Birthday Binder - Ang Thong Marine National Park and Beach Dinner

I honestly hadn't thought much about my birthday at all, with the whole wedding thing and traveling half way around the world. I've been about as happy as a Binder can be the last week, so having one more thing to celebrate was just icing on the cake. Or peanut sauce on the Satay. I entered my 20's as a pasty and increasingly robust sophomore o-lineman in a dorm in Waterville, Maine... And I now enter my 30's an almost ready to be responsible, debatably sophisticated, and of course... married... man in Thailand. And I couldn't be happier.

Our buggy driver showed up with signs

One of the top things I wanted to do in Koh Samui was go to Ang Thong Marine National Park, a set of 40-something islands West of Koh Samui about 45 mins by boat. We thought this was the perfect thing to do on my bday. I knew I was in for a special day when our golf cart driver sped in with Happy Birthday signs on the cart, one of which flew off and almost hit me when he slammed on the breaks. A speed boat to picked us up right at our hotel and we headed out due West. We made 4 stops over the course of the day to snorkel, hike to a salt water lagoon, have lunch in a fishing village, and chill on a beach and kayak. The water is amazingly clear blue, and the many rocky islands that are covered in greenery and look like they could fall over any minute make up some of the most gorgeous scenery we've ever seen. It was the perfect daytime activity, with a little surprise Bri planned for dinner...

View of the Four Seasons from the boat

Being silly in the water

Praying Monkey Rock... Because, get it?

Salt Water Lagoon

Top of the view point after a steep hike

Self pic with sweet beach hair. And no, we're not naked.

Bri had said she had something planned for dinner, and while I continued to make up guesses from midget wrestling to fireworks... She came through with one of the most special dinners I've had in my life: a private dinner on the beach. It looked like something out of The Bachelor, complete with rose petals and all... But Chris Harrison was nowhere to be found. There was plenty of food and more than enough booze. Brando left full, with a good buzz, and appreciative of my loving, caring, and thoughtful wife planning an awesome day to welcome me to my 30's! Although, everyone (including the cake) referred to me as Mr Binder... Not sure if I'm ready for that. You can just call me Binder.

Romantic Beach Dinner Binder

The soup with lobster wontons was unreal

Mr Binder? Is my dad here??

 

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Night Market Binders

After 3 full days at the Four Seasons, which is really easy to do, we decided we needed to venture out a little. It worked out great when the concierge told us there is a night market on Fridays, known as the Walking Street, in the Fisherman's Village of Bo Phut just about 25 minutes from our hotel. This got me excited immediately. If you can grill it, fry it, wrap it in something, put a sauce on it, or make make it spicy... chances are I wanna eat it. We got in a cab and headed over around 5:30... A little early to check out the scene.

Just getting started

The streets are already narrow, with one entrance street hitting the street along the beach and forming a T. The carts, grills, tables with random stuff, and people make it pretty crowded and exciting. There are all kinds of bars from Aussie Rules Footballs Bars, to German Biergartens, and even some Thai style bars. The bars, and even liquor stores set up tables and sell $1.50 cocktails. For some reason we couldn't figure out, they all made mojitos. Best of all, of course, there is a ton of food. There was a Pad Thai taste test. It's awesome to watch them make it, they put the egg on the grill and cook it into the noodles. The pork skewer I ate had a pepper on it that blew my face off... In a good way. We avoided the grasshoppers, though I was tempted. All in all a fun night, that really made use feel like we were truly in Asia.

Pad Thai for $1.50

Just ate the pepper, not smiling ten seconds later

We just got back from an amazing day at Ang Thong Marine Park, which was incredible... Pics to be uploaded soon. About to head out for a little Birthday dinner tonight. There probably won't be any carts, but I'm sure it will be great as my WIFE set it up and I have no idea where we are going. Not a bad way to celebrate my birthday!

 

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Jetlagged Binders - What Day Is It?

After much research and debate, we have determined it is, in fact, Thursday morning here in Thailand. It was a loooong trip, longest either of us have ever gone through but we made it Koh Samui, Thailand (an island off the East Coast in the Gulf of Thailand) yesterday morning. Koh Samui is like the Kauai of the Thai islands, known for its resorts, which we planned to take full advantage of by staying our first week and most "honeymoony" spot at the Four Seasons Samui. I'll give you a glimpse of the end goal, then tell you a bit about our journey...

Our own private infinity pool

Sunday night, in a post-wedding stupor and/or depression, we packed our bags wondering "how are we sitting here folding socks in our apartment alone, when 24 hours ago we were raging on the dance floor with 150 of our friends and family having the best time of our lives?". Allison picked us up on Monday, took us to SFO, and we boarded a flight for Seoul, South Korea at 2 pm Pacific. After a 12 hour flight of free movies and an Ambien induced drool session, we made a one hour dumpling stop in Seoul. 6 more hours to Singapore where we arrived at 1 am wide awake, with 6 more hours to kill. We walked 4 miles around the airport just for the sake of walking, took showers (which were incredibly nice, with tile floors and rainfall shower heads), enjoyed the free wifi, and finally boarded our flight to Koh Samui, Thailand at 7 am.

