Thailand

We have started our month long tour of South East Asia. This is will the first of many entries about our travels. Internet is hard to come by and when we do have it, it's rather slow so there will be no pictures and only short blurbs about our trip so far.

We started our trip in Bangkok and let's just say we were glad we saw it but happy to travel north to Chiang Mai after a few days. Bangkok is so crowded, dirty and polluted- it's just not our cup of tea. While we were there, we saw many temples, learned about Buddhism, visited the Grand Palace, rode down the river in a long tail boat, and took in the city itself. Bangkok is a very interesting place with a lively energy and tons of hustle and bustle. I could go in to lots of detail but perhaps I'll save that for another time.

After Bangkok, we took a 14-hour overnight train to Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand. This part of the country is less crowded, more relaxed and has natural beauty. We spent only one night in Chiang Mai but during the day, we did an elephant trek (where you ride the elephant) through the Thai jungle and then went bamboo rafting down the river. The raft is basically eight bamboo sticks tied together to create a raft. It was quite relaxing cruising down on our raft and we came out unscathed! After Chiang Mai, we drove to the Laos border where we crossed the border by boat in to Laos.

So for now, that's where I will leave it. Check back for more...