A typical house in the Lao village of Kokran. Posted by Picasa

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Back in the Land of Smiles

Hello all! Here I am, back in the hot and humid Land of Smiles. I've been here a week so far and had a slight flu relapse and an uncharacteristic bout with "Delhi Belly". Needless to say, I've been slowed down a wee bit. But enough about me! Probably the most significant thing that's happened here since I've been back is the election. After a rough past year for the incumbent Thai Rak Thai (Thai Love Thai) party including the violent Tak Bai incident that I discussed in the fall, they handily won the election. In fact, it was a landslide. The current Prime Minister, Taksin Shinawatra's programs and policies were completely endorsed by the Thai people. One enormous plus for TRT's easy win was the government's handling of the Tsunami tragedy. With a few exceptions (identification of the bodies for instance), the response by the government was swift and effective from all reports. Clearly the Thai people approved overwhelmingly. I asked a f
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Weekend at the beach!

Over the weekend, I went to the famous beach town, Hua Hin. I took a fairly inexpensive air conditioned van from Bangkok to a hotel I had never seen. When I got to the hotel, I was appalled to find that the room I was given was facing out over the busiest and noisiest road in Hua Hin. To top it off, the glass in the windows was less than one centimeter thick. Fortunately after about 45 minutes of discussion, they were able to move me to a quieter and nicer room at the back of the property for one night. I took a stroll on the beach, finally got checked in and went for a tasty and spicy seafood dinner. The next day, I had to move back to the original room or find a new hotel. Fortunately I decided to look for a new hotel. I found a fantastic place a bit off the beaten path in an area just south of Hua Hin called Kao Takiab. It had a wonderful beach and it was very easy to stroll along it, watching the locals, the farangs and the temple dogs running freely. After a swim in the ocean to c
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Cambodia - Day 1

If Cambodia is NOT on your list of places to visit, it should be. In fact, it oughta be near the top. The smiles alone made my trip worthwhile. For friendliness, I have never been to a place that surpasses Cambodia. From the moment I was picked up at the Siem Reap International Airport to the time I sadly boarded the plane for my flight home I saw nothing but enthusiastic courtesy and a very real curiosity and friendliness. You can see from the pictures I have posted that it's true. Since my college years, I have wanted to see Angkor Wat. It's been in the back of my mind for many years. It seems that whenever I had time to go or could afford to go, the political situation precluded it. For years the land mines left over from the Vietnam war made visiting most anywhere in Cambodia too dangerous. The stability or lack thereof with the Khmer Rouge made visiting a no-no. But in the past few years, the land mines have been cleaned up at least in all the major tourist areas and th
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