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The final post. Day 13, or 14, or something like that… It makes me sad! And I’m not kidding, either. After two weeks of traveling with a like-minded group of people, you bond so incredibly fast. It’s like a year of knowing someone in the real world. A sort of “third level dream speed inception” type of thing… Okay, that might be a bit much :) Let’s get to it…

Nearly all boat charters pick you up 9am. This means you hit all the good spots with hundreds of other people doing the same thing. One thing we do is leave a bit earlier (thanks to Geoff), getting to each spot hours before everyone else. We got picked up at like 6am, so we caught the sun rising over Phi Phi on the way out.

This is Maya Bay. Where The Beach (Leonardo DiCaprio) was filmed. It’s normally a tourist trap — but when you get there early enough, it’s one of the most beautiful islands in the world. We were the only speedboat there — with a small handful of local longtail boats. When I went on a normal island tour (only made that mistake once), there were literally speedboats spanning the shoreline. We had to wait in the bay in a line for our turn to “park”. This is way, way better. When we left, the first speed boats from Phuket just started pulling up :)

Our first snorkel stop. Amazing.

Cruising around the islands checking out the old viking caves. This is now a place where local Thais harvest bird nest soup.

We parked here and all had an amazing swim. The water temperature is unreal here. Especially coming from SoCal where the water is FREEZING!

Courtney quickly realized that holding coconuts like this around a group of guys was not going to go unnoticed :)

I absolutely loved this trip. I hated saying goodbye to the amazing group that let me lead them around my favorite region of the world. I truly feel like every time that I leave Thailand and Cambodia, I return a better person. Completely inspired by a more simple life. Given a perspective that is hard to find in the west. If the people that came on this trip, that I now consider my friends, feel even slightly the same way, then that’s all I could ask for.

To the crew that came, thanks so much for trusting me enough to come on what was the trip of a lifetime. After last year’s group, I thought that I could never have as much fun with another group. How wrong I was. Each one of you is so dear to me now — I can’t be sincere enough in saying how much I wish we were all hanging out of a tuk tuk while Mr. Don tries to scare one of us :) Thank you so much for opening up and letting me share with you a part of the world I genuinely adore.

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I’m already soooooooooo excited about next year’s RPTE! It will either be December of 2011 or January of 2012. If you want to come on next year’s RPTE, email info@bobbyearle.com with the subject “RPTE” and I’ll get you on the list. And remember, there’s always a million reasons not to do something like this. And the reasons that are there for this year will most likely be there next year (and the year after that). Stuff like this doesn’t happen on it’s own. Make it happen or it will forever pass you by ;)

Bobby

p.s. if you want to come on next year’s RPTE, email info@bobbyearle.com with the subject “RPTE” and I’ll get you on the list f

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Today we started out seeing an old friend of mine. Mister Jon. We both have a deep love for reptiles (especially venomous ones), and I think he feels somewhat connected with me over that. This guy is always completely drunk — and usually hugs me like I’m his girlfriend :)

Thanks to Dan for capturing the love between us :P

On a serious note, if you look at his right hand, you’ll notice something is missing. His pointer finger. The last time I had seen him, he’d been bitten three times by cobra and once by king cobra. Well about a month after we left last year, he got bit by a common cobra again. He lost his pointer finger. After the show, he explained to me that he was very close to death with this one — that he was in the hospital for a while and had a 50/50 chance of dying. It made me so sad to imagine going back to Phuket, thinking I was going to see him, and only finding that he had died. I was happy that he was alive, but I definitely pray for his safety for the years to come. The connection this man has with unbelievably deadly snakes is amazing.

Later that afternoon, we headed out to a beach that I am no longer naming :) It’s one of those hidden gems that I would like to keep hidden. In speaking with our captain later on in the trip (the day we charter a boat and island hop), I found out that many Thai people don’t even know about this beach. This captain, who has lived in Phuket his whole life, had no clue what I was talking about when I spoke of this beach. It’s a secret escape of clear water, beautiful stretch of beach, and very little people. We ended out the day with no one but ourselves and the few Thai workers who serve at the beach’s single restaurant. This works out great because we needed more players for volleyball — so they happily jumped in :) Kim, one of the Thai guys, and I crushed the competition 2 to 1 (Dan, Josh, and two Thai guys) :P

If you really want to find the beach, you can search through my old posts — but I feel better about no longer typing the name out. Really hoping it stays a hidden gem for a while…

Heading out to the beach (it’s not accessible by road — only by boat).

