BANGKOK
Happy New YEAR!!!!!
It's new year's eve and I'm in Bangkok Thailand. Can you believe it? after 3 1/2 years in Kazakhstan, I finally said good bye. it was a bit haphazard and rushed as my departures always seem to be which makes it feel more like a "see you later! i'll be back" than a definitive "goodbye." In the time I've lived in Kazakhstan I've made a lot of good friends and been surrounded by amazing people...It hasn't sunk in just yet...
After the Tsunami hit South East Asia, everyone seemed a bit conscerned about the Thailand leg of my trip home. The original plan was to meet my friend Diana In Bangkok and head over to Cambodia and do some exploring. Unfortunately Diana was caught in the Tsunami on an island called Koh Hong near Krabi and was swept along and beat up pretty badly. her story is rather amazing and i'm so grateful she's not hurt worse than she is. The plan's changed now though, since she's still a bit banged up and shook up she's going to cut her trip short and i'm going to try to take care of her until she leaves then putz around a bit before heading off to Africa.
it was so weird to leave almaty. when I got dropped off at the airport we were "late" so i rushed through the gates and up to the check in counter, started to go through passport control, and smiled as it took them some time to find the most up to date version of my KZ visa.. then the control man asked me where my russian visa was. i was like dude. i'm not going to russia. (not exactly translated as such into russian) then he asked me to look at my boarding card. um. it said i was going to russia. pretty fancy eh? so after a quick run through the airport to make sure that my bag didn't go to moscow, everything worked out with smiles.
On the plane i chatted with a girl from Singapore about the Tsunami and wishing there were things we could do to help out. there seems to be a huge need for volunteers or blood donaters and the like. the coastal tourist industry is really hurting too.
i got to the hostel at like 5am and woke diana's butt up. i was expecting a gimpy abused looking woman, her face looked great, her arms were mostly okay too, then she showed me her ass.
let me tell you it was not a pretty site. (plus her butt was all bruised up) ha ha ha.. she's gonna kill me..)i had been expecting the worst, so i didn't react, probably, with as much horror as she might have expected. everyone (all the locals) love diana. they're all really really nice to her especially once they find out what happened. It reminds me of how people responded to 9/11. quiet, understanding sympathy. I watched as she told her story over and over again to different people and their reactions, finally she was showing with her hands what had happened to a deaf couple in the street today (selling stuff) it was too much dude. these people were so sincere in their consern and respect and good wishes for D, and she had told them that i wasn't in it, but i had flown to take care of her. i think at that moment i realized how relieved i was that Diana was okay.
It's warm here and beautiful. i still can't believe i've left kazakhstan. right now i'm hanging out with Diana here in Bangkok, i walk really slow next to Diana the gimp.. she walks with a stick and a big limp cause she banged up her heal pretty bad. that's where the stitches are. it's kinda nice that d walks so slow these days cause that way i don't have to run to catch up with her city walk.. ...
the plan for tonight is to hang out and enjoy as 2005 rolls in over here with some live music! yippee...
anyway i'll keep you posted as I continue my travels. Happy New Year everyone, and I hope you had a fantabulous christmas or khanikah or what ever holiday you celebrate this holiday season.
It's new year's eve and I'm in Bangkok Thailand. Can you believe it? after 3 1/2 years in Kazakhstan, I finally said good bye. it was a bit haphazard and rushed as my departures always seem to be which makes it feel more like a "see you later! i'll be back" than a definitive "goodbye." In the time I've lived in Kazakhstan I've made a lot of good friends and been surrounded by amazing people...It hasn't sunk in just yet...
After the Tsunami hit South East Asia, everyone seemed a bit conscerned about the Thailand leg of my trip home. The original plan was to meet my friend Diana In Bangkok and head over to Cambodia and do some exploring. Unfortunately Diana was caught in the Tsunami on an island called Koh Hong near Krabi and was swept along and beat up pretty badly. her story is rather amazing and i'm so grateful she's not hurt worse than she is. The plan's changed now though, since she's still a bit banged up and shook up she's going to cut her trip short and i'm going to try to take care of her until she leaves then putz around a bit before heading off to Africa.
it was so weird to leave almaty. when I got dropped off at the airport we were "late" so i rushed through the gates and up to the check in counter, started to go through passport control, and smiled as it took them some time to find the most up to date version of my KZ visa.. then the control man asked me where my russian visa was. i was like dude. i'm not going to russia. (not exactly translated as such into russian) then he asked me to look at my boarding card. um. it said i was going to russia. pretty fancy eh? so after a quick run through the airport to make sure that my bag didn't go to moscow, everything worked out with smiles.
On the plane i chatted with a girl from Singapore about the Tsunami and wishing there were things we could do to help out. there seems to be a huge need for volunteers or blood donaters and the like. the coastal tourist industry is really hurting too.
i got to the hostel at like 5am and woke diana's butt up. i was expecting a gimpy abused looking woman, her face looked great, her arms were mostly okay too, then she showed me her ass.
let me tell you it was not a pretty site. (plus her butt was all bruised up) ha ha ha.. she's gonna kill me..)i had been expecting the worst, so i didn't react, probably, with as much horror as she might have expected. everyone (all the locals) love diana. they're all really really nice to her especially once they find out what happened. It reminds me of how people responded to 9/11. quiet, understanding sympathy. I watched as she told her story over and over again to different people and their reactions, finally she was showing with her hands what had happened to a deaf couple in the street today (selling stuff) it was too much dude. these people were so sincere in their consern and respect and good wishes for D, and she had told them that i wasn't in it, but i had flown to take care of her. i think at that moment i realized how relieved i was that Diana was okay.
It's warm here and beautiful. i still can't believe i've left kazakhstan. right now i'm hanging out with Diana here in Bangkok, i walk really slow next to Diana the gimp.. she walks with a stick and a big limp cause she banged up her heal pretty bad. that's where the stitches are. it's kinda nice that d walks so slow these days cause that way i don't have to run to catch up with her city walk.. ...
the plan for tonight is to hang out and enjoy as 2005 rolls in over here with some live music! yippee...
anyway i'll keep you posted as I continue my travels. Happy New Year everyone, and I hope you had a fantabulous christmas or khanikah or what ever holiday you celebrate this holiday season.
posted by fancypants @ 6:26 AM
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