Travel Update

I just booked a flight to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, departing May 8 and returning May 10; a direct flight from Chiang Mai and I am required to report to immigration on May 10, so it is a perfect time.
Air Asia had a weekend promotion, and I took the opportunity to travel to Malaysia. American citizens do not need a VISA for Malaysia so it is very convenient for me to just go. I have a friend there, and he told me that he is going to his hometown that weekend and invited me to go along; very exciting! I have been blessed to have an experience in Asia that is not a tourist experience, it is much more educational and enriching.
One of my goals for being in Asia, is to see every country in Asia and make my way to live here long term. The energy here is very good and I cannot imagine leaving. I have been here 3 months already, and I have learned so much.
I have transferred to another University. I have been accepted to American Intercontinental University for a BFA in Web Design and will begin classes on Monday. I am applying for financial aid assistance and student loans also; any other small donations would be appreciated and would go a long way here for my education;
My PayPal email is lukejoshua8@gmail.com
I also plan to begin a 6 week Thai language course in June which costs $100.00 and any donations for that would be appreciated too.

Back in Chiang Mai Now/April 20

I arrived in Chiang Mai last night Monday April 20, and I am happy to be back and see my friends here. I miss my friends that I traveled with to the National Park, but we are not so far away, I will see them again.
The last posts were not really in order.

Koh Surin Trip

Songtaew Experience-Koh Samui

Bangkok

Koh Samui to Chiang Mai

We left the National Park a few days early because we felt adventurous. We went separate directions, I went to Koh Samui, and my friends went to Koh Phuket because they had to be back in Bangkok early.

I arrived 30 minutes early to the ferry (7:00 am) and had a few minutes to get some breakfast at a street cafe.


I caught some great deal online for flights from Surat Thani to Bangkok, then from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. The total flight cost from Surat thani was 1400 baht one way. I felt so happy and lucky to get those prices. that's what I get for checking the air Asia website daily, or hourly when I have a planned trip.

Koh Samui was relatively uneventful, just a time to relax and enjoy the end of my vacation before I will begin working. It was the regular routine getting from Koh Samui to the Surat thani Airport; Taxi Minivan, Boat, Bus. My flight left Surat Thani at 1:30 and I arrived in Bangkok 45 minutes later, we were somehow 15 minutes ahead of schedule.

Koh Samui Night Photos

Night fisherman walking in the sandbar

Distant storm cloud, taken by hand, no tripod...

Beach huts

Respect the Rock People-Koh Surin National Park

1st -Koh Surin National Park Entry

Me and my group of friends arrived to Koh Surin finally after almost 2 days of traveling. Koh Surin Island is very beautiful. It really felt great to be somewhere that there is absolutely no development, and still a natural landscape.

Once we arrived at the pier the catch our speedboat to Koh Surin National Park. after tossing the luggage onto the speedboat, we were of to the National Park on a 1.5 hour speedboat ride. It was a bit of a rough ride, but I didn't get sea sick after all.

Once we arrived at Koh Surin, we were transfered to a long tail boat and they taxied us to the campgrounds.

I wonder how long this man has been working in the area.


The bus trip to Koh Surin National Park took about 12 hours. I feel the bus is better than the train, but also difficult to get a good rest because there is a lot of bouncing. But nevertheless, it was a good bus ride. It would have been nice to see the trip during the daytime.

Rainy season is coming...

Monsoons on its way...


Monsoon rain on the Island.

Travel Update

Finally I arrived in Chiang Mai yesterday. It was well worth the extra money to fly. These photos are the view from my balcony. I felt a little empty when I arrived in Chiang Mai and the reason could be the great experience I had on the Island, I miss it.

Next week, April 12 I will fly to Bangkok and meet my good friend there. We will then take a bus on Monday night to travel 12 hours to another Island on the West coast of Southern Thailand, Koh Surin and the Islands are a national park, which is closed to any tourists for most of the year.
After going to Koh Surin Islands, I will be heading back to Koh Samui for a few days before flying back to Bangkok on April 20. I will be meeting my friend from the Philippines in Bangkok on April 21 and we will fly to Chiang Mai together the next morning.

My Trip From Koh Samui to Chiang Mai

Somehow, i didn't wake up with my alarm today at 5:45 am. I was supposed to be picked up today from my house and taken to the pier to catch the boat and bus to Surat Thani airport. So I was "LATE" as usual. But as it always does here, it just worked out.

The views from the ferry boat were refreshing for 8 am in the morning. I thought I would just share some views from the boat. I arrived to Chiang Mai at around 10:00 pm. I feel happy to be back in Chiang Mai now. As soon as I stepped out of the airport, I felt like I was home again; the breeze was cool. I only slept 3 hours the night before, so I am very tired now. I will soon go to bed; hence the abstract journal entry.

My House in Koh Samui

So this is where I stayed in Koh Samui. It is a guesthouse next to the beach and these are the views from where I stayed. I will miss this place and the people here very much. They have been so wonderful.
Monday - Friday we had a driver pick us up from our houses at 8:45 am or so and take us to the resort where we conducted our teachers training.

I really enjoyed the teachers training courses and I wish I can do more. I think I will enroll in a Thai language course in Chiang Mai sometime in June. So, tonight I must pack all of my things and get ready to be picked up at 6:45 am to be transported to the main pier and catch my boat and bus to Surat Thani airport. I will fly to Bangkok, then fly to Chiang Mai.

Catch of the Day

Black and white experiment.

This is the pirate temple cat, very talkative.

View from the temple.

The Temple Classroom

It is Saturday and my TEFL course is finished! I am now officially an English teacher. I realized yesterday while teaching the village temple, when I go towards that which I fear the most, there are always good results in the end and learn so much so quickly here. This is the reason why I came here in the first place. I felt I was not learning enough while I was in Boston, things were going very slowly.. but too quickly at the same time; my life was passing me by and I didn't notice.

The photo above is my classroom. I had a difficult time teaching the children at first, but after a few classes, I had them understanding everything. They just want to have fun, so I made everything fun for them, which included acting very silly and making them laugh.

There were boys in my classes also, but for this photo, they were out playing in the monsoon rain that happened on our last day of teaching in the Mini English camp at the temple, "Wat Santi" on the south part of the Island. I would rather teach advanced english to adults, to be honest, but I don't mind teaching children too; it just takes so much more energy and time to plan lessons and things like that.

The good thing about teaching at a school is that they provide a textbook to work from during the school year, so there is a kind of map for how they want you to teach and in what order to teach it. Thai students are very respectful of the teacher here and there is rarely any major disciplinary issues. I will need a lot more practice teaching children before I will feel comfortable with the whole process.