Back on the Scene...

I must be back. This morning I received a phone call from Bill Clinton. It wasn't a welcome back call; he was asking me to join him for a Hillary rally tonight at UPENN's Palestra. I wanted to tell him that the Palestra court is actually one of the few college courts that are longer (by 10 feet) than all regulation basketball courts. But I guess he was too busy to respond. My love to Chelsea.

My flight home was quite unique. It was one of the few public flights that actually goes over the North Pole. Instead of flying latitudially, the direct 17 hour flight went the longitudial route. We went due north over China, Mongolia, Russia, Antartica, & over the otherside & down Canada. No signs of Santa. But I did enjoy the scenes while Thai Airways pumped the new Radiohead (at least new to me!) into my headphones.
Arriving into JFK, I definitely was overcome by smallness. Physically, we were bigger than the Thai people and we were "looked up to" as being foreigners - de facto. NYC dwarfed me & I instantly noticed the melting pot mood while traveling on the bus to Penn Station . The guy who collected my money was Jamaican, the bus driver was Greek, the parents with their twin hijos sitting behind me were Hispanic, and the French newlyweds sitting in front of me were visiting America for the first time. And talk about feeling small, many of the major arteries around Queens and Manhattan were sealed off for one man - the Pope!

From Big Mango to Big Apple

I finally pulled into Wilmington and was greeted by my parents. I exclaimed, "Wilmington - A Place to Be Somebody!" At that time, a guy hobbled over to me and shouted, "Wilmington - A Place to Get Shot!" and proceeded to point to a bandaged gun shot wound on his leg. Sheesh, welcome to the jungle. The area looked the same, except for a few more Mexican shops and signs dotting Maryland Avenue. I was very impressed with the Extreme Home Makeover performed on my bedroom. It is very classy and feels like I am staying in a Doubletree Hotel. It is strange brushing my teeth with water from the tap, driving my car on the right side of the road, and seeing everyone I know. My road-dog Chris managed to totally pimp out his basement AND buy his girl a rock. My Grandmom has several "chores" for me to work on now that I'm back. And my Mom took my Dad and I for 10 bucks in Hold 'em!

Sunrise over Finger Lakes

Stay gold Poney-boy.

What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been...

Bags are packed and we begin our 12 hr train ride to Bangkok in a few hours. This blog and the associated pics will NEVER replace the real experience of living the past few months to the fullest. Lewis & Clark, Rocky & Apollo, Scooby & Shaggy, and now... Amanda & I officially made a great team. I was fortunate to share and make so many memories with her. Thank you for reading my travel tales, but don't worry, I'm sure there's more in store.....

Hey ma, HEAT UP THE MAC & CHEESE!!!

"I said I go from coast to coast to coast to coast to coast. You gotta go from coast to coast to coast to coast to coast. Yeah, and from sea to shining sea."
G. Love - Small Fish

Spot the Dumbo...

We did a triple threat last weekend - elephant riding, mountain biking, & whitewater kayaking. No pics of the mountain biking (which was 10K all up a craggly mountain) or the whitewater kayaking because the camera would have gotten soaked. About 5 minutes into it, my guide told me to "LEAN LEFT" at which point he totally dumped me over.

Amanda has more pics and description on her blog. Like an elephant, been busy here packin' my trunk(s). We've been trying to squeeze every last drop of Chiang Mai in. There have been several good meals with friends, our bikes and cell phones have been sold, and of course the world's biggest water fight - Thai New Year

There's something fun about squirting total strangers and shucking and jiving between soaked bodies everywhere. No one is safe from the guns, buckets, 55 gallon drums of water all over the city. Amanda walked 2 blocks for some broccoli yesterday and came back saturated. We keep a steady rotation of wet/dry clothes on the balcony. I try to jazz it up a bit. My signature move is the crack-attack. I sneak up on the backside of an unsuspecting Thai guy, usually sitting on the side of pick-up truck. I'll lift his drenched shirt and proceed to shoot him in the lower back and "where the good Lord split him." By the time he spins around, I am 30 yards down the flooded road looking for my next target. I'm a crack shot.

Tony Orlando and Dawn

Hey, if I'm waking up at 5:30AM on vacation... I'm going to Joey G. it up a bit.

