Walking with the Zombies (Ian's Diary)

More from my brother Ian's several month long trip to Thailand... he crazy slash i'm jealous!

3:41am Tuesday, Apr 15

The world has gone insane. Nobody is acting normally, they're all totally soaked, drunk, hungover, or drinking. They are covered in paste, yes, paste. I saw one of them mixing the paste, like paste you would buy at a hardware store. Its 3 parts paste to one part water. Basically, paste.

The Songkran festival for the new year was OVER in Phuket, but i made the 12 hour overnight bus ride to Bangkok in time for the last day of this soaking festival. I'm back in the heart of Falang Land, but it's also the heart of the festival, of one of the many hearts. There are people walking almost like in a proccession, with the water guns, and the bottled water, spraying everybody! Hmm, its kinda funny to see someone load a bottle of water into a water gun. I'm glad its bottled water! At least its cleaner than canal water!

Almost all of the shops are closed up, and the people either fled the city, or are on the streets, cooking food, dressing up and dancing, going to watch the marching band! haha. Hmmm. And they're all wearing flower shirts, collared shirts with bright colors. When there is a group of people wearing brightly colored shirts, you KNOW something big is going on.

Before i left my hostel, which i wisely chose at 6 am, when noone was out, amidst what looked like a warfield. The streets covered in paste, broken down police barricades, umbrellas tipped over, trash all over the streets, and all the shops closed down. They all have what to us would be a garage door on the ground floor which houses their business. All of these metal doors are down, or most anyway, and graffiti or some on paste is on them, PASTE I SAY!

I'm leaving this place, and it seems like the festival is sending me off. It's been a wild trip, elephants, bears, tigers, and the like. TREKKING off into the WOODS. I probably motorbiked for well over 2000 kilometers, and only one little slow speed dirt crash! A month in Laos, eating mystery meat soup, living the dream, and then losing it! Loie, and the motorcycle man, and the dudes Pad Thai! Chiang Mai with all its ludicrous drug deals gone bad, and bowling!

For one thing I'm surprised that I haven't been arrested. The military is everywhere, checking all the time. The guitar is probably my main arrest defense. That thing has been so many different places! I bought her in Odoum Xai, in the North of Laos. She has since been dipped in the mekong river, had beer poured into her, opened at least 15 beers, had a cigarette put out on, thrown into the bay of bengal, filled with sand on the shores of the andaman coast, strapped face first for over 500 kilometers to another of its kind, road guitar! Its been keying, kicked, dragged on roads at high speeds, sat on, used as an axe, played! Played by unnumerable thai people, and me, and seth.

As i leave this internet cafe i'll walk back with the zombies, back with the Thai People and their smiles and schemes. I just hope my shoes will dry out for the 30 hour journey i have!

Ian, pre-New Years, looking just like our dad (sans mustache and beard). Carl, is that you?

Thai New Year Celebration! (Ian's Diary)

8:19am Saturday, Apr 12

So the new year has begun, i bought a watergun, and am wicked excited about it. There are people roaming the streets with guns in hand, buckets at bay, and drums filled with that wonderful substance water.

As i drive to go to my favorite pad thai restaurant, 5 minutes away, i get sprayed no less than twice, and completely soaked by a traffic stopping bucket. OOOh baby, and on the way here i made the mistake of taking on four falangs with my one little gun. As a vendor watching said later, "There were four of them!"

There seems to be no limit to the amount of water a westerner can be drenched in, simply because they are all on vacation. The people at work are generally spared, except of course when a close friend has a plan. The woman who sold me the water CANON that i have sitting and leaking at my feet on the floor, had about a gallon of water poured over her HEAD as she was making the sale.

I can only wait with baited expectations at tommorrows festivities. It will be saturday, and the thai people LOVE to drink on saturdays. Now how about the New Year! Happy New Year! Thai style, so i guess i missed a massachusetts winter for a Thai Summer and a second New Year for my year. Who knows where I'll be for the next one?

