wearing. I packed everything in plastic bags within my backpack and hoped for the best upon my arrival in Kathmandu. As you can imagine, I didn't sleep properly for the next week. Be sure to thoroughly check those beds for bugs and small feces stains on the sheets - monsters!!

iPhone Camera

Koh Tao for the Advanced Diver

We checked out of Power Beach Resort and caught a ferry to Koh Tao - the rockiest ferry ride ever. The boat swayed from side to side, and Caitlin and I were planning a safe exit strategy in case we capsized. All the buds and the new Californians came as some of us wanted to do more diving.

After scouting out tons of dive shops, we went with Phoenix Divers - we got a good deal since 10 of us were diving. Five of us, including myself, did the advanced course, Caitlin and Jill (one of the Californians) and Lauren and Dave (friends from home) did the open water course and Alex did a discover dive. It was awesome to see Lauren and Dave - I hadn't seen Lauren since July of last year, and we had a great time for the few days we got to hang out.

Caitlin and I got rooms included with our course and the other four just crashed in our room for one night before they headed up to Bangkok. I had an awesome time on my advanced course, and four of the Californians were with me - they were great entertainment and our instructor, Neil, is a legend here!

On our 3rd dive, half of the people on our boat surfaced a few minutes after us and were frantically screaming that they saw a whale shark. There had been a few sightings this month, and I was bummed we missed it. We all decided to stay at Chumpon Pinnacle for the 4th dive and tried to find this shark. In our last 5 minutes, we saw it! Check out Peter's GoPro footage here. I felt pretty lucky since people have been diving everyday for years and not seen one, and this was dive #8 for me. We went back to land for a break before our night dive. It was cool, but I would prefer to dive in the daylight!

Meanwhile, Caitlin was struggling with her open water course and only stayed down 5 minutes of one dive. Her instructor said she could try again the next day, and she insisted that I join her if she covered the costs. I was kind of ready for a break from diving, but I really wanted her to complete her course. We did her 4 dives close to the beach - one just walking right into the water - and she passed!

We spent a little more time with Lauren and Dave before they headed to Koh Phangan and we headed up to Bangkok on the overnight to meet Kayleigh, another Korea friend. Dave left me with the best parting gift ever - his old iPhone! Connected again! I booked my flights from Bangkok-Kathmandu-Sri Lanka-Bangkok and then Bali! Scary. 

November Full Moon.

(more pictures to follow - on the other camera card)



Sometimes you need to make a decision about what is more important - time or money. When it came to meeting up with the buds in Thailand (for my third time), I chose money. I got an affordable flight from Cebu to Manila, followed by a 6-hour layover in Manila before catching a flight to Bangkok. Then, I waited at the airport for another 7 hours (12am-7am) for my flight south to Suratthani. At least I finished two books with all those layovers! 

I shared a cab with 3 Irish girls to the ferry terminal in Suratthani, and we got a boat over to Koh Phangan. Upon arrival, I had four hours to kill at the hotel until the buds arrived - Chris, Lauren, Keeler, Caitlin and Alex. I hung out by the pool with five fun Californians from Santa Barbara while I waited. 


It was the night before the FMP (full moon party), so they all went to Haad Rin. We were staying in Baan Tai, which like I said from last FMP was about a 20-minute ride at 100 baht a head each way. I stayed in because I couldn't keep my eyes open anyway from my journey. The next day, we slept in and laid out at the pool and beach all day before making our way to the FMP in a van with the Californians. It was a fun ride! The van strategically dropped us off at some random part of Haad Rin that required a 100 baht fee. I knew this wasn't a necessary fee to pay, but no one else wanted to waste the time to figure out an entrance to avoid it. 


I love hanging out with the Korea crew, but I've also been traveling for a lot longer than they have and have a better idea of pricing and unnecessary costs that they accept that I am reluctant to pay. It's hard to be the only one trying to avoid paying extra money all the time because it can often come across as stingy or cheap. But it in reality, I am a backpacker, and I'm three months down and trying to make it last for another three. Last FMP, we got a fan bungalow on Haad Rin for 300 baht - $5 each between 2 people. Here, we were a 200 baht round-trip ride away and each paid $20 a night with a 4-night minimum for a fan-only room. It's things like that that get under my skin a little. I keep trying to just suck it up, accept it and move on, but it happens everyday where I have to make excuses for spending the extra dollars in stupid places. Hopefully, I'll figure out how to control the extra costs - quickly. But sidetrack aside...


