Shawn and Melody Allaire's Excellent Thailand Adventure

Shawn Allaire
10/6/2001

I left on a three-week trip to Thailand on September 5th, 2001. I visited my daughter Melody, who has been in Thailand for two years as a CUSO co-operant in the northwest corner of Thailand, at an Agricultural Extension Center near Na Pa Paag.

We began from Bangkok, went north to Chiang Mai by overnight sleeper train, by plane to Mae Hong Son, then by songtauw to the Center. We were there, in Melody's home for about four nights. Then we took the songtauw back to MHS, a bus to the forest wat (Wat Tam Wua). We were at the forest wat for three nights, then got a ride back to MHS with Leung Da in the wat car. We took a plane from MHS to Chiang Mai and spent about three nights there. While there, we went to the Lampang Elephant Conservation Center and visited Wat That Luang Lampang. We also visited Ban Kwai Thai, a water buffalo demonstration park.

We travelled back to Bangkok from Chiang Mai via overnight sleeper train and stayed at the Atlanta Hotel. Finally, we boarded a bus to get to Ko Chang, the beach island in the eastern Gulf of Thailand.

The best memories are of shared meals of terrific Thai food, and all the various kinds of transportation we took to get around: tuk-tuks, songtauws, car, bus, overnight sleeper train, plane, ferry, elephant, and water buffalo.

We had such fun. It was especially delightful to watch the Thai people react when Melody spoke Thai so well. She orders food like a trooper, and loves to try anything. We covered a lot of distance in our three weeks together and it was over too soon. Coming back to this side of the planet with the recent events was difficult. We heard about Sept. 11 when we were very far removed from Western news sources. It was very odd getting the news filtered through Thai, and being so far away from the North American continent when such dramatic events were taking place. I have come to think that the best place to be in the past three weeks is a beach island inthe Gulf of Thailand.


