KC in SE Asia

Short message from my phone.  So I'm in Bangkok waiting for Cindy to arrive trying to figure out what to do with myself....not difficult in this city. Although I got off to a bad start because the airlines lost my backpack in Korea and I got just got it back late last night...a lot better than I expected. It's hot and humid and sunny as hell.  Right now I'm on a boat heading to Khosan road which is known as the "backpacker hangout". Hoping to get some good ideas/suggestions of how to spend the rest of the week before Cindy arrives.  The hotel i'm staying at (Millenium Hilton) is unreal...an ultra-contemporary place right on the river and convenient to  everywhere, except the airport...about 45mins away.  a fantastic view of the whole city - although at certain times of the day the smog is out of control and degrades the view.

the pollution here is ridiculous.  I went for a run this morning at 6am from th hotel and was wishing I had one of those cheap white surgical face masks.  awful.

I've had two thai massages in 24hrs.  These thai massage specialists really get after it. I mean they put their knees into your back, kneel on your legs and twist every part of your body.  they will have you wincing, but you feel like a million bucks afterwards.

so i'm still trying to decide where to fly tomorrow and have narrrowed it down to three places and eliminated Cambodia...

1- Chiang Mai  (cindy and i will get there again towards the end of the trip but it's a cheap flight and more than enough to do around the area)

2- Umphang (for more out of the way trekking near Myanmar/Burma border)

3- koh samui (i've always wanted to party on Koh phangan which is closeby)

I'll probably make a call in the next few hours and push the button.