March 18, and 19, 2015 We drove for an hour to a boat dock, then on a boat for an hour ride before we arrived at the floating bungalows, located in Khao Sok National Park. They are placed in a reservoir that was specially made by the King . He has a passion for dams and in this situation made a reservoir for emergency water storage and named it a National ParkIt is extremely large! The unfortunate part is he flooded villages and temples and to this day, there is still evidence of that under the water and found by scuba divers. When we arrived the first thing on the agenda was, of course, swimming! The heat was so bad that the thought of staying in the water all day, crossed our minds. We all stayed ... read more

March 13, 2015 and March 14, 2015 Out of all the things I learned on this trip I feel the story of the Moken might be the most important to get out to the general public. In telling the story of the Koh Surin Moken it is not always easy to separate the Mokens from the Myths and the myths from the Mokens. What is known for certainty is that these shy semi-nomadic seafaring people have occupied the Andaman sea coastline of Thailand and Myanmar since long before the earliest civilization emerged as bronze aged societies in this part of the world. The Moken were in fact the sole providers of the currency in Ancieent Siam long before the coins were minted, as only they could dive deep enough to procure the lustrous, brown cowry shells ... read more

March 12, 2015 Today we woke up and went across the street to the street market for breakfast. There was a variety of shops open there as well as many street vendors preparing food. The breakfast was good! We had a rice soup with pork in it and waffles, and some other things that I am not sure of the name but were good. Later we rode in the back of a pickup truck up into the mountains were we hiked in to a great waterfall and swimming pond. We brought with us a drink that Nichole had prepared that translates literally into the words Vagina Juice. I am not sure of the ingredients but it is suppose to be good for a woman's inner parts and thus the name. Before we left Nichole warned us ... read more

March 9, 2015 My room mate left work and came and picked me up at the Metro link since I missed the train. When she arrived I asked her if she had my spare key and she told me that it was at home. We thought I should give her mine and there would be no problem. Of course, by the time we got to the airport all that was forgotten and she drove away. I went through security and into the lobby and was boarding the airplane before I realized I still had it in my bag. My car is keyless entry and is necessary to start it but I was not sure about keeping it running. I called her while having visions of her stuck at the airport by the curb. She answered and ... read more

Well things aren't off to a great start! I bought a backpack with wheels that has lots of compartments and after packing it decided it isn't as good as the little flight attendant suitcase I always use. It is too big I think to get on some of those planes as carry on. (in the picture the suitcase is full and the backpack is empty. When the backpack is full it really accordions out!) I repacked thinking that I probably can't get a refund for the backpack since I don't have time to take it back and it will be 3 weeks before I can return it. I woke up with a soar throat and feel really weak. Then, I was going by my alarm clock, which I forgot to set ahead, and arrived at the ... read more