ITS THE FINAL BLOGDOWN!  DOODADOODOO DOODADOODOODOO DOODADOO DODADOODOODOO

Hello to all of our devoted beloved blog followers.  We are sorry to say that this will probably be the final blog in our exciting saga.  Thank you all so much for following!  We hope to do one more blog if possible, but if not, savour the words!

After our time spent in the south of Thailand, we hoofed it up to the north.  We had a lot of fun with the transport, going an entire day and a night on different buses.  We eventually made our way up to Chiang Mai, a beautiful metropolis that has many things to do.  We did everything from a cooking course, (above) to a day of ziplining through the forest. (Below)

We did this very cool ziplining through a jungle in Northern Thailand, just outside of Chiang Mai.  It was called FLIGHT OF THE GIBBON.  You are supposed to see gibbons but we didn't see any.....but we have seen gibbons, just earlier on the trip in Khao Yai National Park.  Anyway, we zipped through through the jungle, very high up...it was a little scary at first considering both Thomas and Michelle are slightly afraid of falling from high heights.  But by the end we were flying though the jungle like gibbons! 

above: Thomas "flying" through the trees....actually there were a few times that he alsmost ran into trees, but he's okay.

In Chiang Mai we enjoyed doing some shopping at the Sunday Walking Street Market and the Night Market.  Thomas was a very good shopper to keep up with very energetic and enthusiastic shopper Michelle.  Above Michelle is pictured walking the streets in Chiang Mai with her new patchwork backpack...that was one of her "special treasures" she found, isn't it great?!?!  

While walking through the walking streets we were able to see many Wats on the way...and, delightfully, right across from one of the Wats was the newly opened chocolate shop.....Our first real chocolate in Thailand, and oh was it delicious!

mmmmmmmmmmmm.........

mmmmmmmmm.......

We had an Iced Chocolate Lattle....very refreshing on a hot day! An amazing Chocoalte Heart Cake....so rich and wonderful, and beautifully decorated!  And a lovely chocolate Fondue....Fon-don't you think that sounds fantastic?!?!? and also complementary water...which was very nice as well.

After a few really fun days in Chiang Mai we headed off to Pai to do some trekking and explore that area.  When we got there we were pleasantly supprised by how much we loved Pai.  It was so relaxed, there weren't many other travellers because it was low season, and the people were so friendly.  We spent a few days exploring the town and the beautiful surrounding area.  If we had have had more time we would have loved to stay for longer, although it is a very small town there was so much adventuring to do in and around.  In Pai we decided to do a two day one night trek.  We had a great guide and it was a lot of fun.... and suprisingly Michelle actually enjoyed the constant hiking.  We met a great girl named Lyn from the Phillipeans who is half french as well....she was a lot of fun, somebody we would definitely want to see again!  Also on the trek were two Israelie girls....Lyn, Thomas, and Michelle had a good laugh over this...you would think that because all Isreali people have to spend two years in the army these girls would be like hard core GI Janes or something, but they were the most physically incompentant people....ever!  It was ridiculous....they sign up for a TREK, and then they get mad at our exteremely nice and patient guide who carried their bags (Thomas also carried on of the bags, very sweet) beacsue they were angry and shocked that they had to walk so much!  We tried so hard to be friendly to them and then they showed no warmth.  And we visited some very friendly and interesting hill tribe villages and they weren't interested at all!  We wondered why they were even on the trek....it must have been just to pose for pictures so they could say that they had gone on a trek or something.  On the last day they just got motorcycle rides back into town...c

razy people!  We're done ranting about them now...sorry.

Here (from left to right) Lyn, Michelle, Thomas....just in case you couldn't figure that out.

This picture was taking in a hut at one of the villages we vistited.  It was a really great trek....and the Isreali girl were sort of like entertainment.

There was a lot of up-hill trekking, but at the top the view was well worth it (even the Isreali girls' complaining was worth it!).

These are "jungle berries" in Michelle's hand...we were happy to taste an almost familiar taste.....hmmmm.....sweet....with a few seeds inside...purple skin.... SASKATOON BERRIES!!!

but not quite as delicious.  It made us excited to go home and hopefully have some Saskatoon's to pick!

Well, after Pai we headed back to Chiang Mai to do a bit more shopping in the evening and then take a night bus back to Bangkok where we head home from.  As we were walking around in Chiang Mai we found one of those Japanese restauraunts where all the Sushi and stuff to make Shabu Shabu rotate around infromt of you while you sit at the bar thing....We were so excited we decided we had to try it, and it was very good!

This picture is supposed to capture Michelle trying to decide from the many things moving past her.

