tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66828580159815284002024-03-12T22:20:47.319-04:00Nong Khiaw and Mairood, v2!Lorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676317652927356121noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682858015981528400.post-1669845266883186752016-12-05T17:00:00.000-05:002016-12-05T17:00:42.017-05:00Taipei<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well! This was perhaps the biggest surprise of our trip. We had such a negative response to China, and no real sense of Taiwan (we'd only changed planes there once before), so when the airline changed our flights home in such a way that it made the most sense for us to spend a night in Taipei, I don't think either of us had great expectations. Maybe we just had a neutral feeling, I can't remember any more, but boy were we surprised.<br />
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We arrived so late, which was disappointing because the only thing we were really looking forward to was the night market -- and that was our only available night, since our flight left at 7:30pm the following day. Marc found us a hotel immediately next to the night market, but it was nearly midnight by the time we checked in so we figured we'd missed our shot. I was really tired and got in bed, but Marc dashed out just to see what he could see, and it was still going on, so vibrantly! He got a container of fried tofu and brought it back to the room (super good) and then dashed out again to keep exploring as long as he could. By the time he came back, it was ~1am and all the food stalls were closing down. He was so happy he got to see it.<br />
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The next morning, Marc had scouted a couple of possibilities for breakfast, and we ended up here because there were so few places open as early as we wanted to eat:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The food turned out to be just OK, at best; we had a noodle/mushroom dish with a gloppy brown sauce and<br />topped with an over-fried egg (totally forgettable) and some kind of scallion pancake (-ish) that<br />had a fried egg on one side and a spicy dipping sauce that was doable. Still, considering that there<br />was no shared language for communicating, pretty good!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">happy to be in Taipei -- but boy I look tired!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this felt a little bossy :)</td></tr>
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Our hotel couldn't have been better, even though it was kind of a dormitory for kids. We had our own room, with a bathroom, and the room was kind of spare, but it was located in the best area for us, and the people at the desk were very helpful. AND! The room came with a yoyo.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a first for us :)</td></tr>
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So after our breakfast, we rambled around. We accidentally found the most interesting street (<a href="https://www.lonelyplanet.com/taiwan/taipei/attractions/dihua-street/a/poi-sig/375599/357551" target="_blank">Dihua Street</a>), and then we rambled over to the river, and back through nearby neighborhoods.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmn77SRumS1lQL_WGxkF70_c32TUrqKt0JfCBZZJwZFxGijCe0JrBdRkcN4hue2kIvsKvel16RMTKVPcxzD-aUyYJQDT1dV6vYnoGIDfzilRdaBNiiEzGf8n2mE9LRF39NlBBCr8XHCDWX/s1600/shrine1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmn77SRumS1lQL_WGxkF70_c32TUrqKt0JfCBZZJwZFxGijCe0JrBdRkcN4hue2kIvsKvel16RMTKVPcxzD-aUyYJQDT1dV6vYnoGIDfzilRdaBNiiEzGf8n2mE9LRF39NlBBCr8XHCDWX/s640/shrine1.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this was the fanciest shrine we saw in this part of town, and in active use</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the interior was gorgeous -- I couldn't get a great shot of the deep inside, but wow.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyH8u71YBiWm8vSNaB2DOE9TeJjDMLYJmkh1vpIxBn8_s890gsffJBQ5RIZrWu9cATuDc1AonNYERG7svEwlgGQXXo_jsvJQBbnQPpnCmfUBXBO6O_YIple5-g_uAONLi03h2lO7mnKFNa/s1600/shrine1_incinerator.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyH8u71YBiWm8vSNaB2DOE9TeJjDMLYJmkh1vpIxBn8_s890gsffJBQ5RIZrWu9cATuDc1AonNYERG7svEwlgGQXXo_jsvJQBbnQPpnCmfUBXBO6O_YIple5-g_uAONLi03h2lO7mnKFNa/s640/shrine1_incinerator.jpg" width="536" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and that was a kind of crematorium for papers, also in active use</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHMC2lOT7uP15ZkjnvH4qwR1XMUV1_1rlTfiKJ5JJznPUbh4K7Z0c5AEd-g1b7SigbGPYY8JhzQQp0q-v6bGHn9-igAPI3x6E_4NBFCU7OUSTCy7tIuS-tHqnCoHI1bfL8iF3BOtJD9NTu/s1600/shrine2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHMC2lOT7uP15ZkjnvH4qwR1XMUV1_1rlTfiKJ5JJznPUbh4K7Z0c5AEd-g1b7SigbGPYY8JhzQQp0q-v6bGHn9-igAPI3x6E_4NBFCU7OUSTCy7tIuS-tHqnCoHI1bfL8iF3BOtJD9NTu/s640/shrine2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this was right across the street, less actively used but very beautiful</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ZgALBl-8r0HiJeFLEwsKXSLlXRbogNV49-ZwJyEW5brcUFdmBzBiCjBpyfP_OZWNeqElE6pa70xPktKwMxKnXlioDuu-YVGnVyi_uGXJ8pRmt6WEK9MS6omLxDV9VSoJ79PFHYTTWfPp/s1600/lace+mall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ZgALBl-8r0HiJeFLEwsKXSLlXRbogNV49-ZwJyEW5brcUFdmBzBiCjBpyfP_OZWNeqElE6pa70xPktKwMxKnXlioDuu-YVGnVyi_uGXJ8pRmt6WEK9MS6omLxDV9VSoJ79PFHYTTWfPp/s640/lace+mall.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">just down the street: Johnson Lace Mall, for ALL your lace needs. Truly. I've never seen so much mass-produced lace.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd67oKnt2wVyKDmmoTVKBlO6yCxlzpvSbLNJsLcG0gE2lIuD-X2QvJ8143Y7jOw8xZseIpHui5aQbklFQKVhuaeztRNHu44AzVluuy5dzr1qIBY6-MSmi-bQVdj-cr4408Cl0iOoWlIxW9/s1600/alley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd67oKnt2wVyKDmmoTVKBlO6yCxlzpvSbLNJsLcG0gE2lIuD-X2QvJ8143Y7jOw8xZseIpHui5aQbklFQKVhuaeztRNHu44AzVluuy5dzr1qIBY6-MSmi-bQVdj-cr4408Cl0iOoWlIxW9/s640/alley.jpg" width="472" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">these lanterns weren't all that common, but when I spotted them I always liked them.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivztIw__YGk7GWY2b_sYdEZbltHQMoPfYIt4QFu5nVx1qHKiho9IOKnJNw5Dv5KgPWCJzOfwyCgtlaTl8FMdPHILrB3yE-QShlny8C1Aw_rNIxStfTISbWkY7BP2gOpvD-Ho8HR_63inNP/s1600/marc+buying+donuts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivztIw__YGk7GWY2b_sYdEZbltHQMoPfYIt4QFu5nVx1qHKiho9IOKnJNw5Dv5KgPWCJzOfwyCgtlaTl8FMdPHILrB3yE-QShlny8C1Aw_rNIxStfTISbWkY7BP2gOpvD-Ho8HR_63inNP/s640/marc+buying+donuts.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Then we spotted this woman selling a kind of fried dough that we had in Nong Khiaw;<br />they are ball-shaped, but filled with air, so it's more like a hollow donut hole<br />if you can imagine that. These were great -- some were extra crispy, and some were soft.</td></tr>
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We found our way to the river -- and in so many ways, Taipei had made me think of New York. When we came in from the airport, we drove over a bridge and saw the city curved along the river, and I thought of seeing Manhattan curving along the Hudson, from the George Washington Bridge. The river isn't like the Hudson (and the bridge wasn't at all like the GWB), but I couldn't shake the NYC feeling.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the park alongside the river, there was a karaoke tent under a giant tree (and it was in use -- once by a woman<br />who was singing to no audience at all), and a large shrine of some kind. This was one side of it, and I don't know<br />what those little plaques were -- some kind of prayer wall or something? No idea.<br /></td></tr>
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As we kept walking, we came to a part of town that was so much like the Times Square of Taipei (much less annoying, though).</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPjsjeB90S97z2MzbVCLRH7SkltJ1vuG1pILzwsD1s_B8oEJl65efn3nJqF94rvJCV9DyvhI2sqyCQsfJj6WX0IWUkG40pyyg5OLMX8z0PaoWxVjIEUQuKzhtgKEjbF0k-934zOXP4zxgQ/s1600/taipei+times+square+TGIF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPjsjeB90S97z2MzbVCLRH7SkltJ1vuG1pILzwsD1s_B8oEJl65efn3nJqF94rvJCV9DyvhI2sqyCQsfJj6WX0IWUkG40pyyg5OLMX8z0PaoWxVjIEUQuKzhtgKEjbF0k-934zOXP4zxgQ/s640/taipei+times+square+TGIF.jpg" width="486" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">it even had a TGI Friday's, just like Times Square. Oy.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNh2eRFykoGID_-_vPRD7FhYwucEGCxtjJvZkScHJBKLWlba-qXcnl220fI1Z8dPf7vbjtAiek_mYpmLbEDAmSYp6LysFxJ29g9LDORVBe2kg1_oitcloc76iPONSLISmvunyhtyN_AfHW/s1600/taipei+times+square.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNh2eRFykoGID_-_vPRD7FhYwucEGCxtjJvZkScHJBKLWlba-qXcnl220fI1Z8dPf7vbjtAiek_mYpmLbEDAmSYp6LysFxJ29g9LDORVBe2kg1_oitcloc76iPONSLISmvunyhtyN_AfHW/s640/taipei+times+square.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lots of stores and concessions, and crowds of people, and a huge movie theater,<br />and people walking dogs.....<br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIvL7ZMYZPmhNUOUEkEEvEJHVoDSKHquw_i_wMClZTqluwjSeKq41691CMR7wELzWimhmikBiKynmoXkKO53I0XLkE0dbRXAjD7eEQi2KjM8sGypxSCWiSL6wKkz0yazYUEkFb6eQG7OrP/s1600/taipei+dog+sweater+jeans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIvL7ZMYZPmhNUOUEkEEvEJHVoDSKHquw_i_wMClZTqluwjSeKq41691CMR7wELzWimhmikBiKynmoXkKO53I0XLkE0dbRXAjD7eEQi2KjM8sGypxSCWiSL6wKkz0yazYUEkFb6eQG7OrP/s640/taipei+dog+sweater+jeans.jpg" width="626" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This dog was wearing JEANS and a SWEATER. Shoes too, maybe, but I couldn't get a good enough look.</td></tr>
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The skies were starting to gather into dark clouds, so the humidity was building up and I was kind of hot and muggy, so I sat on a bench and Marc did his thing, seeking out something for us to drink.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhbELUCXcRBE63REGml8CLaQW7Qbc1PMuXUsh5Z7objM_7xqXGA5NSqvpa56C_QQYFehwO0cJ6ee9yQzUHW3YgQPO_J1U2Rezl30170zRAwSVULVb7WD-VjKseZWbVdVtXwA-syPmeNVqJ/s1600/marc+buying+juice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhbELUCXcRBE63REGml8CLaQW7Qbc1PMuXUsh5Z7objM_7xqXGA5NSqvpa56C_QQYFehwO0cJ6ee9yQzUHW3YgQPO_J1U2Rezl30170zRAwSVULVb7WD-VjKseZWbVdVtXwA-syPmeNVqJ/s640/marc+buying+juice.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm always so glad he is brave in this way that I'm not.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQgILHjen1xR4y9mrFodilmdpCbVHcBxhJkTGxLt1QNsL_r9f-2QfgjisEW9thdf04k6R7nH-rP23MOYyHYeJa0f9wpAeoFeQbQlBd5U5Um6IIKKAk0m9uXDKBwm2WElJ3a29Q1ZC6WAD7/s1600/juice+bubble+tea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQgILHjen1xR4y9mrFodilmdpCbVHcBxhJkTGxLt1QNsL_r9f-2QfgjisEW9thdf04k6R7nH-rP23MOYyHYeJa0f9wpAeoFeQbQlBd5U5Um6IIKKAk0m9uXDKBwm2WElJ3a29Q1ZC6WAD7/s640/juice+bubble+tea.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He brought back these two tapioca bubble tea drinks: one orange with a variety of<br />other citrus chunks, and the other orange with guava and other fruits. They were good!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
We were running out of time -- we needed to leave the area by 4:30 at the latest and I wanted to leave earlier than that, so we wandered around a bit more and saw these random things:</div>
<div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZxrG-tIMnPluit2iBCdClWwFrmW9sPXpMAeYsf5VHjQlk7grYtYj9_SpNTYuPQG2zPeYmLX1DfG0qASJAnFEe8ZyUgCFZugFZlHu7HEdWS_Rl_Z5pBkXrzeyBgYWn14GuCzukU-J5D1ep/s1600/cat+birds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZxrG-tIMnPluit2iBCdClWwFrmW9sPXpMAeYsf5VHjQlk7grYtYj9_SpNTYuPQG2zPeYmLX1DfG0qASJAnFEe8ZyUgCFZugFZlHu7HEdWS_Rl_Z5pBkXrzeyBgYWn14GuCzukU-J5D1ep/s640/cat+birds.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cat on leash in front of birds in cage. The birds didn't seem too freaked out, but then again the cat<br />didn't seem to be paying any attention.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKqckuhqqjtilTTeWiSP2zBV3ivlPYOANHzsJD_GICyTRsfnjYRuiUuPcOPKwI7IUbKntWAY-nAvLhMVNlr070ZRXFdTlqsBFb9pLqpX9uB4wtZTeweG1COMhBchnhQPdSwJs77-5y_tkk/s1600/grafitti+area.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKqckuhqqjtilTTeWiSP2zBV3ivlPYOANHzsJD_GICyTRsfnjYRuiUuPcOPKwI7IUbKntWAY-nAvLhMVNlr070ZRXFdTlqsBFb9pLqpX9uB4wtZTeweG1COMhBchnhQPdSwJs77-5y_tkk/s640/grafitti+area.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this alley was filled with graffiti -- as if the city had set it aside for that purpose</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaaBS6ATuM60TMMpzUxxX8aLaj6Tp8eL1i2ngNfi14ah1oyMLGqYR17JtlDR59AwaMDLU5cciUza2ornzKKCvJDaUR4CFkUl7b97_lmva_zVEnRGJm5rxZklPUOkl8CGJNVgj8aftFzBKU/s1600/grim+fantasy+world.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaaBS6ATuM60TMMpzUxxX8aLaj6Tp8eL1i2ngNfi14ah1oyMLGqYR17JtlDR59AwaMDLU5cciUza2ornzKKCvJDaUR4CFkUl7b97_lmva_zVEnRGJm5rxZklPUOkl8CGJNVgj8aftFzBKU/s640/grim+fantasy+world.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I saw this a few times -- a pretty grim fantasy world, if you ask me!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhZ3vZKsWTwwACqpByBz7rwg3MomjxC7DfWKyiKP1L2JGiPnrYueEWOIa1h1SR5ce8ULHb1QN_yDZuoiSXM1qXXw2mtFORlrEI3t-TiQ3DBUKvyb6NH2fAFOMpgq5EIjIXHCRxP1MWHfJt/s1600/police+station.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhZ3vZKsWTwwACqpByBz7rwg3MomjxC7DfWKyiKP1L2JGiPnrYueEWOIa1h1SR5ce8ULHb1QN_yDZuoiSXM1qXXw2mtFORlrEI3t-TiQ3DBUKvyb6NH2fAFOMpgq5EIjIXHCRxP1MWHfJt/s640/police+station.jpg" width="596" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this is an older police station, and you can see it's the kind of architecture that must've<br />seemed like a cool idea at the time.......</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj44FxslaPistsOAVJlSIO5WxHqi3ZnmYM7lbJD5IsvWOYZr9SXBqSxgpglPILWWSBbCyxUMMAFoVZ0qMhqF5j-ibIt-KC0Uckl9ZjRZsWr0cdHZTpu650gOm2konyvEiSDa_G5xZtp28oT/s1600/street1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj44FxslaPistsOAVJlSIO5WxHqi3ZnmYM7lbJD5IsvWOYZr9SXBqSxgpglPILWWSBbCyxUMMAFoVZ0qMhqF5j-ibIt-KC0Uckl9ZjRZsWr0cdHZTpu650gOm2konyvEiSDa_G5xZtp28oT/s640/street1.jpg" width="614" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">random!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXMT62WafTBLVfoA3s32J-ep7q1tx_hO4Fab1Ig04blp-Iu0BpVUL5_ZDcqZE04aMMSxX5YBuftSpFrHbnNFoQrLPDMXV9oZWwBH4LWbALbhY8ThxcD1pMlFN5sjrOumqEDGEFv7tAAlhE/s1600/taipei+apartments.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXMT62WafTBLVfoA3s32J-ep7q1tx_hO4Fab1Ig04blp-Iu0BpVUL5_ZDcqZE04aMMSxX5YBuftSpFrHbnNFoQrLPDMXV9oZWwBH4LWbALbhY8ThxcD1pMlFN5sjrOumqEDGEFv7tAAlhE/s640/taipei+apartments.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">standard apartments in Taipei City</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
We were really sorry to have to leave so soon! When we were heading to the airport, we took a cab to the bus, and the cab driver ("Steve") asked us how we liked Taipei and I think he was surprised by the enthusiasm of our response, given his facial expression. But we really did like it, and we wouldn't mind going back for a couple of days if we fly through Taipei again. </div>
<div>
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<div>
We were there when the president-elect spoke on the phone with the president of Taiwan, a breech of protocol that made China furious and raised the hackles of people in the US -- but we have no idea how the Taiwanese people might have felt about it. We encountered few people who spoke much English, at all (aside from the guy at the hotel desk), but they were generally so kind and friendly, and warm, and we didn't have the same kind of feeling we had in China, at all. We really liked Taipei a lot.</div>
Lorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676317652927356121noreply@blogger.com0Taipei City, Taiwan25.0329636 121.5654268000000724.8028691 121.24270330000007 25.2630581 121.88815030000006tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682858015981528400.post-52072541734853138762016-12-05T14:30:00.000-05:002016-12-05T17:10:06.983-05:00Trat Trat is the capital of the same-named province, and at least nominally the location of the ferry and airport . . . although both are about 45 minutes outside of town. To get to Mairood Resort, we have to fly from Bangkok to Trat and then drive (although we could also just hire a car to drive us from Bangkok and spend approximately the same money and time). So we drove through Trat last year on our way to/from Mairood, which means we only glancingly saw it -- and we would've had the same experience this year, but this year we had one night in Trat. Boy, are we glad.<br />