Mini-rainstorm (Ian's Diary)

3:34am Friday, Apr 11

I went up a mountain on a motorbike on the Island of Phuket. It's a dreamland, and with waves, it'd be the best place EVER, but for now it's just dreamland.

These dirt roads make me feel like I am skiing, going down them and going up them. They are rutted, illused, miscared for, and I had to abandon ship once because of it. On the way I got off to look at the view, and walked through a beautiful rubber plantation. There is life abound in the understory of these plantations. Then there's the gap with the green blue sea shining up. Oh it's nice.

I also drink a lot of water here, and had coffee for the first time in like a year. So i had to pee, so i peed of the side of the rock i was sitting on, and lo and behold! Some little lizard was taking a nice little shower almost immediately after the water started to fall! Haha, he followed that little rainshower to the left and right....it was a little strange, but it sheds light on how dry it is here, ITs the peak of dry season, and almost time for the annual thai new year, where the tradition is a large waterfight! I've been looking everywhere for water balloons but to no avail.

So a little further down and the track really degenerates, and becomes more of a dirt streambed than road. And whooop, tire slips out, i go on my bum. But all is well, helmut hit and popped off, but was good for what i needed. And just two cuts! The bike even started when i get it back to standing!

Scuba diving tommorrow on the ridiculously gorgeous reefs by these islands. Maybe another shark! or a sea turtle, another creepy sea snake, or whatever else is down there!

Playing guitar with the underpass people (Ian's Diary

More from my brother Ian, whose trip to Thailand is winding down.

Ian's Diary 11:59pm Wednesday, Apr 2

I had to get OUT of Bangkok! Being there alone was crazy, depressing, and a little scary. When i had Meredith on my arm, things were definitely more fun. For one, a swim in the pool meant a pretty lady in a bikini to play with. Without a lady on my arm, walking down almost any street means Old Lady Pimps actually grabbing my upper arm in an attempt to procure some business. SOOO CREEEEEPY! I don't know who that works on, but it Ain't Itordell, irntordellwillia.

I booked an overnight bus to the south of Thailand. Phuket is the name of the island, and its large, overdeveloped, and so far uneventful. What was crazy was waiting for my bus to depart.

I took a motorbike taxi through the streets of bangkok during rush hour. Which is CRAZY. The motorbike driver drives through the traffic for a living. And while i felt basically safe the whole time, the whole time we were riding on the line, in the middle lane between lanes of cars. This is the norm though...at long traffic lights I played a tune on the guitar for my driver. He thoroughly enjoyed it, giving me a thumbs up!

I had to wait 8 hours for my overnight bus, because being an IDIOT, i went to the bus station in the morning for what i knew would be an overnight affair. (12 hours!) So instead of waiting in the modern, ACed fully peopled waiting room, i set off to look for some friends to pass the time with.

I tried to leave the compound out the back, but only ended up in the bus repair lot, so i left from there, and walked until i found an overpass/underpass. The highway went up, i crossed it, and went under it! Underneath was an odd array of muddy never drained stagnate water pools, plastic bags filled with trash, and a canal. Next to the shade was a beautiful flower garden, watered by a giant water hose truck that almost soaked all of our things!

I played a song for a man who was there, and he walked over, sat down, and then got his other friend. I don't remember any names, they're impossible! When i told them my departure time for Phuket, they got excited, and went out and bought some whiskey...

when i say whiskey, i'm using it in the bROADEST possible terms. Whiskey in this country is any alcohol that isn't vodka with a proof higher than 80. The stuff they gave me to drink looked, tasted, and burned the throat exactly like a high octane gasoline! In, fact, as i was the first drinker, and they laughed heartily at my reaction, i thought that i was being duped by these under overpass hanger outers, and was re evaluating my decision to rub elbows with the sort of person who naps under a highway.

