By: Fran Vandenberg

 After postponing our trip to Thailand after 9/11, this year would bring us to Asia for the first time.

HONG KONG
We flew Cathay Pacific for the long haul from Vancouver direct to Hong Kong. (13hrs. 41min.). Despite the ear plugs, 1/2 sleeping pill and eye mask, I have resigned myself to the fact that I have never, nor do I think WILL ever be able to sleep on planes. Excellent service and personal tv kept me occupied enough to make the trip quite bearable with bulk head seats in "refugee class".

Arriving in the evening and keeping in mind this is pre xmas, we were treated to the amazing display of lights on all the buildings. We were fortunate to be able to break up our trip and enjoyed 3 nights in Hong Kong. For a first timer, I was a little overwhelmed by the amount and size of all the buildings, the crowds of people, the buses, taxis and lets not forget to mention the pollution. We were staying in Kowloon and spent the first day exploring on our own. We took the Star Ferry and a tram to the Causeway Bay area and enjoyed wandering around the oldest market in Hong Kong. Took advantage of the extremely efficient MRT back to Kowloon and enjoyed some of the finest Dim Sum I have ever eaten.

The next day we took a 1/2 day tour and were delighted to be the only two on the trip. The trip was arranged by my travel agent at home. The highlight was taking the tram up the Peak which rewarded us with a magnificent view of the city despite to smog hanging over it. Was amazed to be informed that 95% of all the business buildings and many apartment buildings were built with the advice of a Master of Feng Shui. (Fung Shway)

It must have been a good day for the tour (pollution index wise), as the next day travelling to the airport, you could barely make out buildings in the haze.

BANGKOK
A short 2 1/2 hr. flight brought us to the amazing city of Bangkok. An overbooking at the Rembrant Hotel managed to get us an upgrade to a lovely suite complete with those cushy robes and fresh orchids on the pillows with turndown service.

We would spend 3 nights here as well.

No trip to Bangkok would be complete without a city and temple tour including the Grand Palace. Once again, making prior arrangements allowed us a private tour. I have never seen traffic gridlock like that in my life and thought I was prepared. I was not. A LOT of people were wearing surgical type masks due to the pollution. Taking a "tuk tuk" would not be advisable in this city where traffic barely moves and you would probably end up behind a vehicle bellowing out clouds of smoke. But despite all this, there is an "air" of excitement here.

The temples of Wat Pho with the reclining Buddha and Wat Traimit that held the solid gold Buddha were incredible. The GRAND PALACE was again, overwhelming. As many people know, you must be properly dressed (to show respect) to enter. As I chose to wear a simple cotton dress with short sleeves, (knowing that the top of the arms may not be exposed), and sandals I did not anticipate any problems. Hubby however, was wearing shorts that were a "no no" as knees should also not be exposed. The guide said my dress was 50-50 and did not know if they would let me in as it did not quite cover my knees. A quick trip across the street (with guide), got hubby a pair of drawstring pants to pull over his shorts. I had to give up my sandals (because of an open heel, which would represent slippers and be disrespectful), for a pair of camoflauge velcro rubber sandals about 7 sizes too big! With his funky black pants with white fish and my floppy sandals, I think we looked like an aging pair of "granola bars". Quite funny. It was obvious once inside the grounds that we were not the only ones wearing "borrowed" clothing.

The tour itself was fantastic, and I urge anyone going to Bangkok, not to miss out on this.

The next day we took the Sky train to the Siam shopping district. We overshot by one stop, and just walking for 15 minutes in 37 degrees (cel) left us sweating profusely. Could not wait to get inside the mall with air conditioning. My chest and throat were burning already.

The mall itself was HUGE! Very sophisticated with some high quality stores. In front of the stores are many vendors selling touristy things and the never ending name brand knock offs. Hubby couldn't resist a Swiss Army knock off watch for about $23 cdn. It didn't last one day! (giggle). The Ray Bans were a success though. Bought myself a lovely handbag in a nice ladies shoe store. Not cheap, around $100 cdn but very nice quality.

Dinner across the street from the hotel in a tiny restaraunt was fabulous, not to mention cheap. When a local came in, he had some peanuts in bags and was pointing to them and me back and forth. He did not speak English. I thought he wanted me to try them, so I helped myself to a few. I felt a little foolish when a few minutes later his friend and mahout came along with an ELEPHANT! I was supposed to be buying the peanuts to feed the big guy. Could not resist the urge to touch his big trunk. However, elephants in Bangkok are frowned upon and can be quite a nusance causing traffic jams. It is a cruel thing to see these giants in the city. Later in my trip I heard that 3 mahouts were arrested and the elephants taken to a wildlife refuge. The difficulty is, that many elephants spend their life with one mahout and managing them by a stranger can present a challenge, not to mention danger.

