My mother tells me that I haven't written a post since May 6. My apologies, but we've been on a travelling roller coaster ride. Lots to tell.

Bangkok was fun for the 3 days we spent there. I showed Hania the sights, as this was my second visit to the city - the Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Wat Arun, checking out markets and cruising down the river. Bangkok is still as polluted as last time, but I was surprised at how much the prices had gone up. We also visited travel agents, but we didn't have any luck booking onward flights.

So it was, we took yet another sleeper train to the south of Thailand, to Chumphon, and then hopped on a ferry to Ko Phangan, home of the legendary full moon party. Needless to say, we partied like rock stars for the next few day. The moon was already waxing gibous when we arrived in Hadd Rin, so I spent the next 3 nights out on the beach staying up until sunrise. The actual full moon night was overcrowded with tourists arriving from Ko Samui, but the previous nights were a magical blend of natural beauty, happy travellers, and a heck of a party.

Now we're at a quieter part of the island, at a place that has a cottage feel to it. Our cliffside bungalow has a huge deck and a hammock taboot. At night we open all the windows and sleep under the mosquito net, listening to all the night sounds. The place is called the Sanctuary. It also offers spa services, and something called colonic cleansing (which has led to lots of jokes and sniggering.) The weather has recently turned overcast, but we're still enjoying the chillaxin' here.

Internet services on the island are chunky and slow. We spent much of the last week searching for airfares on the world wide internet, a slow and frustrating process. Twice we found excellent flights, but couldn't book them because you had to be a US citizen, or they required a paper ticket which could not be mailed outside of Canada. Finally we contacted Air Egypt directly, and I'm happy to say that we have a reservation to fly to Cairo on May 28, and then to Montreal on June 15.

So yeah, we fly Egypt in a week. We are very excited! Especially after being ever so slightly stressed by the hassles in getting this flight. Our plan is a few more days on this island, then up to Bangkok to pick up our tickets, and then to Egypt. Return to Canada is set for June 15, so we'll be back in Toronto sometime at the end of June. Hoopla!