Luckily, these feelings passed, as did the time. I played them a bunch of songs, which they WHOOOPEd to, like the good old time tradition. Then another man showed up who played guitar. so i handed him the guitar, and took out two spoons, which i now travel with because one i got at a Hagen Daz Ice cream restaurant. Its extra long, thick and PERFECT for getting to the bottom of pints or quarts of ice cream. I can't WAIT TO GET HOME TO EAT KIMBALLS! Shit, anyway, i had a grand ol time under the overpass, by the canal, near the flowers, and most importantly OUT of the SUn, christ, its hot here.

Map of Thailand for our reference

Tuk Tuk to Nowhere (Ian's Diary)

The final installment.... for now.

6:42am Tuesday, Feb 26

The dream has failed, the honda is lost, and we are again without a motorbike to call our own.

Seth and i split ways in Luang to the MOtherlovin Prabang, Laos. Seth took the Dream II Motobike, and i hoofed it on the Tuk Tuk route. We were to meet up in Thailand. The trip turned out to be more harrowing than we thought. I had to take four seperate rides, and with each succesive ride the road got bumpier, dustier, less traveled, and less english spoken. I got covered in dust, had only 20 american dollars, but all in one currency (laos KIP), two guitars, a backpack, and a motobike helmut.

After the first 5 hour Tuk Tuk ride, which at one point held 23 people in its tank, 6 chickens, three women with three umbrellas, three babies, three baby slings, and three bags of food, along with one FaLang (white person), i stopped in Xayaboury. I attempted to find seth here, to no avail, and went wandering in the streets of this dusty one road town. I was almost immediately hailed by a group of young Laos peoples, sitting around a table with around 30 beer bottles emptied at their feet. One girl was holding a cup, filling it with beer, and handing it to one person at a time. THis is the way they drink, that one girl decides how drunk you get. Being the "faLang" i got my own cup, and got to drink everytime any one else did. In a drunken stupor i jumped on the back of a motorbike, and they drove me to a guesthouse, where i drunkenly argued the price down by 40% and flopped on the bed, only to awaken four hours later to turn the light out.

The next morning, every single person i asked about getting to the laos Thai border told me "No" . Ummmmm?!@?

I finally wandered upon a tuk tuk driver who told me he'd take me to Pak MOng, I have no map at this point, and no guide book, really a stupid faLang, and just figure, that doesn't sound north of here, and off i went.

With the name of the border town written down, Nam Hueng, i managed to finneagle my way to the border, and walked the last 6 KM as opposed to paying 3 dollars for the taxi.

The border was absolute chaos. There was a bazaar of food vendors, small shoe stores, a construction site, and a Thai-Lao friendship bridge. There were no signs, no white people, and one long line of Laos people, with military men filling out forms in the open air. I waited in the line for about 30 minutes after devouring two meat sticks. (mystery meat) Finally a military man motioned me over, and pointed in the general direction of the border and off i went.

Another random building appeared and i stopped to ask what to do. The military man then looked at me, pointed at the dream and produced seths email address. He had been here yesterday, and the dream had not been allowed into thailand, and seth had not been allowed back into Laos. No matter his bribing or insisting. The military man then told me in a grave way that my friend was in the hospital in Loei.

What? in the hospital? for what? and how did he get there with out the motorbike? So once again i got on an unknown number of tuk tuks to a destination that was never actually stated, with only Laos currency, and made my way to Loei, where my bank card didn't work at the bank, and the two hospitals didn't contain seth, and finally i got three laos girls found at a hotel to change my kip into baht, because my bank blocked my account once again!

It turns out seth tried to use a made up heart condition to get the border control to let him in, which didn't work. I met up with him, and have had some relaxing days in a charming little city in the north of thailand.

The dream may be over, but our thailand adventures are just beginning.

Luang to the motherlovin' PraBANG, b**ch! (Ian's Diary)

And you're almost caught up to Ian's adventure...

2:27am Monday, Feb 18

One tiny motorbike, two guitars, one large backpack, two small backpacks, and two full grown american men all made it from Odoum Xai to Luang Prabang. Despite the fact that we had to be in first gear for half the time because the mountain roads were so steep, and the person driving had to sit with two guitars in his lap, and the person riding had to carry a backpack. and 8 foot deep potholes aren't really all that uncommon.

