After a unnecessarily long journey from Bangkok we arrived in Ranong on the Burmese border. From there it was a three hour boat ride to Ko Phayam, a small island with no cars, just motorbikes and bicycles. We stayed at Mountain Resort which was simply five small bungalows and a small covered-patio restaurant. There is only electricity from 6pm to 10pm. It is a place to just relax on the beach and enjoy silence. The family that ran the place was really wonderful. A middle aged couple with two children an a grandchild that lived with them. At night we would talk to them over dinner and the wife, Mae Phen, would sing us traditional Thai songs while her husband, Kaneung, would use the table as a drum. The songs were strange and beautiful. As she ... read more

Reclining Buddha... read more

James & I spent the evening Chinese New Year in Chinatown, Bangkok. This was a big celebration that is taken seriously here; ethnic Chinese make up 10% of Thailand's population. We were accompanied by Lily, a German girl who had just spent a month in Burma.... read more

I met an older Thai guy whose son was in school in Corpus Cristi. We talked as we walked through Chinatown, then he said he was going to see Thailand's largest sitting Buddha (there is a longer reclining one) The temple had average people performing small ceremonies (ringing bells, giving offerings to small statues, etc.) There were no tourists at this wat other than myself. Afterwords we took a long boat all through the canals on the Thorburi side of the river. There were beautiful temples between crumbling makeshift houses half floating on the water. Mansions next to hovels and fruit trees shading iguana looking creatures. It was really fantastic. We stopped at a little shack. It was somebodies home, but they had a plastic table and two plastic chairs. We had a Pepsi and incredibly ... read more

Due to a delayed flight to Taipei, Taiwan, we missed our connecting flight to Bangkok. China Air put us up in a hotel in Taipei for a few hours. We were able to catch the next flight in the morning.... read more