Fun in the Singapore airport after 6 hours in the middle of the night

We arrived in Koh Samui at 9 am, exhausted but ready to finally start the adventure. Our entrance to the hotel was the best "lobby" I've ever seen, overlooking the entire hillside resort and 60 villas. We spent the afternoon enjoying our own private pool, exploring the beach, and a "Bounty of Thailand" dinner in a zombie-like sleep deprived state. We learned "medium spicy" means "make honkey mans and wife sweat". Finally we got 8+ hours of sleep, after sleeping upright in public for the last 36 hours.

Entrance to the Four Seasons

Our welcome spread

So happy to be in Thailand!

Today we fulfilled our vows by sharing breakfast on our deck in our room and will likely not leave the resort today. We feel rested and relaxed, and ready to begin our adventure. Thank you to everyone who made our wedding so special, and even contributed to our honeymoon fund. It will be well used and enjoyed to the fullest. Love you all and miss you!

 

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What a Weekend!

As we sit here at the SFO international terminal, about to embark on our 7 week honeymoon adventure, I had to throw out one quick post about the weekend we just had. Many say your wedding day flies by, but we both have been saying that it felt like a dream. It is humbling, touching, inspiring, and almost tear-jerking to think of all the love we felt from our friends and family. When the video surfaces of me dancing to our last song of the night, you will see the pure unfiltered joy on my face. My head nearly exploded with happiness. When it all ended, and we found ourselves in the empty Dawn Ranch parking lot on Sunday, we just stood there wondering how it went by so quickly.

I don't have that many pics on my phone from the wedding, but here is one where you can catch our sheer joy on our faces. As well as the feeling of everyone watching you slow dance.

We love all of you, and can't thank you enough for coming from far and wide to share and create the best weekend of our lives!

Now onto the sole purpose of this blog... Some travel. We sit here, about to board our flight to South Korea, on our way to Koh Samui, Thailand. It's Monday afternoon here... We arrive on Wednesday morning. It's gonna be a haul, but we can't wait. I know we'll both sleep well!

Next post from Asia!!

Just a Brief Hiatus

I know, I know. I wrote back in July of '09 that I would continue the blog after I got back from South America. Well, I got a little distracted. You've all probably been starved for content on the internet to keep you entertained over the last 3+ years. I'm sorry. I really am. Let me make it up to you. Here's what I'll do, just for your entertainment: meet a girl, fall in love, propose, quit my job, get married, take an extended honeymoon around Southeast Asia, write about it, and let you follow along. Sound good? K, deal.

I've done the first 4 steps. Some other stuff happened along the way, but for the purposes of following this blog, that's mostly all you need to know. Actually, for those of you who don't know her, I should probably introduce you to said girl, my future wife, and travel partner who will be co-starring in the upcoming travels, and my life. Her name is Brianne (yes, we will be Brandon & Brianne Binder) so the whole "B Side" thing worked out quite nicely. She's a lovely, tall blonde who enjoys sharing food with me, going on hikes, being generally fashionable, and finding new things to do and see (and eat, with me) in San Francisco. She also finds me moderately entertaining, which is nice. Ever since she met me at the tail end of the Great White Hike in Brazil, we've wanted to do a trip of our own. After 4 years of being together, we finally found the perfect time to do it: for our honeymoon.

Rio, May 2009

Originally, the plan was 12 days in Thailand on your standard honeymoon. In doing some research, I found some blogs of couples traveling the world (like this one, friends of friends that we've never met). It inspired us, and we decided we can make it happen. We saved up, gave Jerry McGuire speeches, and made the plan. Since this blog is getting long, I'll save the itinerary for another post. In short, its about 8 weeks in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

Stoked to be travelling together

So, needless to say we've been quite busy with planning a wedding and a trip, but we are more excited than ever to start our lives together. The wedding is just about 2 weeks away, and maybe we'll make a post or two about that before we take off (here's the wedding website, if you're into that kind of thing). Now that we're all caught up, we look forward to sharing our adventures with you. Feel free to subscribe by entering your email in the semi-hidden link on the right. Stay tuned!

Whackiness and Hilarious Consequences

It's a funny thing, this blogging. Who really reads these things anyway? The power of the internet has given millions of people the ability to share their thoughts and drivel with the broadest of audiences in an instant. For a long time I thought blogging was best served for celebrity gossip and political rants. When I decided to take a little trip (see entry #1 in Jan '09) I thought I'd give this blog thing a shot in hopes to save myself some effort in having to write a mass email or having to answer the question "how's the trip?". I was able to write things as they happened, and anyone who was interested could read along in real time or go back through the archives and catch up. Plus, it was like a journal I knew I couldn't lose in a bus station or have stolen from my backpack; allowing me to permanently keep a chronicle of my epic journey.