The motorbike took us about 250 Kilometers, and here in luang prabang i want to sell it.

We stopped in some roadside villages on the way, in northern laos. The people live in thatched roof huts, no running water, but cable tv, and the only damn thing they give us whities is Mystery meat soup or sticky rice. Maybe thats all there is?! The children are happy, and the people huddle around small campfires at night in "Village 52" a small army outposting helps support this village. We found a chinese guy who spoke english, and he finally told us the name of the village, which no one else seemed to know about or care. Village 52...

Seth tried and failed again to buy one more motorbike, so the dream is over. Although riding through the mountains here felt like a Southeast Asian version of the Motorcycle Diaries. The only catch is we speak about 6 words of Laos, where South america is mostly spanish.

Luang Prabang feels like home, hot shower, running water, a bed seperate from the burping farting giardia machine i call seth. Although i haven't escaped spraying my ankles with cream coffee colored sewage water that shoots sideways, upways, everywhich way, just to get out.

Seth got a great picture of one of many mystery meats, and we saw an overgrown fatty rat taken by noose into a restaurant, so i think that may account for some too.

The "Honda Dream II" and it is a dream to ride, with all that weight, about a quarter of the time on the hills it sputters out, has to be restarted, and then the rest of the 5 KM hill must be driven in 1st gear, loudly.

The woman in the backround is a Hmong Tribal. They carry a basket on their back with a strap around their forehead. THey are mostly farmers i believe, the women sell the produce at the markets, while i assume the men work the fields and drink.

There's no yogurt in Norther Laos (Ian's Diary)

Yet another one of Ian's adventures - I can't say I miss the "colon blast" that is developing countries..

6:28am Friday, Feb 15

So we have left the Mekong river for the interior of Laos, we're in the remote northern city of Odoum Xai. Seth is still having a battle with his intenstines, yet we still eat in the dirt floored cafes, soup with a mystery meat in it. Some swedes we met played a game because dogs are so rare to see on the street when compared to India or southern Thailand. Every time you see a dog, you have to say "Doggie Doggie mecheeeme" or something, and that gets you 10 points. Every time you see dog meat for human consumption, the first person to say it gets 50 points. I asked how many points you get for eating dog meat, but they had no frame of reference. I think i have probably eaten some, given the soup. The only meat I can actually recognize is beef.

The food, the giard, the yogurt. There is NO yogurt in this city. Seth has just named his giardia "Billy Butt Blow" (He was up last night at least four times, on the squatter toilet, spraying his ankles...) The yogurt is the only thing that soothes. I want some too for general good intestinal health.

Before the 4 hour busride away from the good mekong we stayed in Pak Beng. The towns, and the cities are one main paved road, with shops and hostels lining the streets. The dust gets in everything, and the sun has dissappeared for at least 3 days. My pants are scuffed, and dust falls off my back pack whenever its opened.

I bought a motorcycle, not a real one, 100ccs at most with 4 gears and no clutch, WTF? i have no idea how i can get it into thailand from Laos, but i payed 4 million big ones for it.

Its COLD! I wear wool socks, bought gloves and a hat, the houses are all designed to be either the temp outside, or a little cooler. And we still can't find yogurt.

We got taken around by a group of 4 laos village guys, the one of which runs the hostel we stayed at. They put me and seth on the back of the motorbikes, guitar in hand, and drove us at somewhat alarming speeds through the mountain roads, singing and playing all the while. We walked up a bunker/old water system. Basically a concrete stream that the chinese built for Pak Beng. Its disused, other than as a trail for the Hmong people, native tribes of the area. But during one of many violent wars in Laos, the Laos people sat in the 5 foot high concrete water sluice and shot the planes down from the mountainside.