<br />
Trat was much better than we dreamed! It was a lovely little town, very accessible, and with a great market. We stayed at a perfectly fine little place near the market (although it had no tea kettle, a first in SEAsia, and the attached "coffee shop" was usually unmanned, even in the morning when <b>one would really like a cup of coffee please</b>, in a place that doesn't seem to have other places where a girl can get up a cup of coffee).<br />
<br />
We took a songthaew -- a kind of shared truck tuk-tuk that holds 6-8 people, open-sided -- from the ferry to our hotel, and after hot showers that were necessary from being splashed incessantly on the chilly, wild speedboat ride from Koh Mak, we headed out for some lunch. There was a "seafood noodle" place a block or so away, so that's where we went:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrL22qYYAacf_-GOa1R7niLpTfPGVVquqhavAHEcdEbyfzRLPNwst_zHHZML-XUlC2Kzt3y7l-BJOjDttcCNrPuy7OWCH59Ftzm9-2qLmLz8p6kqjyB0m1JvF6zLlWdGBPjzKRG7Gyx5Zb/s1600/noodle+shop+interior1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="582" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrL22qYYAacf_-GOa1R7niLpTfPGVVquqhavAHEcdEbyfzRLPNwst_zHHZML-XUlC2Kzt3y7l-BJOjDttcCNrPuy7OWCH59Ftzm9-2qLmLz8p6kqjyB0m1JvF6zLlWdGBPjzKRG7Gyx5Zb/s640/noodle+shop+interior1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the kitchen area</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHqGwn-lhY-phyphenhyphenQbWXpBew3Fv-L2zgLmeT2m2o6kFRI5_I4DJtUXl26FocCwIV-u2zWZa5qEN6wXn4DyqJkqLy-8WPv5BmDpUxaVvpRPNN1zs0tZg1qPVsh15JDHyKGzbZzTBvBKzD3vxX/s1600/noodle+shop+interior2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="606" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHqGwn-lhY-phyphenhyphenQbWXpBew3Fv-L2zgLmeT2m2o6kFRI5_I4DJtUXl26FocCwIV-u2zWZa5qEN6wXn4DyqJkqLy-8WPv5BmDpUxaVvpRPNN1zs0tZg1qPVsh15JDHyKGzbZzTBvBKzD3vxX/s640/noodle+shop+interior2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the interior</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEa2m7FJVycHX1idWV-UTThoX8XjzftMnOvT8tVDax7apCa_DBsoo940NDBEyMWYEiKML6RRtnBH36e4Iwh9VqHyI2zYqOr8SqvQ7QFh8GIVUxjpz96LxRWRynYBxwsxqSOEUBAtfQY8be/s1600/marc+noodle+shop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEa2m7FJVycHX1idWV-UTThoX8XjzftMnOvT8tVDax7apCa_DBsoo940NDBEyMWYEiKML6RRtnBH36e4Iwh9VqHyI2zYqOr8SqvQ7QFh8GIVUxjpz96LxRWRynYBxwsxqSOEUBAtfQY8be/s640/marc+noodle+shop.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">see the large menu on the wall? know what it says? neither did we!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaqqv3iWWyBPtLIwoCqFilVwNPnajiG2t7CyjylsM2JKQxvXAKwewnLcP71JE3W6uoDcZg7QYUDGWUEF8pvc9UGbH9zM1PP2FMSOa3d-NKTLNO-Uu64E8rCBiH4BCnHLy8YPFQg08nJ7vG/s1600/noodle+shop+tablecloth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaqqv3iWWyBPtLIwoCqFilVwNPnajiG2t7CyjylsM2JKQxvXAKwewnLcP71JE3W6uoDcZg7QYUDGWUEF8pvc9UGbH9zM1PP2FMSOa3d-NKTLNO-Uu64E8rCBiH4BCnHLy8YPFQg08nJ7vG/s640/noodle+shop+tablecloth.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The woman who took our order simplified the menu for us: "I have seafood soup<br />
and pork soup." We ordered the seafood soup, and it sure enough was full of seafood.<br />
And check out the table cloth -- it was all Disney.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4pV3y0_Pl9mphbYm7v1ptz9k2AgfR6qieeqGHdKuOSifd6XWQM1DSy6JJcfpw_TY6jcPn0QrPO8sh9ZDNLPHnacW2JEuF97cZyKVdzOxM5dbvSC6QXGyK_1JXLaLmqdRBdZYyfhYOYbsU/s1600/noodle+shop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4pV3y0_Pl9mphbYm7v1ptz9k2AgfR6qieeqGHdKuOSifd6XWQM1DSy6JJcfpw_TY6jcPn0QrPO8sh9ZDNLPHnacW2JEuF97cZyKVdzOxM5dbvSC6QXGyK_1JXLaLmqdRBdZYyfhYOYbsU/s640/noodle+shop.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the soup, which was good, and the restaurant exterior, which was so charming</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After lunch we walked around for a while, walked through the day and night market areas to get a feel for them, and we probably took a little nap until it was time to head out for dinner. We had decided ahead of time that we wanted to eat at the night market, since we really enjoy that, and since it's kind of crushed with people and stalls, we also decided that I'd find us a table, and Marc would make the rounds and bring us food. That's the greatest thing: I'm happy to wait and watch people, as long as I feel safe (which I did), and I get the happy anticipation and curiosity about what Marc will bring, and he gets the chance to wander and look at options and circle back and take his time without worrying about me. We both win!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOfflTnCDNZReK3q1b4AU8V8GrMDmvSZCuErKzli0qF2inMtATxIEuRVuwPEvp0Yi0drLWw00oSFWMMhe-yGb6BvJmDrEMLo_hijEUq5mwxe4PVzXHj7PoZFpo16jItckf_J7n0hp8L1pp/s1600/night+market1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOfflTnCDNZReK3q1b4AU8V8GrMDmvSZCuErKzli0qF2inMtATxIEuRVuwPEvp0Yi0drLWw00oSFWMMhe-yGb6BvJmDrEMLo_hijEUq5mwxe4PVzXHj7PoZFpo16jItckf_J7n0hp8L1pp/s640/night+market1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the scene -- well, one very tiny corner of it (the least-populated corner, actually, which is where I was sitting).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXRnEwiOnYD-3lQEdjuYUEw_v1ZscVP3l8Zd9k3vXYAAbCHtSrfkVOicMW5tGiRyoK3el7KiQ99QRGOUCUjnoM1h02Q2yVwHyglKjZUh8pdbuAnfyLe-7VaHUoQSTkig7NFBFuQihUgt4b/s1600/marc+night+market.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXRnEwiOnYD-3lQEdjuYUEw_v1ZscVP3l8Zd9k3vXYAAbCHtSrfkVOicMW5tGiRyoK3el7KiQ99QRGOUCUjnoM1h02Q2yVwHyglKjZUh8pdbuAnfyLe-7VaHUoQSTkig7NFBFuQihUgt4b/s640/marc+night+market.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I just love seeing him out doing his thing -- this is one of his happy places,<br />
roaming around a market in SEAsia.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Mn6pHp3h3FzQjLmEzeKw1A3WVYdOlZ72rb9VZbukHv764-wrMA4oieqS8prRLJ4I8z6ucEpMEabGzoUc_rDHVuNUHa8oKi3QA9sVkYG5m9s_ygtRdWz9RJlv-iKaRFWLURnh_Xyyrzkz/s1600/night+market+food2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="612" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Mn6pHp3h3FzQjLmEzeKw1A3WVYdOlZ72rb9VZbukHv764-wrMA4oieqS8prRLJ4I8z6ucEpMEabGzoUc_rDHVuNUHa8oKi3QA9sVkYG5m9s_ygtRdWz9RJlv-iKaRFWLURnh_Xyyrzkz/s640/night+market+food2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Five summer rolls for $0.57. Even though I held a tiny bit of worry about eating the lettuce (we were fine!), they<br />
were so so delicious. We also got fried chicken over rice, and some very spicy skewers of pork, two kinds, and<br />
some grilled, dried fish that I wasn't too fond of. Still, it was all freshly made, and so so cheap and good.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9EVY8nPhpVI/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9EVY8nPhpVI?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
the night market -- well, rather my tiny corner of it</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-REXDcrJxYZddI9AF1uBmsYBJs5sFsHa4qZSRitfYXdb7jncbZHxOFQAwF0HBKShHxGSCXJg2e2v_UKCtXxoEruCkJyiIMwRI4Y9FtulVch_hZXIFLruilCzNeeGn35mBxeiJwQ-f9u7P/s1600/night+market+frying.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-REXDcrJxYZddI9AF1uBmsYBJs5sFsHa4qZSRitfYXdb7jncbZHxOFQAwF0HBKShHxGSCXJg2e2v_UKCtXxoEruCkJyiIMwRI4Y9FtulVch_hZXIFLruilCzNeeGn35mBxeiJwQ-f9u7P/s640/night+market+frying.jpg" width="576" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They excel at frying chicken, leaving us scratching our heads over the presence of a KFC. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyZIcNYsI_tZ_9syZCK9XzRsfXaA0njlKX_twFGgQ6ug8A7g_xj_txfBOf1zG3Fucv9tJfH6OU0mYndjAIm1b792-j6zjTbntnenGKbLuUC8HpZ80SuG3f7VPaD6tIL9AnbhdF0W58T3uT/s1600/night+market+donuts1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyZIcNYsI_tZ_9syZCK9XzRsfXaA0njlKX_twFGgQ6ug8A7g_xj_txfBOf1zG3Fucv9tJfH6OU0mYndjAIm1b792-j6zjTbntnenGKbLuUC8HpZ80SuG3f7VPaD6tIL9AnbhdF0W58T3uT/s640/night+market+donuts1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marc found these donuts, shaped like a bear claw but really just super yummy fried dough with a nice coating<br />
of a sugar glaze -- so good I didn't think to take a picture until I'd eaten more than half of this one.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYcnW-P4RlUlqHG91Tw8W0dxk99EZfYPn7n8JDgF10FP3ITZBHor4nY36c0KOdpeXR5ZgH5EClH915-iPAumPCD0vcjg90M0ZbGi8arjzmKx61tZO1CAf5UK8TnLGsKsWteUPwZtQVnN4G/s1600/marc+buying+donuts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYcnW-P4RlUlqHG91Tw8W0dxk99EZfYPn7n8JDgF10FP3ITZBHor4nY36c0KOdpeXR5ZgH5EClH915-iPAumPCD0vcjg90M0ZbGi8arjzmKx61tZO1CAf5UK8TnLGsKsWteUPwZtQVnN4G/s640/marc+buying+donuts.jpg" width="388" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So we decided to buy more donuts, but they weren't nearly as good<br />
as that other one. And the chocolate glazed donut was awful<br />
compared to the one we got at the night market on Gili T, off Bali<br />
a few years ago. That remains my Platonic Ideal of<br />
night market chocolate donut. :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We had the next morning to poke around Trat before a taxi picked us up at 11:30 for our flight to Bangkok-->Taipei, so we returned to the market for some breakfast and a bit of shopping. I love this part:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLjdrT1MyxCDsQtY6tV8BABJXc5tg_Q8ocbjLFkvskK12LeHT1KcRyZgx0R8-v2-oyuOzzsauzX_1NPlnVmimVLemqIPfnn2q-BerlH6iD93Ea4J48ZZwsdEo4IHPWRFoAgAOO2UtZjxlo/s1600/marc+buying+curry2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="632" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLjdrT1MyxCDsQtY6tV8BABJXc5tg_Q8ocbjLFkvskK12LeHT1KcRyZgx0R8-v2-oyuOzzsauzX_1NPlnVmimVLemqIPfnn2q-BerlH6iD93Ea4J48ZZwsdEo4IHPWRFoAgAOO2UtZjxlo/s640/marc+buying+curry2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marc buying a couple of curry pastes and doing his best through the language divide.<br />
This is one of my favorite things to watch.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ6-PpvCCoxSN8Y2V5CQRmSylkD_lBHCB7ihSlbZp9XBX0jBcpKVKmF-a4t_3sOdKT8yJfR-kU5qN8iGKX6VFabuAgtw9y1HK7_L0lOZ7ARZMXBy6b_HKuWfqva3gxcv1yYLBvOXM8zLRg/s1600/marc+buys+curry+saturday+market.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ6-PpvCCoxSN8Y2V5CQRmSylkD_lBHCB7ihSlbZp9XBX0jBcpKVKmF-a4t_3sOdKT8yJfR-kU5qN8iGKX6VFabuAgtw9y1HK7_L0lOZ7ARZMXBy6b_HKuWfqva3gxcv1yYLBvOXM8zLRg/s640/marc+buys+curry+saturday+market.jpg" width="492" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picking through the various options, so focused and intent.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTV744VP_ZjaCDNQUgZ9s4ddRjsHVH3yzH6N1AAy7bQg9DUzf_tLLOY7Z4jbhKQimJMiyPIo_tDsm3RRg7Z0m51-B0gj7N9GWnR5npxSR1lHIePMs_U9amhM9R1jpZqIipXAvhcMT1WiJ8/s1600/marc+buying+curry3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTV744VP_ZjaCDNQUgZ9s4ddRjsHVH3yzH6N1AAy7bQg9DUzf_tLLOY7Z4jbhKQimJMiyPIo_tDsm3RRg7Z0m51-B0gj7N9GWnR5npxSR1lHIePMs_U9amhM9R1jpZqIipXAvhcMT1WiJ8/s640/marc+buying+curry3.jpg" width="616" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I always love seeing him walk toward me after he buys something -- he's always so excited.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUoTOtB61RGH_Ym2tVtOuV4CedI2ONxqxnuCDZAmfZjH0tIk4yfKF8ACg-6JCPbisz0tVU2G8sGEYUSW7Bbs4mtIlq1MhF-fgKdo44rOc7ppWW0XYvp8J5Ols0Jmuflx0TVc-7me1INE-z/s1600/lori+saturday+market.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUoTOtB61RGH_Ym2tVtOuV4CedI2ONxqxnuCDZAmfZjH0tIk4yfKF8ACg-6JCPbisz0tVU2G8sGEYUSW7Bbs4mtIlq1MhF-fgKdo44rOc7ppWW0XYvp8J5Ols0Jmuflx0TVc-7me1INE-z/s640/lori+saturday+market.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I wasn't feeling all that well -- the weather was very low, and leaning on my sinuses,<br />
so I sat on a curb while he searched for our breakfast. Mysteriously, there were no donut<br />
options! So he brought us bags of fresh pineapple and watermelon, which he<br />
successfully got the seller to slice for us. The pineapple came with a little bag of<br />
a sugar/salt/chili mixture to sprinkle on the pineapple, which I liked.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBGIimlDbTPwHSbuR-dY8Vv9lF9nOOxggOcQNzeoS3AMOxiHsdbZ4PWcZM1ko6Kmi1hg8jJxyVkP3UxtoWKtZ9dkNBOPGjT6Hit1zOnWeZXOc_O7Rsdldn0itHsn9fMWgbq8R44gbYNFgQ/s1600/saturday+morning+market.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBGIimlDbTPwHSbuR-dY8Vv9lF9nOOxggOcQNzeoS3AMOxiHsdbZ4PWcZM1ko6Kmi1hg8jJxyVkP3UxtoWKtZ9dkNBOPGjT6Hit1zOnWeZXOc_O7Rsdldn0itHsn9fMWgbq8R44gbYNFgQ/s640/saturday+morning+market.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was my view -- I finally realized that it was Saturday, so maybe the market was extra busy because<br />
of that.....no idea. But it was nice watching everyone come and go, while Marc did his thing.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqRQ7FZ1wIvjqsrtQxgqf_Aa3NDBQ5Y_TBfpxBUOyyPmKIyU98-2bX6KQhZf073lPqZ93xcZAoL2XiyOPsYvCycMU0fXaLYun1uw-UTKk2gOJOBpUI10kxdN2VPHq70aLL1ivn1kwDL_4I/s1600/kids+saturday+market.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqRQ7FZ1wIvjqsrtQxgqf_Aa3NDBQ5Y_TBfpxBUOyyPmKIyU98-2bX6KQhZf073lPqZ93xcZAoL2XiyOPsYvCycMU0fXaLYun1uw-UTKk2gOJOBpUI10kxdN2VPHq70aLL1ivn1kwDL_4I/s640/kids+saturday+market.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The older kids were pulling this little girl through the market in this blue tub, and<br />
they were all having a blast. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We really enjoyed Trat, a lot! I found it very accessible, and Marc really loved the markets, and the neighborhoods, and we might easily have missed it. Not sure we'll ever go there on purpose, again, but if we find ourselves in that part of Thailand, who knows. It was a really charming place, easy to see how people live and work there.<br />
<br />
The rest of our travel day was long, and we didn't get to our hotel in Taipei until right around midnight, but that's a story for the next post.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />Lorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676317652927356121noreply@blogger.com0Trat, Thailand12.2427563 102.5174733999999710.2562668 99.935686399999966 14.2292458 105.09926039999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682858015981528400.post-17737638495009979082016-12-02T05:15:00.000-05:002016-12-02T05:43:34.999-05:00Koh Mak<b>Getting There</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Through a number of easily made miscommunications, our ferry trip from Mairood to Koh Mak was a comedy of errors and we weren't always 100% sure we were going to make it. Chin had asked us what time our reservation was for, and since he and Judy and others were going to Trat anyway, they kindly gave us a ride at no cost. The first miscommunication was him not being specific asking, and us not being specific telling (because we didn't really understand this) which ferry line (and consequently which of two piers) we needed -- and so, in the way things work, we went to the wrong pier. No one there spoke English and we speak no Thai, but somehow we realized we were at the wrong pier, approximately 20 minutes before the ferry was to leave -- and the other ferry was 40 minutes away. Our hotel on Koh Mak had already purchased our ferry tickets, but all there was to do was to buy new ones and take our chances. Someone at the ticket desk understood our situation well enough and called the hotel to tell them to pick us up at the correct pier on the other side.<br />
<br />
