20100528

With the red shirts freshly kicked out of Bangkok (just for Jamie's visit), we headed to Railay Beach for some rock climbing, relaxing, and more rock climbing. The 4 day weekend (our Memorial Day plus some Thai holiday (the perk of being in the foreign service is you get US and local holidays (as well as using a lot of operands))).

Railay Beach is some of the best limestone rock climbing in the world, and it's only a 20 minute taxi + 20 minute longtail boat ride from Krabi international airport, located in the South of Thailand.

I spent 4 days rock climbing, while Corina and Jamie spent 4 days not-rock climbing: swimming, snorkling, kayaking, hiking, getting stung by massive amounts of jelly fish, etc.

Located 60 km due east of Phuket (READ: far enough away from fat tourists), and due to the huge variety of outdoor activities, Krabi province is one of my favorites in Thailand.

20100514

Angkor Wat is an amazing place, that keeps improving over time. Better said: the Cambodians know it's a gravy train, so they put a lot of money into the place.

I've been back in Thailand for less than two weeks and I had the opportunity to visit Corina while she was attending a workshop in Siem Reap, Cambodia (staying at le Meridien, of course). For her it was non-stop gorging on delicious food, fine wines, and 5 star amenities, all while learning how to take care of poor people (don't fool yourself, people, World Bank and USAID-types never are uncomfortable in their quest for improving the lives of disaffected peoples). For me, it was a last ditch effort for me to get out of Bangkok for a weekend during the red shirt protests.

We had a tremendous time here, exploring Khmer temples, some of which have been left for the jungle to "reclaim" (well, as much as it takes to attract Angelina Jolie back for another shoot of "Tomb Raider"). If you've never been, the temples themselves are worth a few days of exploring, and if you haven't been in a few years, then please NOTE: the town of Siem Reap has improved remarkably (roads, restaurants and shops). Come back to visit!

Entry for March 29, 2009

Sometimes, you just have to go for it.
Khao San Road is where all the dirty hippy backpackers hang out in Bangkok (not that i mind backpackers... just the dirty ones). Scantily clad scandinavians, hairy hungarians, beaded bavarians... they all love the chaos of Khao San. It had been 4 years since we were last here, and took us about a week of living here to wind up back on Khao san. For those of you in the US, it's like going to Mexico during US College Spring break... but multiply that by about 1000%, and you're on Khao San.
We hung out with some Peace Corps Alums, and it helped having Thai speakers with us. We foiund a seat, grabbed a few beers and took it all in. Craziness. We ended up closing down som ejazz club and slinked home at around 1am. Good times!!!