It's so funny. The Thai people have this saying when they are trying to explain something in English. Instead of saying, "It's like 'this' or it's like 'that'," they say "Same Same."
It has become such a popular saying among travellers here... there are even T-Shirts that say "SAME SAME" on the front and "BUT DIFFERENT" on the back.

So, right now we are in the small and very untouristy city of Chanthaburi (pronounced "Chan ta boo ri") in the southeast part of Thailand. We have finally made it off the beaten path, something I'm always yearning for, so I am elated. We are quite the spectacle here.... virtually no tourists and very few caucasions. All the Thais on their motorbikes do a double take. All the children laugh and say "Heh yo" and wave. It's really sweet. The Thai people are amazing (always so happy) and we feel so safe and secure here. They don't believe in violence at all.... it's so nice.
We hired a taxi today to take us to the Khao Khitchakut National Park to see the Krathing Waterfalls. It was a nice steep hike up to see nine different waterfalls complete with butterflies and breathtakingly cool, clear water for swimming. Yummy! The water felt soooo good. It was extremely rejuvinating and refreshing, especially after the hike. Pam and I have come to the conclusion that water is absolutely magical. You feel hungry? Drink water. Feel tired? Drink water. Sick? Water. Need a bath? Water. You get my drift.
Then we went to this astonishing Buddist temple complex on the side of a mountain called Wat Khao Sukim where we walked around a bit and tried to take pictures of the monks without them knowing. It was set in the mountainous jungle with banana plants, big palms and bamboo everywhere! Very cool.

Right now it is almost 8:30 pm and we are getting ready to get on a night bus to a border town called Aranyaprathet (pronounced "Ah ran ja pa tet"). It's an eight hour bus ride (yuck) to the border town and we arrive at the incredibly vile hour of 6:00 AM tomorrow morning.... but WAIT! That's not the worst part. We THEN board a pickup truck for the terribly painful eight hour ride into Cambodia (to Siem Reap... pronounced "Sigh am reep"). We have met many travellers that have already done this and I hear that it is crowded and bumpy and utterly painful... but it is some sort of right of passage among us. So, in all honesty, I am really looking forward to it. This is everything that I had hoped for when I set out four long months ago. I really don't understand why I like torture, but I do. And it's really not torture. It's simply discomfort.... which is weakness leaving the body, right? Pam is being a trooper, as well. Getting pumped up for the big event. The payoff will be well worth it because Siem Reap is the base city for exploring the Angkor complex..... an ancient set of ruins that are supposed to be the most spectacular in Southeast Asia. I can't wait!
Cambodia apparently doesn't even have a single ATM machine IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY!! This is a fact that Pamela and I just found out day before yesterday.... and thank goodness for that, because we probably would have entered the country without enough money to sustain ourselves and goodness knows what would have happened. We are staying on the beaten path through much of Cambodia and Vietnam so I imagine that it wouldn't be as bad.