Trekking

Starting tomorrow, 11/30, we are going on a three day trek to visit some of the native hill tribe villages north of Chiang Mai. We will be with an experienced guide who is well acquainted with the locals and will be our teacher and interpreter.

Since we will be in the jungle for the next three days, we will not have access to the Internet. We will post a message about our jungle trek when we return in a few days.

Chiang Mai

Today we explored the old city of Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is the unofficial capitol of northern Thailand, and it has the greatest concentration of Wats outside of Bangkok. Wats are Buddhist temples and many also have facilities where Buddhist monks can live and study. We spent the day enjoying the peaceful surroundings.

We finished off the evening with a stroll through the local "night bazaar" where hundreds of street vendors hawk their wares, a crazy scene.

Chinese Bird Spit Soup

On the island of Phi Phi Ley (pronounced pee pee lay) there is a cave inhabited by swallow-like birds that make nests coated in saliva. The saliva-coated nests are the main ingredient in a much favored Chinese soup (we're not sure who lost a bet and tried for the first time). The nests fetch a high price so daring pole-climbing Thais climb to the roof of the cave to collect the nests. This picture shows the cave and the rickety bamboo poles.

Spirit Houses

Most people in Thailand are Buddhists and the spirits of their ancestors are an important part of their religious beliefs. Spirit houses are a way of honoring the spirits of ones ancestors or the people that used to live on a property. By keeping the spirits happy through giving offerings, it is believed good luck will be insured for the home or business where the spirit house is located. This is a picture of the spirit house at our hotel in Krabi.

North to Chiang Mai

After a leisurely morning in Krabi, today will mostly be spent traveling. We will be flying via Bangkok to the city of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. More later...

Shocking

Apparently they have less than reliable electrical service in Thailand and a lot of power surges...I wonder why?

Beach Bums

You can't have a tropical vacation without a little beach time, and today we found a piece of paradise. We spent the day hanging out at Railay Beach, a small resort village with an extraordinary stretch of white sand. The isolated beach, which is located in a protected cove surrounded by sheer rock walls, is accessible only by boat. So first thing in the morning we caught a so-called "long tail" boat for the 20-minute ride to Railay. The long tails are a truly unique form of transportation - an open topped wooden boat with a car engine mounted as an outboard motor. We enjoyed a warm clear day soaking up the sun and playing in the surf before catching another long tail home for the evening.

Kayaks and Caves

Kayaks, caves, mangroves and monkeys. Today was another day of high adventure. Along with our Thai guide and our new friends from Manchester, England, we kayaked along a river and through the mangroves exploring to several caves carved into ancient limestone mountains. In several places we actually paddled through the caves, gliding through the dark caverns and dodging the stalactites to emerge into secluded grottos and lagoons. In one called Thum Khao Wong (The Garden of Eden) the vertical walls of the grotto were thick with vegetation, and high in the tree tops we caught brief glimpses of some endangered Macaque monkeys.

We finished off the day with an extraordinary seafood dinner at a restaurant high in the hills overlooking the town of Ao Nang and the surrounding beaches. There's nothing like a great meal and a breathtaking sunset to finish off another day of adventuring.

Island Hopping

Today we took a speed boat excursion to the Phi Phi Islands, a series of islands that are designated as a marine national park. The islands are made up of high rock walls, turquoise lagoons and powdery sand beaches. We enjoyed the beaches, tried some snorkeling, and had a great time with our Thai guides on the boat. Highlights included Monkey Beach, home to a group of not-to-wild monkeys, and our "radical" (North's words) return trip which had us launching our 50-ft speed boat off of the ocean swells.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We made it! After over 26 hours of traveling, 20 of it in the air, we arrived in Bangkok at a few minutes past midnight on November 24 - Thanksgiving Day. We transferred to our hotel for a brief but much needed night's sleep. Then it was back to the airport to catch our flight to Krabi.

We will be exploring the beaches and islands around Krabi for the next few days.

Tokyo or Bust!

Settling in for our 12+ hour flight from Minneapolis to Tokyo!

Away We Go!

4:50 a.m. and ready to go. So far so good.