Thailand Tidbits...

Its been a while. What can I say? When faced between blogging, and lying on the beach, I chose wisely.

Day 3 - in Bangkok - was, as promised, the laziest day ever. I started out by ambling in search of breakfast. I think that was pretty much the highest effort expended that day too. At some point, I drifted over to Khao San - where some of the previous day's anguish was eased by the purchase of a pair of shoes. Score!


Khao San Road - Backpacker Headquarters... 

I was watching the clock rather anxiously in the evening, wondering if I was, in fact going to bump into Dave and Jennie. And I did! We caught up, very briefly. They look like they are having fun. They told me all the fun things I could do in Samui - trekking, jungle canopy something, diving, snorkelling, kayaking... They took a picture, I'm sure Dave will put it up eventually. I wonder if my eyes are actually open?

Caught a flight to Samui on Bangkok Airways, which managed to serve a hot meal on a 45 minute flight. NorthWest, would you like to top that?

Samui airport was very islandy. There isn't really a building, per se. The roof is thatched, but its open on all sides. The weather must be perfect here.

Day 4: Samui. Day 5: Samui. Not much to report here, except I, ignoring the helpful list of activities suggested by Dave and Jennie, slept on the beach for practically two days. On my last day in Samui, I went to a British pub, to get something to eat and drink, and I saw this sign.


I say, since when is mustard a filling? 

I actually asked the bartender - he was British - if he was going to charge me for mustard. He looked very embarassed - it was funny. The thing is, I can chalk a lot up to translation difficulties, but he's British. What is his excuse? Nonetheless, a opportunity for endless laughter.

(In the middle, the Pistons broke my heart by losing to the Spurs. C'mon Pistons! Step up the effort, already. I knew I shouldn't have left my trusty Pub-13 barstool.)

Day 6 and 7: Chiang Mai. Very low-effort again. Yesterday, I went on a lazy, river-boat cruise, and ate and slept a lot. Today, I took a one-day Thai cooking class - they even gave me a certificate! It was a lot of fun, and we got to eat our cooking. Yummy. I have leftovers in my hotel room - I'll have to go attack them right after this.

This picture is courtesy the trip to the Thai market my class took in the morning. Needless to say, I didn't actually eat this.


Fear factor, thai-style.  

This is my last full day in Thailand, and I really had a blast, even if I did do a very brief overview of the country. I'll definitely come back. Of the places I visited, I liked Samui the best, but then, it had beaches. Its hard to compete with that.

I'm off to Vietnam tomorrow. My schedule is still very up in the air, mostly because Vietnam Airlines is exploiting its position as a monoply and does not allow Internet bookings. I'm going to buy all my in-country flights when I get to Ho Chi Minh City tomorrow. However, the plan right now is to spend tomorrow night in HCMC - the next two days in Hoi An, the day after that in Hanoi - 2 days in Halong Bay, and then back again to Hanoi to meet up with Dave and Jennie before she takes off. I'll post updates when tickets are bought.

Another snapfish album.

Cheers!