I left the islands bound for a 3 day "Mahout" (elephant trainer) course up in the jungle North of Lampang in Northern Thailand. This has got to be one of the coolest things I've EVER done....

One of the hardest things to grasp when your in the thick of the rubble and destruction that the tsunami left behind....

I started out on the beautiful island of Ko Phanang for my birthday then a week later made my way down to the tsunami torn island of Ko Phi Phi planning to spend a day or two... been here a week.

Here she is.... the long awaited Vietnam update. After hopping off the bus to make the dusty walk across the border from Cambodia to Vietnam, the adventure began.

Our options from Luang Prabang were 1) to take a bus down to Vientenne via Route 13 which, as recently as February 2003, has been the stage for several ambushes by rebels unloading on buses with automatic machine guns or 2) take a flight down to Vientenne for the night then fly on to Siem Reap (Ankor Wat) the following day on Lao Airlines- only problem being that all the travel books have warnings about Lao Airlines and their dodgy safety records. We chose the bird over the bullets...

The Mighty Mekong

Slow Boatin' down the Mekong
Nice Hat
Laos National Quarters Champion (in the slow boat engine room)
Coolest kid in the world
Legends
Like peas and carrots
MONKey-ing around on the river bank
Yo Quiero Pad Thai
Mekong Style
The last time I saw my sunglasses
US$1 in Lao currency

Met old Hobber's (Brett Hobb's- old fraternity friend of mine from Florida State) at the Bangkok airport last week. Stepped into the steaming hot Central Thialand afternoon to see what kind of hell we could raise in Southeast Asia.

I've decided that if I was a foot shorter, 100 pounds lighter and a hell of a lot tougher... I would be a Thai Kickboxer. After paying a took-took driver 20 Baht (US$0.50) to tool myself and a Swedish girl I met around Bangkok for 4 hours- I scored not only a look at the amazing Buddhist temples in the city, but also ringside tickets to the nights Muay Thai Boxing event.

The sad, yet VERY exciting day has finally come. After sitting under the dingy neon lighting in the exhaust filled King's Cross Backpacker's Car Market for 5 days... I sold my car to an unsuspecting Japenese guy named Hiroyuki.

After waiting 5 days for the 30 knot winds and equally big swells to calm down around the Great Barrier Reef, I said screw it and went South. Just means I'll have to come back down under again... dang it! I made my way South from Townsville to Airlie Beach, then drove through hours of sugar cane, mango trees and banana trees to Harvey Bay for a Fraser Island adventure....

We finished up the 2000 kilometer drive this morning from the middle of the outback to the beaches of the Northeast coast. It was three days in the making with some great stories in between. The Canadian guy that has travelled with me, Kelvan, has been a good time keeping the Jack Johnson and Xavier Rudd pumping through the half blown speakers in the baby.

It was about noon on Sunday when we stopped