It’s Saturday and I’m going to head south tomorrow . . .

Hi Friends,

A week (or so) has passed since my last posting. Oh, what fun I’ve had! My girlfriend (whose wonderful apartment I’ve been enjoying) and I took a 3-day, 2-night jungle river rafting trip on the River Kwai. It felt so good to get out of the city and onto the water.

We were picked up in a luxurious mini-van promptly(!) at 6 a.m. at a hotel close-by. Soon after, we, and fellow passengers, were taken to the heart of the city by the Grand Palace where we met other tourists who also sprouted from mini-vans. We were then collected into a large tour bus for our journey to the west.

The pictures which follow will tell the tale . . .

Also, I haven’t forgotten that I owe you shots from Wat Arun. They will hopefully follow shortly. I ended up going into town this past Wednesday (to go to the German Botschaft and ask about a visa which will allow me to stay in Germany longer than 3-months next year . . . more on that to come later) and taking a public transportation boat again. It was as much fun as the previous times, but this time, there was BLUE sky! So you’ll notice some boat/river/Wat Arun shots with blue sky and some without; now you’ll understand why.

From the title you can see that I’m leaving Bangkok tomorrow. I’m heading south to the area called Krabi; it’s a little east of Phuket. I decided to go there because it sounds interested and a little less developed or touristy than Phuket; I’ll let you know how I like it. When you google the area and look at a map, you’ll see that there are lots of beaches. I’m literally going to stay in 4 different hotels over 7-nights: 1 for 2 nights in Ao Nang, 1 for 2 nights on Railay beach (supposed to be a rock climbers’ beach), 1 for 2-nights on Koh (island) Phi Phi, and then lastly, I’m spending a night at a hotel called the Aloha Inn—seemed like a good idea. It’s in the little town area and should be a fun place to be before I then head out for Chiang Mai . . . but I’m getting ahead of myself . . . For now, it’s time to post some shots.

Aloha Everyone! Hope you’re having a good summer and enjoying the company of friends and family.

-sj

The River Kwai

Picking up where we left off long ago

Time to board the long boat

The pink Barbie bag cracked me up.

It felt so good to be on the water!

It looked a lot like Kaua‘i.

Then we began to see the critters

of all shapes

and sizes!