There it is!

Here’s a pano shot of it — it’s probably about a quarter mile stretch. It’s such an amazing spot.

Our boat picking us up at sunset. We were the only people there :)

Sunset on the open seas. One of my favorite boat rides out there.

Denise :)

Our drivers.

Daygood.

Bobby

p.s. if you want to come on next year’s RPTE, email info@bobbyearle.com with the subject “RPTE” and I’ll get you on the list f

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Kim and Denise enjoying the falls.

Superkim.

Matt shooting. Such an amazing place to photograph.

Hippies may hug trees, but Dan one ups them by hugging rocks. He’s cool like that.

Monkeys never get old. Always so awesome to see them.

Josh getting his shoot on.

Matt insisted that he was hanging on to… well what he is seen hanging on to here for safety reasons and nothing else. Not sure I buy it…

So beautiful.

The next morning we left Kanchanaburi and headed off to Phuket!

Saying bye to Kaan. My friend and owner of my favorite place to stay in the whole world! She says her place is my second home — and I agree with her :)

We finished off the afternoon at Surin beach. One of Phuket’s few hectic beaches. There was such an amazing sunset welcoming us for our first day on the island.

Several people on the trip spoke of how awesome yoga was — so I had Courtney put me through a little sand yoga sesh. Once we were done, more people wanted in. I mean, let’s be honest… that’s not a bad place to do some yoga ;)

I love Phuket.

Bobby

p.s. if you want to come on next year’s RPTE, email info@bobbyearle.com with the subject “RPTE” and I’ll get you on the list f

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The last two days were traveling from Cambodia up to Kanchanaburi, Thailand. I love this trek. Love it.

Once we crossed the border, I saw this guy looking for Bobby Ial. I took a wild guess and asked if I was his guy. I was! Seriously though, my last name reeks havoc on asian people. It’s a really difficult one for them. It’s so cute how long it can take for them to get my last name sort of right :)

I’ve always been a fan of the 3rd class train from Bangkok out to Kanchanaburi. Dan and Kim enjoying the ride…

I’ve stayed at some of the finest places on the planet. 5 star resorts in Milan, Fiji, Thailand… Private villa in the South of France. A centuries old stone house out on Lake Lugano in Switzerland… By far, my favorite place to stay in the world is this tiny guesthouse out on the River Kwai. Here’s the sunset view from our floating rooms :)

The next day is animals day. We start out the day riding elephants around the jungle and then into the river — one of my favorite experiences to date.

Dan and Denise.

Josh, Kim, an elephant, a mahoot, and the River Kwai :)

Matt getting sprayed by his elephant. So much fun!

Later that day, we headed out to chill with some tigers! Here’s Dan manning up and getting his tiger on…

I’m just walking a tiger, is all. No big deal, right?

I’ve been going to Tiger temple every year for the last five years. I’m told by people who protest it that the tigers are drugged, that they are mistreated, that the monks don’t spend any money on developing the temple to better suit the tigers (and rather keep it for themselves)… I’m so glad to see first hand, every year, over and over again that all these claims are false. They now allow a small group of people to be present for play time after the temple closes. These tigers play fought their hearts out. It was like watching Remmy and Trouble wrestle and fetch… just with the ability to rip my arms off if they wanted :P The grounds are yet again hard to recognize at parts (due to the constant improvements). In my opinion, the facility is better for tigers than the tiger exhibits at the San Diego zoo or the Wild Animal Park — two of the world’s most famous zoos. I didn’t take but a couple photos of exercise time — I was either watching in awe or videoing. I’ll upload the video sometime soon…

The grounds at the temple are humongous. Hundreds of acres. Apart from the tigers, they have herds of cattle, water buffalo, wild boar, horses, peacocks… just tons of free roaming animals that they accept on the grounds. For one reason or another, roaming on these hundreds of acres is a camel. Such an interesting, odd, and awesome animal! He’s been there the last few times so I was glad to see him again :)

Bobby

p.s. if you want to come on next year’s RPTE, email info@bobbyearle.com with the subject “RPTE” and I’ll get you on the list f

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Wait for it (it’s a 6 image gif photo)…

Bobby

p.s. if you want to come on next year’s RPTE, email info@bobbyearle.com with the subject “RPTE” and I’ll get you on the list for more info :)

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