Anyway...we went to the bus station in Chiang Mai expecting to take an ordinary bus....but....we stumbled upon the most fantastic bus ever!  The seats reclined all the way back, Thomas was happy because he could stretch his legs all the way out, there were lots of snack and drinks, and....the seats were MASSAGE SEATS!!!  It was the best 10 hour bus ride ever!  And there were no other foriegners on the bus, which was a bonus.

Back in Bangkok we did our last bit of urban exploring which mostly consisted of eating good food, window shopping at expensive stores, and going to movies in a huge and very luxurious theatre.  That was fun.  We stayed at the same guesthouse we stayed at for our first week in Thailand, Asha Guesthouse, and it was a great way to bring the trip full circle.  We are very sad to be leaving Thailand, but are so happy for all the experiences we had and are excited to come home and have cheese, potatoes, and of course see our beloved family and friends.

We are now writing this from Vancover.  We are back in Canada....it is certainly different than Thailand and it is almost strange to be back.  But we love strange, so it is GREAT to be back.  We have a 23 hour layover here in limbo between home and Thailand and are excited to arrive in home Saskatchewan!

See you all very soon.....

oh, and we might continue with the blog very not frequently after this trip....just because.

Much love and thanks for sharing this experience with us via the wonders of the internet,

T and M

SUNSETS OF THAILAND

As our time in Thailand dwindles, we cannot help but feel the sun setting into darkness as well.  Ironically, it is only just rising for you.  

Thank you to everyone who reads the blog, and checks to see if we have updated lately...  We know, it has not been updated for a while...THAT IS ABOUT TO CHANGE

Oh, and for those that follow the news, and have heard of some unrest in Thailand, know that we are completely safe and have remained peacefully oblivious to the conflicts in Bangkok...The violence is directed at the people involved in Thai politics, which is not us.

This blog will be from most present to least present.  Well, let the blogging begin!

We are now in Chiang Mai, after a day and a night travelling from the south of Thailand.  Chiang Mai has been great so far....we took a really great cooking course where we each learned to cook six different Thai dishes, maybe that calls for a dinner party when we arrive home?

This blog will be mostly about the southern part of Thailand, and the beaches, and all of those lovely things.
We finished off our beach time in the very small island of Koh Chang off the Andaman Coast.  It was a refreshing change from the very touristy islands we were on before.  The island only had a few sets of bungalows and a very small local village.  The beaches were perfect, pristine and empty and the jungles offered great hikes.  We really felt that the island we found had been discovered before the inevitable "Lonely Planeting" of the place... So that was really nice!
We spent a really great week here reading, hiking, swimming, star gazing and long walks on the beach, playing guitar, laying in the sun, and hammocking.  It was a challenging few days!
Thomas reading A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian in the hammock of our very rustic bungalow.  A very cool part of this island was that there was no Internet or phone access along with no electricity.  Candles were our lights at night, and we found that without the need for central heating, electricity was a luxury that was completely unnecessary.
We made friends with the dogs at our beach.  Here you can see Michelle and one of the puppies watching the sun set together....Michelle has decided that when she gets home she NEEDS a dog!  Or maybe a goat?

