Hole-in-one!!!!!

Yesterday, Jordan scored his first hole-in-one. Whoopee!!!!

We captured the moment using the camera on his Blackberry.

Coyote Hills Golf Course

Fullerton, CA

Hole #3, 150 yards, 9 iron (it was downhill from tee to green)

Ambition, Hope, and SUVs

We are about to hop onto the Thai Airways L.A. Express - the nonstop flight from Bangkok to LAX. Only 14 hours and 30 minutes flight time.

Looking back on our visit to Cambodia, one of the most striking things we will remember is the magnitude of the changes since our last visit in March 2006. We got the impression that despite all the problems of the past, everyone is looking ahead to build a better future. The attitude of the people is one of strong ambition to make a better life for future generations in Cambodia. Everyone works (at least one job) and education is becoming more important.

Sure they have their share of problems (corruption, prostitution, child labor, petty crime, pollution), but there is a lot of evidence of a society trying to make giant leaps forward.



Some simple, but telling signs of progress:

• the large international airport terminal in Siem Reap is new since our last visit
• during "rush hour", streets are clogged with motorbikes, and new Toyota, Lexus, and Honda SUVs
• there is more than one stoplight in downtown Siem Reap
• storefronts have stacks of flat panel TVs for sale (and people are buying them)
• streets, sidewalks, curbs, and markets in the downtown area are all under construction
• the price of real estate is skyrocketing
• increasing numbers of children attend school and NGOs are building a lot of new schools
• a brand new golf course opened on the road beyond Angkor Wat
• a Mexican restaurant opened

Our Final Dinner in Siem Reap

Who would have imagined that our friend Chanra wanted to go out for Japanese food. But that's exactly what he craved. He and his family had never eaten Japanese food.

At 7PM he showed up at our hotel on a motorbike with his father on the back (holding his crutches up in the air). On an accompanying tuk-tuk was his mother, younger sister, and an older sister with her four year old son. Caren and I jumped into another tuk-tuk and off we went.
So....here is an unusual sight. A party of eight walking into a Japanese restaurant in downtown Siem Reap, Cambodia, and the two Americans ordering Japanese food for the Cambodians. The only other people eating in the restaurant were Japanese.

We ordered a huge plate of sashimi, miso soup, edamame, three different plates of sushi rolls, a couple of plates of tempura, tokatsu (pork cutlets), rice, and several plates of yakitori. And of course, Asahi beer. Everyone loved it. Chanra's father really liked the wasabi mixed in his soy sauce.

I thought he'd burn the roof of his mouth, but he just lapped it up.

After the Japanese food, we headed for an ice cream shop a few miles away (motorbike and two tuk-tuks in caravan). Everyone had ice cream for dessert. I think Chanra's family felt it was a real treat and they had a great time.


You never know if you'll see someone again. We'll miss Chanra, but I think he is a real entrepreneur and will do well. His dream is to come to the U.S. for 5 years and then return to Cambodia. We tried to explain to him how difficult and expensive it is to live in the U.S., but it is good that he has a dream.

His company is doing well. He has formed a partnership with four other guys, but he specializes in the bicycle tours. The company is Green Elephant Travel.

He has a large group of Swiss tourists coming in on Friday for 10 days of bicycling around Cambodia. He has several more good bookings for December.

If you know anyone who wants to visit Cambodia, cycling or not, they should contact Chanra.

Temple Ruins, Weddings, and Rain

Today, we visited a couple of very ancient Khmer empire temples that for two reasons few tourists go to. Reason #1 - they are far from town and most tours only spend 1-2 days in Siem Reap and don't have the time to travel there. Reason #2 - they are still in an area being cleared of land mines by multi-national teams. Don't worry, the fields cleared of land mines are clearly marked, and so are those areas you should stay out of.

First, we traveled to Koh Ker - a collection of many temples that served as capital of the Khmer empire in the 10th century. Many of the temples are still in their original, unrestored state. Chanra and I climbed to the top of the tallest temple.

