From Thailand

I am writing from a little internet cafe on the island of Ko Maak, a ways Southeast of Bangkok. Sorry no pictures today, but we're using strange computers and no way to load our pix-- may not be able to until we get back to Bangkok on Saturday. Today is our third day in the country, and we've had a great time so far, although I've already gone one round with, um, travelers belly. It is hot and muggy (not unexpected, but a shock to a winter-conditioned body). We are staying at a fantastic collection of beach-side thatched huts next door to our good friends Iven & Kashmira.

I'll recap our last couple days:

Flight- we left thursday morning portland time, and had uneventful flights to Sea-Tac, then Seoul and on to Bangkok. We lost friday in the flight west, and landed early saturday morning in Bangkok. Our friend Iven picked us up from the airport and took us to our hotel for a few hours of sleep.

Day 1, Saturday: We got up, joined our friends for breakfast, and met up with some friends of Iven & Kashmira for a 3 hour van ride to a wedding on the coast. We didn't know anyone there to start with, but had a nice time and met lots very friendly and interesting people. Fritz took some beautiful photographs of the beach-front wedding. We stayed at the resort where the wedding was held overnight.

Day 2, Sunday: We hired a "Song Tao"(a pickup truck with benches along each side) for the 2 hour ride to our ferry terminal. Dusty and sort of wild, but fun. We caught the ferry, and headed to our island. We had a tough time finding a place to stay, as it is high tourist season, and didn't like the first place we checked out. We ended up at a sweet little family run place away from the main beaches, hiding out in the jungle that costs about $18 a night. We set up house and will probably stay there several days, though things are flexible at this point.

Day 3, today: Slept in, worked out, went for a swim, and headed into town. We found some dirt trails and went for an impromptu hike. Now we're checking in with the wider world on the internet, and will grab some lunch and some Thai massage in a bit.

I'm kind of hot and spaced out, so I'm not too poetic with the writing, but I'll get back to you all with more thoughts and hopefully some pictures later.

-Shannon