We paid the entrance fee and got a souvenir bracelet with it and immediately bought paints and Mama's Schnitzel sandwiches. I pictured last month's party right away! We painted pictures and words on each other, got some buckets of vodka-redbull and headed to the beach. The three of us girls quickly split from the boys and danced the night away while meeting fun groups of people from all over the world. I also ran into Jacko, Sam and Simon who took the motorbikes with us in Vietnam - love those English guys! We all had a great time, and before we knew it, it was 6am and the sun was shining strong. By 8, we decided that we needed some falafel, hummus and cheese fries - breakfast of champions - before we'd be ready to make the trek back to Baan Tai. When we made it back to the hotel, the 3 of us ran straight into the pool. Everyone that we saw stumble home in the broad daylight was convinced to join us for a swim. We got out of the pool to catch our free breakfast before it ended at 11am. 


As expected, we spent most of the day sleeping and got an early dinner around 5pm, and we ate everything possible over a 3-hour span. We didn't last too long that evening either, and mostly made it to bed by 11pm. I can't sleep much and was up at 6:30am chatting home and uploading photos. By the time the friends got the day rolling, it was after 12pm. We finally rented 3 motorbikes and cruised around the island. We tried to get a taxi boat to Bottle Beach (which we heard so much about from our Korea friends), but apparently the waves were too high and the boats wouldn't go - bummer!


Instead we went to Haad Mae Hat and Ko Ma beaches and ate lunch and had some personal time for reading and writing as the sun set over out last night in Koh Phangan. Finally, we finished the night off at Amsterdam Bar atop a mountain overlooking the beach. It was a nice end to our time in Phangan.  

Cebu with Cebuanos.

I got in touch with the Cebuanos that my friends had met, and they set me up with a nice, affordable hotel. We also made plans to meet up and maybe get a mini city tour. Meanwhile, during the day, I walked over to the mall and found a Red Mango! Should I feel guilty for linking to Red Mango from my blog and not Menchie's? Open a damn Menchie's in the Philippines, someone! I finished my cup of fro-yo in about the time it took "Mr. Jones" to finish playing over the speakers.

This mall was full of all the American brands and dozens of other things. I took a stroll through the supermarket and my jaw dropped at the sight of Blue Doritos and Hot Cheetos - I didn't even feel like eating them, but I had to have them both, obviously.

After that, I met up with Kyra, Summer, Maya and Cat - a few of the girls that my friends had met. A few hours of chatting passed, and I went to get showered up before Maya, her brother and Cat picked me up for dinner at their home. We had delicious chicken with steamed rice wrapped in heart-shaped coconut leaves.

I was so thankful and honored by their kindness and welcoming. We all got along great, and it seemed as if we hadn't only met a few hours prior. They took me to a restaurant/bar called Mr. A's that was on top of a hill overlooking the city. They treated me to a few cocktails while we all talked and laughed, and I enjoyed the view. Kyra drove me back to my cute, very small hotel room at Islands Stay for $22 a night - I splurged.

My last day in Cebu, I strolled through the mall again before meeting Kyra for some sightseeing. She took me to Fort San Pedro, Magellan's Cross and a famous church. Once it was dark, we went to Tops Lookout on the highest part of the hill. The view was beautiful.

We met Maya for Mexican dinner and went off to bed. These girls really made my trip, and I got to see Cebu in a different way than most travelers. I hope I can host them in the States soon! Now back to Thailand for a 24-hour journey!

Bohol with a Bud.

(note: most of these photos were on my point-and-shoot)

At 5:30am, I got a tricycle to the ferry in Boracay and then another tricycle on the other side to the airport. I don't get the point of having all of these different windows for paying all these different terminal fees and whatever else. Why can't they just cut out that step and include it in the ferry prices and the airline prices like everywhere else in the world? Anyway, after a short 35-minute flight, we landed in Cebu early, and I helped Kristin welcome the new day with a wake-up call from reception at Radisson Blu. The hotel was great, and I managed to get a free breakfast buffet while I joined Kristin for her included meal - awesome! I also go the opportunity for an appreciated hot shower.

