Thailand (is HOT)

I had a crazy day of flight changing and delays (with some time to watch the Indian highlights of the academy awards with a friend of the Dali Lama in the Kathmandu airport - random). I got to know Lisa, a yoga instructor from Cali who had one night in Bangkok before flying out. She had been there a few times before so she recommended a guesthouse and showed me her favorite sites. We hit some Bangkok basics in a six hour whirlwind including foot massages and lots of tasty food (green curry, pad thai, green papaya salad). The next day while I was waiting for the ferry (Bangkok has awesome transportation - ferry, skytrain, metro.... who knew), I met Maggie and Nick who were heading in the other direction to visit expat prisoners. I hopped on their ferry and we spent the morning navigating the complex prisoner visitation system with the help of the British Women's group whose members visit weekly. We were led through three tiers of security into a hallway of chair facing a window with an empty hallway in between and then the hallway with windows and bars where the prisoners sat. All the prisoners had sentences above 25 years with 40 being the average sentence. Many were in for drug related charges with a few in for anti-government or more violent crimes. They had to spend their first 6 months to a year in wrist and ankle shackles which were later removed. I spoke with a Burmese prisoner, Thang Oo, who was a sailor arrested for smuggling (we didn't get into the details). His parents had disowned him and his brother who was living in Bangkok had only come to visit once in six years. He spoke about philosophy, religion and how he wanted to learn in prison and not just waste his time. He did the cooking and laundry for three western prisoners to earn a little money and to help him learn English. The goods and services barter system inside was really interesting. After our chat I got him a notebook and pens which will hopefully be useful (but will probably be traded for something else, lol).
The visitors all went to lunch and I had some strange meat (from the taste/texture I would guess pig ears) and an amazing iced coffee to wash it down. I am not usually a coffee fan but I have found myself addicted to the super-strong, freshly brewed coffee that they mix in a small cup with a bit of sugar and sweetened condensed milk and then pour over a giant cup or bag of ice. I have found there is a definite art to drinking it slowly enough so you don't have a first strong/sweet swig and also aren't left with an entire bag of ice.
Maggie, Nick and I met up for dinner and I heard many stories of their epic, 18 month journey overland from Holland to Thailand (with 10 months in India on a motorbike). Nick is a journalist (who has written articles on lesbians in India, refugees in Thailand, and other probing and underpublished topics) and they had been in Bangkok for two months so knew all the best food stands and hidden places. We visited Mr. Yim (best green curry in Bangkok), ate grasshoppers and stopped for a pina colada and beer with ice (the way they serve it in Thailand, gets hot too quickly otherwise).
I spent a few more days in Bangkok getting visas, seeing temples, going to a movie (air conditioning, woohoo), exploring Chinatown with Maggie, eating delish dinners and drinking out of buckets. I sadly left my new friends to head South to some movie-worthy beaches and islands (literally). I stayed on Ko Lanta, Ko Phi Phi and am currently in Phuket. The scenery is just as you imagine with green cliffs rising steeply out of the turquoise water bordered by soft white sand. I went on a snorkeling trip to the cove where the movie 'The Beach' was filmed and a few other amazing sites with huge varieties of fish and coral to explore.