Hi All! This evening we had a delightful dinner with Joan and Mike from the co-op at a BROWN RICE diner up on 4th Ave..just marvy food and left around 9:00 to head home and finish packing. Pouring rain now and to think that only a day ago we were in -28 weather in Edmonton.....where Carol's Mom lives. david took CoCo over to her Auntie Diane's place where she will be staying until we return...my sister Sheila said that living on the "Wet Coast" at this time is like living in a slurpy. Time to go to bed, we have to [View Full Entry]

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Hi Everyone! Carol and I haven't "BLOGGED" as it were, for two years now...I think it was our trip to Asia that was the last blog. I regret not sending messages and photos from my trip to China, however I was so busy that I just didn't. But...since we haven't sent notes North in the past when we've been in Mexico, we thought this would be a good time to begin afresh. The past trips to Mexico have contained many strange events that would have been of interest to you all..graveyard celebrations?...weddings?...fishing?...weird hotels?...even weirder food?.....witches?.. Well perhaps this tri [View Full Entry]

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Thursday, our second last day This morning, I went out looking for the street lady who makes the sticky rice and I found her in a different location. There was a line up of office workers by her cart waiting for their turn to order the sticky rice. I loved watching her put a large spoonful of coconut rice into the middle of a large green leaf, next some evaporated milk would be poured onto the rice and then a scoop of custard would be placed on the top of the whole creation. It would be folded into a lovely little [View Full Entry]

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January 21, 2007 Sunday evening In the evening after our temple explorations, I decided to have a facial and a body scrub (at the hotel spa ), something I had never had done before. What I didn't realize was that tumeric was one of the ingredients that was rubbed into every part of my body except my face. I was not aware when they were finished scrubbing my body, for one hour, that I had turned a brilliant orange. I didn't realize that the orange colour on the floor of the shower was mine. I must have been quite a sight [View Full Entry]

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January 20, 2007, Saturday We rose early to catch our train to Soukothai. It was scheduled to leave at 8:30 a.m. but it was an hour ahalf late before we left. The time went quickly, I actually found a place to get a boxed lunch and a latte, little did I realize our ticket included breakfast and lunch. At 9:00 a.m. and at 6:00 p.m. the national anthem plays over speakers, everyone stops, including cars, for 1 minute the whole country stops to stand in silence in honor of the king. To move or continue doing a task would show disrespect [View Full Entry]

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January 18 We had read about a large horticulture show in honor of the king's 80th birthday, he is also the longest reigning monarch in the world, 60 years. We were told we would need a day to see it, we left the hotel at 10 a.m. and got home at 8:00 p.m. Numerous countries from Asia were represented there, the only European one was Holland. The sections of plantings that they called exotic were plants from North America. People would pose beside the lilies and the petunias in order to have their pictures taken. At the Malasian site, women had [View Full Entry]

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We had some moments of panic, at the airport, when we thought we didn't have enough Kip to pay for our exit out of Laos. They don't take travellers cheques or credit cards at the airport. It would have meant a paniced trip back into town. Of all the Asian countries we have visited I would say Laos is the most untouched, by Westerners, and the most lush and beautiful. The city of Luang Prabang is very much like the city of Antigua, Guatemala. The monks at the temples are very friendly and approach foreigners to practice their English. On the [View Full Entry]

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Hi! Just to let everyone know, we are having drinks on the patio overlooking the river after the Mai Thai boxing tonite . All welcome! We are at the: Galare Guest House, 7 Chareonprathet Road, Lane 2, Chaingmai. Phone: (053)818887 Room 214 David & Carol [View Full Entry]

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Hi All! We flew into Chaing Mai today around 3p.m. this afternoon in warm (34+) sunshine and a slight cooling breeze. We were quite glad to leave Laos. I loved the city for the great old French buildings and all the temples...but the food was ..well...awful. We ended up on the last nite there, eating at an Indian cafe which was atrocious..the cook was a teenage girl,Lao, and all the spices were Lao...well...if it walks like a duck..etc! God, I sound so picky! Carol is off to a Thai jewellery making course in the a.m. and I'm going to a [View Full Entry]

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On Sunday morning the 10 of us arrived at the orphanage in two loaded tuk tuks. We added a box of soap (120 bars) to the other gifts we were bringing out. The food was distributed in an orderly fashion, the children were put into long lines and they were intstructed by their teacher to extend a traditional Lao greeting to us as they received their food. I felt quite tearful as I watched the little children coming toward us, I kept thinking about how they had no home to go to. I was surprised to find out that these children [View Full Entry]

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