In all honesty, it was worth waking up to see this neverending march of safron. Hope everyone has a good weekend. See you this week - weird, huh!?!

Laos - The Jewel of the Mekong

My mom calls it "LAY-OSE". Many travel specialists call it "the next Hot Spot." I call it a slow-paced sojurn of full of culture and calmness. It was definitely an active and intriguing week & I can now check off "spend a week in a communist country" from my things to do list. Laos is a beautiful country and most agree that it is what Southeast Asia is really all about. Some even say the cities we visited are what Chiang Mai used to be like 20-30 years ago. The city of Luang Prabang (we spent four days there) is actually a World Heritage Site - so there are no tall structures, streets are cobbled, and there are mad restrictions on new construction.

Differences between Laos trip and Cambodia trip: 1)Laos was cleaner w/less begging 2)Cambodia (apart from Angkor Wat) actually felt more 'real' and less touristy 3)Transportation was more expensive in and around Laos (thanks communism) 4)Laos has a curfew of 11:00PM 5)Our guest Gail was fascinated with silk purses in Cambodia; our guest Liz was fascinated with silk-making in Laos.

Sleepy streets of Luang Prabang
Similarities between Laos trip and Cambodia trip: 1)They both boast their national beer AngkorBeer (Camb) and BeerLao (Laos) 2)Both trips could have been shortened by a day or two-there's only so much to see 3)We saw the capitals first (Phnom Penh in Camb/Vietieane in Laos) than knocked out the more touristy spots (Siem Reap in Camb/Luang Prabang in Laos) 4)Those darn French were everywhere 5)The Mekong is one big river!

Mekong Riverside
If you want to read an accurate description of the Laotian trip - please visit Amanda's blog. Some days it didn't feel like we did much, even though the Sisters Fairly insisted on waking up earlier than most humans should every morning! And for the first time since I used to rock Bugle Boys, I was in bed at 9PM. But I didn't go to sleep till after midnight thanks to some new Godfather novels I'm caught up in. But that's what Luang Prabang seems designed for - "chilling out, maxing, relaxing, all cool" <--- name the song that partial lyric is from!
Amanda about to make the quietest capital in the world, Vietiane, a little LOUDER

Water buffalo, NOT the Redskins' O-Line from the 1980s

You can't take pictures from inside, so I'm happy with this tele-zoomed shot!

Liquid paradise

Amanda and Liz

Falling water

Amanda and I (look how my English done got better!)
Please see Amanda's blog for all the adventures we had on the transportation front. Food and lodging were also unique. The strangest thing I ate was Dried River Moss. It was kind like a bland tortilla chip. The best thing I ate (actually drank) was a Mulberry Fruit Shake. My mom says she can't believe all the strange food I'm trying. It's out of necessity, ma! There are no Laos-mberti's nearby! I'm glad we splurged and got a comfortable room during our stay in Luang Prabang. We stayed in a very neat old French Mansion. Correction, we stayed in the former servants quarters of the mansion. Still, quite cool and a perfect setting for BeerLao and some cards. I can't believe the Fairley Girls have never played blackjack. Or maybe they were setting me up for a hustle...

Monks collecting alms at dawn

The Joey Gee-kong River

Outside the Sayo Guesthouse - servants' quarters

Statue at our guesthouse

2 Fruitcakes and 2 Fruit Shakes
I'd love to be able to write a more descriptive recap, but they are working me hard my last remaining days here. I also have to squeeze in packing, enjoying time with Amanda, and Thailand's most celebrated holiday - Songkran. This 3-day holiday is a water festival to celebrate the Thai New Year. It starts tomorrow and it should be absolutely NUTZ. The best city in the whole country to see/experience this is in good ol' Chiang Mai. It's a weeklong water fight & vanilla faces like myself are the biggest targets. Amanda already got drenched on her ride to work today; I too swift on my mountain bike. I've got my water guns and digital camera in a double-ziplock, so bring it on! Check out someone else's photos here & don't get wet!

Home Stretch...

Pics and prattle from our trip to Laos will eventually posted, I promise! Been busy teaching and enjoying Amanda's sister Liz's company for the past week. Not to mention trying to prepare for my return to reality. I put this widget below in my very first post and I thought I'd drag it back up.

Yikes. Now it's less than a week until CNX-BKK-JFK-and Amtrak to WIL!!!