Asia

Prologue: Winter Adventure

Jan — Mon, 17 Dec 2001 00:00:00 +0700

Miami, Florida
Monday
December 17, 2001

My Dear Family and Friends,

Sawat -dee,

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

Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son: Happy New Year

Jan — Mon, 31 Dec 2001 00:00:00 +0700

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.

Phi Phi, Krabi: Happy

Jan — Sun, 20 Jan 2002 00:00:00 +0700

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.

Prologue: Ready, Excited, Anxious

Jan — Fri, 14 Jun 2002 00:00:00 +0700

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.)

Trat, Thailand: Breakfast with the Monks

Jan — Mon, 24 Jun 2002 00:00:00 +0700

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: Serious Police, Serious Mud, and Serious Sights

Jan — Mon, 01 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0700

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.

Cambodia: Angkor Wat

Jan — Tue, 02 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0700

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.

Bangkok, Thailand: Small World

Jan — Tue, 16 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0700

Hua Hin

Thailand

July 16, 2002

Please click on the image

for more photos of Thailand.

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.

Vientiane and Luang Probang, Laos: Rain

Jan — Mon, 29 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0700

Bangkok

Thailand

29 July, 2002

Dear Family and Friends,

Please click on the image for more

photos of Vientiane and Luang Probang.

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.

Epilogue: Happy, Sad, Moved, Determined

Jan — Mon, 19 Aug 2002 00:00:00 +0700

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.