By now we were getting eager to head towards WATER and away from the crowds and smog.

Dec. 20th we flew the short hop (1 hr. 5 min.) to Phuket.

PHUKET
Arrived on Dec. 20th after the short flight on Thai Airways. We spent 3 nights at the Karon Felix Hotel on Karon Beach. The normal temps for this time of the year are supposed to be around 26-28 degrees celcius. However, daily temps hovered between 33-35 degrees. Very hot and humid. (91-96 degrees fahrenheit). The hottest it has been at this time of year in the past 20 years!

Karon Beach is about 35-40 minutes north of Phuket town and although busy and fairly touristy, is much less so than places like Patong Beach which we purposely avoided. It was an exciting place to visit, (Patong) but if you are looking for peace and quiet, this is NOT where you want to be staying. The beach across the street from the hotel was beautiful. I giggled every time I made a bee line to the water as the sand is so fine here, it actually squeaks underfoot! (BTW, this was the only beach we came across that "squeaked"). No rocks, coral or anything to stub your feet on. Just pure, soft sand and a balmy water temp of 84 degrees. Pure heaven.

THE FOOD!
I have to admit I really only ever had one bad meal, the whole time we were in Thailand. It was fantastic and almost embarassingly cheap. As a big fan of Pad Thai, everywhere had their own special taste and you can make it as hot as you want. Some dishes were way too hot for me, but my Dutch hubby was in his glory. Anyone who has been to Thailand always mentions the food. Now we know why.

THE DIVING!
OCEAN ROVER (DEC-23/02 - JAN. 3/03)

As this would be our first liveaboard, I wanted to make sure that the experience would be wonderful enough to convice hubby that at our "age", this is the way to go. After lots of research, reading trip reports, tips and suggestions from some board members, (special note of thanks to Jim aka/Aquaholic), the Ocean Rover was the vessel of choice. One would really be hard pressed to find a better liveaboard in Thailand. This would turn out to be the "Creme de la Creme". For details and specs go to www.ocean-rover.com. Oh yes, I must also mention that a real bonus was having Nitrox available which almost all of the divers used. Mix was 32%.

We chose the Xmas/New Year itinerary which would take us to the Similan/Surin Islands, including the Mergui Archipelago & Burma Banks. The boat was run by an all Thai crew with 2 Dutch Divemasters, Hans and Allard, all of whom were wonderful. The on board briefing was most excellent. With much excitement and "bangs" of the fireworks, (set off on all Thai vessels when leaving port for good luck), we headed off to travel most of the night. Hubby and I had the port side v berth (as doubles were sold out), with extremely comfy bunks w/down comforters, private toilet w/shower and individual a/c control. First class acommodations.

Unfortunately, I had left my ear plugs in the suitcase in storage. Boo :( In hindsight, I wish I had taken a sleeping pill as with all the excitement and noise from the engines, not to mention the anchor going down at around 3:30 a.m., I barely got a wink of sleep. A brief discussion with the guests in the morning, proved not many people slept well either.

The breakfast buffet was outstanding. Almost anything you could imagine. Eggs, (fried, scrambled, omeletes), ham, bacon, sausages, toast, pancakes, cereal, fresh fruit, yogurt etc. etc. etc. Such a shame I do not eat breakfast and I always have to eat light while diving to avoid heartburn. I did however, take advantage of the "help yourself" on board expresso/cappucino machine on the beautiful sundeck. That's all I need to make my morning a success.

There were 15 divers on this trip and gearing up and getting aboard the two dingies was a breeze thanks to the efficient staff. Although all crew worked hard, the man most talked about by everyone, was "Chai". He made each diver feel that he was your private "valet". From helping you in and out of your suit, passing you your computer to passing you your freshly cleaned (and scrubbed with toothbrush and cleaner) mask, and warm towel after showering off, the guy was nothing short of "amazing". One couple, who has been on at least 20 different liveaboards (including many Aggressor & Mike Ball), said they had never been pampered like we were on this boat.

