Back from Thailand...Sort Of

Well, it's been almost a week since my return to the States. It's great to be home, but I do miss our group and the camaraderie. I don't know if I've laughed so hard or had so much fun in my life. It was truly the best vacation EVER.

My sleep pattern is something else I miss. I've lived the life of an insomniac the since being home and totally empathize with those who suffer from sleep issues. Since being back, my normal sleep pattern looks like this: wake up around 5 am bright eyed and ready for the day; hit a wall around 5 pm; sleep from 6 pm-9 pm; stay up until 1 am and then try to get back to bed. The past two days have gotten better, and I've only resorted to Ambien twice (half-pill only). No intervention is required yet.

Here are some photos from the trip.

The final part of our trip was so relaxing. We stayed at the Zeavola resort. There are only 48 rooms so we felt like we really escaped from civilization. One night, Dawn and I decided to visit Ton Sai village for shopping. We asked the concierge how to catch a taxi. Come to find out there were no roads leading to or from the hotel. We had to take a 45-minute water taxi (and inhale about the carbon dioxide) of a longtail boat to reach civilization. Aside from that one excursion, we stayed at Zeavola from Tuesday until Friday.

The one bit of disturbing news -- not just for us -- but the for entire country was reading the front page of the local newspaper on our arrival to Ko Phi Phi. I took a photo of it and pasted it below. Check out the bottom headline! The only warning buoy in Andaman Sea alerting Thailand to tsunamis is not working. The buoy which was paid for by a grant from USAID has non-functioning battery. The Thai government doesn't have enough money to pay for a replacement. Come to find out, the cost to replace it is roughly $5,000 USD.

The Island

We made it to our final stop on the trip. We're planting at Ko Phi Phi until Friday afternoon. We took a 2-hour boat ride from Phuket this morning to Ko Phi Phi Don (the larger of the two islands). They circled Ko Phi Phi Leh where "The Beach" was filmed. We're loving the resort. There is a mother and daughter staying here from Austin. The daughter lives in Steiner Ranch. The mother is from Belgium.

Updated photos (toward the end)

Finished REI portion of trip. Now on to Phuket and beach. We had final goodbye dinner with group last night. Five of us were on the same Thai airways flight this afternoon. The final boat to Ko Phi Phi island (where out resort is located) left at 2:30 pm. Our flight didn't land until 2:45 pm so we're spending Monday in Phuket. One of our REI campers from Durham, NC, is letting us stay with her at the Royal Phuket Yacht Club on Nai Harn Beach (south tip of island). The resort is sending a taxi at 7:15 Tuesday morning to take Dawn and me to the island. We spent the afternoon at the beach.

Pic link below shows hill tribe eco-lodge in Chang Dao. This us where we stayed on Saturday night after our bike rides. We biked to and toured some caves where monks lived 300 years ago.

http://yfrog.com/3opdbj

Almost done with REI portion of trip. Kayaked 6 miles on Friday and mountain biked 41 miles since then. Definitley ready for another $2 Thai foot massage. We stayed at an small eco-lodge last night with Western toilets but no electricity. I'll post photos to Facebook when I have Internet. No stomach bugs. Feel great. We leave for Phuket tomorrow at 12:35 pm. Ready for some lazy beach time.

Back in outskirts of Chiang Mai at Royal Ping resort. Hiked 15 miles in past two days and stayed in remote hill tribe villages last two nights. Locals put us up in their longhouse. Today is first day with electricity and western toilets since Tuesday morning. Biking tomorrow. Resting this afternoon by pool. Having rice for every meal. Walked through tea and coffee plantations today. Local villagers are cuttin tea leaves and selling them at market. Feel great. No sickness. Love to all.

About to leave Padeng village. Slept in longhouse with no electricity. Had mosquito nets and sleeping bags. Village is home to about 80 Lahu people who migrated from Tibet about 80 years ago. Village surrounded by coffee bean plants. Twelve-mile hike to next village about to start.

Day 1 Excursion

Today we hiked about 5 miles in the hills west of Chiang Mai. We saw rice, corn, bananas, coffee, starfruit, sugar cane, peanuts, pineapple, ginger and some variety of Thai plums. It was really hot and really humid but we took lots of water breaks and a lengthy lunch break. I've posted some photos of the trip so far to Facebook. It's a public page viewable to anyone.

Tomorrow we pack for two days in our backpacks. We'll ride elephants in the morning and do more hill trekking in the afternoon. The next two nights we're in longhouses which don't have electricity so this may be the last post for a few days. Everything is going really well. No stomach bugs or travel sickness. Love to all.

Sunday Night

Here's a picture from the back of the train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. We arrived safely on the train this morning and met up with the rest of our group. Our group is made up of a father (surgeon) and son (pre-med student) from Spokane, Washington; two friends (both nurses) from Denver; a mother and daughter from Seattle; a husband (Centers for Disease Control) and wife from New Mexico; and a girl our age from Durham, NC.

Today we visited the Doi Suthep temple in the hills of Chiang Mai where remains of Buddha are enshrined in a gold globe. I had to buy long pants. Shorts and sleeveless shirts (basically anything showing skin) are forbidden inside the temple.

We visited a market this afternoon and had Thai foot massages ($2 for 30 minutes). It felt wonderful. We sampled some fruit purchased in the flower and food market and even tried fried grasshopper and silkworm larvae. I didn't go back for seconds. The grasshopper tasted like earthy sand and the larvae was juicy.

Tomorrow we do a 5-mile hike and return to the hotel before trekking out for more rustic accommodations.

About two hours from Chiang Mai. Train ride is good.We have an upper and lower bunk. Private sleeping car with sink. Everything here is really cheap. We hired a taxi driver in Bangkok to drive us anywhere we wanted for $30 the entire day! Bottled water is 18 cents.