Tunisia- Faith Restored

After leaving my camera and my CD of pictures from Thailand and Tunisia I went to a festival in Douz. Whoopsie!!!!!! Douz is located in southwest Tunisia, at the very fringe of the Sahara Desert, and hosts a three-day festival every year in late December. While at the festival we saw drummers and dancers, horse and dog races, and camel wrestling and camel races. It was pretty damn cool. Being some of the only foreign tourists was a refreshing change from the hordes in Thailand. Of course, I do not have any pictures of the events because I had left my camera behind in another town. Right.
While staying Douz I met a Touk(a local merchant) that told me how honest all Tunisians are. He said that if I left my passport in the center of the market overnight that I could return the next day to find it unmolested. I was extremely skeptical but thought how I would be able to test the statement by returning to the internet café four days later to see if my camera would be returned.

Well, Lo and Behold!!! Here I am, in the town of Gabés, at the same café I was at four days ago, sitting with my camera and CD(I know, the title makes it a little anti-climatic). The people of Tunisia get a Good People award from this kid. Not sure if I want to test again I am glad it happened.

Tunisia Entry- Finally

December 26, 2006: Gabès, Tunisia

Had yourself a merry little Christmas, I hope. This kid had the Muslim kind. Dark, sinister, punctuated by Arabic music videos and bad soccer. Throw in loud coughing of the phlegm prayers at 6am and four more times throughout the day- and its a yuletide I probably won;t forget. Santa is a tall, dark dude, with no beard, that sits around a cafè smoking cigarettes and drinking cafè all day. I knew it all these years, the fake....

People laugh at me and Jordan all the time. They refer to my bearded friend as §Ali Baba§ but I think my name when translated to Arabic means something much more insulting like, § I wipe with my right §. I!m in the land of delicious mint tea, juicy sneezes, and messed up keyboards(maybe you;ve noticed the symbols?). And now this whole paragraph is double spaced- I should go soon.
I;ll write more when I can- internet is a luxury here. Happy New Year to all of yous- hope you like the Boy Scouts of Tunisia- friendliest people so far.

An Exhaust Problem, A Plumbing "Issue", A Rat Bastard

A motorbike tatoo- those pipes are hot!!
It's healing nicely.












This is what happens when your bungalow is closest to the ocean(or the lowest down the hill) and it rains for a full two days. By the way, this is a squatting toilet, and those little "twigs" are really bugs- and they're alive. Not sure what kind of septic system they have but it not work so well. "I think it was the pate'."






This is what happens when you have three bungalow-mates, and one of them is a rat. This is why our stay might be extended(new passport). On a lighter note, he also tore up our toilet paper, soap, some foot cream, and (from the rafters) dropped a fresh shit on my toe. Rat Bastard will not be missed.(note that the nibbles are on the id page)

Brilliant Idea

Got this great inspiration for a new kind of business. It caters to the lazy, unhealthy eaters of the world, who have no attention span(basically the younger generation). Its a store that every three seconds blares over the intercom, "Buy a snickers, a Gatorade, some Twizzlers, and a 'Computer Gaming Monthly' and go home!"
I'm accepting loans now.

Bamboo Sax

Erika got me a little gift in Chiang Mai. Its made of bamboo and takes tenor sax reeds. I've found no better way to spend time on the beach, on the porch of my bungalow. Don't be jealous, most of you will here more than enough of the handy little thing.

I Gotta Phi Phi More!!

A sunrise, our bungalow, and half the island. I got up really early one morning(5:ooam) and fought my fear of the Great White Shark and did some kayaking on a really tippy kayak, I nicknamed, Undependable Blue(it was blue). For those who don't know, I fear Great White Sharks, all the time. Not, like, in towns, or on buses, or at the movies, but more like around any body of water that I'm swimming in or hanging out in. I know that they grow up to 25 feet long, can way 2 tons, and attack by surging up from 30 feet below and knocking their victim(me) five feet in the air unconscious. Then they come in for the kill. And they like to feed at dawn and dusk. And its dawn. And they can smell my fear.
Now, I was out real early, even before the sun, and at that time I could not even see through the clear clear water. But I know that the Great White is there, and I'm bothered, but I'm playing it off pretty well- just focusing on the paddle strokes. Not scared of no shark, nope not me. Then, I hit a pretty good swell, a little too broadside(seems like I WAS focusing on something besides paddling) and the tippy blue kayak dumped me. Dumped me right in the dark water with Great White. That kinda sucked.
So, then I'm on the bottom of the kayak, spread eagle, gripping the paddle like a Sumari Sword, barely floating above the surface of the water. I was just thinking of how the sun rose a little since I started but then immediately went behind this Bastard Cloud- not too much more light. I figured at some point I would have to fully enter the water and attempt to get the kayak right-side up and get back in the damn thing. That's when I glanced over toward shore and saw a Thai guy, shirtless, smoking a cigarette, just staring at me. He's probably about 75 yards away and I swear I can see the expression on his face. Well, its actually no expression. He's just staring. I thought that this was funny.

