I was nodding off at the bar of Banana’s Tacos while waiting for my transport to the Phuket pier from which my boat tour departed. I started to wonder whether I’d have the physical energy to enjoy the tour. Finally, with some phone support from the hotel staff, a taxi arrived an [...]

Eleven days after first getting sick, and four days after my second visit to the doctor, my gut told me it was time for a second opinion. The antibiotics should’ve cleared up my illness within the first few days, and I’d never in my life felt such a lack of energy before. [...]

After taking the antibiotics given to me by the pharmacist for a few days, my fever had dissipated, and my headache improved, however I still felt tired and unwell. I decided to kick up my care a notch by visiting a local medical clinic. I got a referral from the reception at [...]

I decided to go out for a beer or two on my second night in Patong. Banana’s Tacos was situated on a street right across from Bangla Road, giving me instant access to the epicenter of nightlife on the island. I walked up the road and along the strip across from the beach, eventually [...]

After two nights in Phuket Town, I relocated to Patong Beach. I picked a Mexican run guest house, Banana’s Tacos, for my base camp. The plan was to spend a few nights in the thick of the Phuket tourist scene before heading to quieter Kata (surf) beach, and then Koh Phi Phi [...]

Phuket, Thailand’s biggest island, was my best hope for finding a deal on a new digital camera and acquiring an AC adapter for my laptop. I scoured Phuket Town’s main road and found one Canon 860 IXUS for sale in a Kodak shop. The price was ridiculous - about $60 more than what [...]

  The On On Hotel is Phuket Town’s oldest.  Staying there, I felt like I could’ve been Richard.  It was uncanny, and silly to be making such comparisons with a work of fiction.   My room had a broken window, and you could see the light of the lobby through the floorboards which creaked noisily.  I thought it [...]

Awoke at 7:30am, got on the back of a scooter at 8am, in the pouring rain, and sped off toward the pier. The ride was even scarier than the day before - wet concrete, sand, mud, leaves. I tipped the guy $1 on top of the $2 charge for an even $3. [...]

The ferry ride from Rangon to Koh Phayam was very scenic. Clouds hung so low it felt like you could reach up and grab them. There were two European couples on the boat, and me. Everyone else was Thai, including the guy next to me who worked on the island helping [...]

  My taxi driver picked me up in the morning and took me to the pier from which I’d take a longboat to Burma (aka Myanmar).  When we stepped out on the pier around 8am, I got my exit stamp at the Thai immigration window, and then negotiated the cost of a longboat to Burma and [...]