We stopped at the dam at the top with three of the 4 guys. One sat atop a wheel, dont ask me why there was a suspended wheel on the dam, and played the guitar. A hmong man stood aside of the dam, and simply smiled. I got good vibes from the banana growing mountain people. Our main goal is to play as much music with the Laos people as possible, i want to know the mountain man's music.

We jammed with the Laos hostel owner, he sang some songs, played his heart out, they love that shit!

There's plenty of Lao Lao (moonshine rice liqour), but still, the closest thing to yogurt i have seen is "yogurt flavoring" which means powdered milk. And the little containers are entirely un refrigerated.

Our quest for another motorbike, yogurt, music and good times continues

Laos (Ian's Diary)

More of Ian's adventure - I have to say I agree with him about the "backpackers scene". You don't go thousands of miles just to spend time with people like yourself!

5:24am Sunday, Feb 10

Seth and i been traveling in Laos for the last week, from the Capitol City of Vientienne to Vang Vieng to Luang Probang. These city names are impossible!

so far we have met travelers from, All over america, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Brasil, England, Finland, Swedan, Norway, Holland, germany, france, belgium, ireland, Australia, thailand, veitnam, china, japan, korea, hong kong, slovakia, israel, malaysia, austria, italy, and thats all i can remember at the moment. There is a confluence of peoples here that i have never experienced before. The backpacking scene is definitely overrated, i dont want to come to laos to spend time with europeans in a european bar! although i am going bowling tonight...for the second time in southeast asia.haha.

Today i floated an hour down a river, or more like swam an hour down the river with seth. We ended at a bamboo bridge and dried in the sun for the walk home. Luang Prabang is a Unesco World Heritage Site, which just means its beautiful. There are over 40 buddhist temples in the town, and there is a confluence of rivers , the mekong and mukong. The center of the town is a temple on a hill.

A monk tied a bracelet around my wrist today, after i spent about an hour talking to him in english, he was studying english when i walked past on the riverbank. He gave me one "for my girlfriend" too. HA! Monks can't even touch women, or else that have a three day pennance of praying to the buddha, poor boys!

The people of Laos are beautiful and extremely nice. Seth and i were on our way to a bar, and askign directions. So we asked these three guys behind us, who turned out to be english students at the university. I asked one of them what they thought of the town being over run with tourists, and he said he felt proud, that people want to come to his hometown. And next, which happens 2 out of three times you ask directions in Asia, they sent us down the wrong road...

Seth is currently fighting the giardia in the room, i can't be in there for too long, the sulphur burps and terrible gas are too much to bear!

Thailand on 48 hours of travel (Ian's Diary)

My brother Ian graduated from UMass in May 2007. He worked for my dad over the summer, spent some time in the Bahamas and in North Carolina, and then took off for a wild adventure in Thailand with his buddy Seth Beaudreault.

Because I find his Facebook notes so interesting, and because my parents aren't on Facebook, I will be posting his notes here. Enjoy!

9:19pm Thursday, Jan 31

Soooo, i made it to Thailand in one piece, and am about to go find the only other white person in the city of Khorat. (seth beaudreault)

SO i took a taxi from the airport with a guy who only knew enough english to RIP ME OFF! hahahahaha! but thats okay, im mr money bags here. THe cab driver dropped me at the bus station and i fumbled my way onto a bus out of Bangkok, because i haven't heard a single good think about bangkok. I'm actually not even sure if i'm in the right city, because i have no idea if i pronounced the city name correctly when ordering a bus ticket. And then the bus ride took about 5 hours longer than i expected. I had no idea where to get off too! Luckily, there was a man who came back and yelled the names of the places we were stopping.

I've been sleeping on plane seats, or bus seats, for the past two days. Haven't seen a real bed or pillow. I'm surprised my back is straight enough to sit in this chair.

This place is crazy! Awesome, and crazy. I have only eaten a Banana so far, because i don't want to prematurely start in on the bouts of diarhhea, i'd like to at least have a hostel with a bathroom before i eat anything, HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA!,

im a little crazed at this point, pictures and more posts later.