It's a jungle out there!

Khao Sok rainforest is in fact a remnant of a 160-million-year-old forest ecosystem that is much older and richer than the forests of the Amazon and central African regions.

Yesterday, we went to a monkey watering hole. The monkeys come down from the jungle at 5 pm every evening, and if you've got some bananas, they're happy to take them from you. Today, we went for a hike in the National Park, and there were monkeys walking down the trail. They stopped to check us out, but since we didn't have any bananas, they just kept on trucking.

Festival in Chumphon

Loi Krathong takes place on the evening of the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. In the western calendar this usually falls in November.

Loi" means "to float" and a "krathong" is traditionally made from a section of banana tree trunk, and decorated with elaborately-folded banana leaves, flowers, candles and incense sticks. During the night of the full moon, Thais will float their krathong on a river, canal or a pond lake. The festival is believed to originate in an ancient practice of paying respect to the spirit of the waters.

The Loi Krathong ritual is a simple one. One needs only to light the candles and the joss sticks, make one's wishes and let it float away with the current of a river or a canal.

my krathong

Loi Krathong coincides with the Lanna(northern Thai) festival known as "Yi Peng". A multitude ofLanna-stylesky lanterns(khom loi ), literally: "floating lanterns") are launched into the air. The festival is meant as a time for tham bun , to make merit. People usually make khom loi from a thin fabric, such as rice paper, to which a candle or fuel cell is attached. When the fuel cell is lit, the resulting hot air which is trapped inside the lantern creates enough lift for the khom loi to float up in to the sky.

Paradise found....

Koh Tao- an incredibly beautiful island.

Siam Niramit

Big stage production- before the show, the actors/dancers (including the elephants!) were mingling with the crowd...

So, where are we anyway?

We started in Bangkok. After 6 fun filled days, we headed north on an overnight train to Chiang Mai. Spent 6 days loving Chiang Mai then back through Bangkok on an overnight bus. (Train was alot more fun than the bus) Spent another couple of days in Bangkok because it's hard to leave (so much to see- plus our hotel had such a great buffet breakfast!) Finally we headed south by bus to Hua Hin (not too much there), then a train to Chumphon, our jumping off point to the islands off the east coast. Tomorrow we take a ferry to Koh Tao- an island off the coast of Chumphon (not on this map).

Exercise in the park

Every morning in Lumphini Park in Bangkok, people gather to exercise before going to work. There are groups doing aerobics, Tai Chi, martial arts practice, and stretching, as well as the more typical joggers around the park. Anyone can join any group (and we joined a few- we even got private instruction in the self defense group, when they noticed us attempting to keep up).

Everyone was ready with a smile, and happy to have the farang join in.

Khan Toke

Khan Toke-

The meal is served on a wooden pedestral tray call "Khantoke", and the dishes are all authentic northern Thai delicacies. While guests enjoy the meal, there are performances of dance and music. The distinct identities of tradition and the hill tribe groups is the entertainment theme during the Khantoke Dinner.

They don't use chopsticks...

Thai people eat with a large spoon and a fork, pushing the food onto the spoon with the back of the fork. It actually works really well. Here's Manuel eating his daily chicken fried rice (with lime, of course- Yumm).

blessed by a monk

This thread is called sai sin. It is found at many ceremonies, particularly in the North East of Thailand. Its like a spiritual circuit that connects everyone, carrying merit up and down a line or around a circle of people. The tying on the wrist helps retain this power in the form of safety and good health/wealth and protection from evil spirits.

All in a Day

yes, it's real

We booked a tour that brought us to a butterfly/orchid farm. Then a trek through the jungle and villages, stopping at a waterfall, to the elephant farm to ride an elephant (I felt a bit bad about the elephants- felt a little better because they say they treat the elephants well- see below). Then lunch, and on to whitewater rafting (fun!), and ending with a ride on a bamboo raft on the calmer part of the river. It doesn't get any better than this!

Guests who visit us are amazed by the way we treat our elephants. We employ some of the best mahouts in the industry who all deeply care about the elephants. Chiang Mai Elephant Camp Is a happy place to spend your holiday, be it riding elephants, our mahout training program or even by adopting an elephant. My dream has come true as seen in the happy faces of our staff, animals and most importantly our guests. Our guest book says most, if not all want to return again. Today my son proudly holds the mahouts stick, maybe like me he too will follow his father!

Only in Thailand

On our first day here, we bought groceries, and on the way back, we passed a new bar, empty except for a woman and about a dozens monks, chanting. The woman saw us stop and listen, so she invited us inside, explaining that the monks were blessing her new bar on the three month anniversary, and she invited us back that evening to listen to music. We left our newly purchased sweet corn muffins as an offering for the monks, promising to return later. We did go back that evening, and as she sat and chatted with us in her broken English, we realized that she, and the 2 young girls that spent time visiting our table, ages 16 and 20, were prostitutes. As my Lonely Planet guide book explains, Thai Buddhism is a flexible faith.

After 14 hours on China Airlines from LA, we had a 5 hour layover in Taipei, where we had time to explore, have lunch, play on the free massage chairs, and free internet, and start to adjust to a different culture (squat toilets?).