So we boarded the big catamaran-style ferry (no life jackets visible anywhere despite a sign that said we were required to wear them) and headed off, hoping for the best. It was a 2-hour trip, since we stopped first at Koh Kood and then on to Koh Mak. Sure enough, a man from the hotel was waiting for us, with truly the most beautiful smile we've seen on our trip, and off we went.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLDuKwkbwZripopB_EsoFTj0crnvo9LXBVtI4usU5LZn7ujNJ_rhWLh1RF03HNTfxWKBFwfT8IlgnrgA8NiAVBBjOQjzYAzfPM88KaR6FV9c0lhOR0AiL5mW2D3kiEoo_yPMPshLeDA0i6/s1600/marc+arriving.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLDuKwkbwZripopB_EsoFTj0crnvo9LXBVtI4usU5LZn7ujNJ_rhWLh1RF03HNTfxWKBFwfT8IlgnrgA8NiAVBBjOQjzYAzfPM88KaR6FV9c0lhOR0AiL5mW2D3kiEoo_yPMPshLeDA0i6/s640/marc+arriving.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">en route in the back of a songthaew</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>The Hotel</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Seavana Resort was really lovely, and our room was gorgeous -- but with a terrible absence of electrical outlets.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ryjRVnSE0w583YVmWnGoLKwNwS74FPS4ftdMxV3MEA5zvVVXFr0F3zPIQpip4kjgOjGlG3pZPHdBSdB-PorMyliY0ShQC9kF-0pTWNpdypwd86thbox6GUaxuI1BvRcwMCEfzl-Zarl3/s1600/seavana+room.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ryjRVnSE0w583YVmWnGoLKwNwS74FPS4ftdMxV3MEA5zvVVXFr0F3zPIQpip4kjgOjGlG3pZPHdBSdB-PorMyliY0ShQC9kF-0pTWNpdypwd86thbox6GUaxuI1BvRcwMCEfzl-Zarl3/s640/seavana+room.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">our jewel box of a room</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-IkU8tC2rte7M3TjGp_49Yderfk8AX5r0mZvuOMFDlhF8tAEsB5rP1lkWSSTEYbpb3PYa-ug-DJHgLTb6DlPvMLTixdU4SW_-FnuLSBNIgODqGdWeA99xXBACBJK9uYWBiUA49Rtq4ruW/s1600/our+room.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-IkU8tC2rte7M3TjGp_49Yderfk8AX5r0mZvuOMFDlhF8tAEsB5rP1lkWSSTEYbpb3PYa-ug-DJHgLTb6DlPvMLTixdU4SW_-FnuLSBNIgODqGdWeA99xXBACBJK9uYWBiUA49Rtq4ruW/s640/our+room.jpg" width="634" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">we had the top floor</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3BX6wmhF00Egjk_6wd1Uj7nsS3RBf_Iu7_mCZGXXcBQvole-vMe9cb8eo9onumFH6qV4cSGW4dOH2b1-DRULB_W2sMcER_XIhD-x9KWVFDJ8nN_twJ_ZvnGAGc9Qgau8fg7m_ROLwKcbo/s1600/room+patio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3BX6wmhF00Egjk_6wd1Uj7nsS3RBf_Iu7_mCZGXXcBQvole-vMe9cb8eo9onumFH6qV4cSGW4dOH2b1-DRULB_W2sMcER_XIhD-x9KWVFDJ8nN_twJ_ZvnGAGc9Qgau8fg7m_ROLwKcbo/s640/room+patio.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">sitting on our patio - behind those chairs on a slightly elevated platform was a jacuzzi we never used,<br />
and never planned to, anyway</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The grounds were really beautiful too; a small creek wound through the property, and there were orchids and lilies and mango trees, and some kind of flower that smelled so sweet it nearly knocked us over when we passed.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwsVMiLAs9io7nCy6mVtf8uIXMYA20AD3Oiz68x2jzNIbNh7lsy3neZ9mEg_-NBJkBSDGuO32Fs50fHIW18KzBTe80ATQEQ3ggJO2rE4GOBqLxjyKPiyyYwHCjyjo9HqEYtnhnEdFEeMxn/s1600/butterfly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwsVMiLAs9io7nCy6mVtf8uIXMYA20AD3Oiz68x2jzNIbNh7lsy3neZ9mEg_-NBJkBSDGuO32Fs50fHIW18KzBTe80ATQEQ3ggJO2rE4GOBqLxjyKPiyyYwHCjyjo9HqEYtnhnEdFEeMxn/s640/butterfly.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the butterflies were fabulous -- often the size of small birds! This one wasn't that large, but it was beautiful.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFWjjk3ITZx4jdEGWjQ8ajpSdaccjB3QERtpJcM5NOP-AIKoFoNLgGUjesYJVYE3UZbnm-RS4iaFugWdTCTkMJJFdJoCuj5PZ1o1aV4J6GKjm-bn65U7GSrJB8kbxVfPdez7DBahG-PoWh/s1600/hammock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFWjjk3ITZx4jdEGWjQ8ajpSdaccjB3QERtpJcM5NOP-AIKoFoNLgGUjesYJVYE3UZbnm-RS4iaFugWdTCTkMJJFdJoCuj5PZ1o1aV4J6GKjm-bn65U7GSrJB8kbxVfPdez7DBahG-PoWh/s640/hammock.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">hammocks and day beds (and swings) were scattered throughout the property</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBL-Vuy1GM4UPZaXr2wDAgEd7vpWLztZ1LIpjxA0rLBlth5ejrBJcA7qH9Ir_ohiZMSCkSXHDjTC49xd4r5gZ_2NTJKqqpiVPRMinD0euTd9Kf0U3zhgll_2XXO5VBzmzApjw0_x6rmmJe/s1600/pink+canal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBL-Vuy1GM4UPZaXr2wDAgEd7vpWLztZ1LIpjxA0rLBlth5ejrBJcA7qH9Ir_ohiZMSCkSXHDjTC49xd4r5gZ_2NTJKqqpiVPRMinD0euTd9Kf0U3zhgll_2XXO5VBzmzApjw0_x6rmmJe/s640/pink+canal.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">sunset reflected in the little creek</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL0VChO1smr0Wko6sDXUWIIKlUMpOyvBNDr7euqBFsqWnvG9-KjXKrkoPntVcRfLFI_xw51Y-n8jYtoyd_kaU429Kt8-ucohuZrRiHEA-6Vih99gJaPJQpc-bcEQr9ha0J3Vnmen7SGrkE/s1600/purple+orchids2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL0VChO1smr0Wko6sDXUWIIKlUMpOyvBNDr7euqBFsqWnvG9-KjXKrkoPntVcRfLFI_xw51Y-n8jYtoyd_kaU429Kt8-ucohuZrRiHEA-6Vih99gJaPJQpc-bcEQr9ha0J3Vnmen7SGrkE/s640/purple+orchids2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDSxqK8Ph4S0Tt1T5aok-tUZdReZX7ZTsNr1F3U8WSvbTYCY2xw7YtVNsjPj6A5bwDaI9cVX9yesHykQ1RxKuGXA98VUnM6mFmQVRiir6uC8c1It7tUNJbzXGBK2xlsDXnBS53icfz6Iux/s1600/seavana+plant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDSxqK8Ph4S0Tt1T5aok-tUZdReZX7ZTsNr1F3U8WSvbTYCY2xw7YtVNsjPj6A5bwDaI9cVX9yesHykQ1RxKuGXA98VUnM6mFmQVRiir6uC8c1It7tUNJbzXGBK2xlsDXnBS53icfz6Iux/s640/seavana+plant.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWMq0XgAuh1rafEvIpRaWSRdbj_inR7u56pbdHrqcuqYmSYiLr67lBZrkh8d3-g_spLqTajtKg20xBfIm_QqmSl7j3ksLKqZio0GmPIYwQ0R0WAq5We8HRDTduUOmSmznyvaxQb9oNc5ox/s1600/white+orchids.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWMq0XgAuh1rafEvIpRaWSRdbj_inR7u56pbdHrqcuqYmSYiLr67lBZrkh8d3-g_spLqTajtKg20xBfIm_QqmSl7j3ksLKqZio0GmPIYwQ0R0WAq5We8HRDTduUOmSmznyvaxQb9oNc5ox/s640/white+orchids.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4TjcAET1Fj0f0LgcDSgccyfiSTSVuZHYnlZ35QpnW3vlOIB6N5Zg5e6RErKABfLF4nosw3fEzxJfEGUB753A5e_9I7tCq2_QhPbL-aaG6tU777J3I1yI5P0rIongXQ_XckMaBatSCjzvK/s1600/wrong+island.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4TjcAET1Fj0f0LgcDSgccyfiSTSVuZHYnlZ35QpnW3vlOIB6N5Zg5e6RErKABfLF4nosw3fEzxJfEGUB753A5e_9I7tCq2_QhPbL-aaG6tU777J3I1yI5P0rIongXQ_XckMaBatSCjzvK/s640/wrong+island.jpg" width="626" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">wrong island, dudes!</td></tr>
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The first afternoon we were there was really the only lovely day for doing things, but of course we didn't know that. We did know it was going to be windy the second and third days, but we underestimated how much an impact that would have. So while we should've gotten in the ocean the first afternoon, and maybe even used a kayak to head out to a small nearby island, instead we ate lunch and then swam in the pool, walked around the grounds, admired the beautiful sunset, and had a too-huge dinner. SERIOUSLY. We ordered easily 2.5 times the food we should've ordered.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4BeKh-buKGSxrJTm4m-utpq6ZF9OeVQk2MYwaHjX2MhWSPhZy79Lbl0FoJUnEFTaK5zHJoydk_i1_h9c3t6JG_XLP_YUb0nnWdJWMmrjupdr5FR6x43Xb8KFIoc7ILMm3NWPbKiHaEaR7/s1600/crab+tracks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4BeKh-buKGSxrJTm4m-utpq6ZF9OeVQk2MYwaHjX2MhWSPhZy79Lbl0FoJUnEFTaK5zHJoydk_i1_h9c3t6JG_XLP_YUb0nnWdJWMmrjupdr5FR6x43Xb8KFIoc7ILMm3NWPbKiHaEaR7/s640/crab+tracks.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">crab tracks made me so happy.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyeAu4ES7MwfMlRo_my3-zpdltmDMhrj7SSaKoSnkczKF2X9trEfA1smDQE8c3tzPHv1IQj9pEXaYKbrGssafIWd7V_jINGGVRuRplVyldTDEMB3VOqrmi4Zo0hr1r0HbaPphqWnEl3hL8/s1600/koh+mak+leaf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyeAu4ES7MwfMlRo_my3-zpdltmDMhrj7SSaKoSnkczKF2X9trEfA1smDQE8c3tzPHv1IQj9pEXaYKbrGssafIWd7V_jINGGVRuRplVyldTDEMB3VOqrmi4Zo0hr1r0HbaPphqWnEl3hL8/s640/koh+mak+leaf.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">these giant red leaves were everywhere</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbvfulVSVxoY0oyTAOKN7BOMpoa-MlzT2xPuS1jyM3M17PBFMLlPJB9gTyMD2QzOVYj66xBqnADAmMJJVkkJa6U0EK2UhPotLYOFbGGvIEGvDrD7eC05XdOBE8iRPepUWa4dCV9NJmcp-y/s1600/marc+lori+seavana.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbvfulVSVxoY0oyTAOKN7BOMpoa-MlzT2xPuS1jyM3M17PBFMLlPJB9gTyMD2QzOVYj66xBqnADAmMJJVkkJa6U0EK2UhPotLYOFbGGvIEGvDrD7eC05XdOBE8iRPepUWa4dCV9NJmcp-y/s640/marc+lori+seavana.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">so happy to be in such a beautiful place. I'd forgotten to remove my yellow ferry sticker. :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJxlHQMwUb3-0XigVirt4hT3DSQWuR3rEY1hZ0tmgPQMm20sU-ivG-rupYRDch6FeQz9syFHAlrkDEUDzmHSWhQy8L-PxxKZbLvr38VUCShTbuTZQaqE_RXuPY0cgQDWTUzHNn8lUXm-bL/s1600/marc+silhouette+sunset.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJxlHQMwUb3-0XigVirt4hT3DSQWuR3rEY1hZ0tmgPQMm20sU-ivG-rupYRDch6FeQz9syFHAlrkDEUDzmHSWhQy8L-PxxKZbLvr38VUCShTbuTZQaqE_RXuPY0cgQDWTUzHNn8lUXm-bL/s640/marc+silhouette+sunset.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marc specializes in art shots and panoramas. I love it when he's taking pictures..</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhevvWzEeybauNV5UqStAfy4_TyksAswO_4gHlV_hXsOHg959GjGbyiP2wUUTIrbUBhABAZ5OXLt-2IXu6KtH0kJF-vdsKBeZzC66jRkN5Sa2pJY0c47QkurmopWG8DEiaqNWiM8jr8g7aS/s1600/pink+pano+sunset.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhevvWzEeybauNV5UqStAfy4_TyksAswO_4gHlV_hXsOHg959GjGbyiP2wUUTIrbUBhABAZ5OXLt-2IXu6KtH0kJF-vdsKBeZzC66jRkN5Sa2pJY0c47QkurmopWG8DEiaqNWiM8jr8g7aS/s640/pink+pano+sunset.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">here's one of his beautiful panoramas</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQnRrOjOSFcc36apmKACMyaNPf-XKICNhKa7aU-bLOfvyI8nYgiN2X3N7LDfsUhioS_ueYJAULrLitqESo_PGkQM1x1EnF9Qp7IEVnQ_a7JKqXXPRwMA5C1I-P1KhaoBh5jcCo_5pEYjS2/s1600/pink+sunset.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQnRrOjOSFcc36apmKACMyaNPf-XKICNhKa7aU-bLOfvyI8nYgiN2X3N7LDfsUhioS_ueYJAULrLitqESo_PGkQM1x1EnF9Qp7IEVnQ_a7JKqXXPRwMA5C1I-P1KhaoBh5jcCo_5pEYjS2/s640/pink+sunset.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the sky was really soft and beautiful</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY7o5hlyQM7qupMFA7Zucg9Ol2De4O99NQxUapw3hjggTvrPTM0IIPiUIRaZh10nxWA_3oTGQomZ-rvbR5eBrJWl6OihqEUqxFemjkrXPeirbpn0SV6Fgf6sYGAvH7SnQxQFLPq4vx2gGA/s1600/pool+leaves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY7o5hlyQM7qupMFA7Zucg9Ol2De4O99NQxUapw3hjggTvrPTM0IIPiUIRaZh10nxWA_3oTGQomZ-rvbR5eBrJWl6OihqEUqxFemjkrXPeirbpn0SV6Fgf6sYGAvH7SnQxQFLPq4vx2gGA/s640/pool+leaves.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And here is a shot he took because he knew I would love it -- and he was so right. Leaves at the edge of the pool.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio2JfyFfZf1brPPsx2X5EoxovmnAojBbfM9bWIz7fjMaGNc07hFeJVQBQ5TmMmuaiKRTS0SqtqMgV_zy7HUumBziUQxWB_MD4dAoDsI_8TJVJjJMDL4eLhigp36J2PG6e-Q8uDCBV_TFWQ/s1600/pool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio2JfyFfZf1brPPsx2X5EoxovmnAojBbfM9bWIz7fjMaGNc07hFeJVQBQ5TmMmuaiKRTS0SqtqMgV_zy7HUumBziUQxWB_MD4dAoDsI_8TJVJjJMDL4eLhigp36J2PG6e-Q8uDCBV_TFWQ/s640/pool.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and speaking of the pool -- there it is!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizZXgzopmIX4tVz1kXevDigvEmtDqZmZXkfy1Fiol4nnE-Ye_MdxRmq2BLHxeiKRxcrfAsKrpGC2bzUNuYeYdIPto-fh4aYffzff3P6vdpIFHpvw6aARH0KJWShB_bXFkxDYcDLJJAjyNZ/s1600/seavana+view1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizZXgzopmIX4tVz1kXevDigvEmtDqZmZXkfy1Fiol4nnE-Ye_MdxRmq2BLHxeiKRxcrfAsKrpGC2bzUNuYeYdIPto-fh4aYffzff3P6vdpIFHpvw6aARH0KJWShB_bXFkxDYcDLJJAjyNZ/s640/seavana+view1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The place doesn't look real, does it? It was really so very lovely. That island out there is the one we<br />
could've kayaked to. Too bad.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidllAEEvbuxukfnxqqMq9ooIS_KCS0u_JmK4DAIUhbAzy2bNkpZRkFy0m-UCAB9aLofHXTnkCRhUcBZh4t_VAUSMmxTxEcQkksO2RSgCSSe08XQqrriwSLxl1LVz87eeawW70Sk7B03AR3/s1600/sunset1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidllAEEvbuxukfnxqqMq9ooIS_KCS0u_JmK4DAIUhbAzy2bNkpZRkFy0m-UCAB9aLofHXTnkCRhUcBZh4t_VAUSMmxTxEcQkksO2RSgCSSe08XQqrriwSLxl1LVz87eeawW70Sk7B03AR3/s640/sunset1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">gorgeous sunset!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6089HQPobQqhdthJmPr6YRdym6CjBmg8SW6mcs9yhzvhyphenhyphenTfC_b6eQhycQo7GvN7jYubW6eLwPxT0PopqklbS9HPrSb8C-fN68nkjW9klZJnVUJHO_7M9V7KorYTbr6u70xs1L_N5LlY1o/s1600/view1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6089HQPobQqhdthJmPr6YRdym6CjBmg8SW6mcs9yhzvhyphenhyphenTfC_b6eQhycQo7GvN7jYubW6eLwPxT0PopqklbS9HPrSb8C-fN68nkjW9klZJnVUJHO_7M9V7KorYTbr6u70xs1L_N5LlY1o/s640/view1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just your basic paradise, really.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, usually, and I especially love breakfast when we are on vacation. I still remember the enormous breakfast buffet we had in Hoi An, back in 2005; the fresh fruit was so luscious and it was the first time I'd ever eaten dragonfruit (or seen it, for that matter). The breakfast buffet here wasn't nearly as large, but it was so good.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijwmWpPvfFkzL8idLlbGHRhS3YbCuoLhyphenhyphenKUSiDZQEz3J4mprRAOMdpZLwjKJnzwHqBVWcUr03DwYlM8E6DsesIR6zHGDOwZp4pVfj7ZJKxLhnN2U6WmUmL749ABC7xMLd5H9wUFNhf_0J3/s1600/banana+pancakes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijwmWpPvfFkzL8idLlbGHRhS3YbCuoLhyphenhyphenKUSiDZQEz3J4mprRAOMdpZLwjKJnzwHqBVWcUr03DwYlM8E6DsesIR6zHGDOwZp4pVfj7ZJKxLhnN2U6WmUmL749ABC7xMLd5H9wUFNhf_0J3/s640/banana+pancakes.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In addition to the buffet items -- fresh fruit, homemade yogurt, homemade breads and jams, homemade croissants --<br />
they also had a short menu of more substantive dishes. Although Marc tried a couple of different things, every<br />
morning I just got the banana pancakes. The strawberry sauce that came with them was slightly salty, and<br />
the way it complemented the very sweet, slightly caramelized bananas in the pancakes was fabulous. Every morning<br />
I made a couple of cups of coffee, and while I drank them I was daydreaming about getting down to breakfast<br />
and ordering these pancakes. YUM.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMtMWj7CNer4-YXyoO09bPNC9GoGzbG5ZZtpuO7jWrqac4ePYvq9myTLgIJ1uebZeFtrzfedL_82mYmYrk9BWW8y4aBa-ThsMtQ0dR9GdYhntqpPY3GYMJkWsYInmAuqK87tQO9kO8FzEB/s1600/breakfast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMtMWj7CNer4-YXyoO09bPNC9GoGzbG5ZZtpuO7jWrqac4ePYvq9myTLgIJ1uebZeFtrzfedL_82mYmYrk9BWW8y4aBa-ThsMtQ0dR9GdYhntqpPY3GYMJkWsYInmAuqK87tQO9kO8FzEB/s640/breakfast.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The watermelon and pineapple were SO SWEET, and the<br />
yogurt was homemade, silky texture and lightly sweet with<br />
vanilla, and my eyes practically rolled back in my head.<br />
Every. Morning.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEictI3tSP5Hb483JUrmr_g_sHgDbmPM3HEKcbWRuyCeiJLKAm6F9rtod9vc-op5r8_jfWFdL8KPdI4O0Znyxbu_vxxLPeWScLJLP1jbHcZ3IOe5ypJd0JRfDbd-Gc7XlKHy-6pgQZPKPJFa/s1600/seavana+restaurant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEictI3tSP5Hb483JUrmr_g_sHgDbmPM3HEKcbWRuyCeiJLKAm6F9rtod9vc-op5r8_jfWFdL8KPdI4O0Znyxbu_vxxLPeWScLJLP1jbHcZ3IOe5ypJd0JRfDbd-Gc7XlKHy-6pgQZPKPJFa/s640/seavana+restaurant.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I took this picture after the winds came in, so they started having to roll down the shades to keep the<br />
wind from flying through the restaurant. It was very nice the first day and night, having the space open to the air.<br />
The second morning, even with these pulled down, the wind was so strong it blew the yogurt off my spoon.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLYR2_8moWd3yO6VH2pxbKXZD2mbMlh5Kdpl_10ezQ8rz6cbXUqwTIXdlLqvNp9HSFGKUeTJEI56TlKlaRPZhuUA5HYOO4i_qwSxAVJJ1nzspACG3RRg6snmG8YtecxoZCag8S302-1sK2/s1600/seavana+view2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLYR2_8moWd3yO6VH2pxbKXZD2mbMlh5Kdpl_10ezQ8rz6cbXUqwTIXdlLqvNp9HSFGKUeTJEI56TlKlaRPZhuUA5HYOO4i_qwSxAVJJ1nzspACG3RRg6snmG8YtecxoZCag8S302-1sK2/s640/seavana+view2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">walking to breakfast -- that's the restaurant on the right.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We ate too much. Breakfast, always, lunch always (a curry or for me a green papaya salad), and then a big dinner. The first night I ordered a green papaya salad (no prawns) and a red tofu curry -- with rice. Marc ordered two dishes, one with fish and one with shrimp, and rice. My god. We could've split my green papaya salad, ordered one of the mains, and each had a little rice and been so full. The food was just very, very good. By the last night, we were so overly full we just had club sandwiches and called it a night. And since I had a Thai beer with lunch every day (and at Mairood I'd had a big bottle of Singha with dinner each night), whoo boy have I put on vacation weight. But that's what home is for; I'll get this weight off then . . . for now I'm just enjoying the pleasure of all this good food.<br />
<br />