We finally had to check out of the glorious comforts of the Radisson and catch the ferry to Bohol. We had gotten some info on what to do there, and I immediately befriended an Israeli couple that split the tricycle fare with us to Nuts Huts Bungalows. Kristin and I sat on the back of the motorbike that had a small cart on the side that barely fit the couple - our bags were tied on top. It was not the most nor the least comfortable ride I've ever had, but it was a funny one.

Nuts Huts was a major trek to get to, and I thought i was taking a break from treks. It must have been 1.5-2km walking down a rocky, muddy road followed by 300+ steps down to the Loboc River. All I could think about was how painful the walk back up would be as sweat dripped into my eyes and eventually down my face and to the ground.

We dropped off our bags in our cute bungalow and went down to the river to check out this waterfall before dark. Not expecting to have to enter the water to get to it, we walked back towards the small village that we passed on the way. There were kids playing by the water, and of course, we hopped down there and started taking pictures and playing with them.

They were having a blast with us and insisted that we take a ride on their boat and learn how to play their games. We spent at least an hour with them listening to them sing and play mini guitars (not ukuleles) and trying to learn how to play their jumping game. We eventually got a boat ride to the waterfall, but they insisted that we get in the water for a back massage from the falls. We had a great time with them but were exhausted!

There isn't anything around Nuts Huts, so you have to eat there, and the restaurant is halfway up those stairs! We shared an assortment of fried dishes and attempted to sleep to prepare for our 6:15am alarm. Kristin didn't have much time so we arranged for a 7am ride to see the endangered tarsiers, the famous Chocolate Hills and some other touristy destinations.

He dropped us off in Panglao island at Alona Beach where we found a good deal on a nice room. We got some beach time in and relaxed for the rest of the day. We found some burritos for dinner, had a couple beers and again called it an early night! We are wild!

We got a ferry back to Cebu in the morning so Kristin could catch her flight back to Korea - she's got four more months of teaching - sucks. Chris, Keeler and Lauren made friends with some local Filipinos when they were here, and they also took Kristin out in Cebu before I arrived. Kristin left, and I got in touch with the Cebuanos. 

Heading to the 'ppines!

After conquering Mount Kinabalu, my friends were heading to Singapore in the morning, and my plans were still non-existent. I looked up potential flights, and the best bet was the Philippines. It's not really close to anything else, but from Kota Kinabalu, it was a short 1.5 hour flight. I made some friends on the bus into Manila, and we stayed at a hostel that Chris and Keeler recommended from when they were there a week prior - Green Mango, it worked. We weren't near too much, but we walked around the area and found some food. I only had a few hours in the morning before my flight to Boracay, and I spent them at Starbucks with my journal, iPod shuffle and skinny vanilla latte. This is the only photo I took in Manila.

I left for the airport at 12:30 and after a cab, flight, tricycle, ferry and another tricycle, it was 5:45pm at Frendz Resort (hostel) in Station 2 of White Beach in Boracay, and it was Halloween night. Sarah and Ben, my friends from the bus, had saved me a bed in their dorm, and I dropped off my bags before we went to find a costume. Sarah and I, mostly concerned in keeping it cheap and easy, opted for pumpkin antennae headbands and face paint, which we paired with orange tops. Sarah had made friends with some Filipinos from Manila, and they took us to the big party at Epic and were able to waive the 500 pesos cover charge - win!

We had a really fun night, met cool people, Sarah tried a duck fetus and we witnessed a game of musical bananas - guys hold open bananas in their laps and bites were taken - you can imagine how it went down.

The next couple days in Boracay were pretty much nothing more than lounging at the beach, eating, drinking, eating, drinking mango shakes, eating more, etc. So much for losing weight while traveling!

One of the days, Sarah and I went to Puka Beach (north of the bustling White Beach) with a couple of locals that we met through the hostel. It didn't turn out as awesome as we had hoped. One of them shared a tricycle with us both ways and ended up not only not paying, but also taking our change. Then, when we parted ways, he took our leftover food that we brought. Besides the nice beach, it was a bust. And to top it off, someone at the hostel had urinated on a pile of my clothes. I had sent them for washing and it came back still smelling of piss, still damp and missing nine items. I finally got the items back, but they were still wet - don't go to Fairy Laundromat in Boracay - fail! Next stop - Cebu - where I will be meeting up with Kristin, another friend from Korea. Hooray for buds!