A video

When I went to Thailand this past January, I brought my GoPro along. I envisioned myself making an exciting travel documentary but I sitting down and editing is really tough for me. Last night, I threw this short clip together to give people a taste of my experience. There is more to come. I hope.

Bangkok Biking from Shaun Wilkens on Vimeo.

New Hiking Trail

The other day our the students in our english programs went on a hike behind our school. I went along to check it out and I was not disappointed. This afternoon I decided to go on this hike again. The students call it a mountain. I call it a hill. Here are some pics.

The trail starts right outside of our front gate. You begin by walking through some shacks and garden areas.

In  few minutes you are in nature. That's Neat.

Before long, our trail merges onto the nice private park trail.

Part way up the "mountain" you can see the schools courts and track.

Just about to the top.

At the top. From here you can see lake Taihu lake, one of the biggest in China.

A little further down the trail. A great view of the school. 

From a bus

I'm sitting on the bus from Bangkok to Chang Mai. I just got really excited because a monk in all his garb came and sat next to me. Unfortunately the stewardess made him move. Here's the weekend recap:

Friday night - Arrived in Bangkok and met Elizabeth, Pops, and Tera who brought me back to the school.

Saturday morning/afternoon - Explored Bangkok with Elizabeth via skytrain, taxi, and lots of walking. Of course I forgot the names of the places I went to but I did almost get Elizabeth to let a fish in a barrel bite her finger for a pic.

Saturday night - Went to the movie theater and followed it up with the most intense taxi ride of my life. Our driver felt the need for speed when the traffic let up a little. As we weaved past car and motorbike I asked myself "Has this guy decided that he's finally had enough of his taxi driving life?" After a few more moments of tires screeching and Elizabeth and Tera gasping, traffic caught back up with us and our driver realized that he couldn't squeeze the car through any more gaps. We returned to a comfortable speed and the next 30 seconds was filled with an excruciatingly awkward silence. The silence was broken by a hysterical laugh from our driver. This of course made me laugh hysterically. The driver let out an exhale; the way you do when you've been holding your breath for a long time mixed with an extreme adrenalin rush. I let out a shrill woot and we gabbed for the rest of the trip; he in Thai and I in English. It was one of those rare experiences when you can't understand a word the other person is saying but you know exactly what they mean. The only word I did understand was when he started patting his round belly and said "baby." I don't think that the driver had a death wish when he got all fast and furious on us. I think that being a taxi driver can be so monotonous that you need to occasionally do something that gets your heart pounding and reminds your body that it's still alive.

Sunday - Hung out with Janae for the day. We spent a good chunk of it watching a basketball tournament that their school was hosting. We also hopped on bikes and made our way across town to eat mango and sticky rice. Big thanks to Elizabeth for letting me use her fixie. Around six in the evening I made my way to the bus terminal via motorbike and skytrain. I will arrive in Chang Mai sometime tomorrow morning.

Here are a few glimpses of my time so far:

Chinese New Year trip

I am on day two of my winter break. My first stop has been in Hong Kong. I'm here to get my work visa sorted out then I take off for Thailand and the Philippines. Tommy Poole has been kind enough to let me stay with him while I'm in HK. We explored the city last night and I have to admit I'm pretty impressed by it. I hop on the plane to Bangkok around 8:00 tonight. Elizabeth Jones will be there to pick me up. It's fun to have friends spread out all over the world.