SUNNY DELIGHT

Well, after several days of struggling through typhoon-style rain, unexpected crowds and miserable bus travel, we've finally got it together and found the little slice of paradise we'd hope to find all along.

It's called Ko Chang (fyi - Ko is the Thai word for island and it's pronounced kaw) and it's in the eastern side of the Gulf of Thailand near Cambodia. No sign of Khmer Rouge or landmines anywhere (just kidding!). The island is marked by the little red circle in the map below:


The place reminds me of Maui - verdant green mountains with cloud forests, nice beaches with moderate Pacific Ocean-sized waves/current.

It's only beginning to be developed significantly, so we've had the place nearly to ourselves. Long stretches of the most amazing beach and not a soul around. It's been very different from previous experience here, and we're enjoying ourselves immensely.

Today, we simply spent the day swimming in the ocean, trying pathetically to bodysurf waves entirely too small for it. Tomorrow, we'll be renting a motorcycle to explore the island and take a hike or two up some trails to waterfalls with pools for swimming. While we're here, we're staying at the Klong Prao Resort, a wonderful place for the money. About $20 per night gets us a nice, new modern bungalow/room near the beach and a lagoon, plus a huge all-you-can-eat breakfast brunch buffet. We gorge ourselves and then don't need to eat until dinner. It's quite a deal.


Now that we've managed to find a place that's more laid back (not to mention with fewer people.. topless sunbathing is expressly forbidden by law here - so few Europeans!), it's very much like vacation rather than a rat race for dry land. We should be here for a few days and then we're heading to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand.

Travel in Thailand has also become more pleasant now that we've just decided to fly everywhere that we want to go. After the negative bus experience.. don't forget to ask Jill about the bus restroom incident.. we've decided to just fly. It's dirt cheap (one-way fares per person roughly $40-$60), very clean, very safe AND they feed you a meal on every flight. You read that correctly Southwest Airlines peanut-eaters, they feed you a MEAL on every flight. No flight has exceeded 1hr. 20 minutes to date. One was even 40 minutes and they still had meal and beverage service, even with lightning out the left side of the plane and some turbulence! The food varies from not bad to not great, but frankly, I appreciate the effort, not necessarily the finished product. I've taken digital photos of nearly all of it, so as soon as I find a computer with USB or when I get back home, I'll post some.

We'll fly to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand probably the 20th, spend a few days in their older cities up there and then ride the overnight train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok Saturday night with arrival Sunday morning. We depart at 5:50 pm and arrive at 6:50am Sunday. We managed to reserve and pay for a first class sleeper compartment for $35 for both of us! It's obscene how cheap everything is, and really, the high quality of it all.

Before we flew to Trat/Ko Chang yesterday (16th), we spent two nights in Ko Samui. The one full day was very enjoyable as we went ahead and rented a motorcycle/moped and explored the island. We got away from the crowds and had a little adventure along the way. The beach was hot, but the water was wonderful and the scenery was nice. We swam in the morning and evening and left while it was crowded, so all was okay. But we're glad we moved on. And the beaches do look like the photo I posted the other day.

Anyway, it's 8pm here, so 6am I believe at home. Hope you all have a good morning and day. I've have gotten news from the States and both Jill and I are keeping some recent bad news from two different fronts in our prayers. We hope things improve dramatically, quickly. Until next time...