A Tragic Lack of Representation

American culture has infiltrated South East Asia in every aspect. People know the details of Obama's economic stimulus package, US unemployment rates and the capital cities of every state in America. They love American music, from Katy Perry to Nirvana to the Eagles to Jay-Z. People know the intimate details of movie stars' lives, including baby names and latest films. They eat at KFC, Starbucks, Diary Queen and the Hard Rock Cafe. Yet the majority of the South East Asian people I met were shocked to find out I was American. They simply don't meet American people travelling. Whether it's because Americans are more likely to teach or work abroad for a year or two than travel, or just because Americans find it difficult to leave the biggest and best country in the world to see what else is out there, is undetermined. Either way, for the first time in my travels I told people I was American and they were pleasantly surprised. The US is starting to regain respect from the rest of the world, making now an ideal time to travel the world.

The Beach

I thought the beaches in Thailand would be overdone and in a way they are, but they are still some of the most beautiful places I've been in my life. We started out on the Andaman coast, on the Western side of the peninsula at a small beach called Tonsai. There is very little actual beach, it's mostly a climber's paradise because of all the limestone crags covering the area. We didn't do any climbing this time though. After Tonsai we took a ferry to Ko Phi Phi, an island 2 hours west of Tonsai. We meant to only stay a night or two but ended up staying longer because the diving was so amazing. We saw 2 leopard sharks that were each about the size of me. They weren't scary though, they just look like big fish. Plus I found out that they don't have any teeth, which also helped:
We saw a bunch of Hawksbill turtles which are the most adorable species ever. They were just sitting on rocks or floating along munching on some sea sponges. There were schools of every fish you could imagine, including barracudas. The thing that amazed my the most was the brilliance of the colors and the visibility underwater. I don't have an underwater camera yet so you'll just have to imagine it (or look at these fantastic photos I found on the internet).

After Ko Phi Phi we crossed over the Thai peninsula to Ko Tao and Ko Phangan, where we did more diving and beach stuff. In Ko Tao we went to a place called Shark Bay, where I snorkled around with blacktip reef sharks. Yikes! These ones, unlike the leopard sharks, actually look like scary sharks, with the pointy dorsal fin and the grey and white coloring. It wasn't so bad when it was just one of them at a time. The biggest one was about 5 feet long and they were a few meters below me. But when Jenny hopped back abord the boat and I spent a few minutes alone in the bay, there seemed to be a shark party right underneath me. 6 of them (that I counted) were gathered right around me, just pacing and waiting for something to eat. Not me, fortunately.