On the second day, we decided to take a bike ride to the other side of the island. We figured it wouldn't be as windy as it was on our side (we were right), and we also figured the breeze would help moderate some of the heat. Although we thought the island was supposed to be flat, we'd obviously noticed that the bikes were of the mountain bike sort, and we scratched our heads over that. Hmph, why would we need to change gears? Why those larger tires? Why no basket for water and our phones? Hmph.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgLCOuSarDA5LWCs-g6oszJInm3fIBgBoYmIeGPoRN2JktZT3veXN9knLjBoCn0pIMfTARGwjJQIY7SnH3tswGU8Ks6FQsvtrHCQbxB03jcw5GZdryHGuz7B8kiaGApHhL587oezRQZnDf/s1600/koh+mak+temple++overlook+harbor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgLCOuSarDA5LWCs-g6oszJInm3fIBgBoYmIeGPoRN2JktZT3veXN9knLjBoCn0pIMfTARGwjJQIY7SnH3tswGU8Ks6FQsvtrHCQbxB03jcw5GZdryHGuz7B8kiaGApHhL587oezRQZnDf/s640/koh+mak+temple++overlook+harbor.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the Koh Mak Temple, these Buddhas watch over the harber</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitKRpLKAwSXMsi5JW4pZUYB43LTrJyUMciApPjY99QO5xS-WSvGR-akoUAWtHeAxkzhoj1MSf8_wcyIGz-AX0xueS_GrL2_MTHGlkrEGrO2OTEcSw6aew4u2dcaAjMMpAtCB3SH-qpyRJO/s1600/koh+mak+temple+bath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="594" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitKRpLKAwSXMsi5JW4pZUYB43LTrJyUMciApPjY99QO5xS-WSvGR-akoUAWtHeAxkzhoj1MSf8_wcyIGz-AX0xueS_GrL2_MTHGlkrEGrO2OTEcSw6aew4u2dcaAjMMpAtCB3SH-qpyRJO/s640/koh+mak+temple+bath.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The monks' bathtub -- that snake with the little silver hat would make me nervous.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilm0dmBojlhzsidxutZ4SVzHtPhyN5sgZxf8dcNf3kPFdCk8Fpm0HW8IyeDLKIO4HXyY2O4IYFQfsd0OLsI1lV85DYXzVUKuEKfPFLC8unAX2nlV1BkHrkwgKZ-opsXvm2G6le_m34BRO-/s1600/koh+make+temple1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilm0dmBojlhzsidxutZ4SVzHtPhyN5sgZxf8dcNf3kPFdCk8Fpm0HW8IyeDLKIO4HXyY2O4IYFQfsd0OLsI1lV85DYXzVUKuEKfPFLC8unAX2nlV1BkHrkwgKZ-opsXvm2G6le_m34BRO-/s640/koh+make+temple1.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Buddha you first see when you enter the temple grounds</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga93q9bJUhzaX5k15_OEL4PA7E4-G1fY1_JPm6SRZk0EwNhc5qKh_FxIJSF-l_91X-35Y2ntzkMFxwvkmnE9rCZgOcveVSmSlC6iWUIUxr_fbObC7B-x8AV_4qB5BIxP3y6ETV4Man3u2J/s1600/koh+make+temple2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="518" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga93q9bJUhzaX5k15_OEL4PA7E4-G1fY1_JPm6SRZk0EwNhc5qKh_FxIJSF-l_91X-35Y2ntzkMFxwvkmnE9rCZgOcveVSmSlC6iWUIUxr_fbObC7B-x8AV_4qB5BIxP3y6ETV4Man3u2J/s640/koh+make+temple2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Five Buddhas sitting around this tree.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghF4egROnloxTVlUBH8MOL4EhJ_oRSEQxtDKkRAUexYsXR_bSqY-utVt511ThqiEoczzvX36-RBwzpD6OAD60EkqBudUJFtjxSN0C-MwoB4oN_9AtfitG8HKEWeMmFisnhEhQ9rHCvKFsW/s1600/lori+bike+ride+hot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghF4egROnloxTVlUBH8MOL4EhJ_oRSEQxtDKkRAUexYsXR_bSqY-utVt511ThqiEoczzvX36-RBwzpD6OAD60EkqBudUJFtjxSN0C-MwoB4oN_9AtfitG8HKEWeMmFisnhEhQ9rHCvKFsW/s640/lori+bike+ride+hot.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MY GOD I was hot. I did stop and drink water, and I had my hair up and a hat shielding my<br />
eyes, but man. At one point I just wished someone would jump out of a bush and murder<br />
me so I wouldn't have to keep going. Marc and I both got a bit of sun poisoning,<br />
even though we took breaks and drank water. The rest of the day we felt odd and weird<br />
and out of it, and we ended up taking aspirin. We didn't really feel better until the next day.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6yxUlzALjzRedTmQf7xA7DOworl3tbtOdSd1nP4xO_BTDyG6bqlRjew1hSLIthZbjOCSDQXA4jnIm6pSEdeTBtsbMXYwecau2GAYzEEJIVIH_Le_XPHgJYLo2ms7VyuRyYUc-EBXO93lq/s1600/marc+biking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6yxUlzALjzRedTmQf7xA7DOworl3tbtOdSd1nP4xO_BTDyG6bqlRjew1hSLIthZbjOCSDQXA4jnIm6pSEdeTBtsbMXYwecau2GAYzEEJIVIH_Le_XPHgJYLo2ms7VyuRyYUc-EBXO93lq/s640/marc+biking.jpg" width="508" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">But he is mighty cute riding his bike.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiti4Esyas_ueSHGfGUth8WHib9ILdNLqBFmNi9WNYMM879yuQbMfRbpY88ENlb0Tm2KTd81ddinICuV9UbaNQqb2fSsPpTyBVLu1NBpmb8VoJAl3NyGyHptru4HLDudMDwKa7rq-HGR8d-/s1600/latex.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiti4Esyas_ueSHGfGUth8WHib9ILdNLqBFmNi9WNYMM879yuQbMfRbpY88ENlb0Tm2KTd81ddinICuV9UbaNQqb2fSsPpTyBVLu1NBpmb8VoJAl3NyGyHptru4HLDudMDwKa7rq-HGR8d-/s640/latex.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We passed so many rubber trees -- always planted in orderly, straight rows, each one<br />
outfitted with a small black bowl placed underneath a diagonal slash in the bark.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On our third day, the wind was whipping around so hard we just piddled around a lot, disappointed not to have had a chance to swim in the ocean or snorkel (although the seas around these islands have a kind of jellyfish that either kills you or is extremely painful, depending on which news articles you read -- though there have been deaths, so that's no joke. The hotel fenced off a large section of the sea to make it a bit safer, but the wind was whipping the ocean over the fencing so much we wouldn't have wanted to try anyway -- plus it was chilly, with those winds). We ate, tried to swim in the pool and lie in the sun, napped, walked on the beach a few times, and read. Not bad, but the whole vacation has been quite low-key, so it was another in a long line of very low-key days and we were getting ready to move on.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeRbgkDiAL1m1nTEigW-Y_hzgUMfE_ghg7bY1efQvF7AclPOKkmLms9ggZgzTBZHt-E1QLxWGs566kTp3mRRH1pN6EdWr7b1cf3QtvEGWiNqQ5JcRrFaLh9IEhoV4Z1LBU5nQBvNLG-78t/s1600/hot+windy+koh+mak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeRbgkDiAL1m1nTEigW-Y_hzgUMfE_ghg7bY1efQvF7AclPOKkmLms9ggZgzTBZHt-E1QLxWGs566kTp3mRRH1pN6EdWr7b1cf3QtvEGWiNqQ5JcRrFaLh9IEhoV4Z1LBU5nQBvNLG-78t/s640/hot+windy+koh+mak.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">so windy! But the clouds weren't blowing around at all -- it was all just whipping in across the ocean</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCmc-1P-dkMQgCwY49XQiiSpZZ5VibUeVwpTxm7nKqtrp2xeft2ldLwtteZjChyphenhyphenHVClEshTBS2wxMhvGJ3cg9cySlqQ1zn65c6ertO66r4oOgiwWPPc6oYmiQ418g5kU6SeANvecSSjsYj/s1600/koh+mak+sunset1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="614" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCmc-1P-dkMQgCwY49XQiiSpZZ5VibUeVwpTxm7nKqtrp2xeft2ldLwtteZjChyphenhyphenHVClEshTBS2wxMhvGJ3cg9cySlqQ1zn65c6ertO66r4oOgiwWPPc6oYmiQ418g5kU6SeANvecSSjsYj/s640/koh+mak+sunset1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">But the sunset was still gorgeous -- not the pale pinks and oranges of our first night, though</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmwZn2lh6oWd1LQa9lj-tV_fGKF94kD5FjvOcpZyukoo7m5ixAJMkHp1lHIq0PqtvIPVNf8vpC0sqHtKoM0LuF6fj6ke4nkHVI1BzE0caZ7Xj89vJFtE-DcXwxOa9D4kJyeGf2ceRK5sIq/s1600/koh+mak+sunset4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmwZn2lh6oWd1LQa9lj-tV_fGKF94kD5FjvOcpZyukoo7m5ixAJMkHp1lHIq0PqtvIPVNf8vpC0sqHtKoM0LuF6fj6ke4nkHVI1BzE0caZ7Xj89vJFtE-DcXwxOa9D4kJyeGf2ceRK5sIq/s640/koh+mak+sunset4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit_1e8NJaY9Mkqywg1lm6iyAwirCSnxpqBtm3R8RJ674mzFn2_KCgpG0F6v3fRdE1OlvEfstLew1gokKDSW_h5hB2KJDCVvKoVwlIXWya9qVkafGKlKRoCp7-XxKE2jHLFLRpeFqlozksK/s1600/koh+mak+sunset+pano.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit_1e8NJaY9Mkqywg1lm6iyAwirCSnxpqBtm3R8RJ674mzFn2_KCgpG0F6v3fRdE1OlvEfstLew1gokKDSW_h5hB2KJDCVvKoVwlIXWya9qVkafGKlKRoCp7-XxKE2jHLFLRpeFqlozksK/s640/koh+mak+sunset+pano.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZU5dy3v06QVhyphenhyphen0jvIvTPNtIiGyp-pGhwIP0YyeqIdG0zh-Bij6H5tHQGGSyJYjdsm83xLzwW1jRozzL5kZsSZ3r3XxyNwAotc1BzgwcljdjWH80oa21fna1OLGshXDw6Mfcel1ndCCuK/s1600/marc+lori+kissing+koh+mak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZU5dy3v06QVhyphenhyphen0jvIvTPNtIiGyp-pGhwIP0YyeqIdG0zh-Bij6H5tHQGGSyJYjdsm83xLzwW1jRozzL5kZsSZ3r3XxyNwAotc1BzgwcljdjWH80oa21fna1OLGshXDw6Mfcel1ndCCuK/s640/marc+lori+kissing+koh+mak.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We travel together very well</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5hJOPniYGPciSO77fBrMx3cQVV0WeBb5EAE6XupiZ7U7CaM0zd5NkIzNFtvmIe-bR88mXWEE1ar5VGM2HWq8-3F_3kWzBLZ1akC4zZZLT2TIB1rhO0k9ZwJ91nBgh3vQLFTtmB-nRmepO/s1600/marc+lori+koh+mak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5hJOPniYGPciSO77fBrMx3cQVV0WeBb5EAE6XupiZ7U7CaM0zd5NkIzNFtvmIe-bR88mXWEE1ar5VGM2HWq8-3F_3kWzBLZ1akC4zZZLT2TIB1rhO0k9ZwJ91nBgh3vQLFTtmB-nRmepO/s640/marc+lori+koh+mak.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijMYttQ8IV82GxoksdNg6aEmNk72ibjlV7PBnniLyskHDQ5tGFp4fG55hE4zrIQErY3BhshDGhnTPBpbb7lqiU2PRuUi-TdVPAU2kRlwcGF21h62nAQa64q1hU6ByofyaJ4TKt9TKxzAKB/s1600/windy+palm+tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijMYttQ8IV82GxoksdNg6aEmNk72ibjlV7PBnniLyskHDQ5tGFp4fG55hE4zrIQErY3BhshDGhnTPBpbb7lqiU2PRuUi-TdVPAU2kRlwcGF21h62nAQa64q1hU6ByofyaJ4TKt9TKxzAKB/s640/windy+palm+tree.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">DANG it was windy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Leaving Koh Mak</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
We'd planned to take the 1:30 boat back to the mainland, but due to the wind the later boats were all canceled, so we had to take the 11:30 boat instead. HOLY COW. That was like riding a bucking bronco, no lie. I was grateful Marc had dramamine in his backpack, because I'd have been puking. While we were waiting to get on the speedboat (not a big catamaran ferry like the last one), we started talking to a couple from Germany who were just leaving after 5 weeks -- they had also been at the Mandala Ou in Nong Khiaw! They talked to us at length about Sulawesi, in Indonesia, the island we'd planned to visit on that vacation but heavy rains caused us to change our plans and go to Bali instead. I don't know; the pig and rooster slaughters sounded pretty horrible, and the death ceremonies, and while I'd really love to have gone there, I'm not sure I could manage the actual being there. But MAYBE! They were quite adorable, those two, and when we boarded, they sat at the very back of the boat, the last row. And then as the ride got underway, and the waves started splashing us, and as the boat would go way up in the air and then slam down hard on a wave, we could hear them both laughing so loud, having a blast with it. Since I wasn't seasick I could have fun too, and while I was very cold from having sea water splashing me throughout the trip, and my glasses were so wet it was hard to see, it was still lots of fun. Of course it was great when we got to the mainland, too, I won't lie.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtK29r2Hz_r6f_II-oFUF19lQwaq2O_dDYb58xSKCwKecLVd6RopP-OVqsNO92f_KMwUpaG6xb-XZIr3O-_3K-ZAEcng753JgI-FDC2Ej9qG9MXiv88fJ5s3teozHx_iH5f3nnU7GsDwCu/s1600/ferry+back.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtK29r2Hz_r6f_II-oFUF19lQwaq2O_dDYb58xSKCwKecLVd6RopP-OVqsNO92f_KMwUpaG6xb-XZIr3O-_3K-ZAEcng753JgI-FDC2Ej9qG9MXiv88fJ5s3teozHx_iH5f3nnU7GsDwCu/s640/ferry+back.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the speedboat</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs6jiMToMyGuc6HUAUMoDPmeJShfpYDuNozWt_pRqnkYEYFqvLzXOcEe0gmDy0897KZHGYLxZr_ETXrtl78x2RCpbjiRiV2To889AcTN0o0OwMkmS-ks9Hjadio-BpeZx-IrNI7KsZWB0N/s1600/ferry+ride+glad+for+life+vests.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs6jiMToMyGuc6HUAUMoDPmeJShfpYDuNozWt_pRqnkYEYFqvLzXOcEe0gmDy0897KZHGYLxZr_ETXrtl78x2RCpbjiRiV2To889AcTN0o0OwMkmS-ks9Hjadio-BpeZx-IrNI7KsZWB0N/s640/ferry+ride+glad+for+life+vests.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">REALLY GLAD TO HAVE LIFE VESTS</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggG2VKCsBaA61JpevEIeAUxUA2EYCWar6COxb4dYF_BhEM9b8dclB8I5xBTU7wXcs5zGZa9SAlwNOym9OSoU8_BGDhYSTbu2srOzncsSpRabggJUyeNdP6uvXVm_ponqpcguU7i1ZAc3Q7/s1600/ferry+ride+wet+glasses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggG2VKCsBaA61JpevEIeAUxUA2EYCWar6COxb4dYF_BhEM9b8dclB8I5xBTU7wXcs5zGZa9SAlwNOym9OSoU8_BGDhYSTbu2srOzncsSpRabggJUyeNdP6uvXVm_ponqpcguU7i1ZAc3Q7/s640/ferry+ride+wet+glasses.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dripping wet, but so happy</td></tr>
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<br />
So we have a night here in Trat, and tomorrow we fly from Trat to Bangkok to Taipei, where we'll spend the night and have much of the next day to sightsee before we board the flight home to NYC. Not sure I'll get a post in before we get back to NYC. Koh Mak was gorgeous, the people we met were all so kind and beautiful, and we had a great time. The staff were especially sweet to the small children at the resort; they would carry a baby around while the parents ate, or play with a child and put her pacifier into her mouth, or just chat with them so sweetly. We'll remember it with a smile, for sure.Lorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676317652927356121noreply@blogger.com0Ko Mak, Ko Kut District, Trat, Thailand11.822702 102.4781872999999511.760532999999999 102.39750629999995 11.884871 102.55886829999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682858015981528400.post-77986092351894755762016-11-26T23:35:00.004-05:002016-11-27T02:29:33.091-05:00Mairood Resort<a href="http://seasia5.blogspot.com/2015/12/upper-heaven.html" target="_blank">We were here at this time last year</a>, and in some ways I could say what a difference a year makes (it was the king's birthday last year, and this year his death is being mourned) and in other ways it seems like very little has changed. We are staying in the same room as last year, the top floor of a house ("Upper Heaven," with "Lower Heaven" being the downstairs floor), so our view is the same beautiful view, the pool is the same lovely pool, the rhythms of our days are the same, and the village looks the same at first glance.<br />
<br />
Given our age and interests, it's never the case that our vacations are fast-paced and physically demanding. We love little more than poking around markets and walking around town, because what we're after when we travel is the <i>feeling</i> of a place. Obviously we can't have a real sense of what it is to live in a place, we don't fool ourselves into thinking we've gained that, but we do develop our sense of the differences from one town, one region, one country to another. Even so, coming to Mairood is low-key, even for us. The only walking we can really do is through the alleyways and piers around the fishing village, and there isn't a local market, per se. So we wander, we poke around, we respond to children's happy <i>hello</i>s, we relax by the pool, we take naps, we lounge, I read, we eat all three meals that Chin and group prepare, we go on mini-jaunts with Chin and/or Judy, and we look at the sky.<br />
<br />
This makes for a dreamy bit of vacation, but it doesn't leave much storytelling to do. This is really the nature of this entire vacation -- partly because we are returning to two places we've recently been, and partly because of the nature of the two specific places -- but maybe that's OK this time, because the tremendous stress and horribleness of the election really wore on us. Getting away this year was a different experience; we were hoping we could just leave it all behind, be here, and we've done our best with that but I think we are both still so flattened by it.<br />
<br />
So, no stories except in picture captions:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjsLAn7n-lhuCOLJ_ZazlzDewua_x-U0t6FVwB0H2Gkk0qgKWhANC0GGMNvxRstvRsvGBEZJ-BcfDSrpmvprji1G7_L-S9NNndpIZEujkmXvPvUhVIPRoAkOn-fwmHRhzme1ojHLvLqRO2/s1600/chin+yaya.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjsLAn7n-lhuCOLJ_ZazlzDewua_x-U0t6FVwB0H2Gkk0qgKWhANC0GGMNvxRstvRsvGBEZJ-BcfDSrpmvprji1G7_L-S9NNndpIZEujkmXvPvUhVIPRoAkOn-fwmHRhzme1ojHLvLqRO2/s640/chin+yaya.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's Chin, the owner, petting Yaya. She nosed the gate open and came up to get a head rub<br />
before lumbering off to the kitchen for her buttered, sugared toast. Chin said she was grumpy until she got her toast.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsa5sPW8wuNG9LGIWe7APxlLeO5ddMb45qSmupkXzqRYJCLEq5WaQqF376NjBz8fhdjwehnWQm4gRDjs7XAgh3Ly1KPWCV1jXVioJPi4y-kXMLqdbV4eKniH45vTv8HKztZuY4dMD5f2mn/s1600/breakfast+fruit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsa5sPW8wuNG9LGIWe7APxlLeO5ddMb45qSmupkXzqRYJCLEq5WaQqF376NjBz8fhdjwehnWQm4gRDjs7XAgh3Ly1KPWCV1jXVioJPi4y-kXMLqdbV4eKniH45vTv8HKztZuY4dMD5f2mn/s640/breakfast+fruit.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">breakfast always begins with a fresh fruit bowl, and good, strong coffee</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA1OXcSq__fvL1ivOproiZi2cFwAopuZCu1iIVOlZLy3leXOBQa4HYayr3vPi0a43qRtGRgT5xI-el8X14YdewvwwLM08X4a0FLUZZAE4ehNjjW_QXJtRXYDqBTXW_M8ixDYebc4HbgW_d/s1600/breakfast+soup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA1OXcSq__fvL1ivOproiZi2cFwAopuZCu1iIVOlZLy3leXOBQa4HYayr3vPi0a43qRtGRgT5xI-el8X14YdewvwwLM08X4a0FLUZZAE4ehNjjW_QXJtRXYDqBTXW_M8ixDYebc4HbgW_d/s640/breakfast+soup.jpg" width="526" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Although I also love their homemade yogurt and muesli, we both really adore this<br />
