I continue to discover new, colorful and charming parts of this town that are making me love it even more. Beyond the main drag of guesthouses, restaurants and internet cafes, there is a market that sets up in the mid-afternoon full of locals selling and trading fresh caught or grown food to other locals for the evening's meals. Among the usual vegetables, fruits, grains and meats, available for perusal were a variety of Lao staples such as squirrels, rats, cockroaches and bunches of still-live bats strung together by their feet. Some of it was appalling but I did my best to supress any contorted expressions of disgust and instead smiled and nodded if a local caught me checking out their wares.

Last night I had an authentic Lao meal of cheese, basil, chili and pineapple pizza with apple crumble ala mode for dessert.

Yesterday's tubing trip was much fun but got underway a bit too late after a morning trip to a nearby cave, and as a result we were quite cold by the end after the sun disappeared behind the mountains. We stopped along the way and shared Beerlao with other tubers at make-shift bars set up by locals trying to make a few thousand kip. (Aside: the Lao currency, the kip, needs a couple zeros lopped off. I am regularly carrying inch-thick wads of 5000 kip notes, their largest bill that is worth about $0.50) I'd love to try the tubing another day, but we leave tomorrow. Off to Luang Prabang.

I finally posted some new photos. The links are to the right, "Bangkok" and "S. Thailand and Malaysia." They include Krabi, Koh Chang, and the Full Moon Party on Koh Pha Ngan among others. Enjoy.

After a breakfast of chocolate croissant and Lao coffee, Tyler and I hiked 6 km to a large cave nearby. The walk was through the residential part of Vang Vieng, which is basically a long dirt road lined with rustic bungalows and farms against a gorgeous backdrop of enormous sheer cliffs. Chickens, cows and goats roamed freely along the road, families bathed in the river and small children waved and practiced any words of English they knew as we passed. Curiously, several children asked us if we had any pens and I gave my only one to the first small boy who asked. I am still trying to figure out what the children want with these pens, but intend to go back with a ready supply in hopes of getting some better photos of them. I am enamoured with the locals and feel a certain vibe here that I've been longing for.

The cave was a caver's dream and we could have spend hours exploring it, but without any flashlights or caving equipment we were limited to the upper portion. We hiked down to a reclining Buddha statue and then went for a swim at a swimming hole near the cave entrance. Tomorrow, tubing down the Mekong...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I give thanks that I haven't needed the traveler's insurance I never got. It's my second holiday away and it's these days that make me a bit homesick. I wish you all a very happy one... my heart and tummy will be with you. I am spending my Turkey day sans turkey here in Vang Vieng, a small town north of the Laotian capital of Vientiane. I passed my evening watching Kill Bill and eating tofu red curry and Laotian beef stew with sticky rice after a dusty and uncomfortable three-hour ride on a saungthauw (an open truck with two bench seats facing each other) from Vientiane. During the ride, we'd stop for new passengers and women would wave and poke us with baguettes and kabobs with tiny fried whole chicks (!) in an effort to make a sale.

The overnight train ride to Vientiane from Bangkok was excellent-- drinking, laughing and card playing in the dining car with various travelers we'd met along the way. We had the added amusement of a lady-boy waitress and a group of Aussies forcing her to play their Coldplay CD. I taught Tyler to play Shithead only five minutes later to have a very drunk Aussie re-teach him with his far superior set of rules. :) Slept well after listening to some music. Ben and Greg if you're out there, I am in dire need of a break-fix and have found some solace in the MP3 sets of yours I brought along.

Vientiene was nothing special, which we'd heard was the case from some other travelers. We hit all the city's few highlights in one day, including watching the sunset and drinking Beer Lao at a beer garden on the edge of the Mekong River. Laos is a former French colony so they drive on the right and have some of the best bread and coffee in the world, which I've been consuming at an alarming rate. Oddly enough, between Thai iced coffee and Lao hot coffee, I am more of a caffeine addict than I ever was while working full time.

The town of Vang Vieng is quaint and lovely. It's situated right along the Mekong at an elevation of roughly 1000 feet surrounded by dramatic cliffs and caves that remind me a bit of Krabi (but no beach this time). Despite its popularity with travelers, the town is still quite undeveloped, with only one internet cafe and no 7-11s (they are everywhere I tell you). The nights are cool with the first chill in the air I've felt since Japan. No plan at the moment- we'll be here for a few days. Gobble gobble!