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Me, ready to leave
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My friend Marsha
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Terry Fox monument in Thunder Bay
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The huge jade statue by Bill Reid at the Vancouver Airport
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Melody at the KT Guesthouse, Bangkok
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At Wat Chedi Hoy outside of Bangkok
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At Wat Chedi Hoy outside of Bangkok
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Melody at a milling display at a crafts show in Bangkok
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Bamboo water wheel at crafts show
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Me, on the overnight sleeper train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai
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My badly scraped elbow from falling off the sidewalk in Bangkok
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Melody in the top bunk on the overnight sleeper train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai
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Sunrise on the mountain, from the train window
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Melody at a small outside historic display, Chiang Mai
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Chiang Mai from the air. Plane going to Mae Hong Son.
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Clouds from the plane, Chiang Mai (CM) to Mae Hong Son (MHS)
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Clouds, plane from CM to MHS
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Clouds, plane from CM to MHS
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Clouds, plane from CM to MHS
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MHS airport
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Me and Melody at the Johnnie Guesthouse, MHS
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MHS market
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MHS market
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Wat at night. MHS
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Wat at night, MHS
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Little kitten behind wat sculpture
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Street scene, MHS
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Entrance to market, MHS
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Buying food, MHS market
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Beautiful flower display, MHS market
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More food buying, Melody is sooo good at this!
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Spirit house, MHS
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Beautiful town scene, MHS
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On the road up to the Agricultural Extension centre
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Beautiful waterfall on the road to the centre. The songtauw driver stopped for Melody and me to see it.
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The waterfall again
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Melody and the songtauw driver
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The Agricultural Extension centre where Melody works. Note the red dirt which is everywhere in Thailand.0
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Melody's living room / kitchen
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Melody and her boss, Kuhn Amporn
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Hand laundry -- I'm not very good at it
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Hand laundry -- Melody is a pro
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Melody at her kitchen table, note the chickens outside the door
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Pee Jep in Kuhn Amporn's outdoor kitchen
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The kitchen, with the gas stove, a very unusual item for Thai kitchens
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Melody working with a pineapple for the pizza I made for Kuhn Amporn
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An evening walk to Na Pa Paag
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Beautiful landscape with village houses near the centre
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Another view of the landscape
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At the top of a hill near the centre, an outdoor pavilion
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Some handcrafted items, a yam, and two bamboo drinking cups
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Melody's bathroom with squat toilet
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Scenes from Melody's home
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Scenes from Melody's home
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Beautiful green landscape, rice growing
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steep, twisting roads
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Group of Chinese tourists at Mae Aw, small Chinese village near the Burma border. The conversation was English, Thai and Chinese. Great fun
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Satellite dish in Mae Aw. Always the modern and the ancient so close together in Thailand.
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Street Scene, Mae Aw
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Street Scene, Mae Aw
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More steep roads in the rain
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Melody on her motorbike
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Melody on her motorbike
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Village scene near centre
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On the way to Ruk Thai, up very steep roads
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Wet, red mud on the way to Rak Thai
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Entrance to Rak Thai, a very pretty village at the end of the road. Next stop Myanmar.
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Silhouette of a bamboo tree
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Beautiful flowers everywhere in Thailand
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Women weaving traditional cloth designs, Rak Thai.
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Beautiful mist-shrouded lake just past Rak Thai
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Melody and a friend. We had tea at this government forestry office, just past Rak Thai
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Melody and me in her house. Aren't camera timers wonderful?
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"Eat your face" bug. Very noisy but harmless cicada.
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A group of beauracrats from Bangkok visiting the Ag. Ext. Centre. A big dinner that Melody and I were summoned to.
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Wet, red mud, very reminiscent of Atikokan.
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Waiting for the songtauw to take us back to MHS. Rungsan, a friend of Melody's0
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View from the top of the hill, at the centre.
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Melody at the restaurant in MHS, waiting for coffee yeun (iced coffee) -- yummy
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Entrance to the Forest Wat (Wat Tam Wua) (after a crazy bus ride from MHS)
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The mountain near the forest wat
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Central eating area, forest wat
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A passing monk
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Melody in our dormitory, Forest wat
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Scenery, forest wat
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Scenery, forest wat
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Cooking area, mechees (Buddhist nuns) preparing food
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Scenery, forest wat
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Scenery, forest wat
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Scenery, forest wat
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Great green foliage
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Peaceful stream, forest wat
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Staghorn ferns attached to trees
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Morning ritual, giving the monks food
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Melody helping prepare the food. Her nickname is Peacock, Mae yuree
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Mid-day meal with the monks
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Hibiscus growing as a shrub
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More staghorn fern
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Signs to Meditation Cave
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Bridge to Dhamma Hall
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Buddha statue, outdoor grotto, at base of mountain
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Another view of outdoor grotto
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Melody taking picture
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Base of stalagmite, outdoor grotto, forest wat
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At base of mountain, forest wat
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Outdoor meditation area, base of mountain, forest wat
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Melody at entrance to meditation cave
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Buddha inside the cave
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new bamboo shoot
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Monk's quarters and Dhamma Hall, forest wat
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Bridge to the Dhamma Hall, forest wat
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View from the central eating hall, forest wat
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Melody talking with Din, a young boy who lives at the wat
