A song, a recap, and a mighty return to Blogging

Back in the Ulaanbaatar
(To be sung to the tune of The Beatles - Back in the USSR)

Just flew in from Bangkok on Korea Air,
Didn't get to sleep last night.
Spent the whole ride talking to Seoul's biggest square,
Man I had a dreadful flight.
I'm back in the Ulaanbaatar.
You don't know how chilly I are, boy.
I'm back in the Ulaanbaatar.

Stepped off the plane greeted by an icy breeze,
Gee its good to be back home.
Never thought I'd miss negative forty degrees,
I guess this little boy has grown.
I'm back in the Ulaanbaatar.
You don't know how Nomadic I are, boy.
Back in the Ulaan,
Back in the Ulaan,
Back in the Ulaanbaatar.

(End song)

Blog Post

(To be read to the tune of Keith Cochrane telling a hilarious tale)

In case you couldn't decipher from the sweet song you just read (and ideally sang out loud), Mongolia's favourite son is back in Mongolia. More importantly however, I am back to blogging after an unprecedented 5 week hiatus. Why did I not update during my trip you ask? Well that's easy. Seeing as this blog is supposed to be all Mongolia all the time, it would have been like cheating for me to have updated when I was away from Mongolian soil. I'm a man of principle and I'm sorry if those principles don't always coincide with your desire to read tasty blog posts.

I will begin the journey as I best remember it. It all started on December 20. I was sitting in my apartment, hugging the radiator for warmth during the coldest day I have ever experienced. The temperature was -40 degrees Celcenheit. I received a call from my airline telling me to hold tight, and that my plane would be delayed two hours due to heavy winds and icy conditions. I received three such calls before finally making it on the plane. Two short layovers later, I was in Chang Mai, a delightful city in northern Thailand, where I met my former bunk mate Max "MW" Winston, and another Vermonter, Will "The Thrill" Kidney.

The three of us spent three weeks travelling through Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, making memories, seeing strange and exotic places, and always sleeping three to a bed. Needless to say I got to know those guys pretty well by the end. In some ways a little too well.

Our trip began with what was supposed to be a two day boat ride from Northern Laos into Luang Prabang, a quaint town in central Laos. A wrench was thrown in the plans as the boat broke down on the banks of the Mekong river on Christmas day. Turkey dinner this year was replaced with a nice three course Mekong Christmas Cookout. The appetizer was uncooked Ramen, followed by the main course: Ramen cooked with the traditional Mekong spices of twigs and sand. This beautiful dish was the perfect buildup to our desert: cigarettes rolled with computer paper. The whole experience felt a lot like an episode of Lost meets Lord of the Flies. I kept waiting for The Others to come and snatch one of us away.

We spent the next week in Laos, mainly in a backpackers paradise called Vang Vieng. Not exactly your family vacation spot; more of a Stoner's paradise. When I asked one particularly burnt out Swede what he did in Vang Vieng, he replied that he was "just passing through." I later learned that he had been "passing through" for more than three months. I guess a place where three guys can sleep for 8 bucks a night and get free shots of whisky from any of the local bars is hard to say good bye to. I wouldn't have minded "passing through" a little slower either.

Following Laos we spent two short days in Siemriep, Cambodia to visit Angkor Wat, a world heritage sight. The sights here were spectacular. Even more spectacular were the 50 cent beers that we found at one of the local bars. After seeing Angkor we took the bus to Bangkok, on what is politely referred to as "the bus ride from hell". I think this is being too kind. We finally made it to Bangkok hours and hours later.

From Bangkok we flew to KRABIIIIIII (Krabi), and took a quick ferry ride to Ko Phi Phi, pronounced Koh Pee Pee. You better believe we got some mileage out of that joke. On Phi Phi, we did some snorkeling and even visited Maya Bay, where they filmed the Leonardo DiCaprio movie "The Beach". Strangely all of the photos they us to advertise this are from Titanic. Perhaps not the best marketing scheme when a boat ride is required to get out there. Phi Phi was getting a little too popular for its size sadly, and was getting overrun by garbage. It was sad to see the ugly underside of such a wonderful place.

Max and Will went home after this which marked the end of week three. I spent the next 4 days in Khon Kaen, a small town 6 hours north of Bangkok visiting my friend James O'Toole, another PIA fellow. Our days were spent teaching Thais how to play basketball, and eating some of the sweetest street food I have ever seen. Everyone in KhonKaen was complaining about the cold. Meanwhile I was walking around in shorts and a t shirt. Cold is all relative folks. I never thought I would be able to handle -40 but here I am. You could do it too.

Following James's hospitality, I was joined by the lovely Miriam Marek who just happened to be in the Bangkok area. It was truly a fine coincidence. I was glad to see her, but couldn't help but miss what Will and Max brought to the table as bedfellows.

I muffled my complaints and Miriam and I spent a few great days seeing the sights in Bangkok and even made an appearance at a local expat quiz night. Despite Miriam's historical and literary knowledge and my Simpsons and Futurama knowledge, we placed dead last. We did however walk out with some excellent pity prizes.

We'll be back Bangkok. We'll be back and you better get ready...

Following Bangkok we took a flight out to Phuket, NY Times' #1 luxury vacation spot. I'm not really a high roller, but Miriam is, so Mr. and Ms. Marek got to experience the good life if only for a couple of nights. Pools with bars in the water, a TV with more than 5 channels, a bed with sheets, you name it. Everything I didn't have for the first three weeks of the trip was there in Phuket.

We tired a bit of the glitz and glam however and headed north to a beautiful spot about 2 hours north called Khao Lak. Here we stayed in a really nice private bungalow right on a private beach. There we were able to enjoy a small fraction of the Indian Ocean all to ourselves for a few short days. My favourite part of this leg was a day trip to the Similan Islands, one of the top dive and snorkeling sites in the world. Jumping in the water here is like flipping on "Finding Nemo". Sadly, Nemo was not found by me, but I did get to swim with a playful sea turtle. Awesome.

Then the trip was over. Everyone had to return their separate ways and now I find myself all alone for the first time in 5 weeks. Now its time to return back to work and get my life back on track. If anyone is interested in hearing more about the trip, please don't hesitate to write. This is a highly abridged version. The director's cut involves Motorcycles, Monkeys, and Ping Pong Balls. Oh my!

I would however recommend this part of the world as a vacation spot as it is cheap, affordable, and overrun with Scandinavians. What more could you ask for really?

But now more Mongolian adventures are on the rise. I have plans to go dogsledding, ice skating, and maybe even ice fishing. If those aren't good reasons to suffer through the winter, I don't know what are.

All the best in 2009!

Keith