Tyler arrived two days ago and we've been cavorting around Bangkok, finally marking some of the touristy things off my list. First, we outfitted him with all the makings of a SE Asia backpacker's uniform on Khao San Road: a Red Bull tanktop, Thai fisherman's pants and knock-off Diesel shorts. Then we headed to the Grand Palace and Wat Po, two of the city's main attractions, both beautiful and impressive.

It's not uncommon to be harassed frequently by touts and vendors trying to lure you to purchase their goods or services, but I've never seen it so bad as we did yesterday around the palace and temple. I am trying to learn to be better about firmly saying no, but I have this fear of being construed as rude and often end up chatting for longer than necessary with people who are eying my "big farang wallet" (farang is Thai for foreigner, specifically us white folks).

Last night I finally had the quintissential Bangkok nightlife experience; a strip show in Patpong. I'd heard legends about girls smoking cigarettes with their vaginas, and had to see it for myself. In the small and rather empty club, six black-light glowing bikini-clad Thai girls with immovable expressions of sheer boredom and perhaps a bit of disdain were dancing unenthusiastically to techno around poles on the stage. Most had numbers pinned to their bikini bottoms, which I understand is to ease the selection process for potential Johns later in the night when the show ends. Judging by their expressions and from what I've read, I assume not all of them were there by choice.

One girl was naked on her back puffing away on a cigarette, just like I'd envisioned. This was followed by several acts involving ping pong balls, darts and balloons, ribbons, bananas, birthday candles, whistles and horns. Midway through the act, I made eye contact with several of the girls who seemed relieved and amused to see a farang woman in the audience. I smiled at them and they seemed to soften a bit and smiled brightly back. They invited me several times to dance onstage with them, which I did for a few minutes but with all my clothes on of course. Figure that's my only chance to do that.

An hour of this was enough and we headed back to Khao San Road to take some photos of the night vendors. After a few Heinekens, Tyler had mustered the courage to try a Thai specialty, fried grasshoppers. The vendor tried to sell him an entire bag, but he opted for just one. He claims they are salty and crunchy, pretty much like any other fried food. I will take his word for it.

We picked up our Laos visas and are on a night train to Vientiane tonight. Bye for now!

Greetings from Kanchanaburi, home of The Bridge Over the River Kwai. I arrived yesterday via mini-bus from Bangkok and befriended the only other passenger, a really lovely Swiss girl named Franziska. We decided to share a room at the Jolly Frog Guesthouse right along the river and spent yesterday evening and all of today exploring this history-steeped town.

Quick factoid for anyone who's never read or seen "The Bridge Over the River Kwai" or is up on their WWII history, but the bridge here is a reconstruction of the original, which was bombed several times in 1945. It's a significant landmark because 16,000 POWs died during the construction of the "Death Railway to Burma," a project to create a supply route for the Japanese conquest of Burma (now Myanmar) and surrounding countries. Many died while working on the train bridge. The bridge is actually called the Death Railway Bridge, but we know it by its more famous name. There's an informative museum next to the bridge that contains some disturbing translations such as in reference to the Hiroshima bombing, "the bomb destroyed most of the city in a jiffy." Add this to the emaciated papier mache models of POWs complete with alarming anatomical details under their loinclothes and you have the makings for an utterly bizarre museum experience.

We saw the bridge at sunset yesterday followed by the best meal I've had since I arrived, red pineapple curry and a banana milkshake, at a restaurant owned by a wonderfully friendly Thai man who lived in the Bay Area for a number of years. We chatted quite a bit and he shed some light for me on Thai socio-economic classes. It's frustrating that someone with such talent is running an unsuccessful business and is struggling to get out of what he calls 'the poor class.' He says it's nearly impossible to build customer loyalty when most of your customers are backpackers in town for two days. I guess unless the locals know you or Lonely Planet gives you a stamp of approval, it's tough to compete.

Franziska and I share an interest in photography and we wanted to get some photos of the bridge with no people around, so we agreed to wake up at 5 AM to watch the sunrise over the bridge. It was worth the sleep deprivation and we had a nice moment of solitude and got some nice photos to boot. Afterwards we headed out of town on a really uncomfortable but cheap local bus to a nearby 7-tiered limestone waterfall in Erawan National Park. Some of the limestone formations made for good waterslides and I had a blast plunging into the cold blue-green pools with a group of Thais egging me on.

On the bus to the falls, Franziska and I laughed as the bus driver honked at pretty much anything that moved for the duration of the trip. I took some photos of three adorable Thai children sitting behind me and then offered them some of my banana chips. The smallest girl waied me (prayer-like gesture of thanks and greeting) and then took the entire bag. I watched with envy as she ate them and thought to myself that next time I will put them in a separate container.

