Before leaving for our next village, we stopped by the village school, gave gifts of pencils and notebooks to the teacher and learned a little about why kids there go to school and their chances of going to university. Most families are farmers and wish their children to stay and help, so education beyond primary school is not valued as we do. But, if children wish to go on to high school, they must live during the week in the city and be brought by truck back and forth on the weekends. Most families do not have money for this, so [View Full Entry]

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My main concerns this morning were to make sure I got a good shower since I may not be able to bathe for a couple days and wondering if my Chronic Fatigue will be an issue on this trek. Here is the outline of what we are supposed to expect: Day 1 - 14 kilometers, all uphill - a 1300 meter climb; stay the night in an Akhu/Lisu combo village Day 2 - 6 kilometers, some uphill - a 700 meter climb; stay the night in an Akhu village Day 3 - 10 kilometers, all downhill, sometimes steep; van ride back [View Full Entry]

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OK, so, I am going to write my journals now according to the day I would have if I had internet access the past few days. That way things should be clearer as I write about them. So, New Years in Chiang Mai - started off pretty dull, planned to go to bed early after dinner so I could stay rested for our trek, but we got sidetracked while on the way back to the guesthouse by an alley of very happening bars. We went in to check it out and realized that there was a Thai boxing arena in the [View Full Entry]

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Happy New Year all - just in case I don't find a computer tomorrow -- actually it is only the 30th for you, but almost the New Year for us, only 12 more hours until 2006! I also have one note just to let you know why I haven't been uploading photos - I have tried the past couple times, and it either doesn't work, or it takes over 5 minutes to upload each photo - most times I don't have that much time to be on the computer because we have to meet the group to head off on another [View Full Entry]

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Wow, we have done so much in a very short time - yesterday morning, we hopped on another songtheaw for 3.5 hours and arrived in Ayutthaya about noon. We were soon taken to a rice barge converted to a tourist vessel and began a relaxing afternoon cruise up the Mae Nam River. What a relaxing afternoon! We stopped once to take bikes to local villages to learn about how Thais really live and work. Our first stop on the bike tour was a brick village. It seems that each village, at least in this area, is comprised of artisans of one [View Full Entry]

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I am sure you are all bored of reading my enormous, possibly boring reflections, so today, I promise, will be shorter :) We began the day with a trip to the WWII museum, which happened to be right next to the Bridge Over River Kwai. The museum was interesting, as I wrote yesterday, I am always taken by the way different peoples portray their history as compared to what we learn in our own eduation systems, social interactions, and experiences. I learned a lot more about WWII than we were ever taught in school. Truthfully, I don't remember learning learning about [View Full Entry]

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Well, here we are in our next stop - Kachanaburi. We arrived here about 3pm today after a long bus ride and much reflection. First thing this morning, we met our group at 9am and headed off to the river where a long tailed boat was waiting to take us to Wat Pho before we began our journey to Kachanaburi. Yeah, I was there yesterday, but mainly for the massage :) Our guide, Prik, took us through the many buildings and monuments that made up the Wat and gave us insight into the history of Thailand and the influence of Buddhism [View Full Entry]

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Wow, what an amazing first day. We started out with a plan to see the Grand Palace and unfortunately (or fortunately, as you may soon see) it was closed for a special Buddhist ceremony until 11am. So as we were trying to figure out what to do, a really nice Thai man began to talk to us and then recommended a Tuk Tuk take us around Bangkok for 20 Bhat (approx. 50 cents) After paying $2.50 for a very short cab ride, that sounded like a great deal - although we already knew that Tuk Tuks also have alterior motives. But, [View Full Entry]

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Wow, that last 3 hour flight seemed to take forever! But the good news is that everything went very smoothly and exactly as it was supposed to, actually, better than it was supposed to. We arrived in Bangkok on time, our driver was waiting for us, and the hotel we are staying in is very nice for less than $20/night. We found a couple friends along the way - even a couple of guys from Michigan! They are unfortunately not on our tour, so we have already parted ways, but it is amazing how small the world really is. Another great [View Full Entry]

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Talk about a long flight! Over 13 hours in the air and only got up to go to the bathroom twice. Other than that, I watched a couple movies, tried to memorize a few more words in Thai, and actually slept a little with the aid of my good friends Flexeril and Chardonnay :). Totally uneventful otherwise, but I wanted to make sure I wrote something so that you all know that I made the first leg alright and that I am almost there! Only one more 3 hour flight left and most of the nerves are settled now that I [View Full Entry]

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