Since Eli left I've spent a lot of time inside getting caught up with emails and getting my life organized. Otherwise, I've gone out on errands. Today it took me over five hours just to go to my old apartment to pick up a package, to the post office, and to the grocery store. There went my entire day! I'm used to things taking a long time when I have to wait for the bus, etc, and then the grocery store was packed because of all the holiday shoppers, and the taxi queue was soooo long as well! grrr, well at least that is done and I am back in this cozy condo drying off from the rain of the day.

I really miss having Eli and other friends around already. Life seems to have returned to the momentarily mundane. When friends are here I go out and explore Singapore and learn to really love this city. Then they leave and I retreat back into the life of studying and more studying, and the time goes by and I can barely convince myself that I know Singapore at all.

Some of the highlights that Eli and I had hanging out in Singapore included: treetop walk and monkey sighting, the zoo where Eli was kissed by a sea lion, Chinatown shopping spree, drinks at the 70th floor New Asia Bar, excellent dinners at La Cave (Italian) and Cafe Iguana (Mexican), "The Promise"- Chinese epic film by Chen Kaige. And... here are a few more photos of Singapore.








And here's an idea of the cheesiness the Singapore infuses into its Christmas decorations (kind of fun actually):

Here are some of the photos from the Thailand part of the trip:


Eli and I at a traditional khantoke dinner in Chiangmai


traditional dancer at the khantoke dinner


Giving the elephant a treat after he danced for us at the elephant camp near Chiangmai




Two pictures at the sculpture garden in Nong Khai


On the river in Bangkok


Grand Palace in Bangkok


Eli and I at Nong Khai

I've got all my pictures sorted from the last trip, and there are A LOT. I've decided to post some choice photos in different entries. This is my Laos posting. Here you see Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng, and the road in between. What a breathtaking country!

It rained for the entire final 48 hours we spent in Thailand. It was supposed to be our beach time, but instead we gazed out over the beach from the shelter of various waterfront bars and restaurants. The rain brought out the slight stench of mold in our bungalow and washed out the paths between East and West Railay. On one travese between the beaches, we took off our shoes and waded through ankle-deep mud to get to the other side. Despite the never-ending rain, we still enjoyed our time at the beach. Of course, it was not quite what we envisioned, but still enjoyable. Instead we filled our days with massages, books, and hot chocolate with baileys.

Returning to Krabi was an interesting experience for me. A scant 4 years have passed since I last visited, but in that time the place has become almost unrecognizable. Railay East was a bit trash-covered and there was construction all around; apparently it was hit by the tsunami and I am assuming that this was some of the aftermath of all that. Maybe they kind of just gave up on the clean-up effort somewhere along the line. Other than that, the main change was just the massive development. resorts and guesthouses have popped up everywhere and it is no longer the remote get-away that it used to be. Prices have skyrocketed and tourists flood onto the many beaches (mostly Europeans), demanding sun and service. It seems that the area must be going through an economic boom, which is good of course, though I do regret the loss of what used to be a "paradise" and what is now only one of the many beach resorts around the world.

Since I last wrote, we crossed over the Lao border to Nong Khai, Thailand, spending a day or so there and then journeying south through Bangkok, Phuket, and Krabi (where we are now). We've hit the finale of our travels and will now spend a few days just hanging out on the beach, etc. We have been hit by a few afternoon rainstorms that have sent us scurrying for cover, with towels and flip flops hastily gathered up from the sand. We're really a bit perplexed over how this weather can exist during the "dry" season! However, we have been able to get in some quality beach time and otherwise are planning a scuba diving excursion tomorrow, and quality time hanging out in beach-side cafes, etc.

I enjoyed seeing Nong Khai, since it was a part of Thailand I had previously not visited. We spent a slightly uncomfortable night on a lumpy matress (really three matresses shoved together) on the floor, with ants and mosquitoes swarming all around, but otherwise enjoyed a bicycle ride out to a giant Buddha sculpture garden and some pleasant hours sitting in the Mut Mee Guesthouse's garden restaurant, talking with fellow travellers and gazing across the river into Laos.

Bangkok was its usual fast-paced, breathless experience. Spent 6 hours at the Chatuchak weekend market on Sunday, introduced Eli to Khao San Road that night, and then made the requisite visit to the Grand Palace on Monday, tried to visit the new aquarium before realizing that there was no way we would ever make it in with a line nearly out the door, so went to MBK instead (Thai shopping mall at its finest). Decided to scrap our backpacker compulsion to take an overnight bus to Krabi and opted for a quick flight to Phuket instead, followed by a short 2 hour boat ride to Krabi the following morning. Didn't see any of Phuket really- just out the window of the van as we drove from the airport to our guesthouse and then to the boat launch the following morning- but the little I saw of the island confirmed that I have no wish to visit Phuket anytime soon. Lots of raunchy bars and too built-up and geared toward resort travellers. We have been passing our time on the much quieter and nicer peninsula known as Haad Railey. Though I have to say that this area also seems quite different from what I remember- I am wondering what might be the result of the Tsunami???

We are in Vientiane right now, wasting a couple of hours catching up with emails, etc, before we get our transfer over the border to the town of Nong Khai. We spent the last couple of days in Vang Vieng (VV), a town that is famous for innertubing, caving, and smoking weed. I'd heard before from other travellers that VV is really only a good place to visit if all you want to do is smoke and drink, maybe while simultaneously tubing down the river. While I can't dispute that this is certainly the draw for many of the backpackers that find their way to VV, Elizabeth and I had a great and relaxing visit to VV, and I would recommend a stop here to anyone who is travelling through Laos. After the sleepy sophistication of Luang Prabang, VV is little more than a ramshackle set-up along the Nam Xong River, but the stunning beauty of the landscape and the many possibilities to innertube, kayak, go caving, climbing, etc. make it a fun stop off on the backpacker trail, and also offers something a little "different" from other towns in Southeast Asia.