Back to Bangkok yet again tomorrow and then it's off to Laos with Tyler.

I am back to being intrepid solo explorer Allison, at least for a few days. Jon left today to return to the States after an action and emotion-packed four weeks together. When I left for my travels we said goodbye, but I think on some level I kept him in the back of my mind and sometimes a little too much in the front, particularly once I knew he was coming to travel with me. This time together was wonderful and exactly what I needed to finally close that chapter of our relationship. We had some magical times together, and now I feel good and resolved and ready to continue this journey on my own.

Last I left you, I was going for a massage and Jon and I were heading to Ayuthaya to take in some wats (temples). First, the massage. I opted for a Swedish massage this time for a change of pace from the contortion/wrestling match that is Thai massage, and with hands liberally oiled, my masseur decided to throw in a breast massage for free. I wasn't sure what to say or do so I just went with it and chalked it up to differences in international massage standards.

Ayuthaya was the most culturally-interesting place I've been since I arrived in Thailand almost six weeks ago, and I am guessing a good preview of what I can expect in the north. The town itself is an island surrounded by two rivers and a canal. Both on the island and off are ruins of ancient wats in various states of restoration, most made out of brick and often crumbling precariously. With stately rows of headless Buddhas lining the walls and giant chedis (like stupas) rising high above the surrounding ruins, I often felt like I was exploring lost cities.

Walking around these temples, I couldn't help but be bothered by the sight of dozens of stray dogs, most very sick and on the verge of starvation. Thailand is a Buddhist country and believes in the sanctity of all living things. They also don't seem to care much about fixing their pets. As a result, unwanted dogs, often pregant females, are dumped at temples where they give birth, get progressively hungrier and sicker until they are incapable of caring for their puppies and eventually die. Then there's a new generation of puppies (the ones that survive anyway) to procreate and the cycle continues. Apparently just before the APEC conference in Bangkok in October, in an effort to clean the city, thousands of stray dogs were taken from the streets of Bangkok and relocated to temples in the north. I am not looking forward to seeing more of that.

Our last night in Ayuthaya, we hung out at our guesthouse and taught Shithead (very fun multi-player card game that Jon taught me) to two riotously funny guys, one German and one French, both coincidentally named Christoph. They will both be in the north when I will, so we may meet up.

One of my favorite Canucks, Tyler, is coming from San Francisco to meet me in Bangkok. We will travel together for three weeks through Laos and Northern Thailand. I am hoping his new maple leaf tattoo will make it easier for me to pretend I am Canadian, eh (or "ay," if you're from Quebec :P).

Back in Bangkok yet again. It's my third time here and this time I realize how little of this city I've actually explored. I am usually in such a hurry to get wherever's next that I don't get far beyond backpacker central. With at least a few more stops back through here, I imagine I'll slowly get to know it a bit better.

Last night Jon and I took a cab to Ministry of Sound for some dancing only to find it's sadly under new ownership and is now called Double-O. After passing two front uniformed doormen, we paid the cashier our cover charge and walked through a set of double doors held open by another uniformed doormen where we were greeted by a bevy of *more* uniformed flashlight-wielding employees all eager to show us to a table, the restroom, the bar, the dancefloor, whatever suited our fancy. Granted, it was a slow night, but we figured there had to be at least 10 times the employees necessary to keep things running smoothly. This amused me greatly.

Our departure from Koh Pha Ngan was hastened by the arrival of a tropical storm that made lounging around the beach in hammocks slightly less appealing. We stuck it out at first, even rented a motorbike to try to get to this legendary bar called Amstardam Bar [sic] during a short break in the storm, but got only as far as Thong Sala, the most developed town on the island, where we stopped for dinner before the skies opened up again. Two hours, one pizza, several beers, a game of pool and one session of foosball later, we resigned ourselves to the torential rain and hopped back on the bike to get back home. We arrived 20 minutes later soaked to the bone and decided to leave the next day.

We took the ferry on rough seas to the mainland and then another overnight train back to Bangkok. With a dining car, a bed (albeit a small one), lots of people and the ability to move around, these trains are quickly becoming my favorite way to travel. Before boarding, we loaded up on snack foods, a bunch of cheap Thai beer and an even cheaper bottle of Thai malt liquor, which we then shared standing up in between train cars with three Canadian guys we met on the platform after everyone else had gone to bed. We drunkenly rolled into our sleep compartments, but the A/C in our car was broken and the heat kept me awake. I decided to take a cold shower (the only kind they have here really) to cool down and accidentally dropped my favorite necklace, a moonstone I bought in Napa, down the toilet and out onto the tracks. Sad as it was, I had to laugh.