From the top, you can see the Thai and Laotian border. The Khmer knew where to build - it is a beautiful site with distant views. How they got the stones to this site to build the temples is still a partial mystery. Some stones were cut from the nearby river beds, but many came from the mountains miles away.

Probably a combination of slave labor and elephants did the work. Even so, they were great architects and construction engineers for their time.



Then we went to Beng Mealea, a complex of 11th century temples still partially overgrown by the jungle. Many Khmer historians believe this complex was a model for building the more famous Angkor Wat. The design is very similar.
Unfortunately, many of these remote temples have been victims of looting. In Bangkok, we visited many shops that were selling huge objects of sandstone that were obviously pilfered from the temples in Cambodia and Burma.


This is supposedly the dry season and cool time of year in Cambodia. You'd never know. It is hot and humid - definitely a three shower a day city. Today, it rained as we headed back to town. The rain actually cools things off for a few minutes.

This time of year, a lot of Cambodians schedule their weddings. It's treated like June in the U.S.. Our friend Chanra is attending a friend's wedding tomorrow (and Wednesday). Weddings here last for more than one day and typically are attended by 500-2,000 people, depending on the size of the village and family.

We were going to go back to Angkor Wat today and meet with an archeologist for a private tour, but we cancelled due to the rain. The upper levels of Angkor Wat have been closed to tourists since our trip last year because it was deemed to be too dangerous and it was damaging the temple. Look back at our blog from March 2006 and see how steep the steps are at Angkor Wat.

Tonight, we are taking Chanra's family to dinner at the restaurant of their choice. We'll let you know where they chose.

A Very Special Meal

This morning, our friend Chanra picked us up at 10AM and took us to visit his parents. It was a very special meeting. I'm sure that very few American tourists are invited for lunch at the home of a Cambodian family. Now we have done it twice in two days.

The Sim family lives about 1 km off a main road in a house sitting on a 5 meter by 30 meter plot of land that they own. Chanra's father was injured in a bicycle accident in Phnom Penh about 3 months ago. He has a rod and several screws inserted in his thigh, so he is still on crutches.

We had our hotel prepare a big fruit and sweets basket that we brought them as a gift.

Chanra looks like his father. We also met his younger sister (he has two older sisters) who looks like his mother.

We had a very good meeting exchanging stories about life in our respective countries. They asked a lot of questions about life in the U.S. They see programs on television, meet people from the U.S., and have some acquaintances that have moved to the U.S., so it is of great interest to them to learn about our country. In a similar vein, we asked a lot of questions about their background and how they live. Caren and I kept thinking how our friend Ed M. would have enjoyed this meeting - he asks a lot of questions to people he meets.

Chanra's mother cooked a very delicious meal. They grilled two catfish on a charcoal grill - one fish we ate with rice and a spicy mango salad, and the other they cut up and put into a soup. The sour soup was very similar to a Thai soup we've eaten in the U.S.. They also prepared a plate of unbelievably tasty sauteed vegetables. And sliced pineapple for dessert.

After the meal, we sat around and enjoyed sitting outside and talking.

Then Chanra took us in a tuk-tuk to Tonle Sap - The Great Lake. This time of year, the volume of water in the Mekong River makes it "back up" into Cambodia and fill the lake to 3-4 times its size in the dry season.

Hundreds of people live in houses that they move with the receding of the shoreline over the months. You don't like your house location, wait a few weeks and tow it to another place. We saw schools, churches, and government buildings being towed. The people make a living fishing the huge variety and quantity of fish in the lake.

This was the first day we really encountered a lot of rain. It poured on our way to the lake, most of the time we took a boat trip on the lake, and on our way back to town. Not bad for a 2+ week trip. The B&R bicycle trip in Vietnam at the same time we were in Thailand, encountered a typhoon hitting the coast, their hotel flooded in another city, and a third city they couldn't reach at all. I think we were very fortunate with the weather on this trip.