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Beautiful view, forest wat
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Mountain near the forest wat
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Fish pond and fountain, forest wat
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Sunset on the mountain, forest wat
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Dhamma Hall and monk's office, forest wat
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Meditation hall. forest wat
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Mist-shrouded mountain, early morning, forest wat
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Our dormitory, forest wat
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Sleeping on the floor, forest wat
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Little old man who lives at the wat
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Monks at the wat
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Mid-day meal for the monks
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Head monk, Leung Da receiving food
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Mechees at mid-day meal for monks
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Melody in meditation hall
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Two really neat monks, forest wat
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Swiss Chalet, MHS
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Wat across the lake, MHS
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View from our window, Panorama Hotel, MHS
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Sculpture being readied for wat day, MHS
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The sculptor and his work
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Melody attempting to work monk's robe from bedsheet, MHS
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Wararot market, Chiang Mai (CM)
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Wararot market, CM
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Beautiful wat, CM
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Wat, CM
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Wat doors, CM
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Buddha, Wat, CM
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Elephants at the Lampang Elephant Conservation Centre
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Elephant bathing, Lampang
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Elephant parade, playing drums, Lampang
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Elephant parade
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Elephants demonstrating logging techniques
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Elephants' artistry
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View from the back of an elephant. That's my foot in the picture, proof that I did, indeed, ride an elephant
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Me and Melody on the back of the elephant. I look more relaxed that I actually was.
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Rules about interacting with elephants
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Wat That Luang Lampang, very old wat
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Statues, wat Lampang
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Buildings, wat, Lampang
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Buildings, wat, Lampang
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Buddha statues, wat, Lampang
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Gate to wat, Lampang
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Rain clouds gathering
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Tuk tuk, CM
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Ban Kwai Thai, outside of CM. A historical demonstration of how water buffalo (kwai) helped with traditional rice growing
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Melody driving the water buffalo with a plough, in the mud
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Melody planting rice
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Melody winnowing rice
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Traditional rice farming techniques
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Traditional rice farming techniques
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Playing with traditional toys
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Display of traditional Thai toys, Ban Kwai Thai
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Melody's mud covered feet
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Feeding the water buffalo after race
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Melody riding the water buffalo
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Wat Phra Sing, CM
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Wat Phra Sing
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Wat Phra Sing
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Wat Phra Sing, CM
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Gate, Old City, CM
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Spirit House, CM
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Small teapot display, vegetarian restaurant, across from train station, CM. We took the train from CM to Bangkok, overnight sleeper
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Outside the vegetarian restaurant.
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Crazy traffic, Bangkok
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Pool area, Atlanta Hotel, Bangkok
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Lobby of the Atlanta. very nice hotel, strong odor of cat pee after a rain.
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Our room, Atlanta, Bangkok
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Paula, another CUSO co-operant and Melody, Atlanta, Bangkok
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Looking at pictures I brought from Canada
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Burmese refugee, now a Canadian citizen, VSO party, Bangkok
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Alec and his wife, CUSO, and me at party in Bangkok
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A friend of Melody's at VSO party
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Paula and Melody, Atlanta, Bangkok
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Spirit house ritual, Bangkok
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Spirit house, Bangkok
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Bangkok skyline, from sky train station
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Paula and Melody, our last night in Bangkok
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Me and Melody, our last night in Bangkok
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Concrete fence with broken glass along the top, very common in Bangkok
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Me, waiting for the skytrain to take us to the bus station on our way to Ko Chang
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Beach, Ko Chang
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Beach huts, Ko Chang
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Beach, Ko Chang
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Beach, Ko Chang
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Melody with a nam manua, lime juice and ice, very refreshing
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Beach, Ko Chang
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Ko Chang sunset
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Ko Chang sunset
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Beach, Ko Chang
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Melody test driving the hammock
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The newly purchased hammock now installed at our beach hut
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Very comfy, with a drink
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Spirit houses on Ko Chang
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Beach hut at a resort down the road from Siam resort where we were
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Relaxing in hammock
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Very funky hilltop bar near resort
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Ko Chang sunset
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More hammock relaxing
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Very nice American young man we met on the way to Ko Chang. He had just finished a Thai foot massage course and practiced on me and Melody. His name is Michael.
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Michael giving me a foot massage
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Our beach home, Ko Chang
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Me and Melody on the beach, Ko Chang
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Melody in the hammock again
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Me and Melody on the beach
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Our footsteps in the sand, Ko Chang
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Our footsteps washed by the tide
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Funky stump where we put our things when we went swimming, Ko Chang beach
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Melody on the beach
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Melody going into the beach restaurant, Ko Chang
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Cook at the beach restaurant, Siam Resort, Ko Chang
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Bathroom gecko, our beach hut, Ko Chang
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Me and Melody, Ko Chang
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Out of sequence. Melody riding water buffalo, Ban Kwai Thai, outside of Chiang Mai
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Out of sequence. Melody ploughing with water buffalo
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Melody on her motorbike
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A great bicycle made of wood and vines, vegetarian restaurant, CM
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Me at the KT Guesthouse, Bangkok



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