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Another day, another sketchy boat...this time on the Mae Kong river to head north to the Golden Triangle.

Lane at the center of the Golden Triangle, looking at a corner of Myanmar (Burma).

Looking at Myanmar, at the meeting point of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand.

Lane is actually about 20 feet into Myanmar, but the border has been closed for a couple of months due to some friction between Thailand and Myanmar. She shouted "Freedom to the people!" but the military government decided to stay in power anyhow.

The road up to an Akha hilltribe village.

An elephant grazing in the jungle.

The walk down to the long-neck Karen hilltribe village. These Karen are political refugees from Myanmar, and there are not that many in Thailand. Our guide, Homee, is leading the way.

The long-neck Karen village.

From an early age, the long-neck Karen women get a new ring on their neck every year. The rings used to be gold, but that turned out to be too expensive, and too heavy, so they now use brass. The rings are added by a local doctor each year using fire to heat the ring and get it on the woman's neck.

If you're wondering why the women wear these rings, we were told that a very long time ago, a tribeswoman was bitten on the neck by a wild tiger. So, they began wearing these rings as protection, and it has become a symbolic tradition. Another legend says that, many generations ago, a princess uprooted a golden tree and tied it around her neck for safekeeping from Burmese troops. The troops caught her and chopped off her head to get the tree, and the women now wear the rings in her honor. I'm not sure which story is the right one, but I do know that if I were a Karen tribeswoman, you'd have to get me pretty drunk to get those rings around my neck.

Main Street in the Karen village. The village is also inhabited by the Lahu tribe.

The Lahu have their own traditions, like gigantic earrings.

That just can't be comfortable.

If you are ever looking for a picture to match your chicken crossing the road joke, here ya go...

After northern Thailand, we headed south and spent a week and a half on Ko Phi Phi, a small island off of the west coast of the southern Thai peninsula, in the Andaman Sea. The island was so beautiful and relaxing. The island is surrounded by limestone rock formations and the views are spectacular. We did some great snorkeling and let the sun work it's magic on us.

This is Jack, an orphaned monkey that we met in Ko Phi Phi. He's being taken care of by a shopkeeper. Lane thinks he looks like an old man. I am happy to report that, in addition to being chased (and scratched) by wild monkeys in Cambodia, I have also now been peed on by a baby monkey in Thailand.

A massage is the perfect dessert after a fine Thai meal.

Chiang Rai Photos Page 2

So we've been on the road for more than five months. Ko Pha Ngan is a pretty basic place and we're staying in a bungalow near the beach. We'll be here for a week, then on to Ko Samui, a more developed nearby island for another week. After that, it's been about six months and it's time to head home before our airline ticket expires. We'll be stopping in Seattle for a few days and will be catching the end of the tour with the Dave Matthews Band in central Washington. From Bangkok to Seattle, our flights will be more than 24 hours with connections in Hong Kong and Los Angeles. Yippee. More importantly, though, the trip has obviously been amazing. Six months has flown by at an incredible speed and we see how people can do this for a year or more. We've met so many interesting people, experienced so many different cultures, and have been on countless scary planes, boats and animals. Somehow we have been on nearly 30 planes and even more boats. We have gained a new perspective and have totally chilled out. Yesterday we were searching for accomodations in Ko Pha Ngan. We were looking at one particularly nasty $4 per day bungalow that had giant hairy spiders all over it, including one on the pillow, and we actually considered staying
there -- for one second. Which is exactly one second more than we would have considered before this trip. And while that one second may not seem like that big of a deal to those of you who don't know us that well, those of you who do will understand. We've certainly realized how lucky we are living the way we do. We'll be returning to NYC in a few short weeks. So, if anyone has a job for two highly (uh, moderately) motivated individuals who may leave again for six months with little or no notice, drop us an email!

Fresh coconut on the beach in Ko Phi Phi

We finally found an underwater case for our digital camera. We went snorkeling off of Lo Mo Dee beach in Ko Phi Phi.

Lane has gone Island Style. Above, a long tail boat leaving Ton Sai beach in Ko Phi Phi.

Let's just say they got an A for effort.

Us on Haad Rin beach on Ko Pha Ngan a few nights before the Full Moon Party. Not only is there a Full Moon Party, but there are warm up parties every night for a week before...

Playing with fire on Haad Rin beach.