Tomorrow, Chanra is taking us to a set of Khmer empire temples we have not visited before - they are located about 80 miles away and very few tourists go there. But they are in their original state and supposedly more beautiful than many temples in the busy Angkor Thom area (where Angkor Wat it located). After our trip in the countryside, we have a very special meeting arranged. More about it tomorrow.

Signs of an Emerging Market Economy

We were last in Siem Reap about 18 months ago. Wow, have things changed. This is what economists call an emerging market economy. Many more streets are paved. Toyota and Honda automobiles are filling the streets, along with the swarms of motorbikes. And the Korean tourists are flocking in by the planeload.

The construction cranes we saw in 2006 are now the new hotels filled with tourists from South Korea. Dozens of Korean restaurants have sprouted up. In the U.S., people from the Northeast flock to Florida and Disneyworld. I suppose people from Korea flock to Siem Reap and to see the Angkor temples.

Visiting our Friends in Cambodia

We have arrived in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia. Meeting us at the airport was our friend, Chanra. He looks great.

We toured around Phnom Penh with him today, visiting the Royal Palace (of the deposed monarchy), National Museum (history from era B.C., to Khmer empire days, to colonial days), and Genocide Museum (from Khmer Rouge era in the 1970s).

We stopped in for lunch at his brother Maliden's place. Same brother who stayed with us in September when he was in U.S.. Maliden and his wife fixed us an amazing meal. Fresh prawn soup, curried crab, squid salad with mushrooms and bamboo shoots, and Budweiser beer. Several other couples stopped by as well.

We brought presents for Maliden's two young girls - note cards with photos we took in Africa of various animals. The girls know no English, but they were entranced by the pictures.

Maliden and his wife have a very nice townhome in Phnom Penh and he has a successful travel company.

Chanra escorted us back to Siem Reap and we are going to meet his parents tomorrow AM. Not sure what to bring as a gift when visiting someone's house in Cambodia. We asked hotel concierge and she is putting together a fruit/food basket.

In Siem Reap, we are staying at Hotel de la Paix. Very hip, very modern. This hotel rivals anything in style in Manhattan or LA. All is well, having a great time. Bicycle trip in Thailand and Laos was fantastic. Will be home on Tuesday night..

The Banks of the Chao Praya River

Back to the crowds, traffic, hip culture, and rampant capitalism of Bangkok. We're "slumming it" on the top floor of the Oriental Hotel on the banks of the Chao Praya River - Bangkok's water highway for transportation and commerce. Downstream of us is the Shangri-La Hotel (where we stayed in 2004 and 2005), upstream is the Royal Orchid Sheraton (where we stayed in 1988), and right across the river are the Peninsula Hotel and the Millenium Hilton.

YES, we now have Caren's famous missing luggage in our possession.

This AM in Luang Prabang we visited a small firm that is writing, printing, and distributing children's books to Lao school children. Its name is Big Brother Mouse. What you may think would be easy, is not. The concept of reading for enjoyment is totally absent in modern Laos. No books exist for children to read other than a few textbooks they share in school. Merely translating Western children's books doesn't work because of the cultural differences. Books need to be written and illustrated for the Lao children to relate to. This firm now has about 30 books in print and has been distributing them since last December. It is an incredibly complex task to get books in the hands of children living in villages scattered throughout Laos. This group is trying to change that, but it is fledgling right now.

We also visited a village weaving workshop where they make beautiful scarves, table runners, place mats, shirts, skirts, and other decorative textiles. It takes a woman 2+ weeks to make one long scarf and they sell it for USD$7-$16 depending on the size.

Luang Prabang has a lot of tourists, but it is far from being overrun like many resort areas in Thailand. There are no large hotels here yet - mostly guest houses, hostels, and small boutique hotels. If and when a big hotel chain moves in, this place will dramatically change, probably for the worse.

