From Laura's Camera - Laos!

These pictures are very out of order. :-P Still missing a few pictures of us on the river tubing, caving, and kayaking in Vang Vieng. Hope to get them posted soon.

Vang Vieng, Laos. The most spectacular mountains ever. Didn't love driving around them, but they were beautiful nonetheless.

A statue park outside of Nong Khai, Thailand. A mix of Hindu and Buddha images, plus some random "imaginative" sculptures won this place one of the weirdest on our trip!

Laos is just across the river!

Laos!

These pictures skip a little bit that are on Laura and Brandon's waterproof camera only. We went Nong Khai, Thailand to Vientiene, Laos. Then Vang Vieng (pictures on their camera), Phansavan with the Plain of Jars, and we are now at our last Lao stop, Luang Prabang. Leaving for Hanoi, Vietnam tomorrow!

At the northern edge of Thailand, Nong Khai. Mekong River and in the distance is the Friendship Bridge connecting to Laos. I enjoyed the evening boat cruise.

Pha That Luang - The most famous temple in Laos, and can be found on all of the currency and national seal. Was built in the 3rd century B.C. to house a breastbone of Buddha. Vientiene.

Near Phansavan are fields of massive stone jars that no one knows who created them, when,or why! So neat. It is also in the area that was heavily bombed by the US during the "Secret War". Hundreds of thousands of un-exploded ordinances (UXOs) are still there killing many people today.

Kuang Si Waterfall -- I had some fun on the rope swing and jumping off parts of the falls. :-)

The largest part of the falls. I had hiked up to the top before swimming -- so refreshing. It was about 30km outside of Luang Prabang.

Thailand Pics 3

In Pak Chong - central Thailand. Went to see 2 million bats fly out of a cave at dusk for dinner. Before that we saw creepy critters in a cave and then swam in natural spring.

Hornbill in the Khao Yai National Park.

Big Fig Tree!

Temple here in Khon Kaen! Went up to the 9th floor!

Walked around a park around a beautiful lake this morning. Fed birds with Laura. There was a dino statue - brilliant. Internet is about to run out! Going into Laos on Monday and up to the border tomorrow. Having a blast! Hugs - me

Thailand Pics 2

Mom and I riding elephants in Chiang Mai. This day also included a hike to a waterfall, white water rafting, bamboo rafting (Mom pushed me in), and a fried rice lunch. Perfect!

We learned how to cook Thai foods!! Mom's taking the picture, so there are now two Thai chefs in the family. :-)

Prachuap Khiri Khan in the southern part of Thailand. We walked to the top of this hill that had a wat (temple) that was completely over run with monkeys and school children. The view was lovely, though. We swam a ton here and in Hua Hin, which was also beautiful.

In Ayuthaya - the ancient capitol of Thailand (1350-1767). Fastinating ruins of temples cover the entire island city. We rented bikes and saw quite a few.

My favorite wat in Ayuthaya with this partial Buddha image encased by roots! Absolutely breathtaking! They don't know how it got there, but guess that when the Burmese sacked the city in 1767 it was moved and then discarded by this tree. The tree has been growing around it ever since.

Thailand Pics 1

Grand Palace in Bangkok on my Birthday... right before the rains came and forced us into a little cafe for a "few" beers. :-P

Birthday dinner at Cabbages and Condoms - an AWESOME restaurant in Bangkok that promotes Public Health! --- You can take the HIV Educators out of Swaziland but...

Reclining Buddha in Wat Pho. Mom was amazed, and rightly so. 46m long and 15m high.

Drove scooter in Chang Mai to a beautiful dam for swimming and picnicing.

Muay Thai (Thai Kickboxing) Class! We got our butts handed to us for 3 hours straight! Hitting the bag was just a break towards the end!

Hey From Bangkok! "Sa-wa-dee-kha"

My goal - already having spent three amazing weeks in Thailand - was to post a few pictures of what I've done and who I've seen. This single computer at our hostel in Bangkok seems to be bent on thwarting that plan. It is not reading anything from the USB ports. Shucks. Hopefully next time. I have been having a blast and seeing a ton! In a nutshell: Mom came and met me in Bangkok on Sept 16th. Laura and Brandon joined us the following day. We tore up Bangkok for a week: Grand Palace. Dinner and drinks with Tyler Frank & Friends on Khao San Rd. Amazing birthday at the Grand Palace & dinner at Cabbages and Condoms (look it up - awesome PH). Fabulous Massages!! Yummy food. Chinatown. Thai theatre experience - more like a Disney's Spectacular Spectacular :-). We headed north on a sleeper train to Chiang Mai: Cooking Class. Bamboo & Whitewater rafting. Hike to waterfall in mountains. Road elephants. Drove scooter (Mom on back) to swim in beautiful dam. Muay Thai Class (Intense Thai Kickboxing). More massages (this is going to be a weekly occurrence). Burmese Food. Mom left on the 30th and we lost an amazing traveling companion :-( Laura, Brandon & I headed south to the beaches on the Gulf of Thailand: Prachuap Khiri Khan = Most lovely beach ever on army base and small fishing town. Hua Hin = Swimming, swimming, massage, swimming - more touristy but more activities and night life as well Both sites had delicious seafood. Now we are back in Bangkok and leaving tomorrow for our trek up through Northeastern Thailand to the Laos border. There are about four stops on our way and we will be crossing into Laos on Oct 15th (when my visa expires). Hopefully I can keep this updated ever so often with some pictures.