Photo Above: Ochheuteal Beach Phnom Penh One thing you notice here is the traffic chaos. Motor Bikes come at you from all directions. It doesn't matter if it's a one-way street, if it's a double lane expressway or even if it's a sidewalk. A visitor here is more likely to suffer from a traffic accident than a mugging although Phnom Penh has a reputation for that as well, especially after they cut back the armed forces and all those unskilled workers with weapon-smarts, were put on the street. There are quite a few Lexus SUV's barging their way through the streets [View Full Entry]

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It's getting that time I have to do another visa run. I had planned it so that I would not be in Chiang Mai for Songkran, The Water Festival. as it is euphemistically known. Actually its a free-for-all water fight from morning to night, led by young drunken backpackers. And they don't hesitate using the filthy water from the moat of the city. This is the ThAI New Year. They celebrate the POPULAR New Year on January 1st, the CHINESE New Year in February and their own new year at the end of the dry season. I considered going to Lao [View Full Entry]

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Living in Chiang Mai (ramblings) posted March 10, 2008: Minimum daily wage in Thailand is 144 Baht ($5) per day, about 4,320 Baht ($150) per month. Some families only have one wage earner. (In India 40 per cent of the population earn about $1 a day. In Burma urban professionals earn about $1 per day. BKK Post Feb 27/08) Of course, meals and accommodations are priced proportionally. If a foreigner can't live in Asia on what you have from home, you're doing something wrong. Even though elephants have been outlawed from entering the cities they still do. Their mahouts, owners, target [View Full Entry]

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Kuala Lumpur I took the ferry from Georgetown to Butterworth. At the dock is the railway station and the bus station. It's not really a bus station, just a conglomeration of kiosks with buses alongside. I jumped on one of the constantly leaving buses to Kuala Lumpur (K.L.). K.L. exhibits modern architecture, although each unit looks like it was selected and gathered up to suit the developers taste without regard to the city's skyline or any uniting theme. There's a definite lack of architectural harmony. There are well paved roads and a good public transport system. It has an abundance of [View Full Entry]

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Train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok to Hat Yai then bus to Penang, Malaysia The train ride from Chiang Mai is a nice change from the overnight bus trip to Bangkok. At about 8 pm a steward comes around to make your bed with clean white sheets and tells you to get in. In the morning he wakes you up about 6 am and tells you to get out. The sleeping coach had lots of foreigners. Arriving in Bangkok I bought a train ticket for the next day to travel to Hat Yai, near the Malaysian border. The train arrived in [View Full Entry]

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Still Here...and Rambling about nothing posted Jan 16, 2008. It's surprisingly cool here in the evening during the winter months and definitely long pants and a sweater are desirable. Bangkok Post side article: Two people witnessed a 37 year old worker at a South African zoo entered the lions cage to feed them when nine lions attacked and ate him. All that remained was his skull and spinal cord. You don't see side articles like this in the newspapers back home. Poor guy. The King's older sister died and the country is in mourning. Tens of thousands of people are lining [View Full Entry]

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Chiang Mai posted Jan 4, 2008 This is a more familiar and homey atmosphere than Bangkok for myself. It's the second largest city in Thailand located 700 km noth of Bangkok. Also unlike Bangkok in the evening it cools off here. The overnight bus arrived on the outskirts of Chiang Mai at sunrise and from there we were transported by pickup to a guest house in the city. I walked to another nearby Guest House that I had used before. After sleeping a few hours, I wandered over to Central Plaza Mall and at the food court I bumped into a [View Full Entry]

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Bangkok Arriving from the airport at about 1 or 2 am Bangkok time, I checked into The Central which is one of the original Banglamphoo guest houses and hasn't yet been knocked down to make way for more contemporary hotels with swimming pools for the modern young backpackers. It's complete with a resident "farang" (ie: foreigner) who constantly talks to imaginary people. It doesn't take long to get into 'nothing-to-do' mode. One day was primarily about taking photos of a cat. See Photos Below and if that's not enough go to Kitty Cat then choose View as a Slideshow. One thing [View Full Entry]

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Haliburton County The summer back home in Canada was to allow me time to do some paperwork. Last year it was mild until January so I took my time but one day I woke up to snow. This year November had weather of which any February would be proud. Winter is great in Canada except for the driving. You even have to drive if you want to see Santa Clause. Taking the dog for a walk is pleasant enough in good weather but when the walk entails drudging through snow it gets tiring. The dog doesn't seem to notice a difference. [View Full Entry]

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My yahoo address is gone with all my e-mail contacts For people I've lost contact with please contact me through this site. See : "send a private message" below. [View Full Entry]

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