Tomorrow (Friday) we can chill out in Bangkok and then we fly out to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. More to follow (maybe some pictures?) when we have some downtime or reach Cambodia.

They Found Caren's Luggage!!!!!

It is now midday on the last day of our bicycle trip. We've check out of our hotel in Luang Prabang and are awaiting our flight back to Bangkok for our final dinner with the trip group.

A few minutes ago we got a phone call. Caren's luggage just showed up at the Chiang Mai airport in Thailand. Hooray!!! We have no idea where it has been for the past eight days, but it should be in our hotel room in Bangkok by the time we arrive this evening.

Caren will now have a lot of clean clothes for our four days in Cambodia. Just when she was getting used to living like a Thai in flip flops, T-shirts, Thai fisherman's pants, and sarong skirts.

As we said kiddingly to our guides, they are now going to get a tip. Until now, we told them "no luggage, no tip." Seriously, they were great guides and we will miss seeing them. We definitely want to take another biking trip with them to India next November - a fun-loving 30-something American from Connecticut (Caren's thinks he does a great imitation of Borat) and a 30-something Canadian Jewish woman who lives in Poland and speaks fluent, Thai, Lao, and Japanese (go figure).

On to Bangkok. More shopping and another blog update later.

Learning to Live on P.D.R. Time

Laos is one of the five remaining communist countries along with China, North Korea, Cuba, and Vietnam. The country's official name is the Lao People's Democratic Republic (or PDR). The popular joke here is that everything runs on PDR time (Please Don't Rush). It is true. Things happen when they happen - no one is in a big rush. And it is a typical communist bureaucracy - every piece of paperwork must be filled out correctly, or else. Some people's entire job is making sure the paperwork is correct.

We got up VERY early this morning and went into Luang Prabang to see the procession of monks and everyone giving food "alms" to them. Several of the people in our group, including Caren, lined up to give them alms. It is a very Buddhist thing for those of you that have not traveled to SE Asia.

Afterwards, we visited the local food market where we saw all kinds of stuff that looked a bit strange, but that we have actually come to enjoy eating (except for the bugs, animal hoofs, and grilled eel). There is a Lao confection that tastes exactly the same as Cracker Jack and the most delicious small, soft coconut cookies that are poached like an egg.

Then we took about a one hour boat ride up the Mekong River to visit a famous park with a beautiful waterfall. We egged on one of our tour guides to leap off a rope swing and take a dip in one of the pools created by the falls. Surprisingly to us, he did it. Nathan is a great sport. Video to come.

We also saw one of the few remaining Asian tigers in a small animal sanctuary along with a group of Laotian Black Bears.

Then we jumped on our bicycles for our last "official" bicycle ride in Laos. We rode for 31 km (about 18 miles) back to Luang Prabang and right to our restaurant for lunch. We had a steep 1 km hill about halfway thru the ride, but otherwise we covered great rolling terrain thru the countryside. We passed a lot of small villages with kids that waved to us. As we got closer to Luang Prabang, we passed schools just letting out for the day, crossed the bridge into town, and rode thru the entire town (really neat).

Last night and after lunch today, we did some heavy duty shopping. The extra suitcases we brought along are going to be filled. The Lao textiles are gorgeous (my metrosexual self coming thru).

Tonight is our final dinner in Laos. We are eating French cuisine at the restaurant here in the hotel. This is a fabulous hotel - 32 rooms, very quiet, very friendly and prompt service, and a superb bar. It has been managed by Orient-Express for about a year now and it is fully booked 100% of the time. I spoke with the GM the other day and he has to reject 2 reservation requests for every 1 he can confirm.

Tomorrow AM we are doing a short "nonofficial" bike ride, visiting an village that B&R helps to support, and flying to Bangkok for our final dinner. Stay tuned.

Check out some of today's photos:

Laos Photos

Luang Prabang - Going back in time

We have arrived in Laos. What a difference from Thailand! It is soooo quiet and laid back here compared to the hustle and bustle of Chiang Mai and Bangkok.

