Trip Report Thailand
 

I have a whole bunch of these saved from previous trip, is anyone interested in more?<BR><BR>Here's and example of the newsletter I sent to friends while travelling.<BR><BR><BR>#1 Thailand<BR><BR>Rode elephants two days ago across green fields and saw incredibly<BR>beautiful temples in the distance. My guide named M & I smoked giant<BR>Cuban cigars on elephant back and talked rubber trees. I then got<BR>hammered on Thai whiskey with the 168 year old guy who owns all the<BR>Pachyderms. Then cooked a very spicey Thai dinner for about 1/2 the<BR>village and bought a bunch of beer to become the stuff of legends for<BR>that one day. I guess that’s my 15 minutes of fame.<BR><BR>Yesterday I went to Phang Nga bay where there are giant outcroppings of<BR>rock jutting hundreds of feet in the air. Sea caves that you need to lay<BR>down in a sea kayak at low tide to explore, enter the huong (volcanic<BR>donut-like island with ocean in the middle) and then get the hell out<BR>before the tide comes back in. Did all the city temples and went to<BR>Ayutaya and Sukumvit on day trips for a look at 12th century<BR>ruins...took a few boatrides and wiped out two buffets on the upper<BR>decks in the sun drinking something strong and unpronouncable, did some<BR>flower festivals and a floating market.<BR><BR>Phuket (pronounced poo-ket) the party island, had the MTV X-Games going<BR>on and it was nuts and high energy twisted western styled fun in the<BR>midst of ascene from Apocolypse Now or some Joseph Conrad novel. Played<BR>this funky archery game and was pretty good, but my fingers are raw. I’d<BR>get crushed in a rematch.<BR><BR>Too many incredible shots to shoot them all. The food is unbelievable,<BR>but I'll eat anything. I really don’t want to publish all that Bangkok<BR>has to offer, as it tends to compromise my integrity by inferring that I<BR>might have done that which thou doth suspect.<BR><BR>

Heres another, maybe I should be putting these on the respective continents I have visited.<BR><BR>#2 Hong Kong<BR><BR>Took the tram to the top of Victoria peak, the ride was one long uphill<BR>roller coaster without the drop. I'm up at the peak in a coffee shop<BR>waiting to see if the clouds lift and I'll try to shoot the harbor at<BR>night with some 400 film and a tripod.<BR><BR>It's cloudy and foggy as hell and I couldn't shoot the harbor so I<BR>switched to black and white and just shot a temple with fog and it was<BR>back lit. Got a few eerie silhouetted umbrella people earlier by a<BR>temple in the rain, should be a cool effect.<BR><BR>Also went to the gardens... Botanical, Aviary, Dry (cactus), etc. the HK<BR>version of central park, but it is vertical and tiered. This is not<BR>surprising considering the cost of real estate on a 420 some odd square<BR>mile island with the highest population density on the planet. I want<BR>to tour HK harbor on a Sampan if I get a nice day..maybe Cheung Chan<BR>harbor instead...also go to Macau, and take the star ferry to Tsim Sha<BR>Tsui. Again, all this is waiting for a nice sunny day.<BR><BR>

Whoa -- Thailand is in the United States now??? I must not have seen the newspaper the day that happened.

I live in the states...I thought fellow travellers from the states might be interested in ym comments.<BR><BR>It was nice of you to add some content to the forum in your own unique intelligent way.

Only one complaint, heres the next stop.<BR><BR>#3 Hong Kong to Cebu<BR><BR>OK...I guess this is the boring part of travel. Hong Kong got crowded as<BR>it apparently does every weekend, the streets and hotels filling up with<BR>local Chinese and Japanese visitors. I couldn't extend my stay at the<BR>fabulous Panda in Kowloon, HK central doubles in price on the weekends,<BR>and Xian was out of the question unless I had 5-7 days so...I got out of<BR>Dodge city and blew to Cebu.<BR><BR>Wow, pretty dirty and rainy...sure glad I arrived early! Anyway, there<BR>is no real delicious indigenous cuisine so to speak, and I have some<BR>time here to plan the next step, so it's research time for me. Looking<BR>at Boracay and Siquijor for some island hopping...there are, after<BR>all... 7,165 islands to choose from, so I'll find something.<BR><BR>My fingers are still numb from the archery game I played in Patong, and<BR>here the only game is casino-styled stuff that I've done quite enough of<BR>in the states...and besides, I like to leave the gambling to Estrada. He<BR>seems to win at numbers like Hillary wins at cattle futures. It sure is<BR>humid here<BR>

please stop, this is very boring.

this post may be more appropriate on the ASIA board rather than the U.S one..just a thought.