Asia

Miami, Florida
Monday
December 17, 2001

My Dear Family and Friends,

Sawat -dee,

I just checked the temperature readings on my Internet Home Page:

Mae Hong Son Thailand December 31, 2001 Dear Family and Friends,
	Please click on the image for more photos of Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son.

I am writing from Mae Hong Son, a small town in the mountains in the northwest corner of Thailand, near the border with Myanmar (Burma).

Tonight is New Year's Eve and the hotel is providing a "gala dinner" and entertainment. I have also found two noisy clubs with live music, so there will be no lack of celebration. The town is fully booked with Thai people on vacation and an assortment of "farangs" -- foreigners.

Bangkok, Thailand January 20, 2002 Dear Family and Friends,
	Please click on the image for more photos of Phi Phi, Krabi.

Thailand was a wonderful winter adventure. After Bangkok and Pattaya, I spent few days in the North. I visited the Hill Tribes and drove through the mountains near Mae Hong Song.

Miami, Florida
June 14, 2002

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, I am off again.

To hell with the money; to hell with the stock market; to hell with caution and trepidation.

I got my typhoid, diphtheria, yellow fever, hepatitis A and hepatitis B shots and I am ready.

On Monday I leave for a return trip to Southeast Asia. I fly from Miami to Los Angeles on American Airlines. Then to Hong Kong and Bangkok on Cathay Pacific. I will arrive on Wednesday June 19 in the early afternoon, just in time for a cold one at my favorite Bier Garten. (I think I have finally mastered the international dateline stuff.)

June 24, 2002 Thailand Sawadee krap, Hello Everyone, Greetings from the “Land of Smiles.”
	Please click on the image for more photos of Trat.

I arrived uneventfully in Bangkok on Wednesday afternoon. The trip, door to door, was thirty-three hours. That includes the three times I had to remove my shoes for inspection at Miami International Airport. (What price security?)

Phnom Penh Cambodia Dear Family and Friends,
	Please click on the image for more photos of Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The rain is incessant so Jeff and I decided to skip the beach at Ko Chang and go directly to the Cambodian border. I misplaced my passport photos so the border guards ripped me off for a couple of extra dollars for the visa.

I left early in the morning by boat to Siem Reap -- the city close to Angkor Wat. This three-hour ride was calm and scenic. Beautiful river, beautiful wide Tonle Sap Lake –- so wide that no land can be seen as we traveled north.
	Please click on the image for more photos of Angkor Wat.

Arrival was at a spot in the middle of the lake. No pier. We climbed aboard a smaller boat.

And since I had made an advance reservation, my driver, standing in his long-tail boat, held a clearly lettered sign, “Welcome Jan Polatschek.” In the middle of a lake. In the middle of Cambodia.

Hua Hin

Thailand

July 16, 2002

After Angkor Wat I flew back to Bangkok. I strolled through a large park in the center of the city and practiced my Tai Chi with a Chinese master. I went to the zoo.

I attended Friday evening prayers at the ornate Wat Suthat. A huge gold Buddha and mysterious chanting.

Bangkok

Thailand

29 July, 2002

Dear Family and Friends,

I am not feeling particularly clever or articulate at the moment. I am sad. I am leaving Southeast Asia after almost six weeks.

Cambodia - a wonderful adventure: ancient temples, unusual scenery, smiling faces and delicious food in a country struggling to regain its footing after years of war and torment.

Miami, Florida August 19, 2002
	Please click on the image for more photos of Thailand.

Wherever I travel, an unexpected emotional moment may arise - an encounter with someone or something that can move me to tears of happiness.

West of Bangkok, in Nakhon Pathom, I was wandering around a very large market place. Everyone stares since I am the only farang (foreigner) around.