A very long travel day and not much to report. Spent many hours in the Singapore airport, then an overnight flight to Sydney. A 2 + hour drive up the coast with my mate Will brought us to Newcastle. The “event” for the day was visiting Blackbutt Reserve to see the Koalas and kookaburras and king parrots. And then a…
February 15: So Long SE Asia
As I sit here in the Singapore airport (the biggest, cleanest, brightest airport I’ve ever seen), enroute to Sydney, I thought I might take a moment to reflect on my 6 weeks in SE Asia. As I began this trip on January 5, I had no real pre-conceived ideas of what I might encounter and what it might be like.…
February 14: Valentines Day at the Beach
I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I’ve taken these last two days to do what I do so well at any beach/seaside resort — take in some sun, swim, walk along the shore. I feel guilty for doing what I could do in Florida or California or Rhode Island while I’m here in southern Thailand but the following forces…
February 12: Off to Krabi
A mostly travel day, but worth noting a couple of things. With the full moon, which was last night the 11th here, there comes a Buddhist holiday, which mainly meant for me that I couldn’t order a beer with dinner at the cafe (See You Soon was it’s name — wifi password was “nice to meet you”), but also meant…
February 11: Chiang Rai, The White Temple, Hot Springs
Our hotel last night was home to 5, count ’em 5, tour busses of Thai people. As I was writing the post yesterday they must’ve all arrived as the halls were alive with very, very loud Asians. I worried that when they came back from dinner it would be more of the same, so I wore ear plugs and my…
February 10: The Golden Triangle
We left Doi Mae Salong this morning and what I hadn’t seen in last night’s darkness was the big sign on the hillside reminiscent of the Hollywood sign at home. Of course this one was overlooking a lovely valley, some mountains beyond and a tea plantation. We visited the 101 Tea Plantation nearby for some oolong tea tasting, which was…
February 9: Off to Northern Thailand
After a day yesterday not even worth posting about (pool time and massage!), today I’m off for a 3 day outing to the further northern areas of Thailand — Chiang Rai and the Golden Triangle. The tour company is Intrepid, the first time I’ve travelled with them, and I’m joined by a mom and her adult daughter from Wisconsin. First…
February 7: Elephants
There’s a real ethical dilemma when it comes to visiting elephants parks, and participating in the activities there. But first, the history of the Asian elephant, once highly revered and domesticated for work and warfare. Far from the estimated population of hundreds of thousands of elephants centuries ago, according to the World Wildlife Fund for Nature, it’s estimated that between only…
February 6: Chiang Mai Cooking School
I took a break from visiting temples and relaxed this morning. I had booked a Thai cooking class for the afternoon/evening, and was picked up at the hotel at 3:45 for this culinary adventure. The van travelled around Chiang Mai and picked up my fellow chefs, and from there we visited a local market to pick up the fresh vegetables,…
February 5: Chiang Mai
I made up for yesterday’s sloth by walking all over Chiang Mai today, and my feet are feeling the 7 miles! First it was off to the 41st Annual Flower Festival; I missed the parade yesterday (sort of northern Thailand’s answer to the Rose Parade), but the park was still overflowing with blooms and the floats were on display. Being…