rice soup, with lots of fresh ginger and toasted garlic, and parsley. This bowl has pork.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2cT6M4RqWeMBiANNRePV4JpsfWKNxevi8zoFgvxjYZoGxAv_oqszc3MplBj6LfzjhiPR__jQ0U9JSAsTQx8Ls3rRACImZethD9BN36xdTTYDDff5snEvHXhNnJJ1FcHP9M1grWqRJ3ree/s1600/mairood+fish+dinner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2cT6M4RqWeMBiANNRePV4JpsfWKNxevi8zoFgvxjYZoGxAv_oqszc3MplBj6LfzjhiPR__jQ0U9JSAsTQx8Ls3rRACImZethD9BN36xdTTYDDff5snEvHXhNnJJ1FcHP9M1grWqRJ3ree/s640/mairood+fish+dinner.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We had this amazing fish for dinner the first night we arrived; there aren't really other places to eat, here, so<br />
Chin offers a meal plan too -- and the dinners especially are quite good. He doesn't have a menu, he just<br />
makes what is fresh and good at the markets. This fish was just so, so, so good it eased us out of our<br />
13-hour car-plane-plane-car travel day blues.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQaefVRpQVxZJwTDgkOwWRgIVp_Bdm6rsUVUn2wvBIA9KgmczhIu0FFOqz33JIJNKJkrKnn12EiiVwtNX1z_xsefsQkQTKdGSFoXhyctGEkYpu7AU1E3t94bZ9ex9AreGv_BxG4NLlTMhD/s1600/marc+breakfast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQaefVRpQVxZJwTDgkOwWRgIVp_Bdm6rsUVUn2wvBIA9KgmczhIu0FFOqz33JIJNKJkrKnn12EiiVwtNX1z_xsefsQkQTKdGSFoXhyctGEkYpu7AU1E3t94bZ9ex9AreGv_BxG4NLlTMhD/s640/marc+breakfast.jpg" width="584" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chin has dual citizenship, Thai and American, and lives part of each year on Nantucket. So his<br />
aesthetics are influenced by both places, and the dining area, an open-air patio, shows<br />
his love of the New England island colors and furnishings.....but see the tall<br />
statue behind Marc (who is eating that fabulous breakfast soup).</td></tr>
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The village doesn't seem much different at first glance, although they finished widening the sidewalks they were working on when we were here last, so there's a little more room for pedestrians and motorcycle riders -- although not much, really, because the extra space is often taken up for parking motorcycles and handcarts. Still, I thought it seemed quieter, fewer people, less activity, and definitely fewer boats. Chin said that yes, the fishing activity has dropped dramatically because of EU import requirements that the villagers have not been able to meet. Their nets need smaller openings, and there is something about licensing that I didn't quite follow, so the villagers, who are quite poor, either could not afford to meet the requirements <i>or </i>they moved their fishing operation to Cambodia, which is very near us here in Khlongyai. Last year there were fantastic squid boats, sometimes three deep along the dockside, and great levels of activity. We didn't see any squid boats at all this year (they're easily recognized by the long arms strung with bright lightbulbs that are used to lure the squid), and there weren't many regular fishing boats, either. Last year we passed home after home of women and kids picking crab, or families sorting crab, and this year we saw only one or two instances of that.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi75chcljOPf7hgkVQPbDw4AlHYqtip59AajhBshcx0O8t1WvmHaxmXr1Ny_Elxxz6qAJP7gpk2-39g9xKW_lUOnG-4ifPDJg5D40x67mw74uBGoFIqCsO5eMJvALMk9svm7ptBKCeUaqVp/s1600/shell+weights.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi75chcljOPf7hgkVQPbDw4AlHYqtip59AajhBshcx0O8t1WvmHaxmXr1Ny_Elxxz6qAJP7gpk2-39g9xKW_lUOnG-4ifPDJg5D40x67mw74uBGoFIqCsO5eMJvALMk9svm7ptBKCeUaqVp/s640/shell+weights.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ingenious use of shells for weights -- you use what is available</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfxRphSiF6lMCVUjLQFSUCUemIeLr08F5pGvWr3aQ_UB25dskJKMBWXSOjY-Ql9tqV_zvhNnTcfuPOWoOi2bwluGoGzhMdDOogdOPYrC8LTv6AH1akX5EHy-Cm8SJBX-H_VcsfTA5u3gMC/s1600/village1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfxRphSiF6lMCVUjLQFSUCUemIeLr08F5pGvWr3aQ_UB25dskJKMBWXSOjY-Ql9tqV_zvhNnTcfuPOWoOi2bwluGoGzhMdDOogdOPYrC8LTv6AH1akX5EHy-Cm8SJBX-H_VcsfTA5u3gMC/s640/village1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The village extends far beyond these homes on the water, but they're all we ever see, so to us this is the village</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoaTtG-17hfCa8nioUJcoct3GSE6LZUCqnHwz7G63NxQ-vhZtVWmx2Lngzz49VYtgV6EM-8c-tnyeTjb7T3eukD9sjWVG4Vjv0JMp3GDdFoeVjYJMx6QjmS9zLVj8xCKuz6-Ts8I2YJc4H/s1600/village4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="556" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoaTtG-17hfCa8nioUJcoct3GSE6LZUCqnHwz7G63NxQ-vhZtVWmx2Lngzz49VYtgV6EM-8c-tnyeTjb7T3eukD9sjWVG4Vjv0JMp3GDdFoeVjYJMx6QjmS9zLVj8xCKuz6-Ts8I2YJc4H/s640/village4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">they haven't opened their windows yet</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh85J1HNgxxxm6oDxA1qjTmHsB1NzZ6M-2cEmOPhomdQa9RcdhXbjxVQO8E9roAi6dPt6_MszT36PosQcPyRZvqI9WpXZwJVXtTu6vfAg8j4WNguOUv371AJTzfgSlCeHLQiDKzWnEPAfCW/s1600/village6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh85J1HNgxxxm6oDxA1qjTmHsB1NzZ6M-2cEmOPhomdQa9RcdhXbjxVQO8E9roAi6dPt6_MszT36PosQcPyRZvqI9WpXZwJVXtTu6vfAg8j4WNguOUv371AJTzfgSlCeHLQiDKzWnEPAfCW/s640/village6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMiuue4YNmqq_juspv8MXFzXVs80sVN8X-j4c7pupixfT8j47vDZ2EQoYunuaBOFk9mY1Czn3_-WsNx9JutBKgZ6bEkZFyGwSQpBaol3tD3p9-E9ta5nU2bI0G3stthPBZSbaG2Mh4_A9u/s1600/village+boats1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMiuue4YNmqq_juspv8MXFzXVs80sVN8X-j4c7pupixfT8j47vDZ2EQoYunuaBOFk9mY1Czn3_-WsNx9JutBKgZ6bEkZFyGwSQpBaol3tD3p9-E9ta5nU2bI0G3stthPBZSbaG2Mh4_A9u/s640/village+boats1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">just so few boats. :(</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkSGlVoWNLvG3irdluwjKp1dTbDG_roJA_yfOzM3x6UxLUEBG9DHrGIPIzpk8wb3G-w47H-Viw_XdmvwPOblIdIxVrhUyyDrCqLuSxAoGjH2BN8Zp5PpBsZz4C-TN23eNsDBQ8yH9fiN09/s1600/village+boats2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkSGlVoWNLvG3irdluwjKp1dTbDG_roJA_yfOzM3x6UxLUEBG9DHrGIPIzpk8wb3G-w47H-Viw_XdmvwPOblIdIxVrhUyyDrCqLuSxAoGjH2BN8Zp5PpBsZz4C-TN23eNsDBQ8yH9fiN09/s640/village+boats2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6dTteWFYZueRANuTd1ZLGuWw2fChy5tDZ4YnYRC0V1w4_V5z2Y1TbzZDutyUAZ6N3KkHGxqAHRiiBZbHPGdkLcIycUe5_gDLfrgZIe_e0UnBW_BesS7c-pXTKBdF_hH2ckbEIu_CvyKL4/s1600/village+boats3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6dTteWFYZueRANuTd1ZLGuWw2fChy5tDZ4YnYRC0V1w4_V5z2Y1TbzZDutyUAZ6N3KkHGxqAHRiiBZbHPGdkLcIycUe5_gDLfrgZIe_e0UnBW_BesS7c-pXTKBdF_hH2ckbEIu_CvyKL4/s640/village+boats3.jpg" width="630" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">it's like a boat ghost town</td></tr>
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Last year, I asked Chin about all the half-sunk (or mostly-sunk) boats we saw everywhere. He said the villagers are too poor to fix the boats so they leave them to sink. We wonder why they don't at least salvage materials, but maybe that is not the best use of their time. So hard for us to know, but we saw lots of sunk boats again this year.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBl_NbiOjVWzJz1JGBfHRMiqHROxoUDeJtak4-NvTGHkqpZaYDXv4j3It5HkzI3L0eTIwk7Nhtq_1QruSe6w81koS8HP0KeODh0hGb1zFYiwTR-hTIgC47Y8jszcEZFZgAj2VgaBUE5JST/s1600/sunk+boat1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBl_NbiOjVWzJz1JGBfHRMiqHROxoUDeJtak4-NvTGHkqpZaYDXv4j3It5HkzI3L0eTIwk7Nhtq_1QruSe6w81koS8HP0KeODh0hGb1zFYiwTR-hTIgC47Y8jszcEZFZgAj2VgaBUE5JST/s640/sunk+boat1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">we see this one when we're on our porch</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGaT1I-1K4f4AziIy1qJf2CnrzpZrgHta7T3NxEHLjtCisoqiTiFYRbAPAXB5clee9RTCacnOya0Sr1GnJgto4mTeYgjcQjm_0pjR7pXMSWVbRg-B0sjeX2j5frn6T7Dlu74ibZ4ZsnivP/s1600/sunk+boats2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGaT1I-1K4f4AziIy1qJf2CnrzpZrgHta7T3NxEHLjtCisoqiTiFYRbAPAXB5clee9RTCacnOya0Sr1GnJgto4mTeYgjcQjm_0pjR7pXMSWVbRg-B0sjeX2j5frn6T7Dlu74ibZ4ZsnivP/s640/sunk+boats2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifFa9zJb_GwnkRZM_1uB-Wqx-FpXCpEnpgiq27pPcI0fAxqXh4xC3lSAn9bD06caq-MgXwU_uAd4-A7Y7LWn6V_jvdO-HbbtEQ9VWfyZMQ0ap_J_4iyhZcG29ytYiU97FDvoS2OnlqwVk8/s1600/sunk+boats3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifFa9zJb_GwnkRZM_1uB-Wqx-FpXCpEnpgiq27pPcI0fAxqXh4xC3lSAn9bD06caq-MgXwU_uAd4-A7Y7LWn6V_jvdO-HbbtEQ9VWfyZMQ0ap_J_4iyhZcG29ytYiU97FDvoS2OnlqwVk8/s640/sunk+boats3.jpg" width="588" /></a></div>
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The property is so quiet, although it's jam-packed with all kinds of animals -- so many dogs and cats, and cages of birds, and roosters and there were turkeys but a wild dog ate them.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPGaYeYiUiJmwAOuoWQkKUei6E6ntFz1YMu1o89xVWnB3YaiVh-Z97Cv_zHxyd6qkfi_FtUPj-mwPdNZxosFOeq6_xe6NkJswZHaHa9LcsLKqQ8KsDIQ26yRJsIE0VSRU4w714mpeLahEd/s1600/beach+pano.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPGaYeYiUiJmwAOuoWQkKUei6E6ntFz1YMu1o89xVWnB3YaiVh-Z97Cv_zHxyd6qkfi_FtUPj-mwPdNZxosFOeq6_xe6NkJswZHaHa9LcsLKqQ8KsDIQ26yRJsIE0VSRU4w714mpeLahEd/s640/beach+pano.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the beach on one edge of the village</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6FlVL0HfWQNnTYn7hyphenhyphenl6gzzy_Lhb90Lq2chzBVp382Xqkk6JYb7k_fFQ7vMgQIPgtw0cgh3O9PJzVdIpg5bb8deCnwZbvn8Fbs42WiYEb39HqDRRykP_jtjez43TLTzG1pyyMynq8Rbm8/s1600/bird+paradise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6FlVL0HfWQNnTYn7hyphenhyphenl6gzzy_Lhb90Lq2chzBVp382Xqkk6JYb7k_fFQ7vMgQIPgtw0cgh3O9PJzVdIpg5bb8deCnwZbvn8Fbs42WiYEb39HqDRRykP_jtjez43TLTzG1pyyMynq8Rbm8/s640/bird+paradise.jpg" width="488" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">orchids everywhere, and birds of paradise</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiHuStnery0Oc6vBe7KNspqDJoj0ebX6Shypg9mi1OlN4N67o6DVmMM-yBPIR-DWI-9CAt5yH9InwOsgFGhGI_fqJSs0jr_uCJ9fI6zcDb9MaxWV8GX4sJhjD_p7m3au7QsK4jRWje89cs/s1600/cat+hot+tin+roof.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiHuStnery0Oc6vBe7KNspqDJoj0ebX6Shypg9mi1OlN4N67o6DVmMM-yBPIR-DWI-9CAt5yH9InwOsgFGhGI_fqJSs0jr_uCJ9fI6zcDb9MaxWV8GX4sJhjD_p7m3au7QsK4jRWje89cs/s640/cat+hot+tin+roof.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">yeah, that's a cat on a hot tin roof (underneath are kept chickens and roosters and turkeys)</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM0w19UL9EsWNNVhB-VMZ7r6NF848jwdBko0mlNbKZwKmCDVZnpSpq17zQWqwmVqQeqpF1seInD3B3kmxqADGUg7dHJGG3HlVFd_xizn5flpVYVG9VSXneeG-EXFtB5WVUB7HMJHRqtFUd/s1600/marc+resting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM0w19UL9EsWNNVhB-VMZ7r6NF848jwdBko0mlNbKZwKmCDVZnpSpq17zQWqwmVqQeqpF1seInD3B3kmxqADGUg7dHJGG3HlVFd_xizn5flpVYVG9VSXneeG-EXFtB5WVUB7HMJHRqtFUd/s640/marc+resting.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marc relaxing on our lovely, lovely veranda/porch...</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWM_5Pb5LjFNclPBQwr6AVD5cGCYB3YFSEdyeG4Jz4EXCtuAWgh-FzIHEbUGhzOB4kHkAoMNzPLd-vhwLK6qnBDtNJMA8E-Xrkcxn70UlH1NuMB-g8yftEghRSULIxK_fUv2E2z-lqhVCx/s1600/morning+sunrise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWM_5Pb5LjFNclPBQwr6AVD5cGCYB3YFSEdyeG4Jz4EXCtuAWgh-FzIHEbUGhzOB4kHkAoMNzPLd-vhwLK6qnBDtNJMA8E-Xrkcxn70UlH1NuMB-g8yftEghRSULIxK_fUv2E2z-lqhVCx/s640/morning+sunrise.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">from which this is the early morning view......</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieB4YDnyT3yDJzzB1A4V16rxaV-_LLhyphenhyphendIbT2nh_C14s2gj2sIFNeZ-NLSfXKwh_V_8ebvt4lyM12tXAbzdrWtTwyuo12_SDakmA3ezKcaPKzXSzIG5mk4G_wLob6zxB9e-lWvHZJIAiIE/s1600/morning+view1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieB4YDnyT3yDJzzB1A4V16rxaV-_LLhyphenhyphendIbT2nh_C14s2gj2sIFNeZ-NLSfXKwh_V_8ebvt4lyM12tXAbzdrWtTwyuo12_SDakmA3ezKcaPKzXSzIG5mk4G_wLob6zxB9e-lWvHZJIAiIE/s640/morning+view1.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">or this.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXPfN3wko6XpOQ3qI6cITjNI3II_ntYKQlbravz8ZjQ8gth8sZn9-LokT4sXY_xC2NazEBfVwE2-AcqyPo9vktW7t4hyzYrnnrBIYg5Xrj0IQXNtPxd1IFGnvzqIRKn2V2U_wIX999dG7S/s1600/pool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXPfN3wko6XpOQ3qI6cITjNI3II_ntYKQlbravz8ZjQ8gth8sZn9-LokT4sXY_xC2NazEBfVwE2-AcqyPo9vktW7t4hyzYrnnrBIYg5Xrj0IQXNtPxd1IFGnvzqIRKn2V2U_wIX999dG7S/s640/pool.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a very nice pool</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP4WQC0D29PXlCy-HHmx2mRJYpl_dG3T-wAINC1VCmva6tjaIi4ksSHmxslyjTL2yOIkhTo8_WNKLvv0xnIisJ1PGnf5HHhnQ5L-kHk0V_hZ9NXIoPgB7rB2v6DJjlLlP-KnmFi-979Nam/s1600/saturday+morning+coffee+porch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP4WQC0D29PXlCy-HHmx2mRJYpl_dG3T-wAINC1VCmva6tjaIi4ksSHmxslyjTL2yOIkhTo8_WNKLvv0xnIisJ1PGnf5HHhnQ5L-kHk0V_hZ9NXIoPgB7rB2v6DJjlLlP-KnmFi-979Nam/s640/saturday+morning+coffee+porch.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saturday morning coffee before we head over for breakfast. This is the first trip where I've brought my own<br />
coffee gear, and it's WONDERFUL!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ECI0H-X00b3mFgYRJnAuUe7j-hXNt-8g95AkUkT7vD9qw26nk7p_UBgcm-c92EDkDBiQrm39LWepgBdx5vz9fxw0xiL-mh4wPE3oIR6nKaIMyuBMQtVPE9kbPHntTNUKF1auktUXY8Nb/s1600/yaya+kitchen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ECI0H-X00b3mFgYRJnAuUe7j-hXNt-8g95AkUkT7vD9qw26nk7p_UBgcm-c92EDkDBiQrm39LWepgBdx5vz9fxw0xiL-mh4wPE3oIR6nKaIMyuBMQtVPE9kbPHntTNUKF1auktUXY8Nb/s640/yaya+kitchen.jpg" width="552" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">so here's Yaya, the pig, who has the run of the place. She's pretty hilarious and wonderful.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrhjcOWVfLHIpqUADcwhTqIPT1XPNUjA0JxpxWjlvHkPkUDUBfxB6B9BybtU8YtmQNhx3ulZL2aOk5a4cg4EgZAvXTpZfzYPifyBzzvY90pY6VdFuSJVg5vTvr1-7GZq4HbkC5MNrJUCn_/s1600/yaya.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrhjcOWVfLHIpqUADcwhTqIPT1XPNUjA0JxpxWjlvHkPkUDUBfxB6B9BybtU8YtmQNhx3ulZL2aOk5a4cg4EgZAvXTpZfzYPifyBzzvY90pY6VdFuSJVg5vTvr1-7GZq4HbkC5MNrJUCn_/s640/yaya.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...and LARGE. Chin thought he was buying a potbelly pig.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKf6wDHSViHnis50cqAB4AqWVrEPq2MGXywuurLVfa6fB0HF4krx8hSR2bGJOyASizBtNCGgddBMqouVppExrGcOavgmawoy0mws5Da_8-2dfUSt5KV0pmZocBoQ35WRaT1JhIwho2ENqn/s1600/yellow+flowers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKf6wDHSViHnis50cqAB4AqWVrEPq2MGXywuurLVfa6fB0HF4krx8hSR2bGJOyASizBtNCGgddBMqouVppExrGcOavgmawoy0mws5Da_8-2dfUSt5KV0pmZocBoQ35WRaT1JhIwho2ENqn/s640/yellow+flowers.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These brilliant yellow flowers are everywhere.</td></tr>
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One day we went into Khlongyai with Chin, because we needed to stop by a bank and he was going to the market. We stopped for lunch afterwards -- gra prow kai dow, my favorite. I didn't think to get a picture of it, I was too eager to eat it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhURdUUdvUhzZ-QYUUbNxU_0YmotOtc_0Y5Ez5MvvrS0mihwsNcwWvFGbayrswZQ5JYHGqorFy1iPDvm0Bxv2vjpZk1QAxbfJY_aTT3UvGEkk7Q1e3Pn7ET7vwX5nTrIrhB7Z2FdUpDdKVw/s1600/big+eye+fish+market.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhURdUUdvUhzZ-QYUUbNxU_0YmotOtc_0Y5Ez5MvvrS0mihwsNcwWvFGbayrswZQ5JYHGqorFy1iPDvm0Bxv2vjpZk1QAxbfJY_aTT3UvGEkk7Q1e3Pn7ET7vwX5nTrIrhB7Z2FdUpDdKVw/s640/big+eye+fish+market.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These are mysteriously called "big eye fish." No idea why. :)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq-jC0mWR7YW07CtAdlN53zTMbgQXt-PR1tP9fE-dekS1Jn-P0kkJoPzcL1bzYOwpYg-dJu2SSZeDSMztTHp0pibGP3jZz_N80bPxuh-PajkjXxqVhFVtOkzr6EAIxvyTykD5rSbslXNpY/s1600/chin+buying+fish+market.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="528" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq-jC0mWR7YW07CtAdlN53zTMbgQXt-PR1tP9fE-dekS1Jn-P0kkJoPzcL1bzYOwpYg-dJu2SSZeDSMztTHp0pibGP3jZz_N80bPxuh-PajkjXxqVhFVtOkzr6EAIxvyTykD5rSbslXNpY/s640/chin+buying+fish+market.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chin buying the fish he would later cook for our dinner</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We watched a woman brilliantly filleting these small fish, and these bits will be<br />
