i'm down with koh phi phi -- yeah you know me

So I got to Bangkok and was immediately underwhelmed. Bangkok is a teeming mass of humanity interspersed among noxious smog fumes. It can get pretty intense. It was also a little lonley at first -- everyone is running around doing their thing and its easy to get lost in the shuffle. I went to the Israeli spots, met some people, played some shesh besh (backgammon, fools) and chilled. But I knew I had to be out. I called my girl Melissa, found out she was headed to koh phi phi and I was sold.

On the bus ride down I met this really chill Israeli named Yair. He's also traveling by himself and just got here from a year or so in Australia. We immediately decided that we were going to chill out and grab a spot together.

So we arrived on ko phi phi and immediately started running shit. First we met this guy Pin (the middle thai in the video), just burning one down on the beach where he worked. We made friends, one thing led to another and we were chilling in his house. Check it (NOW FIXED!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7i0KC2fH_o

Aside from the burning, which was an obvious plus, Pin also told us about island life before and after the tsunami. Phi Phi is one island that was especially devestated during the tsunami. This picture shows the immediate aftermath, and you can clearly see the way the waves came in.

Pin's family has lived on the island for generations, and in addition to losing his son, his extended family lost 25 family members. Terrible stuff. However he talked about it matter-of-factly: this is what I had, this is what I have now.

What makes the above picture even crazier is the knowledge that the shore is protected by a natural cove, which you can somewhat make out from this picture .

Phi Phi is also the island where the movie the beach was filmed. Though I've only seen the disturbing parts of the movie (shark bite, weed fields -- hope I didn't ruin anything for anyone), I was down to check it out. Yair (or YaYa, as he calls himself. It turns out that many people struggle with the pronunciation) and I rented a long boat and headed off to explore. First stop was Monkey Beach, which has some of the fattest, greediest monkeys I've ever seen in my entire life. Brought tears to my eyes. I haven't seen such spoiled little animals since my days as a counselor on a rich kids teen tour.

******

Interim note: I need some feedback -- let me know which comes out better, the two enlarged photographs above or the two regular size below. Thanks.

******

From there it was on to Ma Ya bay. Lets just say it didn't disapoint. We went cliff jumping, treking and swiming before calling it a day.

Since I have a lot to catch up on (and things to do tonight) I'm goign to wrap this up quick with a disturbing image. This, my friends, is my very first facial, after my first thai massage.

more updates soon