What I didn't realize until recently, is how much I enjoyed it. I've always loved writing, and missed it once I entered the working world. Having the opportunity to share my opinion and experiences has never been something that I've avoided, so when I came across a fair number of people who told me they enjoyed hearing about The Great White Hike, I briefly entertained the thought of continuing to write. But, shortly after returning to reality, or at least America, I felt I didn't have much to write about or say compared to such an exotic and fast-paced trip. Then I realized I am me and having something to say would never be a problem.

So, I have officially decided to give the blog a shot from reality and see what comes out of it. Without the specific focus of cross-continental travel, there is little doubt the subject matter will have a much broader spectrum from stories to updates, pictures to videos, coherent thoughts to brain droppings. I don't really know who, if anyone, will read this. While having a large following is not one of my priorities, if I can entertain some people at work or just keep the people who care up to date on my life, then my goal will be accomplished. I'm not looking to get rich or famous like some bloggers. As Garth Algar once said: "Its like people only do things because they get paid, and that's just really sad."

I figure that since the Great White Hike has concluded, carrying the title is no longer appropriate. So, in a reference to obsolete technology, the continuation of an existing piece or work, and my favorite initial... I bring you: The B Side.

The Grand Finale

Hi faithful GWH readers! First off, I must apologize for my abrupt disappearance from bloggage at the tail end of the trip. My last entry mentioned a few factors that led to my total abandonment of what was once a well maintained chronicle of our journey, but those are no longer excuses here in the great US of A. The internet is free and plentiful and I certainly have the time. So, I felt the need to bring the Great White Hike to proper close after a month of being home. 

*Just to wrap up the last few weeks from the point where we left off: We left Buenos Aires, saw some waterfalls in Iguazu, got a ride into Paraguay while illegally/accidentally passing through two immigration points in two countries unchecked, flew to Rio, met up with my girlfriend who I hadn't seen in 3 months, sat on the beach, went to an island off the coast of Brazil which was pretty much paradise, finally got sick 95% of the way through the trip (not paradise), ate a lot of Acai on the beach, and then came home. Some pics:

(You can see the rest of the 2,500 pics HERE or for those with shorter attention spans, on Facebook)

Anyway, I've been home long enough to tell a lot of people my trip was "really good" as well as say "yes I am back" and "yes it really was 4 months" and "yes I am very glad I went". What I was not initially prepared for was the overwhelming number of people who immediately asked: "What was your favorite part?". I understand the need to just get the Cliff Notes version of the story and/or that those people may or may not even really care about the answer. However, the question is virtually impossible to answer as so many of the places really aren't comparable and all had their charms. I would expect the same reaction if I asked a parent which of their children were their favorite. Though tempted to name one, you just can't.

So, I have come up with a few "awards" for the best of the best, the worst of the worst... in an attempt to answer what my "favorite part" was. I now bring you the 2009 "Hikies" in no particular order:

Best Looking Women (2nd most popular question): Buenos Aires, Argentina

Best Restaurant: Wild Mango's, Belize

Worst Food: Machu Picchu Trek

Worst Food in an International Terminal: Lima International Airport

Biggest Meatball: The Guy at the Front Desk of our hostel in Salvador, Brazil

Best Sports Fans: Brazil (video)

Beverage Missed Most: Fountain Sodas and Ice

Best Celebration: Bus Removed from River After 12 Hours (video, Binder in black sweatshirt)

Best Animal on My Bed: Cat in Lima (video)

Best Animal on Zack's Head: Monkey in Peru (pic)... 2nd Place: His Beard

Best Beach: Tayrona National Park, Colombia (pic)

Best Beach Snack: Acai, Brazil

Scariest Moment: Scooter Taxi in Peru (video)

Best Natural Scenery: Torres del Paine, Chile (pic)

Country I'd Most Likely Go Back To: Brazil

Country That's Not As Dangerous as People Say: Colombia

Weirdest Country: Bolivia

Diamond in the Rough City: San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Hugest and Boringest City: Santiago, Chile

Worst Attempt to Fight Gravity: Zack Falling Through a Roof, Ecuador (sorry no video)

Best One Man Dance Party: Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia (video)

Well folks... That just about does it.  I can't say this will be the last blog entry I ever write, but this concludes the I-just-decided-to-pick-up-and-go-to-South-America portion. I've thoroughly enjoyed writing this blog and will miss being able to share a great experience with such a wide group of people. It was nice to find out that such a broad audience avidly followed the blog, from people we met once at a bar, up through parents and siblings of friends of friends. So, thank you for all those who followed along and commented over the last four months and to those who joined and provided the material... it was a blast.

-Binder