Laos has been conquered or occupied by a lot of countries over the years - Burma, Northern Thailand (Lanna Kingdom), Siamese, Khmer (Cambodia), Chinese, French, U.S., and Vietnamese. There are only six million people in the country and they have few industries other than agriculture and a little tourism and mining.

The travel editor for the NY Times must eavesdrop on our travel plans. Last year, just before our trip to Cambodia, the newspaper had a big article about travel to Siem Reap. On Sunday, November 4, the following article was published about the hotel we are staying in here in Luang Prabang:

La Residence Phou Vao

A lot has happened since our last post. We flew over from Chiang Mai on Monday afternoon after some heavy duty shopping in the morning. We found a small street with several really nice boutiques. Caren checked off the names for a lot of gifts she needed to purchase.

We have really gotten frustrated with Caren's lost luggage. Our tour guides have been raising hell with Thai Airways, but we still have no bag. Our patience ran out earlier today and we blew up over the situation. We are certain that anyone else other than us would have left the trip and headed home by now. But we are pretty easy going and having a great time.

This AM we did our first bike ride in Laos - about 18 miles from the hotel out towards the junction of the Ou and Mekong Rivers. Rolling terrain on a very well paved 2 lane highway with little traffic other than a few trucks and some motorbikes.

We then jumped into a couple of long boats and motored down river to the Pak Ou caves. In the caves are over 4,000 buddha statues. It's a mini version of the Pindaya caves in Burma that we visited in 2004.

Lunch consisted of a spread of traditional Lao dishes and bottles of BeerLao, the only beer you can buy in Laos. It's a national monopoly - remember, this is a communist country. We continually joke with ourselves that Sheriff John would never eat any of these dishes.

We visited the Lao National Museum which consisted of a lot of antiques from the deposed monarchy.

Dinner last night was at an outdoor pavilion with the meal catered by the hotel chef. We were entertained before and during dinner by young girls and musicians from the Lao Cultural Heritage Center. We had a long talk with the woman that runs the center - she spent 2 years living in Honolulu and we visited her house today. Definitely a charity worth donating to - they are working hard to retain old Lao cultural traditions - music, dance, and art.

We took a lot of photos and video, but we don't have time to upload them to the blog right now. Perhaps tomorrow or when we get back to Bangkok.

Bicycles and Buddhas

It's Sunday in Chiang Mai and we had an activity packed day. We began with a 18 mile bicycle ride along the roads south of town.

It was a good opportunity to see what life is like in the suburbs of a big city in Thailand. Guess what? It's a lot like the suburbs outside a big U.S. city, with some definite Asian twists to things. The most unique Thai thing we saw was in front of a Buddhist temple. It looked like Sunday church carnival. People had booths set up outside with displays of their intended offerings for the monks. Paper flowers in a pot with items hanging from them that the monks need for everyday life (toothbrushes, toilet paper, bananas, combs, etc.). With so many people around the temple, it was deemed a good business opportunity for street vendors. So they set up their little carts selling satay skewers, fruit juices, steamed buns, and other Thai snack foods. What a scene!

Our next stop was at a handicrafts village. "Village" may not be the correct word. There was alley after alley of shops selling woodcrafts of all types. We made our first real purchase of the trip - three mango wood decorative bowls. More dustibles for the house.

We ended the ride at the shop/museum of a famous woodcarver. He has kept alive a northern Thailand craft tradition of extremely intricate wood carvings. His property used to be a whore house, but he has nurtured a group of woodcarvers at this workshop to keep alive a precious national craft.

Latest luggage news - still no word on Caren's luggage. Not in Chiang Mai, not in Chiang Rai. We think it is still in Bangkok, but the baggage service for Thai Airways seems to have some bureaucratic hangups. I'm somewhat confident we'll get the back tomorrow, in the nick of time for our flight to Laos.