We made friends with a Naturopath from Germany.  His name is Leo and he is very cool.  We ate most meals with him on the island and we also joined him for quite a few hikes.  We have met so many people, many of whom have been very interesting... but in Leo we found an intelligent, thought provoking guy who provoked many discussions involving everything from acupuncture to the Aryan race.
Michelle on the 2 hour long tail boat ride from the coastal town of Ranong to Koh Chang.  Unlike other boats to other islands, this one only had five people on it including us!  The other four were locals.
Now, backing up further.....  Before Koh Chang we were one Koh Pan Ngan on the Gulf Coast of Thailand.  We spent almost a week on this Island.  For three of these days we rented a motor bike to explore.  And every time we went out, it always decided to rain very hard for about fifteen minutes.  One day we were invited into this house to wait for the rain to end, but not before we were already soaking wet.  We have found time and time again that the best experiences have involved some conflict.  Without some trials and tribulation, we would not have had half of the fun that we have had, or met nearly as many cool and interesting people.
While motorbike-adventuring our way around the island on many winding and hilly roads, Michelle liked to take random scenery pictures while Thomas drove.  We made regular stops to see waterfalls and some Wats.  This road was exceptionally excellent.
Koh Pan Ngan is famous for its Full Moon Parties which take place....Yup, you guessed it, every full moon.  Once a month thousands of backpackers from all over Asia and the world come for a huge party on the beach with music from many different DJ's.  We decided that it  was something we just had to go and see....30,000 people on one beach is quite a sight.  We also met a bunch of great friends that will be awesome to go and visit as the years go by.
While we were on Koh Pan Ngan we stayed on a more remote beach out of the main action.  We stayed at a great little boutique resort that had just opened a few months ago, and got quite a deal on a great room and location.  When we weren't on our motorcycle tours we liked to lay on the beach.
While we were passing through one of the island's town on our motorbike it started to rain....what a surprise!  We stopped and hung out with this lovely dog under an awning to wait for the rain to ease up so we could continue on the very hilly roads with a bit of visibility.
Some Belgium friends we made to go to the full moon party with.  Michelle enjoyed spending time with some girls again, but they definitely don't beat her girlfriends from home!
More European friends!  We spent some time under an umbrella waiting for the rain to end (you may notice that it often rained while we were on Koh Pan Ngan.)  These guys also stayed at hour boutique resort so we got to know then quite well....Thomas is thinking of going and visiting them to see a huge music festival in Belgium one summer.  Oh, and if you are wondering what the bucket in the picture is, it is for making sand castles.  The straws are flags for the castle.
Thomas freshening up it one of the streams of water at a water fall in a national park.  It felt like we were faeries playing around in the water and jumping from giant rock to large boulder.
The restaurant of our lovely, deal-of-a-hotel.  We enjoyed sitting with very comfortable triangle pillows and looking out onto the water, while enjoying a nice fresh fruit shake.  It was great to stumble onto such a great resort for so cheap!Waiting for some sushi at a great sushi restaurant in the main village on Koh Pan Ngan....we decided to do a photo shoot.

THIS IS A VERY LARGE PICTURE!!!!!!  It's because it's not actually us, but we actually did SCUBA dive.  We spent some time one Koh Tao (Turtle Island) first in a remote beach doing some snorkeling and relaxing and then in a busy little town full of Scuba people.  We both took our Open Water course and now are certified open water divers.  It was a lot of fun to see another world that without SCUBA we would never have the chance to see....oh, and we saw some sharks (but just small ones).

Blue skies, blue water, and white sand......ahhhhhhhh.....  In the distance is Shark Island.  We dove and snorkeled there and this is were we saw the sharks.  Amazingly, Michelle did not freak out like she thought she would seeing a shark.  She only screamed for a little while.
This picture is really irrelevant except for the fact that Thomas is drinking Mirinda which is Rachel Stock's favorite beverage, and you can't buy it in Canada.  He's drinking it for her, and this picture is for her too.  Very refreshing!  Rachel, drink your heart out.
We usually had to wake up very early for our SCUBA classes and dives....so we saved time and money by buying fresh fruit to have breakfast in our guesthouse room.  Okay, maybe not to save money, but it tasted really good! 
Michelle just bouncing around like Michelle does.  I guess this picture just illustrates to you that we are having fun.
Thomas reading under the shade of a bamboo umbrella on Koh Tao.
And even farther back to Hua Hin..... Our first beach after teaching in land-locked Isaan.  We think that Thomas was just enjoying the open skies and wide horizons of the ocean.  Sunburn was experienced by all.
While at Hua Hin we decided we needed to go and see a Thai Boxing Match.  Alright, so now it must be said that Michelle enjoyed it much more than Thomas.  At first, it was Thomas who was adament that it would be awesome to see some Thai pugilism, but as the first gong sounded, his face turned white, and the violence become to much for his tender-hearted soul.  As the fighting wore on, Michelle was the one that enjoyed it more and more, and eventually started cheering and shouting along with the most avid boxing fans.  Thomas thinks that table tennis is a much better sport, and would gladly witness that instead of boxing.
This is photo of Michelle.  She is not crazy, and she is not about to jump into the ocean.  She is merely soaring with the spirit of the ocean, as only a prairie girl can.  This is before we were laid waste by the sunburn.
HAAAAAGGGGGGEENNDDAAAZZZZzZ!  In Canada, eating some dericion ice cream involves taking it out of the Esso freezer and unwrapping it.  In Thailand, Hagen Daaz is as five star dining experience, complete with dressed up waiters, cloth napkins and complementary ice water.  The ice cream was good as well.
Thomas' weak impression of a foxy ice cream model.  He needs to work on that.  But the feeling of inner bliss from the ice cream was definitely there.

So, that is all for thsi post.  Hopefully this brightened your day...as we sit in darkness, typing like mad scientists.

Enjoy sprunging spring, and we will be home before you know it!

Oh, and we will do atleast one more post!

MUCH LOVE!

T and M