HEATHER: Hello Friends, After spending two nights in the Northern bay of Chalok Lam, on the island of Ko Pha Ngan which is between Ko Tao (diver's paradise) and Ko Samui (party-going-backpacker's paradise) on the Central coast of the Gulf of Thailand (East side), we left to go explore the most south-eastern area of the island due to a friend's recommendation. With much effort, lots of money and time, we arrived to a place that was described as small, remote and secluded (only accessible by boat), peaceful and quiet...much to our surprise we found the place to be infiltrated with incredibly snobby, fashion-conscious, ridiculously over-dressed and shockingly unfriendly people and an atmosphere quite unappealing to both of us. We found a moderately nice bungalow far away from the action (or so we thought) with a box-spring ... read more

HEATHER: White sand beaches with turquoise water, long tail boats with colorful decor, jungle surroundings, steep cliffs and stunning rock formations, exotic fruit trees and gleaming beaming sweet and genuine smiles everywhere. Sitting in hammocks today was bliss...feeling the slowness seep into our over-driven westernized systems...I think we are just barely beginning to grasp that we don't HAVE to be anywhere, don't HAVE to call anyone, don't NEED to DO anything... I'll give you an example; when I am in the USA, many people gasp and reel when they hear that I will be gone for 7 weeks, "I wish I could take that time off work, I wish I could have enough money for that kind of travel, wow that's a long vacation"....then I arrive in my country/region of choice, and CONSISTENTLY meet people here ... read more

So, that was fun. It's Dave again with new crown all set. Ahhh... Where were we? I don't think I mentioned even where we were! We trained North from Bangkok and ended in Kanchanaburi, on the River Kwai. It's a big city but there's a little strip filled with gnarly little bars and eateries that is frequented by backpackers. That end of it seems fairly quaint and almost small-town. After half a day we knew some locals and were a 'regular' for a store or two and the local chill-out folks. Nice people, once again, abound. Our guest-house was a wooden shack on stilts with thatched roof and slightly separate no-flush-cold-shower bathroom. It was cool and breezy in the eve, even a hint of chill one night! DELIGHTFUL manager named Nong- very well connected, good English, ... read more

HEATHER AND DAVE: Hello Lovliest Family and Friends, We finally made it to an internet cafe! We arrived into Bangkok at midnight after 18 hrs of fairly uneventful travel time. We watched many movies on the plane and are embarrassed to admit that we laughed whole-heartedly at the movie "Super Bad", we blame fatigue. Riki, Heather's aunt, met us at the airport in a "limo" and we sped home and fell into our firm bed after turning on the fan of course. Heather's paternal grandparents, Dick and Jean, were enjoying their last day in Thailand and we were so delighted to get to see the area through their eyes, and hearing their animated stories, especially since they lived here for several years, and in S.E. Asia for around 20 yrs. Heather's dad grew up here for ... read more