First, the area around VV is absolutely gorgeous. As Elizabeth and I spent the afternoon placidly floating down the river on our innertubes, we were surrounded be towering limestone karsts (cliffs) that looked like something right out of an ancient Asian scroll painting. We lounged back on our tubes, soaking in the sun and watching dragonflies buzz around, occasionally landing on our knees.

The stretch of river around VV set up for tubing is dotted with small riverside establishments where locals have set up rope swings and cables for jumping into the river, and also offer many beers to those floating by. Imagine lots and lots of young white travellers drinking, listening to reggae, and jumping off swings and cables into the river. Kind of surreal and almost what I would imagine a Vietnam War era BBQ to be like- of course, minus the war, but the beer, sun, SE Asia vista, river, etc.

Arrived in Luang Prabang, Laos, on Sunday evening after a short flight from Chiangmai. First saw the town at night, and was immediately enchanted by its candlelit riverside cafes, attractive guesthouses, and narrow stone streets. Since Sunday I have decided that Luang Prabang is one of the best cities in all of Southeast Asia, if not the world. It is so sleepy and cute, with friendly people. There is a shadow of french colonialism in the architecture, though it is mixed with the many Buddhist wats and Asian-style buildings that make the town so enticing to the visitor. There are amazing cafes and bakeries all through town- they easily rival those in North America or Europe. There are used bookshops that show movies every evening and travel agents that provide free internet for their customers. The main street is full of art galleries and handicraft shops, and at night the street closes down to become a bustling night bazaar. I love this town! Of course, I just wish I could stay longer, but unfortunately our time demands that tomorrow we head on our way...

The only thing that has marred our time in Luang Prabang is that Elizabeth unfortunately contracted one of the traveller's stomach sicknesses from something she ate on our first night here. So she basically spent all of yesterday in bed trying to recover, while I wandered the city and took photos for both of us. She has been much better today, though still has not managed to eat anything and is bothered by a rather severe stomach-ache. She is a trooper though and managed to accompany me this morning on a boat ride up the Mekong to visit an ancient cave filled with Buddha statues. This afternoon we were supposed to visit a nearby waterfall, but we both scrapped that plan in favor of spending some time in Luang Prabang and getting foot massages and facials (an hour and a half of pure heaven for a mere $6).

I am in Luang Prabang, Laos right now, after spending the last couple of days in Chiangmai, Thailand. Elizabeth and I flew from Singapore directly to Chiangmai. We did the usual- caught a taxi at the airport to our guesthouse where we crashed for the night, arising to a glorious morning. The weather was soooo perfect the entire time we were there. Sunny but not too hot. What a difference from Singapore! Chiangmai was certainly still humid, but nothing compared to Singapore where the wetness just hangs in the air, day and night.

We rented a motorbike for next few days and spent our time zooming from place to place. We did a lot of shopping at local markets and factory stores. Elizabeth had a list about a mile long of people she had to buy gifts for, and luckily Chiangmai is the perfect place for gift-buying and she was able to find things for nearly everyone there. Besides shopping, we also went out to the Elephant Camp at Mai Sa. I had been there before with Colleen, Chizuru, Nathan, and Sarah, but what a difference! The place has developed so much- many more elephants, more visitors, and the show now involves around 20 elephants instead of the handfull that performed for us 4 years ago. Also, the elephants have learned all kinds of new tricks. They play soccer, play the harmonica, dance, curtsy, bow, and even paint beautiful pictures.

We also went to two very different, but equally "cultural" shows, while in Chiangmai. The first was a lady boy cabaret, where the beautiful transgender thai men, who happen to look like stunning female catwalk models, put on an over-the-top cabaret show. The cabaret involved gorgeous costumes, elaborate sets of royal palaces, Asian jungles with a real waterfall, Havana Cuba, and even an Egyptian tomb, all while danging and lip-synching to English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and Thai songs... The sets and costumes blew me away, as did the exceptional beauty of the Thai men perfoming for us, though the lip-synching and awkward dancing sometimes had me inwardly laughing. I think the "girls" were concentrating so hard on moving like women that they lost the abiility to dance with ease and their movements sometimes looked quite awkward and stiff. There was one girl though, who was quite amazing! After the show we go to see them up-close and I have to say that their beauty was more stunning from afar, because the masculine traits were much more apparent up-close and of course when talking to them...

The next evening we went to a Khantoke dinner at the Old Chiangmai Cultural Center. This was a traditional meal where we comfortably lounged on the floor watching Thai dance performers while tasting many of the different Northern Thai specialties. We ate till we were stuffed, watched the Thai dancing until we nearly fell asleep from satiation and the slow, entrancing movements of the dancers, and we decided it was time to go, hopped on our motorbike, and went off to the night bazaar.

Headed to the airport in a couple of hours for the next installment in my holiday travels: Thailand and Laos. We're flying into Chiangmai in the north of Thailand this evening, and then on the 16th we will fly out of Krabi in the south (where the good beaches are). The general idea is to go from Chiangmai to Laos- Luang Prabang and Vien Viang- and then down through Bangkok to Krabi and Ko Phi Phi.