Negative entries were done to get down as quickly as possible. If you were lucky enough to get down quickly and keep the divemaster in view, he would spend the early part of the dives pointing out critters you surely would have missed. Good luck trying to stick with them for the entire dive! However, they do not provide a "babysitting service". Solo diving is permitted per your experience. Sometimes swimming against a strong current is necessary. Not being good at this myself, ocassionally I found myself doing an unintentional solo dive. There were also times when I just got too tired (of fighting against current), and ended up coming up alone. Really need to find a "buddy leash". A lot of my dives I ended up buddying with a single gal who liked to take photos and was as slow as I was. There was one dive, however, that I really wished I had a buddy to surface with. I'll get to that later.

Rather than report on every single dive and site, and what we saw, I will try to avoid being repititious. Dec. 24-26th were spent in the Similan/Surin Islands. Sites included: The Channel, East of Eden, Morning Glory, Christmas Point, Twin Peaks, Ko Bon and Richelieu Rock. Visability ranged from the poorest being 10 meters to the best being 30 meters. (For non metric folks, multiply by 3.28) The average though, seemed to be around 15-20 meters. Currents ran from mild to strong with some pretty skookum thermoclines which could leave you shivering despite the average water temps of 84 degrees.

Having been diving the last 11 years only in the Caribbean, I was relly looking forward to seeing all kinds of new & different species. Though I was a little dissapointed with the visibility, the abundance and variety of fish made up for it. Lionfish, 4 species of clown anenome, blue razor wrasse, purple fire dart gobys, andaman sweetlips, ghost shrimp, juvy emperor angelfish, clown triggerfish (one of my fav's who look hand painted), many types of morays, porcelan crabs and nudibrachs.

There were some beautiful coral formations, bommies, giant sea fans, whip corals and enormous spreads of staghorn and elkhorn coral. One of my favorite sites was "Eas of Eden". Superb scenery on this dive with good visability and lots of soft corals and crinoids. Schools of blue trevallies and blue spotted stingrays.

Ko Bon is a popular place due to frequent Manta sightings. The current was right and we eagerly hung on the "ridge" waiting patiently. I have never seen such a crowded dive site! At least 150 divers. No joke! Two people on our boat said they caught a glimpse of a Manta but it was quickly "chased away" by overzealous divers from another boat. Thanks a lot guys :( By the time I got over the ridge I was lost amidst the vast numbers of divers. Couldn't find anyone in our group. Oh well, at least there were lots of neat things to see. Mantis shrimp, juvy bicolor parrotfish, yellow masked Angelfish, shrimps and such.

Richelieu Rock is one of the most popular dive sites. We were limited to 3 dives here as we would be moving on to the Burma Banks. I was amazed to learn that even with environmental efforts, it is NOT a protected marine park and is still on occasion, dynamite fished. It is a large pinnacle with some smaller ones that rise from the sandy bottom at around 33 meters. I dropped onto a shallow ledge at about 30' to find a pair of mating cuttlefish with a couple of male rivals hanging around. (I appologize for the metric and imperial but my computer measures in feet and some of my notes/dive log and boat log book are in meters). I was surprised how close you could hover without bothering them at all. The fantastic and bright colour changes in the male when other males tried to come closer was neat to watch. I spent quite a lot of time observing and watching the female place her eggs. The rest of the dive provided countless numbers of morays in green, golden, marbled and giant. The dense colonies of sea anemones with bright, bright colours of green, purple and pink and blue were filled with 5 different species of clownfish. Just can't get enough of those cutey pies! Banded cleaner shrimp took no time at all to crawl in the divemastes mouth after he removed his reg and get to work. I did not want to give up my air source for that and settled for a wee manicure. Tiger tail sea horses, more scorpion fish than you could count and my first ever peek at 2 devil scorpionfish. One blue with a brown marbled spot and one a mottled brown. Fairly rare and extremely ugly, I never would have spotted them were it not for Allard. One of the safety stops allowed me to swim the entire time fairly close to a large school of blue lined baracuda.

Mergui Archipelago & Burma Banks (Dec. 27-31)

With much excitement and anticipation we headed up north. Entry arrangements were simple and handled by the operators. Each diver had to pay in crisp new bills $150 USD.

Dive sites covered here included Fanforest Pinnacle, Western Rocky, Big Bank, Silver Tip Bank, Black Rock, Three Islets, Rocky Hit & High Rock.

Being one of those naughty divers who does not keep a regualr dive log, (but trying on this trip), my notes and log are starting to get a bit sketchy. I may inadvertently have left out some sites and the order may not be exact.