Tonight, we headed into downtown Chiang Mai for dinner and some shopping time in the tumultuous night market (i.e. street market loaded with stalls selling every counterfeit product you can think of - watches, T-shirts, CDs, DVDs, designer luggage). They also have loads of antiques, decorator items, and clothing. We were surprised how few people were out and about. When we were in Chiang Mai two years ago, the night market was packed with tourists.

One of the most exciting aspects of the evening was our ride in a tuk-tuk. A trip to Thailand wouldn't be complete without risking your life riding in this unique SE Asian motor vehicle. It's basically a three wheeled motorcycle on steroids with a back bench seat that sits atop a kerosene fuel tank. And you negotiate the price BEFORE you get in. In typical Thailand traffic congestion, a tuk-tuk is one of the few ways to get thru traffic jams.

Organic Farming and Mall Shopping in Chiang Mai

Todays' ride was for 21 miles north of Chiang Mai. The weather is perfect for bicycle riding.

We passed some rice fields being harvested and a village where for one day they released water from the dam on the river so everyone was out fishing. A few people in our group gave it a try - no luck.

We also visited an organic farm. This type of farming has really caught on in Thailand because the farmer doesn't have to become indebted to a lender in order to work his farm. No property tax either. One of our guides saw a roadside stall selling sun hats. He bought one for everyone in our group. We looked like a bunch of Hispanic-Thai farm workers.

In the afternoon, we stopped at a textile gallery where we learned how to make tie dyed fabric. Everyone gave it a go with their own piece of cotton fabric. We got some pretty ugly indigo colored tie dyed objects. Afterwards, we went mall shopping for Caren so she could get some clean underwear, sandals, slacks, and tops. Her luggage is still missing and it is causing an international incident. We blew through the Thai equivalent of Macy's and a bunch of small shops before she came out with a couple of new wardrobes.

Calling 1-800-Dentist in Thailand

Our second day in Thailand, we ate lunch at our hotel. I was having Tom Ka Gai (Thai soup made with chicken stock and coconut milk) and suddenly my tooth fell out.

Does anyone know a good dentist in Thailand? I emailed Doc Martin in San Pedro and asked him to make me an appointment for the day we get back. And I locked up my crown in a zip lock bag to store in the room safe.

Meanwhile, Caren's luggage is still MIA, but she is handling the situation incredibly well. She really likes this pair of Thai fisherman's pants she was given. And she has her bicycle clothing (which we wear most of the day anyways).

Off to breakfast soon (it's Saturday morning) and another fun filled day.

An Exciting Day Heading Towards Chiang Mai

It was a very early start today. We awoke to a view of mist over the Mekong River and the mountains of Myanmar and Laos in the distance. At 7:00AM, we left the Golden Triangle area and started heading back towards the big city (one million plus population) - Chiang Mai.

We jumped in the vans and rode for about an hour before, you guessed it, another bicycle ride. We rode through the countryside around Chiang Rai, stopping at an impressive new temple being built by the national artist of Thailand. For once, Jordan didn't relieve himself in the bushes of some country. It was hard to misunderstand the meaning of this sign.

Then we rode to a "smart" village, designated as such by the government because of its sustainable agriculture practices and small businesses. One of our B&R guides, Cindy, became familiar with this village several years ago when she worked with a student exchange program group. The villagers served us a fantastic lunch of local dishes (you'll never see them on the menu of any Thai restaurant) as we sat in a grove of trees alongside the rice fields.

After lunch, we drove for about three hours to Chiang Mai, and our hotel, the Four Seasons Resort. Along the way, we passed Chiang Rai Winery. Wine tasting anyone? Not quite Napa Valley, but not bad for a fledgling Thai industry.