In talking with a dive-instructor a few days later I found out that the Great White is a strictly cold water shark; the ones around Phi Phi are strictly crustacean eaters. Still, this doesn't change my attitude around the water- I KNOW that one is out there just waiting to make the switch to warm water and its gonna be when I'm swimming or kayaking.

Phi Phi Island

Sorry to have to let all you know that we have a new home now. The rain and the rough surf during our stay could never have taken away from the beauty of Phi Phi Island. It was hit pretty hard by the tsunami but has been rebuilt quickly. There is construction still underway but there are many brand new guesthouses as well as some of the old that survived. Don't worry, there are PLENTY of tourist traps for those of you who want to spend way too much money on dinners and 5 star hotels.

Raya Island

Raya Island was a great getaway from Phuket. Beautiful beaches with that same water that's all over Thailand: 75 degree crystal green. Some nice reefs around the island and the snorkelling was incredible. There were so many fish all around us it was hard to believe.
Our first room had a rotting mattress covered in ants so we moved into a nicer bungalow(with a dry mattress, no ants) and a more festive curtain/ bedsheet thing that Erika just loved.

The Dragon's Lair

Raya Island harbored at least two of these beasts. For all who are not familiar with the monitor lizard, here is one. They are big mofos- the largest grow over 6 feet long. This one seemed to be the female- she probably measured about four feet from tip to tail. We saw her and her mate feasting outside of our bungalow's restaurant. Turns out that the kitchen feeds them on a regular basis. The male, was a little over five feet long, and mean looking. I thought we were on the island of Komodo for a few seconds.....

Sunny Days

This was in Phuket at our guesthouse. One of the sunny days from so long ago. Now it drizzles in our face. Still warm, though. Its a really nice patio they had so Erika and I played a soccer match (Erika 4 Chad 1) but we stopped before one of us slipped and cracked our head open. Nice enough guesthouse- a lot of Norwegians "lived" there with their thai girlfriends.

Thailand's Final Curtain?

Phuket Lobster

Phuket, Thailand's Southeastern Coast, December 16th:

So here we are, just a few days from our flight out of Thailand and it is possible that we may delaying our departure. That should come as a shock to most of you(so more on that later). Anyway, we've had a time down here. It was not quite what we expected, to say the least. Phuket is for Thailand what Cape Cod is for Massachussets. No, its not haven for gays. No, its not a place to hang out with a bunch of seedy fisherman and snort good cocaine. However, it IS an overcrowded beach town that is not as relaxing as the brochures advertise. And this town has a serious problem: Norwegians. They're big, they're tall, they're blonde-haired, blue-eyed, fair-skinned and talk like Arnold Schwarzenegar on mushrooms. Not good.

At any rate, we got out of that town a hit two islands. One called Raya Island. One called Phi Phi Island(pronounced Pee Pee, giggle giggle). Spent one night at Raya and ten at Phi Phi. It was relaxing by the beach doing nothing but snorkelling, kayaking, eating, and sleeping. However, it was cloudy most of the time and rainstorms hit us the last two days. Still real nice, but kind of kick in the mildewy shorts.

Again, I'll try to let the pictures do most of the talking(too late) but I do want to say that we have met wonderful Thai people on our journey. They truly are beautiful people with good hearts- it is easy to see why this is called the Land of Smiles. They smile all the time- even when they're charging way too much for a T-shirt or calling you a nasty Thai name. But they use it to say "Its all OK". And I see that it is.

A Connection is Made....

...and large tissues will be needed.

I fed the thing three pounds of bananas and a good amount of sugar cane.....
...and all I got was snot covered shorts in return.


It was just a two year old baby- hasn't learned to turn to the side during a sneeze.

Gotta Have More Elephant

And some more......

of our big-assed friends

More of Our Buds

Our Big Buddies

We went to an elephant camp and made some friends. They can blow harmonica, play soccer, drag logs, paint, and their shit makes a loud "whump" sound when it hits the ground.

What Tourists Shouldn't Do

Other countries have just come to expect it from us.....

Chiang Mai - Scenes

Just a few of the shots from around town.

Chiang Mai - December 2nd

Well, well, well, its been a wacky week. First a quick recap: a goodbye to Harry(travel safe, good friend), a 15 hour train ride to Chiang Mai(city in northern Thailand), a bout of fever, a life-affirming motorbike ride, elephant snot(not related to the fever), a bamboo saxophone maker(who met Taj Mahal once), a night-time bazaar, an elixir made of some kind of birds brain or heart(tasted like clear jello, sweetened but without a flavor), and a guy who just loves, I mean, LOVES mosquitos(never kills them and thinks they're good for people).

There ya go. I'll let the pictures do most of the story-telling. Chiang Mai is beautiful and much cooler(not as hot) as Bangkok. Its situated near big hills and has beautiful artwork and handicrafts. Cheap Cheap Cheap. Everything is inexpensive. Erika finding it hard not to stuff her bags with all the beautiful clothing and the local artists can't understand why we can't take 8' X 4' framed pictures on the plane. We would if we could.

Next time(if there is one) I'll spend more time around this city. Its a much nicer pace and it actually gets quiet at night. Bangkok is just crazy.

At any rate, we're off to southern Thailand. Beaches, snorkelling, and scuba diving. Await more updates.....