sent to the cat food factory.</td></tr>
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It was a pretty routine market, cement floors and inside a building -- about as far removed from the tiny one in Nong Khiaw as it could be.<br />
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A couple more days here, this may be the only post from Mairood because it'll just be more of the same. More of the lovely, relaxing same.Lorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676317652927356121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682858015981528400.post-80377712483590111582016-11-23T07:30:00.002-05:002016-11-23T07:30:40.078-05:00Nong Khiaw, Days 2 and 3This part of Laos was bombarded especially heavily by the US during the war with Vietnam; from 1964 to 1973, as part of the Secret War operation conducted during the Vietnam War, the US military dropped 260 million cluster bombs – about 2.5 million tons of munitions – on Laos over the course of 580,000 bombing missions. This is equivalent to a planeload of bombs being unloaded every eight minutes, 24 hours a day, for nine years – nearly seven bombs for every man, woman and child living in Laos. It is more than all the bombs dropped on Europe throughout World War II, leaving Laos, a country approximately the size of Utah, with the unfortunate distinction of being the most heavily bombed country in history. The most widely used types of bombs were anti-personnel cluster bombs filled with 670 bomblets that were intended to explode on or shortly after impact. These bomblets, about the size of a tennis ball, are known as “bombies” in Laos. Each bombie contains around 250 steel pellets, which were meant to fire in a 2 to 4-meter radius when detonated, thus crippling but not killing enemy soldiers. Since the US hasn't even acknowledged having done this (until somewhat grudgingly, and incompletely, very recently), we have not even helped clean up the mess. Unexploded ordnance (UXO) accidents still continue at a rate of more than 200 per year. Even to this day, there is one UXO accident occurring at least every two days, and more than half of the victims die almost immediately. If victims survive, the explosion often causes severe injury, especially to the upper half of the body. Many survivors suffer from burns, blindness, deafness, paralysis and loss of limbs as a result of the explosion. Over half of the amputations are of the hand, lower and upper arm. Just in Nong Khiaw, a village of about 3,000 people, we see men who are missing arms and legs. You do not venture off the paths, here, for that reason. We were walking on an unpaved road outside of Nong Khiaw and I reached for an interesting-looking rock -- round, dark brown, with indentations all around. Marc stopped me -- might've been a bombie. As I always feel in Vietnam, I want to put my arms around every single Lao I meet and apologize for my country's actions, but that's ridiculous, and is only a momentary salve for my own conscience. Today when we were walking, we passed a man who was missing one entire arm, and he held a large knife between his shoulder stump and his leg so he could strip bamboo.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">they often use bomb parts as grim decoration -- and sometimes they paint words and peace signs on them.</td></tr>
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It's very painful and hard to be an American out in the world, and I am always so grateful for and bewildered by the real kindness the Lao and Vietnamese show us, despite this.<br />
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SO. Just as we did last year, we hired a boat to take us up the Nam Ou -- again, stopping at Ban Sop Jam, a tiny weaving village that could only be reached by boat last time, but is now accessible by a new road being built, and then stopping at Muang Ngoi on our way back to Nong Khiaw. Instead of having the boat all to ourselves, as we did last time, we shared it with Barry and Debra, two Californians we met at Mandala Ou who wanted to make the same trip. Barry had been to Muang Ngoi 12 years earlier, and they had just come from Bhutan. We did exactly the same things as last time: in Ban Sop Jam we walked through the village, spoke to children, and bought some handwoven scarves (and I admired the various looms); in Muang Ngoi we ate lunch at a different place than last time, and took a little stroll through the village.<br />
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<span id="goog_1539521120"></span><span id="goog_1539521121"></span><br />
<br />
So what was notable were the changes, in a two-year span. Last time we were there, at the far end of Ban Sop Jam was an elementary school, with two small pieces of handmade playground equipment including a fat piece of bamboo set up as a seesaw. The road that's under construction passes behind the village (and goes toward Muang Ngoi and then on to Nong Khiaw, we presume) so the school is gone. Surely it has just been relocated, but the village is SO SMALL we didn't see it replaced anywhere. There are lots of kids in the villages, so we just must not have spotted it.<br />
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When you come to Ban Sop Jam, there isn't a landing -- you just pull up at a kind of beach and scramble out, and then cross a long stretch of sand to find the stairs climbing up to the village. There was a huge piece of equipment on the sand bar, so the tiny village is definitely about to change, and perhaps dramatically.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the village</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this greeted us as soon as we entered the village. Fish drying......</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0oV_Rw4noRfSTff7qndTTX8lslZAMKHsQUbL-aX6Ybw4wUMOSf_AaXcUbhKrTZezsT4JvSYKKtaOdkR1aMeSDq8DUvOFefIUVqyjh0el0EW8j8iWJVP66ZzZ2tjODFnduo29Y81sqZP1s/s1600/BSJ+rat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0oV_Rw4noRfSTff7qndTTX8lslZAMKHsQUbL-aX6Ybw4wUMOSf_AaXcUbhKrTZezsT4JvSYKKtaOdkR1aMeSDq8DUvOFefIUVqyjh0el0EW8j8iWJVP66ZzZ2tjODFnduo29Y81sqZP1s/s640/BSJ+rat.jpg" width="402" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and a rat. Good thing we'd decided to eat in Muang Ngoi. </td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD_CO4ZECNKZ4Sbz_CcPMqLjPD7k0iXpDIfKvCJkhx-3LzKXVWPWz7IKboXsycod0TrofUoxOtpwdJ-5SjJTHYsdLik0kCZRk86Hs6D8AMxNqaiMjygV5ga04x9n2Kg7fjcyrk8ts2IIE-/s1600/BSJ+flowers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD_CO4ZECNKZ4Sbz_CcPMqLjPD7k0iXpDIfKvCJkhx-3LzKXVWPWz7IKboXsycod0TrofUoxOtpwdJ-5SjJTHYsdLik0kCZRk86Hs6D8AMxNqaiMjygV5ga04x9n2Kg7fjcyrk8ts2IIE-/s640/BSJ+flowers.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">lots of kids hanging around</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1yFj2h2Rf6ZdQR4KrDeZt2ehPUlASSVVrCqHsZGm9Qgr3ZYhBsyhTlQj17-NF9c3AOJO2n9RoQFjM3w4TdBsOMHBuI42olvz0voOTvkAIo5xkiEE2mmGqQkhB4sTUMsJg_4SEWh944hLr/s1600/BSJ+loom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1yFj2h2Rf6ZdQR4KrDeZt2ehPUlASSVVrCqHsZGm9Qgr3ZYhBsyhTlQj17-NF9c3AOJO2n9RoQFjM3w4TdBsOMHBuI42olvz0voOTvkAIo5xkiEE2mmGqQkhB4sTUMsJg_4SEWh944hLr/s640/BSJ+loom.jpg" width="512" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and at least one loom outside every home, often two or three</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicFtHweO1nN9lGzszdK79iqw4QAY5N4WHKtAAvrcT9AleV8mCMeJsnNzR65b9CgGqaMfPwYyF2lI6OWGEjzzvc_8CKqpm4uJpSW2EInDsM_xYU5Y_LQPq79zAZm7ki1rVBiE223cXTw_e_/s1600/BSJ+scarves+hairwash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="454" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicFtHweO1nN9lGzszdK79iqw4QAY5N4WHKtAAvrcT9AleV8mCMeJsnNzR65b9CgGqaMfPwYyF2lI6OWGEjzzvc_8CKqpm4uJpSW2EInDsM_xYU5Y_LQPq79zAZm7ki1rVBiE223cXTw_e_/s640/BSJ+scarves+hairwash.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">handwoven scarves? hair washing?</td></tr>
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Muang Ngoi seemed more developed too -- two new hotels being built, some new guest houses, and some new restaurants. Just as last time, though, having lunch was a very slow business. Barry and Debra wanted to do a bit of hiking behind Muang Ngoi, so we arranged to meet each other at the boat two hours later, and it took almost that amount of time to get our lunch. No idea why, but that happened last time, and at a different restaurant. Perhaps it's just the Muang Ngoi way. But oh it was delicious; Marc had pumpkin curry and I had yellow curry with vegetables. We had just enough time to walk to the Buddhist temple, and then back the other direction before it was time to get back to the boat.<br />
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Barry and Debra had collected a young Israeli man who needed a ride back to Nong Khiaw, so he joined us and he was so lovely. He commented on the horror of our election, and that was his word...and of course we all agreed. It has been hard to let go of the dread and misery we feel, even this far away. We have both tried, but it's just soaked into us and we know we'll return to it, even though we both also want to be here while we are here.<br />
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Have I written yet about the damn rooster? It's just a few feet from our room, and the first night it crowed all night long. We both hated it by the morning, and Marc thinks he may even have had a dream of killing it. Last night it didn't really get started crowing until about 3am, and I didn't ever get back to sleep after that. So when the sun was up, we decided to head over to the market in hopes of getting the sugary fried dough we got the first morning. I made my super strong coffee, and off we went.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmCU0mxtSmAnz63Rv1-MYxlszIQv8u2iJhUgWx4ojPsnHP3Cy-fMVssVBcrNqcadWBNk70r7RopOV755k0HxvEac3wKvIWaYuFFXGYUAYGtdKHI7RsTQRXKkM6iZSAHxBnQEgZ8ck0cEzT/s1600/NK+morning+alms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmCU0mxtSmAnz63Rv1-MYxlszIQv8u2iJhUgWx4ojPsnHP3Cy-fMVssVBcrNqcadWBNk70r7RopOV755k0HxvEac3wKvIWaYuFFXGYUAYGtdKHI7RsTQRXKkM6iZSAHxBnQEgZ8ck0cEzT/s640/NK+morning+alms.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the morning alms round in NK is dramatically different, and less theatrical, than the one in Luang Prabang.<br />Feeding the monks is one of the few ways for women to earn merit.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTVzu9KMworzbZMzy_KNb9FdXoaDYIkwq9MK3ajml9ZW2r-v1u8VNSUvy3z4eWp_fohki6BbMtAvropkaamp7iEJdvrBadHj-PA7flPEVY872y-2sFDTc7uf4lL7dkUiFTtAWy6W0GWgx6/s1600/NK+donuts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTVzu9KMworzbZMzy_KNb9FdXoaDYIkwq9MK3ajml9ZW2r-v1u8VNSUvy3z4eWp_fohki6BbMtAvropkaamp7iEJdvrBadHj-PA7flPEVY872y-2sFDTc7uf4lL7dkUiFTtAWy6W0GWgx6/s640/NK+donuts.jpg" width="582" /></a></div>
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After breakfast, we decided to just ramble around town, and we thought we might try a designated walk we'd seen on various maps. It went straight up one of the karst mountains. I actually thought it was great fun, and I'm a scaredy cat! I get scared to the point of paralysis when my feet feel like they're slipping, but in this case the climb was rocky, plenty of places to grab hold of something sturdy, and there were trees and thick vines. But the rocks were very sharp and jagged, and if either of us had fallen, I shudder to think what those rocks would've done to us. The bigger issue was the verticality -- we went pretty far, I was so proud of us, and then decided to head back down, since down is a little more complicated and maybe scarier than climbing up. And it was, but it was fine. At the beginning of the hike we passed an older Lao woman collecting wood, and when we were coming back down she laughed a bit. She could probably scramble straight to the top while carrying a basket of wood. But I don't care, it was really so much fun. I was proud of myself, because it's not as if I wasn't afraid; I was, but I felt like I could do it, and when I felt the fear start to tremble just a little bit, I'd anchor my foot and grab a rock or tree and just step out. Going down I frequently squatted and kind of sat my way down the mountain, but that's ok with me too!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ENtEvJjFpyBBfJrPYA3LM_Wjy64a9Bj_ArRGCNFJwQX3Nxp90wtlxYj1d_A9aVMXs8gPXco36Mq5lDCUdIPPyQjn0g0RRfUspJgIZs24x0Jl6qfiSI4dZK3OFLCPvK7_4caNPobe25BF/s1600/NK+mountain+climb1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ENtEvJjFpyBBfJrPYA3LM_Wjy64a9Bj_ArRGCNFJwQX3Nxp90wtlxYj1d_A9aVMXs8gPXco36Mq5lDCUdIPPyQjn0g0RRfUspJgIZs24x0Jl6qfiSI4dZK3OFLCPvK7_4caNPobe25BF/s640/NK+mountain+climb1.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the path wasn't always this good or clear</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_AygQp-_9cfpWunrxLv3YMOYCLX7i-aGlkqCgTb5lsHVvshLoC286iZ3vCk3BzVxWqMlAViBHojzK43O4dZ3WgEAcXpzGcQVm5IbGjWAJ2xpOYnL5iiGJwkq7fMd9yPJgbxaxb1BjvNzg/s1600/NK+mountain+climb2+marc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_AygQp-_9cfpWunrxLv3YMOYCLX7i-aGlkqCgTb5lsHVvshLoC286iZ3vCk3BzVxWqMlAViBHojzK43O4dZ3WgEAcXpzGcQVm5IbGjWAJ2xpOYnL5iiGJwkq7fMd9yPJgbxaxb1BjvNzg/s640/NK+mountain+climb2+marc.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeqIe4eRCwmQURcOXeouvDi2qwq-VXc6LxgKDYWVu3HN9E86mAT59CKeQiW8CzA2XOr-Zuiinnx5iHo2njDEFyU_-bgojmqB2S2AlkzEvLDiDAqLOMahvi-GQtkog_e0zJHtntFUtYxr4C/s1600/NK+mountain+climb3+lori.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeqIe4eRCwmQURcOXeouvDi2qwq-VXc6LxgKDYWVu3HN9E86mAT59CKeQiW8CzA2XOr-Zuiinnx5iHo2njDEFyU_-bgojmqB2S2AlkzEvLDiDAqLOMahvi-GQtkog_e0zJHtntFUtYxr4C/s640/NK+mountain+climb3+lori.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">scared and proud, yo!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTQ4HmTi4m9vY-Wclna2id68ommCTGyEAxca6UAfrQkIpPLqENm4wP3DOD16ihew2GDdxMfCoaWKCUJK2A25pfu_-eCFZCKxxPO0BBdQbgv_f9cHRVymJ7LB82pH6crY4jFYK2NxRrblsc/s1600/NK+mountain+climb4+view.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTQ4HmTi4m9vY-Wclna2id68ommCTGyEAxca6UAfrQkIpPLqENm4wP3DOD16ihew2GDdxMfCoaWKCUJK2A25pfu_-eCFZCKxxPO0BBdQbgv_f9cHRVymJ7LB82pH6crY4jFYK2NxRrblsc/s640/NK+mountain+climb4+view.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">that was the view</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimV4Ky2jNfS-E6ZrcpP_TZA19PabmNTuGDxMGRglQft2WpTMRGOYCHnlap-ghlT2DIxwV_hcvHD62e4uIbap0facif7t8envbV-JvfTKxpHNafZbLPvD2gs_ETS09PZNaQHubWl5BKFmL6/s1600/NK+mountain+climb5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimV4Ky2jNfS-E6ZrcpP_TZA19PabmNTuGDxMGRglQft2WpTMRGOYCHnlap-ghlT2DIxwV_hcvHD62e4uIbap0facif7t8envbV-JvfTKxpHNafZbLPvD2gs_ETS09PZNaQHubWl5BKFmL6/s640/NK+mountain+climb5.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and the handholds were like this -- or sometimes just sharp pointy rocks.</td></tr>
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But ooh boy, that's a kind of physical activity I'm not at all used to, and by the time we were down on the street again, my thighs were quivering and a couple of times I thought my legs were going to give out and drop me to the ground. While I recovered, Marc took a walk to the Buddhist monastery in town, which seems to have been refurbished a bit since we were here last.<br />
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It's been great being back in Nong Khiaw, and we're so looking forward to our next stop, which is Mairood, on the coast of Thailand.Lorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676317652927356121noreply@blogger.com0Nong Khiaw, Laos20.5710354 102.6115749000000520.556169399999998 102.59140490000006 20.5859014 102.63174490000004tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682858015981528400.post-2598389737911449062016-11-21T04:39:00.001-05:002016-11-21T04:49:55.129-05:00we return to Nong KhiawOh how we love this tiny little village. We love it almost unreasonably, given what it is. There isn't that much to do here; there is a tiny little morning market, and a big muddy river that you can hike alongside, or hire a boat to travel to nearby villages. We are staying at Mandala Ou for a second time, a perfectly wonderful small boutique hotel right on the river. We wanted to come back last year (it's been two years since we were here) but the place was already booked. Nick, the owner of the property, wants to sell it and we toy with the idea but we love to travel too much to be tied down as owners of a property.<br />