I beleive it was Western Rocky that had the giant moray out in the open with a fully blown up porcupine fish in its' mouth. Hard to say how long this battle was going on before we came along. Most divers were betting on the fish. The photographers and videographers were having a field day. There is one photo of this posted on Klaus' website and I am trying to get access to some others photos from someone else. If you type in www.possekel.de and click on unter wassen it is the second last photo posted. Click on to enlarge. Pretty cool.

The currents up here are stronger and the visability was only 10-15 meters on most dives. It is very obvious, the damage that trawling, longline fishing and dynamite have done on almost all these sites. However, some sites still had some nice soft corals, anemones and gorgonian fans. Growing on the rocky walls were an abundance of orange cup corals. Big Bank provided us with some tawny nurse sharks. The (outdated) books of reference refer to "sharks on almost every dive" with good chance of seeing the "big stuff". Well, often after dynamiting, some fish return to the reefs. There must have been a lot of that going on as there was not much of anything in the way of big critters on any of the dives here.

The trip all the way up to Black Rock took around 7 hours. Sleep improved after diving all day and the odd sleeping pill. At this dive site a pair of fillament wrasse were pointed out showing off their flashy fins. Had only seen it on tv before and it was quite the sight. Pity the vis was so poor. Divemaster also found a long nose hawkfish. More cuttlefish, white eyed and yellow eyed morays, banded sea snakes, (one quiet large) and many, many scorpionfish and octopus. Most of the octopus were not in hiding and would allow a fairly close encounter.

Because this site is so far, all 4 dives were done there. Personally, I only did 2. After 2 dives, I felt, well, been there, done that. A little bit bored to be quite honest.

3 Islets had a moderate to strong current and surge. Only 10 meter vis. There was nice yellow sponge at the tunnel entrance and I spotted my first juvy scorpionfish. There was also cuttlefish, Jenkins whip ray, lots of morays, blue spotted jawfish and a yellow tigertail sea horse with a teeny tiny baby one, in perfect form no bigger than my pinky fingernail close to the adult. As it was just one diver that found it, and myself with Allard, he kept pointing at "two". For the life of me I could not spot the baby one. I looked, and looked and looked. I refused to leave until I saw it. Of course I was not looking for something THAT SMALL! LOL!

By this time, there is a fair amount of "grumbling" among the divers after discussing the dives in Myanmar and the Burma Banks. Quite a few divers had been diving in Thailand before but had never done Myanmar or the Burma Banks which is why they chose this 10 diving day itinerary. The "overall" comments from the majority were of mass dissapointment. I heard everything from....."This is a con" to "what a waste of time". My own personal opinion is this. Yes there were some nice things to see. Two dives on Black Rock and Three Islets were worth only that. Two dives each. Was it worth going all that distance? No. Was it worth paying USD $150 each? No. Would I return? No. Would I recommend it as a "must see?" No. Sorry, but I am just being honest. On the comment sheet at the end of the trip, most if not all divers seemed to agree on this. If the Ocean Rover moved to Indonesia would I go on it again? Yes, in a heartbeat!

On the return trip I have Rocky Hit and High Rock with absolutely nothing noted in the log book. I think probably it must have been a lot of "same, same" as they say in Thailand.

New Years Eve, we went to Port in Burma to collect passports, do a little shopping and have a drink at a restaraunt. Champagne celebrations on board but no fireworks as they are illegal in Burma.

Other sites visited were Elephant Head with a ripping current, Parsons, a return to East of Eden, (different part of the reef and not near as pretty), and the old ore dredging wreck that I can't remember the name of. That would be my first real "muck diving". Vis around the wreck was terrible, but there were schools of puffer fish and more morays of every variety that you could shake a stick at. The best diving however, was in the sand around the wreck with improved vis. Tons of lionfish, cuttlefish, shrimp gobey combos, and my first ever esterus (sp?) stonefish, reef stonefish and a chance to see a cuttlefish attacking its' prey. Never knew they could move so fast!

One other dive provided me with the opportunity of seeing a mating pair of Octopus. Felt very priveleged to witness that!

A final dive at Richelieu Rock before heading back to port overnight.

Enjoyed the company of new friends, and a first class liveaboard operation. I am afraid I have set the bar a little on the high side for liveaboards in the future. ;o]

Back to the mainland to off gas and relax for a week of doing as little as possible.