This is not a third world country. Nor is it a second world country. This is a modern and progressive nation. One startling example was road construction. They are widening the highway between Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai. Unlike Kenya, where there was one worker with a spoon working on miles of highway construction, in Thailand there are entire work teams with heavy machinery, trying to meet a deadline of the King's 80th birthday in early December. You get the feeling that everyone in this country is trying to push the country forward to a more prosperous future. We ride around in brand new Toyota vans, our bicycles are brand new Trek 24-speed hybrids, and the bike routes we follow are paved roads in perfect condition. We continually pass road crews working to repair potholes caused by the recently ended monsoon season.

Once we arrived at our hotel, we had a cooking demonstration, followed by a cooking competition among groups of us. Caren, Cindy, and I almost won due to our outstanding Pad Thai Kung, but we were edged out by another group because of their superb Spicy Prawn Soup with Lemongrass.

After the free-for-all cooking contest, we adjourned to a professionally cooked dinner of authentic Northern Thai dishes. If it weren't for the daily bike rides, this could easily be a ten-pound trip (i.e. adding ten pounds to our torso).

Time for some sleep after a long day. Another bike ride scheduled for tomorrow AM.

One not so good note - Caren's luggage is still missing. It seems that the baggage system at the new Bangkok airport has some of the same problems as Denver airport had when it first opened. Bags getting multiple tags or no tags attached by an automated system. We think tomorrow may finally be the day Caren's bag arrives. If not, we're heading to the shopping mall with credit cards on hand.

More Singha Beer, please...

It is HOT. And it is HUMID. I had almost forgotten how the weather can be in SE Asia.

Today's ride was about 24 miles for Caren. Jordan added another 6 mile option for a total of 30 miles. We pedaled all over the area, seeing rice fields, villages, Buddhist temples, and lots of beautiful scenery.

Thank goodness for Singha beer, the colder the better.

We are staying at the Anantara Golden Triangle resort. I think we could stay here for a month, getting a Thai massage every day. But tomorrow we head to Chiang Mai.

We had a couples massage this afternoon. It's amazing how these small Thai women have such strong hands to inflict so much pain in a massage.

This afternoon, we went across the highway and went through the Hall of Opium. No, there were no free samples. It is an amazing museum built by the mother of the King of Thailand about 10 years ago. It is the equivalent of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC.. It details the history of opium, the origin of the opium trade in East Asia (caused by the British in the 1800s), and communicates a very strong message about the problems with drug abuse. This area used to be one of the largest producers of opium poppies in the world, but today it has been all but eliminated as a result of government programs.

Update on Caren's luggage - it's still MIA. She picked up a few clothing items today. Our balcony looks like a NYC tenement with Caren's laundry drying.

Day 1 - Every possible mode of transportation

Earlier today, we left Bangkok before the sun rose and flew to Chiang Rai in the far north of Thailand. From there, we bicycled about 25 miles before lunch. Great bikes - brand new 24-speed Treks.

After lunch, we hopped into our minivans and drove to Chiang Saen, along the Mekong River where Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet.

Then we got into the famous Thai longboats (powered by an old Chevy engine on the end of a pole) and headed up the Mekong River. Our driver stopped for gas on the river bank in Laos because fuel is cheaper there than in Thailand (although it may be watered down by the Lao). Our boat ride then went further upriver into Myanmar and back to the river bank of the Thai border. Three countries on one boat ride.

The last transport mode was an elephant ride to our hotel. The group of elephants was down one due to illness so one person in our group had to volunteer to ride on the elephant's neck and steer. Guess who? Caren! She did great. When I have a few more moments, I'll put the video of her elephant driving onto YouTube and put a link to it on our blog.

The only transport missing was a tuk-tuk, but I'm sure we'll encounter then later on in the trip. For those of you unfamiliar with a tuk-tuk, look it up on Wikipedia. It's probably found under the heading "southeast Asian death trap."

Oh, one more thing - Caren's luggage failed to show up at Chiang Rai airport. One of our B&R tour guides is also missing her luggage. Caren is learning to adapt very well. We may have to go back to Bangkok airport and sift thru lost bags to locate Caren's.