We're leaving again tomorrow morning for Ayuthaya, the old capital city about an hour north of Bangkok. Now it's time for another massage.

After full moon, we moved from Haad Rin to Ban Kai, the same beach Jon stayed at when he was here two years ago. We checked into the Blue Lotus Bungalow and Mexican Restaurant, owned by an American woman from the Bay Area named Shauna and her Thai husband, Pong. Mixed marriages that don't involve lascivious well-off European men pursuing hot young Thai bar girls are rare, so we enjoyed talking to Shauna since she was more than willing to give us some cultural perspective on Thai families, marriage and so on.

Shauna cured my Mexican food craving and made some delicious meals with fresh homemade salsa and tortillas that she whipped up at the time of order. There was no guacamole in sight, but Shauna just planted an avocado tree. I am quickly realizing how much I take California's availability of incredible food for granted. Just for me, please take a moment and enjoy an artichoke pesto, roasted pinenut, heirloom tomato and goat's milk feta pizza and think of me.

Blue Lotus was cute and friendly, but Jon and I both wanted a place with hammocks, a better beach and a nice common space. We moved the next morning down the beach to Lee's Garden where we have a sweet beachfront bungalow with hammocks for 250 baht (about $5.50). I sometimes need to remind myself that cheap smack-on-the-beach accomodation, ready access to cheap excellent food and fresh fruit, scenic beauty and unspoiled quiet places are not things to take for granted. It really is magical here.

Last night, I had a massage on the floor of a bar from this Thai woman named Pu who would periodically disappear from the massage to use the bathroom, smoke a cigarette or both. She'd sing along with the Thai pop songs on the radio while she kneaded and poked my muscles into submission, and sometimes, she would massage me with one hand while taking drags of her cigarette with the other. Meanwhile, an already-weaned 4-week old puppy, still wobbly and a little short-sighted, would try to work his way onto my massage cushion, fall off and begin whimpering. Jon sat across the floor drinking Chang beer with the Thai guys who run the bar.

It's still low season around here and it's just Jon, me and a Scottish girl named Elaine at the bungalows. It feels like a different island here on this quiet beach, and though meeting new people has not happened much over the past few days, I've felt entirely content and happy right here. I am entertaining the thought of Christmas/New Year's/Jan. 6 Full Moon Party right back in this spot.

Friday or Saturday we leave for Bangkok. Jon flies out next Thursday and we want to catch the weekend market in Bangkok as well as visit the old capital of Ayuthaya before he goes. More later.

It's the morning after the Full Moon Party, and I feel great. Want to get some memories down while they are still fresh.

I'll first say that I went to this party with some expectations and trepidations. It's a much talked about affair and I just wasn't really sure what I'd think. Saturday during the day, the island quickly filled up, clothing stores were clogged with cute-outfit seeking girls and the buzz in the air was deafening.

We got to the beach around 11:00 and wandered directly to MM Bar to have our evening's first drink. After an hour or so of exploring the beach to get our bearings, Jon and I were having a hard time finding a place where the music moved us. It's a lot of hip hop and psytrance here these days with a smattering of Euro House, Progressive House and drum 'n' bass. I can dance to pretty much all of it, but I found myself getting bored after a few minutes in one spot and a general feeling of disconnection from what was going on around me.

The beach was litter-strewn and hordes of drunk people fell on each other and made both Jon and me both a bit protective of our personal space and accutely aware that nearly everyone around us was quite a bit more messed up than we. Around 1:30, Jon began feeling rather ill and we headed back to the bungalow. I realized I'd left my purse sitting on the table at one of the clubs back at Hat Run Sunrise (we're staying in Hat Rin Sunset).

Jon went to sleep and I went back to Sunrise to where I had been dancing and of course, my purse was gone. Fortunately, knowing myself as I do, I figured this was a likely scenario and the contents included only two bottles of black-light glow body paint, a paintbrush, a bottle of purple glitter, lipgloss and 1000 baht (about $25). I asked the Thai bartender if there was a lost and found and she laughed out loud.

