From the Land of Polar Opposites...

I have decided that Thailand is the land of extremes. One moment I am fearing for my life on the back of an elephant, to basically falling into a hedonistic coma during a Thai massage. I have gone from the chaos of making 3 boat changes to get into a remote resort on a beach only accessed by water, to the passive bliss of spending the afternoon floating in the waters off Railay beach starring up at the breathtaking cliffs. I spent the last three days on a remote beach where all electricity came from a generator that was turned on from 6pm to 6am. This is my excuse for no recent posts.

Because there are so many amazing places in this world, I have a rule about going to the same place twice. I might be willing to break that rule and come back to Railay beach. It is amazing. Plus, there is no other place that I know of which has a cave filled with fallacies as a shrine to a princess. I did not ask for clarification on this one!

Tomorrow Lori and I leave Railay, Krabi and head back to Phuket. To make our flight from Phuket to Bangkok, we had to hire a speedboat. I fear brushing my hair at the end of that day!

We will spend one night in Bangkok before flying to Siem Reap in Cambodia. I plan to greet my thirties by spending a day at Ankor Wat (another UNESCO site to check off my list) and ending the night by getting tipsy on 50 cent beers.

I am having a wonderful time, but I am excited to get back to my handsome man....if only he knew the art of Thai massage.....sigh....Michael are you reading this?

Well, we made it. After leaving SanFran on Friday, we endured a 15 hour flight to Hong Kong and then a 3 hour flight to Bangkok. Once we landed we boarded a shuttle to the bus station, then spent an hour on a bus to the Southern bus terminal where another 3 hour bus ride to Kanchanaburi awaited us. Ending our journey at 6pm Sunday night (local time). Once we arrived at our destination the fun really began. I had the pleaseure of enjoying a ride in a rickshaw powered by a man the size of my thigh. It was great for the self esteem.

We ended the night watching the annual memorial celebration of the famos Bridge Over the River Kwai, or The Death Railway. The history aspect was great. They even did a ceremonial train crossing. For those of you who have seen the movie, you know how catchy that POW whistle is...and it has been stuck in my head ever since!

Tomorrow, we will be spending our time at the Erawan waterfalls. It is a 7 tiered waterfall. in the middle of the jungle. Its probably ugly.

All Packed & 48 Hours To Go

Departing for Thailand/Cambodia in 48 hours.

I am ready to celebrate my 'dirty-thirty' lying on the beach of an island somewhere in the Andaman Sea. I am sure there were some; let’s call them "fans”, which expected me to spend my 30th birthday in a bathtub with a bottle of booze, with only my cat for company. WRONG. I intend to spend my milestone birthday on the beach (still with the bottle of booze) with my good friend Lori and 61.5 million Thais. How is that for company?

I have made a few adjustments to my packing list due to my increasing age:

Tevas....you know, the cool ones.
Tank-kini.....and a bikini just in case I am feeling "like a kid again".
5 books and an electronic soduku.....in case I feel like partying.
3 skirts that hit below my knees.
A sun hat....to match the Tevas.
And a whistle.

Okay, that last one is a lie. No one in my generation feels the need, nor protected by, a whistle. Sorry mom.

I have never blogged before, but I am going to give it a whirl. I will post updates to my blog throughout the next two weeks to chronicle my journies throughout Thailand and Cambodia. If my camera does not stolen (again) I will attempt to post pictures.

Mom, a lack of updates does not mean I am locked in a Thai prison.