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Nong Khiaw is only 75 miles north of Luang Prabang, but it takes 3 hours by private car (4 hours by public bus) and the last time we came, we thought surely that was a mistake. The road is paved almost the entire way, but it just does take that long. Not only is it a sinuous road, tight esses the whole way, but you have to drive S-shapes within the road to avoid the enormous potholes. And the road is so bumpy, so if you're prone to motion sickness, as I am, the up-and-down and side-to-side trip is unpleasant. And three very long hours. We had thought about going directly to Nong Khiaw when we landed in Luang Prabang, but decided a 28-hour day deserved a night of real sleep and I'm so glad we did.<br />
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Still, since I had taken Dramamine, when we got to the Mandala Ou I crashed <i>hard, </i>that heavily drugged sleep, and slept for at least 3 hours.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqSo_DCtwhMgcirsjTLC8-n_SgxMgLUYXtwoz0Aq7G0QR5iv8C9cCiro6X5bC5SV6tmajNy0JoDpqHrtHFjudeMJC9kJJAd3yWKDL__xTQEOrCZqzdhogzURbrbyBHEDnF2elxmNg-N54R/s1600/nk+hammock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqSo_DCtwhMgcirsjTLC8-n_SgxMgLUYXtwoz0Aq7G0QR5iv8C9cCiro6X5bC5SV6tmajNy0JoDpqHrtHFjudeMJC9kJJAd3yWKDL__xTQEOrCZqzdhogzURbrbyBHEDnF2elxmNg-N54R/s640/nk+hammock.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a brief post-nap rest in the hammock, in the yoga studio overlooking the river</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEUPeleSgnEhYYgwyMK_GQSuFbR_JV9Z63M9wHrA2rep81K8_dL630-OkVyQK5K122kq8Ns6DqPrnzKCezQ7Vta8H_p3DFbYA8YCWxHRRCHKlCOL33l37s1R2I11vQeNNxzFBoeX4gKPyG/s1600/nk+porch+marc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEUPeleSgnEhYYgwyMK_GQSuFbR_JV9Z63M9wHrA2rep81K8_dL630-OkVyQK5K122kq8Ns6DqPrnzKCezQ7Vta8H_p3DFbYA8YCWxHRRCHKlCOL33l37s1R2I11vQeNNxzFBoeX4gKPyG/s640/nk+porch+marc.jpg" width="544" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this is our little porch</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD5ErRQ4s_qJ6wYAnfKkzq4R9wBHGm_2QZUfwzZYa5XnYBu4ulu0EH4rmfeZn_kFHmbFEfUf4jJLiXso47bYUS-jpDcaKrDLi1Je1hsj7I8Fmu_mwZKGubrOncOocMkUFaV3LYlXwUy741/s1600/nk+room+view1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD5ErRQ4s_qJ6wYAnfKkzq4R9wBHGm_2QZUfwzZYa5XnYBu4ulu0EH4rmfeZn_kFHmbFEfUf4jJLiXso47bYUS-jpDcaKrDLi1Je1hsj7I8Fmu_mwZKGubrOncOocMkUFaV3LYlXwUy741/s640/nk+room+view1.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and this is the view from our room</td></tr>
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I could've slept more, but Marc helped me get up so we could go to dinner -- a walk down the main road to a lovely little spot, Coco Home Bar & Restaurant, the highest-rated place in town. It was OK, not nearly as good as Joy's, in Luang Prabang, but good enough.<br />
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We walked back under the night sky full of stars, and quickly crashed.,,,<br />
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....only to be immediately awakened by the damn rooster right next to our cabin. Which seemed to think its mission was to let everyone know IT'S DARK! HEY! IT'S DARK! HEY! HEY! HEY! IT'S DARK EVERYONE!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I saw him this morning -- my sworn enemy. Swine rooster.</td></tr>
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What a crappy night. The rooster crowed all night long, and I only slept in tiny little sips. I finished reading <i>The Human Stain </i>(meh, my least favorite Philip Roth ever), and I was pretty cranky when we finally decided to get up. I made a very strong couple of cups of coffee and we headed out for the morning market.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpHCCkclNfhOVRhD7ergub7S4BIsisr2ncUuXTCB69Xixm9GHvKQQtve2T6u3tUrqV7KRAaymEvQnjwpdY9muM-6n_0JvUi2T8GTVlM4uzZ6l8l082rG4a33gk6RY4Zltzw2AlBkzpzyDm/s1600/nk+breakfast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpHCCkclNfhOVRhD7ergub7S4BIsisr2ncUuXTCB69Xixm9GHvKQQtve2T6u3tUrqV7KRAaymEvQnjwpdY9muM-6n_0JvUi2T8GTVlM4uzZ6l8l082rG4a33gk6RY4Zltzw2AlBkzpzyDm/s640/nk+breakfast.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">out of order here -- breakfast at the hotel after we went to the morning market. I love eating in this spot.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbuIQP60A3KAjxQzXy8B9UaiSOgsYqhEDCieEiXjOl_5qWs9L3jzhLYy5nC2KeFqMdLFT1sVEr1-nj5D_HfT4wFHoT9Jcyd73O1LFg6MkbTZWxJaijL6p7_ofxvmkG8k36EqhruU8hucfz/s1600/nk+marc+buying+treats.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbuIQP60A3KAjxQzXy8B9UaiSOgsYqhEDCieEiXjOl_5qWs9L3jzhLYy5nC2KeFqMdLFT1sVEr1-nj5D_HfT4wFHoT9Jcyd73O1LFg6MkbTZWxJaijL6p7_ofxvmkG8k36EqhruU8hucfz/s640/nk+marc+buying+treats.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marc bought us a couple of little sweet treats -- bits of fried, sugared dough. He basically handed her some<br />
money and waited to see her response to know if he'd gotten it right. :)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a panorama of the morning market. It's a tiny one.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEhHSWlGrUmIOhRzUp-GuMbuQLvaDVQ6bn-xSummJtMzYbOlGK2JdlHM8RhBFnyjo56EAyJVSn8s1GqcUza-Dan_rj0WW5el3Yv9_y6I1Q5_rgNC_nvxx0CfYuYo8b6nOs30y26zcKcBS_/s1600/nk+market+entrance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="574" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEhHSWlGrUmIOhRzUp-GuMbuQLvaDVQ6bn-xSummJtMzYbOlGK2JdlHM8RhBFnyjo56EAyJVSn8s1GqcUza-Dan_rj0WW5el3Yv9_y6I1Q5_rgNC_nvxx0CfYuYo8b6nOs30y26zcKcBS_/s640/nk+market+entrance.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">School kids walking through the market</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2aHG-_ZdC3WRz8_JLn1je21WgE2miDYrh1FAC8JmnI-JWAiCYUwhHtN9_21LO7YZ6e2dOzgzi3F5l2tbCvOyTYuJ3nt7feIDkeG6RJ1mBxrmV15pTYOhVEzTDrtUBQKhy9_bwkKoOKM8V/s1600/nk+lori+morning+pano.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2aHG-_ZdC3WRz8_JLn1je21WgE2miDYrh1FAC8JmnI-JWAiCYUwhHtN9_21LO7YZ6e2dOzgzi3F5l2tbCvOyTYuJ3nt7feIDkeG6RJ1mBxrmV15pTYOhVEzTDrtUBQKhy9_bwkKoOKM8V/s640/nk+lori+morning+pano.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">we walk along a path next to the river to get back to our hotel. It's so beautiful.</td></tr>
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The little kids in Nong Khiaw are really adorable. They run up to us and want to do a high five and then a low five. They like to run through that twice, and then they're done. So far none have added a fist bump, but I wouldn't be surprised by that. They're really adorable, smiling and waving at us. Last time none of them did this high five thing, it's new and so funny.<br />
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After breakfast, we wanted to walk over the bridge that spans the gorgeous Nam Ou. Every morning the mountains are shrouded in mist.<br />
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On the other side of the bridge we decided to follow a little road, which turned into a few-mile trek along the river and slightly up the mountain. It was so gorgeous.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Always shrouded in mist</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZSrVgbl_utBrrRrf-UQylajlCqCsXeQ-ojakexIAMNXk8RiU796M02BpcC4zjunh2jG6evLl92we2YxKt4eWZXQe2KZoaqUlDiwh1lDhoL1PvcMpxa5ppHkmXLvTFr_12GzB_wWamJz1d/s1600/nk+hike2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZSrVgbl_utBrrRrf-UQylajlCqCsXeQ-ojakexIAMNXk8RiU796M02BpcC4zjunh2jG6evLl92we2YxKt4eWZXQe2KZoaqUlDiwh1lDhoL1PvcMpxa5ppHkmXLvTFr_12GzB_wWamJz1d/s640/nk+hike2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hmong people live in these mountains. We kept hearing bells, the kind that hang around goats' necks.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgickfvUVnELjIiKfTHrSYJXNpwk1xU26f20tAe0tJwTFO4vLZ_hOAJZ0WUxw4kxA5CtPWxvrEeUz8wlZkDkbMGMPudYYbk2XpUZSVQZYQqcVsc0GK9q28lZH00d8C_oipyJV5X40OcE8f/s1600/nk+hike7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgickfvUVnELjIiKfTHrSYJXNpwk1xU26f20tAe0tJwTFO4vLZ_hOAJZ0WUxw4kxA5CtPWxvrEeUz8wlZkDkbMGMPudYYbk2XpUZSVQZYQqcVsc0GK9q28lZH00d8C_oipyJV5X40OcE8f/s640/nk+hike7.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtkdQKAdOXLuE-g43Jd4M-QbH9louv4WFTCPb3b8517h-J6sIGC4N2L6j_JnssmCpx3sDNb2_x0vUiYYa2ucl0fB1asBf1LA5vb7RbTKfUTJ5z4UgQHnECG8N_GPdDj41dttU_EsszPXbx/s1600/nk+hike9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtkdQKAdOXLuE-g43Jd4M-QbH9louv4WFTCPb3b8517h-J6sIGC4N2L6j_JnssmCpx3sDNb2_x0vUiYYa2ucl0fB1asBf1LA5vb7RbTKfUTJ5z4UgQHnECG8N_GPdDj41dttU_EsszPXbx/s640/nk+hike9.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEhwReQc9R2yYfrp35k_Xdt3uP4I7EtdB1Q6YB6GbATiBdy2XJw_rpcTOthup0CGQ4DkI74YibaC09cqcDF2MunW_LnZ3uR1OsA5gsslN3h1e2eDNbxJjVvWCu6qhM3uMAVUXLpmvZXspZ/s1600/nk+hike+bare+trees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="552" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEhwReQc9R2yYfrp35k_Xdt3uP4I7EtdB1Q6YB6GbATiBdy2XJw_rpcTOthup0CGQ4DkI74YibaC09cqcDF2MunW_LnZ3uR1OsA5gsslN3h1e2eDNbxJjVvWCu6qhM3uMAVUXLpmvZXspZ/s640/nk+hike+bare+trees.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I liked the bare trees that are scattered on the mountainsides</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnBis4QfAV8AvKLZD1Px4JGCTThZpEw7bMwmCn-ldCMsYdd_IhM6dCLrG3xlkcad6h6sDHKxop1BcyxfwFn6Jds8_zF2embd6hyDpy5CfeBDhc-QAvwknlKJlMtljw5Kor2JdbosEgZps4/s1600/nk+hike+purple+flowers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnBis4QfAV8AvKLZD1Px4JGCTThZpEw7bMwmCn-ldCMsYdd_IhM6dCLrG3xlkcad6h6sDHKxop1BcyxfwFn6Jds8_zF2embd6hyDpy5CfeBDhc-QAvwknlKJlMtljw5Kor2JdbosEgZps4/s640/nk+hike+purple+flowers.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">these tiny purple flowers were everywhere.....</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtDBrPplPd6cgLGX9r1i8OG3DgDFki8FBcAcRBVXtQtsdgYdUZv4OOwGpIAwVErKGPPtC-sYRY66tXCB9OqojLPxj97vbrtVJaQlZUfEmqQIw3X2FYoBeFdxuqNPtPXfp4OE3Sm7Hv0TmC/s1600/nk+hike+yellow+flower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtDBrPplPd6cgLGX9r1i8OG3DgDFki8FBcAcRBVXtQtsdgYdUZv4OOwGpIAwVErKGPPtC-sYRY66tXCB9OqojLPxj97vbrtVJaQlZUfEmqQIw3X2FYoBeFdxuqNPtPXfp4OE3Sm7Hv0TmC/s640/nk+hike+yellow+flower.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...but we only saw a couple of these</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVdueZu7yrdpwkdrZn95H1G29_PX8KZoDtCNEkwoV6CPXn8SAYrVtuQnMiZ-iCZCxpBLDeWuvd7OORJDW63Ot1TsXZx4FP1_HrKPaWnPVnBrvVp79LZaefG3Bl93fESu8NwYI_MY5emoQM/s1600/nk+mountains+mist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVdueZu7yrdpwkdrZn95H1G29_PX8KZoDtCNEkwoV6CPXn8SAYrVtuQnMiZ-iCZCxpBLDeWuvd7OORJDW63Ot1TsXZx4FP1_HrKPaWnPVnBrvVp79LZaefG3Bl93fESu8NwYI_MY5emoQM/s640/nk+mountains+mist.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8cuGz3Mtkg3x5ctoVbQgpjt0hlk8yn_rl37hmX59ZfJXdoJzuJAFgej2JVKM-f9P-ew6nyo__pHMEIaFFtQF0qoZVNR0Imr-jilB7BBVlDSOBQG58AapV3X5Uzff1UlMrcWsTlaLg-8cU/s1600/nk+mushroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8cuGz3Mtkg3x5ctoVbQgpjt0hlk8yn_rl37hmX59ZfJXdoJzuJAFgej2JVKM-f9P-ew6nyo__pHMEIaFFtQF0qoZVNR0Imr-jilB7BBVlDSOBQG58AapV3X5Uzff1UlMrcWsTlaLg-8cU/s640/nk+mushroom.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcAjCO62sTN56nk6vgBGYQekPiea7Tqkw6A1l-HoxH6RItKmhdd43l_vLY9klVj6Cx3_hoDWyqo-7g2fpwxOfK4UyK1Cyw-HKHEKx4HcwqCZyx8JddRFtU5vu4JeElBl3NVPbUeKF5Vmuh/s1600/nk+pillbug.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcAjCO62sTN56nk6vgBGYQekPiea7Tqkw6A1l-HoxH6RItKmhdd43l_vLY9klVj6Cx3_hoDWyqo-7g2fpwxOfK4UyK1Cyw-HKHEKx4HcwqCZyx8JddRFtU5vu4JeElBl3NVPbUeKF5Vmuh/s640/nk+pillbug.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I stopped to pick up a pretty rock to take home and saw this colorful pillbug -- and instantly felt at home.</td></tr>
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We went out for a bike ride later in the afternoon, just as school was getting out. The Nong Khiaw schools, elementary and secondary, are right across the street from each other so it gets very congested twice a day.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCgDAOKbDUDKBqy2UkrRrQkv7FRWGvnTckPW_oGpV_aMl9LrJe1g6xneqm6D9XK8QJlnhIUIt_kgVCK3qxdTNuz0viOkPvHHrucI088BE_nUEJqeSaYbWxpSvjb0hB-yqyzQpIkloHAiY8/s1600/nk+primary+school.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCgDAOKbDUDKBqy2UkrRrQkv7FRWGvnTckPW_oGpV_aMl9LrJe1g6xneqm6D9XK8QJlnhIUIt_kgVCK3qxdTNuz0viOkPvHHrucI088BE_nUEJqeSaYbWxpSvjb0hB-yqyzQpIkloHAiY8/s640/nk+primary+school.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">for the littles</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7DyPKduoc3peqGa5bcMFC0ck6CjomY8xbWADo19LQNmUFDTCgPlTTj_6N6ezk3y1myvkQTjl5053D176oAufmx7nb1sKNgLy5317kA7GPUeOcFWR0FMbmpjpXyZZanm9TCayIoiDbrl34/s1600/nk+school+kids.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="611" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7DyPKduoc3peqGa5bcMFC0ck6CjomY8xbWADo19LQNmUFDTCgPlTTj_6N6ezk3y1myvkQTjl5053D176oAufmx7nb1sKNgLy5317kA7GPUeOcFWR0FMbmpjpXyZZanm9TCayIoiDbrl34/s640/nk+school+kids.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and the high school kids</td></tr>
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Tomorrow we're taking a boat up the Nam Ou, to Ban Sop Jam and then to Muang Ngoi, for lunch. At the moment, though, I'm just praying that damn rooster has a stroke, or that the family has plans for him tonight, for dinner. It doesn't sound promising.Lorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676317652927356121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682858015981528400.post-22737717423925201422016-11-21T03:07:00.002-05:002016-11-21T03:07:38.786-05:00on returningThere is a deep pleasure in knowing a place that has never been your home. You are then at home in the world, and the world can be yours wherever you go, once you have learned that magic. I had already learned the domestic magic, before I started traveling with Marc in 2005, at home wherever I happened to find myself around the country. But now Southeast Asia is home, too, and there are places where we know exactly what's around this corner, exactly how to get to that great little hidden restaurant, where to buy motion sickness tablets.<br />
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Luang Prabang is one of those places for us (as is Hanoi and Nong Khiaw). When we landed at the small Luang Prabang airport, it felt like a homecoming. We stepped out of the plane into the familiar smell, the familiar feeling of the air, the familiar landscape. (Oh....but first.....our getting-there was kind of amazing. The <i style="font-weight: bold;">only</i> empty seat on the plane was between us, so we had that tiny bit of steerage-class luxury. The connection in Taipei was generous, but the connection in Bangkok seemed like it might be tight -- but everything went so fast, so smoothly, we had lots of time to spare. We had an empty seat between us on all three flights, amazing.)<br />
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Ordinarily we arrange for the hotel to pick us up, but we decided to just get a taxi ourselves -- which turned out to be more like a bus, filled with people, and we'd been traveling 28 hours and just wanted to get straight to the hotel. Marc had read that we could walk beyond the airport and get a tuktuk, and that's kind of what we did (streamlining for storytelling, here).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeEmXK_kdfNUZEmJwc0YnnT6CuOyRJ3w0dUJPWqtsjA3fqUmRjmfYkAIN7irYRoFscAG0qpUPLt9ZZeqoZJNRI8rXsfqRek2JcqDexTc3FyXKFZvDYHOrw2mVesk9HSTuQCVbuii5LTv5s/s1600/marc+lori+tuktuk+from+lp+airport.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeEmXK_kdfNUZEmJwc0YnnT6CuOyRJ3w0dUJPWqtsjA3fqUmRjmfYkAIN7irYRoFscAG0qpUPLt9ZZeqoZJNRI8rXsfqRek2JcqDexTc3FyXKFZvDYHOrw2mVesk9HSTuQCVbuii5LTv5s/s640/marc+lori+tuktuk+from+lp+airport.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">so happy -- one of our favorite places to be: in the back of a tuktuk in SEAsia</td></tr>
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As we left the airport, we were like kids coming home, pointing to places we recognized, telling each other where we were, what was going to be around the corner, spotting landmarks. This was our third time in LP and we know it well enough now to recognize what has changed, what's new, how the tenor has shifted with increased tourism. The Hmong night market is just a clogged part of the street to get through, now, and the food alley that thrilled me so much on our first visit isn't on our itinerary.<br />