At this point (around 2 am), the beach was aswarm with thousands of people; a motley assortment of long-weekend vacationers from Singapore, Thais taking advantage of the somewhat rare Saturday-night full moon, European vacationers and long-term travelers, hundreds of post-military service Isrealis and a handful of Canadians and Americans. Some were here for a week, some for a year, some for something in between. I realized though that when you're dancing to trance in a plastic-bottle littered surf with hundreds of other people just as the sun is rising above the cloud-dotted horizon, the different intentions we all had when descending upon Ko Pha Ngan for this one night seemed to matter a little less.

I danced for hours and met some fascinating people, including an Irish guy, two English girls, and a few Americans such as Michael from Montana. He had a black Mask of Zorro painted over his eyes, a straw cowboy hat on his head, danced the Twist and spoke about how he ate only once a day in order to exercise self-control. I asked if there was any chance that once-a-day happened to be right then in order to coincide with my desire for a banana-nutella pancake, but alas it was not.

Walking along the beach sometime around 4 am, I ran into Glenn, a friend I met through my friend Peter when I was working in London four years ago. I'd seen him in San Francisco several months ago but wasn't aware he'd moved to Singapore. He was up for the party and we spent some time catching up, pleasantly surprised at the coincidence.

At 6:30 am, Jon found me taking pictures on the beach and we spent the next hour wandering a bit and getting some breakfast before finally settling in for a nap around 8 am. I slept well and felt remarkably happy about how the night turned out. I may have to come back for another. :)

With my recent access to cheap and readily available internet again, I just wrote a long post with some updates on what's going on with me other than the minute details of my daily itineraries, but something went terribly wrong and *poof* it's gone. Allison is not a happy girl. Will try again in a couple days. For now, I must go awaken a disco-napping Jon and let him know there's a psytrance party going on.

Reading notes and seeing photos of Halloween in San Francisco made me a bit wistful. I miss San Francisco quite a bit and sing the praises of my fair hometown to pretty much any traveler who will listen.

A lot has happened over the past few days so here's a summary. I went snorkeling at Phi Phi, saw some beautiful colorful fish and coral, swam with a school of gorgeous little yellow fish, and got plenty of sun. On the boat back, I met a Canadian and his two English travelmates on their way to Railay Beach, and I convinced them to come to Tonsai instead. Spent a wonderfully chill final evening in Krabi filled with good conversations with fellow travelers and thanks from my recruits for bringing them to the place.

Jon and I spent Tuesday traveling from Krabi to Khao Sok National Park, about midway between Krabi and Ko Pha Ngan. Because of missing the scheduled tourist bus from Tonsai to the park, we instead took a longboat/ songthauw/ mini-bus/ local bus/ taxi combination to get there, which provided us with some entertainment. The local busses and mini-busses in particular are rather amusing, as the driver is quite often blaring some Thai pop music that Jon and I enjoy singing along to in mock-Thai.

In Khao Sok, we spent the afternoon tubing down a river with our guide, Neung, who worked at our family-owned guesthouse, Khao Sok Jungle Huts. The next day, we went on a full day lake tour, which involved driving to the park's reservoir, riding across the lake in a longboat, and then having lunch at a small floating bungalow along the shore. We were to spend the rest of the afternoon on a jungle trek, but Jon's flipflops did not pass shoe inspection and so he hung back in the bungalow's hammock with his book and I went on the trek with a Belgian couple, a German guy and a Danish couple and their two cute children that I rather enjoyed listening to speaking Danish.

The hike was four hours long and involved walking through a river and along its extremely muddy and rocky banks, meandering through dense rainforest and ducking so as to avoid whacking one's head on low-hanging branches, negotiating a 2 mile-long pitch dark, bat and giant spider-infested cave through which the river ran, and emerging on the other side. At one point in the cave, there is a rope tied and you must grab it and take a blind leap into a rapid current whirlpool up to your neck. It was quite treacherous, and the fact that those Danish kids made it through without shedding a tear astounds me. (I recommend that anyone who has ever been on one of Boris's hikes and complained throughout it to send him an email apology as soon as convenient.)

And now a Thai culture note. That hike got me thinking... I am quickly learning that few cultures in this world are as safety-conscious we Americans. Since I arrived in Thailand, I have seen small children playing by the roadside. I have seen parents drive around with their 2 year-olds in their laps. I have seen 7 year-olds hacking away at coconuts with machetes. I have seen families of four squished onto the seats of motorbikes, riding around with no helmets. Part of it makes me react with a bit of shock, but mostly I just scratch my head and think these people know how to live. :)

We spent today traveling via bus/boat to Ko Pha Ngan, where we will stay for a few days. Even though it is much more built up than most places I've been so far, I like the energy here. The Full Moon Party is on Saturday, so be assured of stories.