The next week would be spent at the Kata Palm Hotel at Kata Beach, a few miles South of Karon Beach. I beleive we only went to the beach once as the heat was almost unbearable and there were a gazillion people there. Lounging by the pool with a good book and having the odd massage or manicure seemed enough excitement for me.

Jan 10-23rd. Hubby and I took the short 40 min. flight up to Koh Samui where we enjoyed the next 13 nights at the Imperial Boathouse. A superb hotel with 2 swimming pools and fabulous gardens, located on a beautiful quiet beach. About a 15 min. tuk-tuk ride from town and the ever so populated Chaweng Beach. The food was so outstanding here, I decided to attend a 4 hr. Thai cooking course. As cooking is also a hobby of mine, it was time well spent and I really enjoyed it.

Koh Samui was once a barely populated area with 10 cars and bare facilities. After it was discovered,well, I think you know what happened. Wall to wall hotels and jammed beaches. Which is why we were lucky to find this gem of a place out of town.

A one day trip to Angthong National Marine Park for sea canoeing and hiking was nice. A gruelling climb up a mountain to see an emeral salt water lake was a test of the thighs. Spoke to a diver in our group who dove Koh Tao and said it was lousy convinced us to pass on this area.

The most excitement on this island was taking hubby into town one night where we had a drink at an old hippie bar that had quite a good blues jam going on. Then on to a Cabaret with the most beautiful shemales coming on to him. Their show was quite good. First time hubby ever saw a "girl-guy" with real "boobs". (As she flashed them just as I was taking the picture). I told him this picture will hold up in court! Wish I could post it.

Flew back to Phuket and re-checked in at the Kata Palm Hotel, to await the arrival of my g'friend due to arrive the next day. After her gruelling 28 hr. journey she arrived in one piece, sort of. Three more nights and hubby said his goodbyes and headed home.

A few more days to relax and then we would board "The Junk" for a 5 night 4 diving day liveaboard.

Wow, never thought I would get to the end of this. You are probably saying the same ;)

Jan. 31-Feb 5/03 The Junk

My g'friend and I would spend the next 5 night/4 diving days on this beauty, the June Hong Chian Lee (Respect wind Travel Forever). 140 tons with 3 masts it is quite impressive. For more info go to www.thejunk.com.

The reason I chose this vessel is because Hans and Allard from the Ocean Rover recommended it and Hans used to work on it. I also wanted to be sure to have private toilet/air/con and zodiac pickup.

There were only 13 divers and were separated by experience levels. The price was right as well. Reg. price was USD 888 and was reduced to USD 600. Three walk ins got it for $575. The three that paid full price from booking a year in advance were a bit miffed.

This vessel did not have as much luxury, obviously, as the Ocean Rover, but the crew, food and guiding was superb. If I ever have to spend a night in jail, I guess I will have a preview now having slept on those bunks. Felt like solid concrete! It was much quieter than the Rover though.

The itenerary was the Similin and Surin Islands visiting some of the sites I had done before. However, this trip would bring far more action!

The Channel would provide a huge and beautiful blue spiny lobster, mask rays and my first close up with a Titan Triggerfish. I was watching as this guy came very close to me and circled closer and closer. My what big teeth you have "grandma"! Then I realized what it was (after only hearing about their aggressive nature from the board etc.), and I quickly sped off and gave distance. Unfortunately, he would later bite a diver on the back of the leg, twice! No serious injury thank God.

Saw my first ever Napolean Wrasse, and Humphead Parrot fish. Painted sweetlips, leopard sharks, white tips and a shovelnose ray. A return to Koh Bon ridge would give us the thrill we were looking for! Mantas!

Current was way less than when I was on the Rover but our giants made their appearance just 12 minutes into the dive and entertained us for the whole time! Looking up where the DM's were pointing to see this big black stealth bomber come from nowhere and block out the sunlight! Oh Ya baby! Looked over at my g'friend to see eyes as big as saucers and I began clapping underwater with a big smile! There were two and I had many close up encounters.

After we were all stripped of gear and flopped in the zodiac, 2 divemasters were floating on the surface pointing down. We all grabbed our mask and leaned over the dinghy. By the time I turned around everyone was already back in the water with mask/fins. The driver quickly strapped on mine and litereally threw me overboard! And, like most divers who bring a snorkel but never actually take it on a dive, here I am with most others watching this playfull Manta on his back with no snorkel. No explanation, unless he wanted his belly rubbed, (which was a no no), why he stayed for 10 minutes just a few feet below the surface on his back the whole time. What a bonus!