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We stayed in a different hotel this time, Villa Ban Lakkham, and it was as charming as it could be, and right on the Nam Kanh. We just wanted to eat dinner at a wonderful little place we'd found the time before, Joy's, and then crash. So we changed out of our travel clothes, rested a tiny bit, and then headed out.<br />
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Joy's is not near our hotel, and we were there two years ago, but we knew exactly how to get there -- such a pleasure. We walked down the main street, winding through the crowded Hmong market, through the roundabout, on to the next roundabout, turn right down a very dark block, and there it was. And the cook <i>said</i> she remembered us from the time before -- whether she did or not is irrelevant, she treated us like old friends and laughed and smiled. Marc ordered the set menu, fried eggplant coated with garlic and with a dipping sauce, and a chicken and fish coconut curry with sticky rice. I got fried veggie rice and a giant Beer Lao, which is my favorite beer on earth ("The Beer of Wholehearted People"). The electricity had been dicey all day, and in fact it blinked off while we were walking through the Hmong market, but we had a candle on our table so we were fine no matter what happened. It didn't lend itself to great photos, though, so we'll just have to remember how delicious that curry was. Marc said it was the very best curry he'd ever had, anywhere.<br />
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We crashed hard and slept all night (and me with my giant red polka dots again, as always in SEAsia), and the next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then took a walk before our ride was to pick us up at 10.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBCTmAEV7fQZfo_MqM06LOfFYIh8FEEYAUGoQroFIHp5HCjSKWOo1DBy190TvB1gJYPrtlZOADRcdjjdVAiiqcrmdCoX7bqGvQOdb8RmXXA60uQuI_PjiAjCABUab2SKYXgtyNND_IrmTr/s1600/lp+breakfast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBCTmAEV7fQZfo_MqM06LOfFYIh8FEEYAUGoQroFIHp5HCjSKWOo1DBy190TvB1gJYPrtlZOADRcdjjdVAiiqcrmdCoX7bqGvQOdb8RmXXA60uQuI_PjiAjCABUab2SKYXgtyNND_IrmTr/s640/lp+breakfast.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lao soup for breakfast</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZGHod64cy9I2GPJ315yrbsAQqdNPhvjeiJjsX6mT7LYpsE52TAFTxkXvyyF3f4vq961RQN4ZW_anRXK-mBQ0HzTXpjTMB_DLC0N5MZZ8FDnzAPp33OnreYpDLBTBcP4VPFUBjlmAkm2ku/s1600/lp+buddhist+archive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZGHod64cy9I2GPJ315yrbsAQqdNPhvjeiJjsX6mT7LYpsE52TAFTxkXvyyF3f4vq961RQN4ZW_anRXK-mBQ0HzTXpjTMB_DLC0N5MZZ8FDnzAPp33OnreYpDLBTBcP4VPFUBjlmAkm2ku/s640/lp+buddhist+archive.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buddhist Archives, with a Meditation Exhibition. What does that mean? People meditating?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM79iXSWIEvHSc3B84uYq-KqeiNb2XSRVVu7bcqWBbKTzmTHiNaRGa8RaPb3rgLywW-Qhai9nQcIzQ8adoSRu3zpLovpGKMYJVa2KcNw2YfPFIBBPa-zBUrbHOFs3bDCdM_8jSKGDaCDT7/s1600/lp+guesthouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM79iXSWIEvHSc3B84uYq-KqeiNb2XSRVVu7bcqWBbKTzmTHiNaRGa8RaPb3rgLywW-Qhai9nQcIzQ8adoSRu3zpLovpGKMYJVa2KcNw2YfPFIBBPa-zBUrbHOFs3bDCdM_8jSKGDaCDT7/s640/lp+guesthouse.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">one of the many little guesthouses along the main road</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPKyPlCRhLS_aRmxCPtnQSOezXPbcUQKhZ4flGbHkmsdsW2aHxpA5FhFFQozMe36DfJV6KToyezQM3PV0gW2v6gE1fbcmKX-Dncd6K_DUM3jEH4uTXbkLHXM70S9C_FZi7RI7Ie9yYO4UO/s1600/lp+marc+lori.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPKyPlCRhLS_aRmxCPtnQSOezXPbcUQKhZ4flGbHkmsdsW2aHxpA5FhFFQozMe36DfJV6KToyezQM3PV0gW2v6gE1fbcmKX-Dncd6K_DUM3jEH4uTXbkLHXM70S9C_FZi7RI7Ie9yYO4UO/s640/lp+marc+lori.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">so happy to be here</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT3u_gXgyqH4hQl3pZREzTHUH9JsNXW5wStJUD7FNkkx2r21td5kxPf-P8wdDfi7oXQPG1iEJo_33RpPJmTNonEduod3TCy4ZTvsATtKJGUifyD3DkzrcAhmsacobTl0xj8GsFztgYKfzT/s1600/lp+monk+pink+tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT3u_gXgyqH4hQl3pZREzTHUH9JsNXW5wStJUD7FNkkx2r21td5kxPf-P8wdDfi7oXQPG1iEJo_33RpPJmTNonEduod3TCy4ZTvsATtKJGUifyD3DkzrcAhmsacobTl0xj8GsFztgYKfzT/s640/lp+monk+pink+tree.jpg" width="506" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">most monks are young men and boys, but this monk was older, and chilly</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVWD8ENtCEk2mUykPC7LxTGthmDQ_UskVUq6XYacKbjr-r4N7fN5xkiZyjVDsZHyS_xHONYD8qXEqKGBW58wWMikveSGhaeS6_jt35mC0BGqpkWy_61udPZaQtN9sl9ddCMl1jZcjnVaVR/s1600/lp+nam+kanh1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="582" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVWD8ENtCEk2mUykPC7LxTGthmDQ_UskVUq6XYacKbjr-r4N7fN5xkiZyjVDsZHyS_xHONYD8qXEqKGBW58wWMikveSGhaeS6_jt35mC0BGqpkWy_61udPZaQtN9sl9ddCMl1jZcjnVaVR/s640/lp+nam+kanh1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the Nam ["River"] Kanh -- the Vietnam River, I just learned!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwoeNfpzs3RWop0lwW7ue3EzJAlVeO-Yp8FF7cUHHro0FH9zO6Hsibdid1NNeThZKzGe6tuTTB5lqUGrRcQnamI72WVsGNfceockAoqAWPcFn5VhbkhtblvnDKHRykauxI5-jJ-UoUEseL/s1600/lp+nam+kanh3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwoeNfpzs3RWop0lwW7ue3EzJAlVeO-Yp8FF7cUHHro0FH9zO6Hsibdid1NNeThZKzGe6tuTTB5lqUGrRcQnamI72WVsGNfceockAoqAWPcFn5VhbkhtblvnDKHRykauxI5-jJ-UoUEseL/s640/lp+nam+kanh3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">looking the other direction</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ktPfj4BHYWlJ-pPQVFGBgsOaTTAD3vCX5cLjl7JZvZvBiW6GaGOWnznf4nR0ot4aARnCLx2eMweEM1aQxgEyld9Kd4ghK2tImN2F68zjE2MfNL_EEdxhgOd2tFgvyuxepZxzz6IvG1We/s1600/lp+wat3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ktPfj4BHYWlJ-pPQVFGBgsOaTTAD3vCX5cLjl7JZvZvBiW6GaGOWnznf4nR0ot4aARnCLx2eMweEM1aQxgEyld9Kd4ghK2tImN2F68zjE2MfNL_EEdxhgOd2tFgvyuxepZxzz6IvG1We/s640/lp+wat3.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">giant Buddha</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhREH9VSn-evlQNBnGIyXA8q7S_V5hh3BpWh1IpYFYHS-RYe7kSUXuUNXELkIOJMjC5Te8Eh-eI2QC4RKWN0y7oklmDRABKsHVWMDbkvoRqmUsGp5Ei66qhiGFAGWtE_z8qGdEDcBUf0VX0/s1600/lp+wat+monks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhREH9VSn-evlQNBnGIyXA8q7S_V5hh3BpWh1IpYFYHS-RYe7kSUXuUNXELkIOJMjC5Te8Eh-eI2QC4RKWN0y7oklmDRABKsHVWMDbkvoRqmUsGp5Ei66qhiGFAGWtE_z8qGdEDcBUf0VX0/s640/lp+wat+monks.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LP is full of temples (Vats)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2GwZcmdE6oiQZnyDZMdtEY8015K9q8Io8hpWA5gLtMpn8G1XF4IMpcyVTjhrLnEKWuqvr24aRb3Un4gLJZZDJqxoxFJckXCas8T9UbBIb8qmTWjvKuF_oopmypt11nioOOAfX0ZQKKQ7Q/s640/lp+wat.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is one of the fancier vats -- but by no means the biggest or fanciest</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxx95WrZVcgtgpAIo8OnU7P7mtrjv_coQaSb09cCd7z6fmcqij_PfiA0IdpJDYQ9OkYnIEfRywIlGA5i3ukT2vN03GyvijM-X26P922QITjzgPRMjb5c2kWT6JjlEOUgRJ1xICV3Aojtd9/s1600/beerlao.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxx95WrZVcgtgpAIo8OnU7P7mtrjv_coQaSb09cCd7z6fmcqij_PfiA0IdpJDYQ9OkYnIEfRywIlGA5i3ukT2vN03GyvijM-X26P922QITjzgPRMjb5c2kWT6JjlEOUgRJ1xICV3Aojtd9/s640/beerlao.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Light Beerlao -- my preference is the dark version but it's all so good</td></tr>
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Our hotel in Nong Khiaw was supposed to have arranged a car for us, at 10am, but we waited and waited and finally called the hotel owner. There had been a death, the father of one of the cooks had been killed in a motorcycle accident and they were all at the Hmong ceremony, quite devastated, so we couldn't get clear information about what happened to our ride. Luckily this wasn't our first rodeo, so Marc arranged a car and we set off for the 3-hour (but only 75 mile) trip.<br />
<br />
Always when we leave Luang Prabang we feel like it's probably our last time there. We definitely felt that last time, but this time in the wake of the nightmarish US presidential election and the wave of hate crimes and president-elect awfulness, we looked differently at Luang Prabang. Could we live here (yes!)? How would it be, would we live near the river or along one of the charming cross alleys, could we make that work? It was certainly a different leaving than any other trip.Lorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676317652927356121noreply@blogger.com1Luang Prabang, Laos19.8833959 102.1346874000000819.8236684 102.05400640000008 19.9431234 102.21536840000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6682858015981528400.post-53664605182442228082016-06-11T11:05:00.002-04:002016-11-16T20:27:47.572-05:00Where we'll stay<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
We're so excited to go back to two of our favorite places, Nong Khiaw (Laos) and Mairood (Thailand) -- and coincidentally, back to two of our favorite hotels anyplace in the world, the Mandala Ou in Nong Khiaw, and Mairood Resort.<br />
<br />
First, though, we'll spend a night in Luang Prabang, on the banks of the Nam Kanh:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwRUmB_AQyJrA-mbqeVjM-c-_-c-DVtjVb8HG9Qu6NHlzRv_4_IZz26_U82nsaZ7uXIB5a_OQ3b45GoIHadpmktk0ARoPiro0GlipElptoz1NSlVli09744cUfuHoDIfWttHPZGcFVA6ED/s1600/1VBL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwRUmB_AQyJrA-mbqeVjM-c-_-c-DVtjVb8HG9Qu6NHlzRv_4_IZz26_U82nsaZ7uXIB5a_OQ3b45GoIHadpmktk0ARoPiro0GlipElptoz1NSlVli09744cUfuHoDIfWttHPZGcFVA6ED/s640/1VBL.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Villa Ban Lakkham [<a href="http://www.lakkham.com/" target="_blank">website</a>] [<a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g295415-d1188847-Reviews-Villa_Ban_Lakkham-Luang_Prabang_Luang_Prabang_Province.html" target="_blank">tripadvisor</a>]</td></tr>
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The next morning we'll head up the rocky, windy road to Nong Khiaw, where we'll stay at the Nam Ou Resort, a place we've dreamed about since our last visit in 2014.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQzCunFNEU42_QKxr_z9ZbT1twI4R49ZAfagOJWxywt-kZcDWPzFhuRCW7eJBjhpp5qvEudKDK34l64cf2e-jbo-CspJTc43j6kmC4BNZm7_f8sxyLpwGiIRF0slv8NMPlI9xjn00D_aQ/s1600/NK+view+from+room2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQzCunFNEU42_QKxr_z9ZbT1twI4R49ZAfagOJWxywt-kZcDWPzFhuRCW7eJBjhpp5qvEudKDK34l64cf2e-jbo-CspJTc43j6kmC4BNZm7_f8sxyLpwGiIRF0slv8NMPlI9xjn00D_aQ/s640/NK+view+from+room2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this was the view from our ROOM!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaaI10wCI3xJKwkMH-z6yWyHLjiH9vR3xVEoZcWpPglT4jfrqU9WpdtgOozn6Le5L4p6dd695WMi4E9vDPrnLrxCShB8vhZe6NfEmqEWyp5fjNYbLdw1tmVZ1HVDT024tVRh5R27HK5c1f/s1600/NK+view+from+room+restaurant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaaI10wCI3xJKwkMH-z6yWyHLjiH9vR3xVEoZcWpPglT4jfrqU9WpdtgOozn6Le5L4p6dd695WMi4E9vDPrnLrxCShB8vhZe6NfEmqEWyp5fjNYbLdw1tmVZ1HVDT024tVRh5R27HK5c1f/s640/NK+view+from+room+restaurant.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">that's the hotel restaurant -- Mandala Ou Resort [<a href="http://www.mandala-ou.com/" target="_blank">website</a>] [<a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g1520128-d5457346-Reviews-Mandala_Ou_Resort-Nong_Khiaw_Luang_Prabang_Province.html'" target="_blank">tripadvisor</a>]</td></tr>
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Our next stop will be on the coast of Thailand in a tiny little fishing village called Mairood.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpD2xiyhXsGzM62eEFG73lKblTH-_Xu7YYrLijU6Zmo4Lb4crV4UrD9ZbP3_KCg5B3L0piH_xycchWbc2ZCKriiOjfhoagIcdR2fVN0p8JI0c9NIb7qpdFfnqQg2B4TG-PGQ_iUWOU6KNG/s1600/mairood_marc+lori.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpD2xiyhXsGzM62eEFG73lKblTH-_Xu7YYrLijU6Zmo4Lb4crV4UrD9ZbP3_KCg5B3L0piH_xycchWbc2ZCKriiOjfhoagIcdR2fVN0p8JI0c9NIb7qpdFfnqQg2B4TG-PGQ_iUWOU6KNG/s640/mairood_marc+lori.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saying goodbye on the last day of our previous trip -- such beautiful hotel grounds</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEkSjvFaSQCrrXYi10T8Uvs_t5_uSnj9OzokNmGuFbTJZRIdq6FkZx49C1SRiGh8hBSaniAUsvKYX81p4S3WRyftwJbAMn2TDbygCSGZ9tPyGJjppzG8wtVsrVS1zz7G-NIW2GVHzBU1pT/s1600/mairoodporch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEkSjvFaSQCrrXYi10T8Uvs_t5_uSnj9OzokNmGuFbTJZRIdq6FkZx49C1SRiGh8hBSaniAUsvKYX81p4S3WRyftwJbAMn2TDbygCSGZ9tPyGJjppzG8wtVsrVS1zz7G-NIW2GVHzBU1pT/s640/mairoodporch.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Again we'll stay in the house named Upper Heaven -- this is the porch.....</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5LUvo_BRdHZGFZP7PzRwz1_3zQsIm-PAvkC3G4BZLGq7TirfWTNdcmvcrZM9qQwWKo84w_EYcokch0J4q9S1LR3Sjilq_W5PO8X34q4e7JhBiVJWQKOMsAvXgZd62V2_o0JCNJphyphenhyphenNr_5/s1600/morning1+from+porch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5LUvo_BRdHZGFZP7PzRwz1_3zQsIm-PAvkC3G4BZLGq7TirfWTNdcmvcrZM9qQwWKo84w_EYcokch0J4q9S1LR3Sjilq_W5PO8X34q4e7JhBiVJWQKOMsAvXgZd62V2_o0JCNJphyphenhyphenNr_5/s640/morning1+from+porch.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...and this is the view from the porch. Mairood Resort! [<a href="http://www.mairoodresort.com/default.asp" target="_blank">website</a>] [<a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g612387-d1924982-Reviews-Mairood_Resort-Trat_Trat_Province.html" target="_blank">tripadvisor</a>]</td></tr>
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Before we begin the long trek back home, we'll take our boat trip (because we always have to have a boat trip) to spend three nights at the Seavana Resort on Koh Mak:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyabi7MHRA6FjWh8rg8oxx3knG7-yigQ7io3vi-0LBTJqbhm3zGB-9uzplTxuIB0-kS744U5oUNc9Xufd1Xu85DdWI8d01_T70jH1qBtflrzuHcW0X_yUxFXXnZ5O27DIjFSSMMKn8-xUo/s1600/seavanakohmak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="510" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyabi7MHRA6FjWh8rg8oxx3knG7-yigQ7io3vi-0LBTJqbhm3zGB-9uzplTxuIB0-kS744U5oUNc9Xufd1Xu85DdWI8d01_T70jH1qBtflrzuHcW0X_yUxFXXnZ5O27DIjFSSMMKn8-xUo/s640/seavanakohmak.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seavana Resort, Koh Mak Island [<a href="http://www.seavanakohmak.com/" target="_blank">website</a>] [<a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g952017-d5513355-Reviews-Seavana_Beach_Resort_Koh_Mak-Ko_Mak_Trat_Province.html" target="_blank">tripadvisor</a>]</td></tr>
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We'll head back to Trat for a night to make the home-going trip a little easier, and stay at the Rimklong Hotel:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYyGC3by1ZcbHdeArYK5onj4nC4hjc1a_N2-uVzLF58iDgosMSLI_V9QyBucBSngkojLqw4wkk6gcusPiaAZJe0yOjHBotlzd6v_ufomFnd2NFTBctYYB10f7Q71rFImiOajr9gUke9Wq6/s1600/rimklong.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYyGC3by1ZcbHdeArYK5onj4nC4hjc1a_N2-uVzLF58iDgosMSLI_V9QyBucBSngkojLqw4wkk6gcusPiaAZJe0yOjHBotlzd6v_ufomFnd2NFTBctYYB10f7Q71rFImiOajr9gUke9Wq6/s640/rimklong.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rimklong Hotel [<a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g612387-d1737010-Reviews-Rimklong_Boutique_Hotel-Trat_Trat_Province.html" target="_blank">tripadvisor</a>]</td></tr>
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We're looking forward to Seavana, our one new place this trip, but I think we're both most excited to return to Nong Khiaw and Mairood, places we have dreamed about going back to.<br />
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Because our flights were changed on us, Marc had to do a last-minute redo of the schedule and we'll now have one night in Taipei and one day, so we'll also be staying in CU Hotel Taipei.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMFXTtcrWPIKurlxtGgZ-lKb2420GO8eB6jgYcDW55PjQGjCZMGS28s3-BdKMus2OursyTzQRWE4PEWJsFFyXGWyUXu4T7IbrOZYpIZqeFQR6a-nGdL-11_rE9VNdvJUMZ4No1CTfvWRXo/s1600/taipei.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMFXTtcrWPIKurlxtGgZ-lKb2420GO8eB6jgYcDW55PjQGjCZMGS28s3-BdKMus2OursyTzQRWE4PEWJsFFyXGWyUXu4T7IbrOZYpIZqeFQR6a-nGdL-11_rE9VNdvJUMZ4No1CTfvWRXo/s640/taipei.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CU Hotel [<a href="https://cu-taipei.hotel.com.tw/eng/" target="_blank">hotel</a>] [<a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g293913-d4314606-Reviews-C_U_Hotel-Taipei.html" target="_blank">TripAdvisor</a>]</td></tr>
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<br />Lorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676317652927356121noreply@blogger.com0