Slow Going in Thailand

So after months and months of what locals in many countries called, "unusually cold/wet weather", we are working hard to adjust to the stifiling heat of SE Asia. Lucky for us our current locale makes it easy to keep cool as we have been sure to keep the ocean no further than a stones' throw away. Here in the 'Land of Smiles', the sweat flows non-stop, the 'farangs' (or tourists), bake themselves into different hues of pink and red, and Shanon and Jared seem to come to a screeching halt as the combination of these things has made it difficult to function in an effecient manner. A small price to pay for paradise.

Our quick tour of S.Thailand has been a condensed version of our trip from 2004, although this time the prices are inflated and the US dollar is down--bad for a couple of penny-pinchers who know the end is on the horizon and have to make the most of every cent, or bhat, or yen, or whatever. Either that or we need to start looking into work visas so we can extend indefinately...

Hard to imagine all the destruction that occured here from the Tsunami in 2004--unlike it's much smaller and more volatile counterpart of Sri Lanka who was visibly scarred, Thailand really doesn't show the physical effects of the disaster beyond a few memorials and plenty of Tsunami evacuation signs. The island we're on right now, Koh Phi Phi (pronounced pee-pee...you immature kids can go ahead and laugh at the name), was ravaged by the waves, but being here now you would never know anything happened--and it's still as beautiful as it was the last time we saw it.

Lucky for us we got to enjoy some of the beauty with some fellow SLC-ers (Candace and Cody). Shanon worked with Candace at Huntsman before we quit the rat race, so it was nice to spend some time with friends from home.

Now we know that the past few updates haven't been very exciting, so we think it's time to get back on the road before the tropical heat either melts our will to move on, or the monsoon rains begin and ruin our future plans for Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. Within the next week or so we'll likely cross the border into Cambodia to start checking out Wats (temples), relaxing on more beaches, exploring steamy jungles and dodging landmines left behind from the Vietnam War. Hopefully we won't be bringing home any shrapnel as souvenirs.