Hey Everybody,

Ok, so so much has happened since my last post. I have gone on a trek up into the mountains of Chang Mai and it was amazing. It was super hot, crazy bugs and our amazing guide told us about the King Cobra he saw the week before (I wish i had seen it!). We stayed in a tribal hut with some other travelers and it was super amazing except for one part...like when the hut caught on fire. There was a candle over on the ledge and we were all like, "shouldn't we put that candle out before we go to sleep, but we thought it would be ok and went to sleep. Well somebody woke up in the middle of the night and noticed the wall on fire and put it out. I was sound asleep, but Dave said he saw it b/c he wasn't sleeping much that night. We were woken up by a damn rooster at like 4:30 a.m. and pigs and dogs, it was like i was on a farm. The hilltribe people here are so poor, they made all of these scarfs and bracelets and other various things (beer and coke were big sellers to thirsty trekkers) just to get by. The next day we went elephant riding which was so amazing and fed the elephants bananas and it was super! Then Bamboo rafting down a river for a while and back to Chang Mai. We hit up the night market which was just crazy with all the stuff one could buy, pretty much anything one could want. I was able to go to Mass in Thai, which was crazy but missed it on Sunday b/c i was on the trek, so i got a dispensation for Sunday on Friday daily Mass from the priest (I hope this works? Colin, Val?). I went to Sacred Heart Cathedral...thanks Colin! Then the next day we went to the Golden Triangle and on a speed boat trip over to the Laos border where it dumped rain and i bought Cobra Whiskey (whiskey with a big cobra stuffed in the bottle, and yes you can drink it, b/c i tried some with an ex Buddhist Monk there!). Then we looked at Burma (not good for U.S. citizens to go to right now) and that is the golden triangle (Laos, Burma, Thailand). It used to be very big for Opium. We then went to the Long Neck hill tribe people and it was so amazing. Huge rings on their necks make them very long, it is surreal! Then we woke up early today (Tuesday, almost Wednesday when i write this) and caught a flight to Bangkok. We had a later connecting flight but we opted for an earlier one and of coarse, our bags were lost (F!). Phuket has actually be the biggest pain in my rear on this whole trip thus far, but not too bad. We went down to the beach and were the only tools with long pants and shoes on (and me looking as pasty as ever). We watched a sunset and where heading back when i decided to look at a custom tailored suit. So now, i am getting 3 cashmere (w/ silk lining) suits, 3 silk ties, 3 custom tailored pants, and 3 custom tailored shirts for $350, so cheap and hopefully good suits. I need to pick up some more knock-off stuff like sunglasses, watch and maybe some shoes. The night life in Puket is crazy, so many bars, live music, good food, cheap merchandise, Tuk Tuk or cab and a lot of prostitutes with older white guys (sick!). All in all, i can't wait for tomorrow, sand, sun and surf. On Thursday we head off to Pi Pi Islands and then to Krabi and Bangkok for a day and then home. I will keep you all posted as much as i can! More stories, but don't have a lot of time to write (1 baht a minute...34baht = 1 U.S. Dollar). Hope all is well!
God Bless,
Brett