Well, Paradise was...Paradise, as expected.... OK, this blog is LOOONG overdue. Blame internet problems... We were welcomed warmly back to our sweetest dreamscape, the Mae Nam Resort, on the island of Koh Samui. This place is one of our treasured gems, which we discovered on our very first trip here, and it's never come close to being beat for value, charm and magic. We spent the first 3 days "soaking it in" - for me, that means a frequently repeated mantra, "notice. feel. smell. taste. see. remember!" Chilled mango sliced up fresh from a beach-strolling vendor. Green curry fish, prep [View Full Entry]

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Rebecca’s great idea of a Kew Sua school “Picture Day” came to life with a simple outdoor studio and a whole bunch of excited kids who had never sat for school photos in their lives. Many of the children and their families don’t own a single photograph of themselves. We underestimated how excited the children would be with this new and strange activity. After the morning assembly, students and teachers all posed for a group photo and then one-by-one the kids swapped their grubby tops for one of the shared, freshly pressed blouses or shirts we bought just for [View Full Entry]

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So, here’s the latest blog I’ve been promising! Our work in the village of Kew Sua has been progressing very well; these extremely bright kids have been learning the English alphabet, phonics, counting, parts of the body, commands, directions, greetings and so on. Their first language is their native Karen hilltribe tongue, their second language is Thai and the English we are teaching them is their third language. Last week, in another amazing coincidence, Josie, another teacher from the Seattle area visited Kew Sua with a promise to return in February and continue our w [View Full Entry]

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Does your mom drive a motorcycle? Do you own a helicopter? Do you have an elephant? These are just a few of the candid questions children in the village of Baan Kew Sua ask of Westerners. They would not be at all shocked if we answered yes to any of them; they’ve seen how Westerners live on TV. (Anyone remember Hart to Hart?) The kids are adorable and hungry to learn. The staff at Kew Sua, despite the language barrier, has been warmly welcoming. A few of them (students, that is), taught by Dan, have learned to juggle; we also found [View Full Entry]

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THIS is how it should be. 20 hours in transit, our bags pre-checked through seamlessly, passed security smoothly and with no glitches. Our seats were comfy, no squalling babies around us, and we earplugged, took our Benadryl and slept about half the journey away. Only 3 people ahead of us in the immigration line, and we were checked into room 2412 of the sumptuous Peninsula Hotel Bangkok (2006’s #1 hotel in the world!) within an hour. Our room wasn’t ready quite yet, so we strolled down to the riverside garden terrace to sip something cold and put on our best hoity-toity [View Full Entry]

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Dan, myself, Mandy and Griff crossed into Cambodia from Vietnam at Chau Doc, then boarded another boat, this one a long yellow one looking like a floating school bus, and we rode on the outside deck of the boat with our feet dangling in the spray. Again and again children came racing to the banks to wave at us as we motored by. We spent an incredible sunset hour gazing on the rice fields, to the waves and shouts of workers and children. A bus ride took us into Phnom Penh where we found a really good deal on a really [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Ho Chi Minh (aka HCMC, aka Saigon) City in the early evening. Culture shock again! The drivers here are crazier here than any other place we’ve been. They honk their horns furiously at all times for no apparent reason with some having had their horns enhanced for even an even LOUDER affect. The din is maddening, causing one to just tune out the honking, thus rendering it ineffective. The traffic here is nuts! You have no hope of dashing across a city street because the traffic is so dense. Early on, we learned to cross very slowly so [View Full Entry]

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It’s been some time since Rebecca and I sent the party animals Michelle, Susan, Cynthia and Kelli packing from Koh Samui and back to record breaking rain in Washington. In the meantime we’ve been enjoying the warm and dry weather that comes with November in Thailand. Sorry girls. Mandy and Griff joined us on Koh Samui the day before the girls departed and M&G commenced a week of island relaxation on Mae Nam beach. Despite recovering from an intestinal issue that she brought from India, Mandy was able to accomplish a considerable amount of island shopping and sight-seeing. Ko [View Full Entry]

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The World’s Biggest Beach Party Also: Elephants, SCUBA, and Romance… Our group has spent the past week on the island of Koh Samui taking it all in... We spent a day at the Ark Bar, that glamorous, overpriced poseur’s paradise where the beautiful people go to see and be seen. Tremendous flirtation ensued, some shopping and pedicures, swimming and laughing, before we were caught in a thunderstorm there (what more fun place to wait it out?) We followed up with a Ladyboy cabaret show, where incredibly beautiful women (?!) performed intricate song and dance numbers for [View Full Entry]

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One Night In Bangkok... Hello dear friends and family. After arriving in Bangkok we all took a turn at creating an entry for our blog. Read on to hear what each of us has to offer! Kelli Bangkok was everything and more than I imagined. I definitely knew I was on the other side of the world when we arrived at our hotel…..the street vendors cooking phad thai, rice, corn on the cob, the list of food goes on and on, so needless to say, this place can make you PHAT! So much shopping at your finger tips. Dan was a [View Full Entry]

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