The next dive at Koh Tachai would reward us with another 2 Manta encounter as well as 2 leopard sharks.

Unfortunately, my friend sat out the early 6:30 a.m. dive the next day at Torinla Ridge. Not much to see coral wise, you go there to look for sharks! There would only be 3 of us plus divemaster. Current was too brutal for me to kick across this Channel so Mick, bless his heart, took my hand and helped to get me across and planted me on the ridge where you had to hang on tight or .............goodbye! Within minutes this beautiful big grey reef shark was coming our way. She came very close and this was a thrill. You could see the scars on her body from armous encounters. Grey reefs are not common in Thailand. Once again Mick towed me around and within a few minutes, I gave his hand a big squeeze and pointed to a black tip! A quick peek at a Whitetip made the dive complete!

Richelieu Rock had much more current than previous visit and vis was not so good. Much of the same species but did get my first peek at 3 beautiful pink harlequin shrimp. Also 4 Janas pipefish, about 500+ big eye trevallies and a large school of chevron barracuda.

All in all, a very enjoyable trip on the Junk. I would recommend this trip.

Departing early on Feb. 5th, we caught the 8:30 a.m. departure by ferry from Phuket to Pi Pi Island which took around 1 1/2 hrs. Change boats for another 1 1/2 hr. ride to the beautiful island of Koh Lanta. This came as a recomendation if you want to "get away" from it all.

Probably like Koh Samui was 20 yrs ago, this island just got telephone service 2 yrs. ago. Unfortunately, it looks like progress will soon take over as more and more people discover it. It has a population half of what Koh Samui does, I think about 20,000 people and most resorts and bungalows are owned and run by Thai locals. If you are looking for night life, shopping, scads of umbellas on the beach, excitement, water sports etc. than better go to Pi Pi or somewhere else. If it is peace and quiet you seek, you can't go wrong here.

After spending one night, we went bungalow shopping and settled on one of the newer places called D.R. Lanta Resort. Located on the beautiful 1.5 km. Klong Dow Beach just 5 minute drive to the town and pier. We negotiated with the owner and got a lovely bungalow with rotating fan, air conditioning, large bathroom, one king/one twin bed, mini fridge, balcony, swimming pool, lovely landscaping and excellent restaraunt.

We ate almost all our meals there as the food was so good, not to mention cheap! For the 10 days for the 2 of us, including meals, we spent $26.00 a day each! That's Canadian dollars btw. Just to give you an example, an order of tempura prawns, about 10 of them w/rice and sweet and sour sauce, which we would share, cost us $1.84 Canadian each. The soups which were wonderful and filling might cost a dollar or two.

Not to mention the wonderful iced coffees and coffee coconut shakes and the odd Chang beer!

A British guy who was on the Junk with us stayed next door so we often got together for meals and fun. The most spectacular sunsets were enjoyed nightly a few doors down at Mooks Bar. Ran into several Canadians there. Some from B.C. who actually know people I know on Vancouve Island!

With much regret, my friend departed on the 14th of Feb. and I was all alone. Kicked around the idea of going to Krabi, or Trang, or Koh Kradan, but after talking with several people, realized I would not improve on the tranquility I had here so I decided to stay.

Although Hin Daeng & Hin Muang are the dive sites of choice in this area, apparantely the Mantas had left and poor visibility and strong currents were being reported. Not much to see and it is fairly costly to make this far trip so I did a pass. I did however do a two tank dive at Koh Bida. It was nothing special really. Access by fast speed boat with Lanta Fun Divers. No Nitrox is available yet on this island.

Feb. 24th I left for 3 nights at the Asia Airport Hotel in Bangkok, 10 minutes drive from the airport. I did not want to stay in town again and I got a great internet rate. Did a little shopping and a private all day tour to see the Bridge on the River Kwai. It was okay, but, I don't know if it was worth all that traveling.

A quick overnight in Hong Kong to break up the trip would find me getting excited to come home! Once again, fast efficient check in and impeccable service with Cathay Pacific brought me home safe and sound on Feb. 28th. After hearing of the SARS outbreak, I was feeling happy to be home.

A most enjoyable 2 1/2 months. After swearing off noodles and rice for a while, guess where I had lunch last week? Leela Thai Restaurant.

Franny, the scubadiving fool [;O]

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