Hi everyone!
I'm sorry I haven't written much in the last month. I had a wonderful time in Thailand, I was sad to leave but excited to see my friends and family again. So now i'm back in California. I arrived on Friday in LA and am driving up to the East Bay to Eileen tomorrow, Thursday. If things go as planned, I won't be back in the Midwest until the end of July. You can still reach me by email or this weblog. I hope all is well! I'm looking forward to seeing you all again!

*Annie*

I chose to spend a few more days in Chiang Mai. The first day back, i took a cooking class. It was a day FULL of amazing food and good company. I couldn't eat for two days afterwards, i was so full. I HAD to try it all. *smile* I was fortunate enough to find a festival surrounding the temple in the city centre. It was a beautiful gathering of the community. The temple area, which was usually surrounded by few tourists and many monks, was full of so many people from all walks of life. The temples were blanketed in flowers at all entrances. It was lovely to be able to witness it firsthand.
In the evening, I explored the night bizaar and met some really nice travelers who took me out for my last night in town. We had a blast touring the city on tuk-tuks and motorbikes.
I arrived in Bangkok again, two days ago. During my stay, I was able to visit the Grand Palace and Wat Po. The Grand Palace houses the emerald Buddha. It was a very powerful place. I loved touring the different temples and getting a feel for the history that brought it here. My favorite and most surprising discovery was at Wat Po with the meeting of the largest reclining Buddha. It was So amazing. I never expected it to be so magnificent. The entire body is covered with gold, shining in a warm glow with the exception of the bottom of the feet. THe feet are covered with mother of pearl and black stone. The story depicted there encourages new beginnings at any stage. It was a beautiful sight.
Tonight, i'm taking a train bus and ferry to Ko Lanta for about a week and then make my way to Kho Pha-gnan for the full moon party. I'll keep you posted. I plan on flying out of Bangkok on the 24th of June to LA. Just two more weeks! I gotta go explore now, I'll write soon!

I just came back from a few days in the jungle with an amazing tour guide and 11 other travelers~ all being German. It was a quirky coincidence but it made the hiking in here in thailand feel more like a walk in Bavaria. They were all wonderful except they didn't speak english very often and I'm still working on my German. The first day, we took a side hike up to a beautiful waterfall. The water was so refreshing after the long, hot tramp up to the top. Afterwards, we walked a bit to Karen villiage for the evening. Our guide, Chan, pointed out the different plants along the way that were edible or interesting in some way. On one bush, you seperate the leaf from the stalk without detaching it thereby exposing a gooey substance that can make bubbles, like when useing dish soap. It was very entertaining. WE also were taught how to find native mushrooms that are in season at the moment. WE were lucky enough to stumble upon some to use later for dinner.
The village people were really wonderfully welcoming. Just as soon as we found our beds for the evening (read: mosquito nets over mats), the rain started. I sat in the kitchen and helped Chan make what became the best curry I have ever tasted. We enjoyed our food under the shelter of their home and took in the sounds of the nature around us. I chatted for a bit and we all went to bed quite early.
The next day, we hiked to a couple of different hill tribe villages and ended up at an elephant camp for lunch. From there, we coupled off and jumped upon one of the gentle giants who took us to our last village for the evening. The elephant was so amazing. The majority of the time, he was belly deep in a river. From here, we saw a water snake and many cattle who our elephant was trying to intimate by running towards. That was crazy. All in all, I was sad to see our new friends leave. We met another tribe within their villiage. They were just as welcoming and friendly. I really enjoyed their energy. We had another one of Chan's creations, a bit spicy but tasty all the same, and talked into the night while being bomparded by three inch bugs. Funny enough, one of my fellow trekers studied biology in university with a focus on the classification of insects. I soon found out that our new guests were indeed crickets, cicadas, and a few others i don't recall. Not all that exotic but HUGE and therefore remarkable. *Smile*
Today, we jumped upon a bamboo raft made by the local village and journeyed downstream. While standing, we manuvered with bamboo sticks around the rocks and other white water obstacles. It was more intense than i imagined and a lot more fun! We hit a few rocks and got stuck but nothing too intense. If we did break the raft, we would have had to hike the rest of the way over the mountain rather than along the river back. We were all happy to arrive at our distination in one piece.
Tonight, I'm planning on going to the night bizaar here in Chaing Mai. Tomorrow, I have a cooking class during the day. i'll keep you posted!
Love to all!

Hi all!
After many days wandering and wondering around the main roads and back streets of Melboune, Australia, I finally made it to Southeast Asia! I arrived in Bangkok, Thailand three days ago. The adventure began at the airport and the journey via taxi to my guesthouse. Thai drivers are like none I've ever seen before. It was an amazing ride. I couldn't help but laugh at it all. I found my hostel and crashed for the night. The next day, I woke up bright and early for breakfast which consisted of fresh pineapple, papaya, watermelon, and other fun baked goods. I had my fill and was reading when i ran into a friend from Melbourne (Chris from England). He mentioned that he was heading north as was I. We were on a city bus two hours later on our way to Kanchanaburi. I really didn't know what to expect except that it was North. I later discovered this is the location of the "bridge over the river Kwai". Upon arrival, I grabbed my backpack and found that the straps broke away from the pack. I grabbed ahold of it another way and barginned a ride on a bike taxi to our hostel ~the Jolly Frog. We set up in a decent room for 200 baht a night which translates to 5 dollars for two people. The place is really nice and sits right on the banks of the river. We had a very yummy lunch, where i really got excited about all the food options and chilled out the rest of the day.

Well, since my last entry, I held koalas, snakes, baby crocs, drove through cassawary country, slept in a town with a GIANT mango and made it to Cairns. I spent just under a week there. It was a big touristy city. It was alittle overwhelming deciding my next move since Cairns was my destination for so long. I decided to take a dive course with my travelmate, Sophia. I was scared at first, breatheing underwater and swimming in the depths of a great ocean. My my fears melted away with the training. In all, it took four full days. Two days of theory and pool work and two full days on a live aboard boat that is anchored on the reef. The dives were amazing. It was a wonderful feeling to be on open water and having the opportunity and resources to explore the beauty that lies below. During the night, after my dives on my first night on the reef, we were able to see fish gathering under the boat's lights. The fish attracted sharks as well. There was a group of certified divers jumping in just then and said at one time during their night dive they were surrounded by sharks. There were only reef sharks and other harmless ones, pretty impressive to see though.
When we came ashore, we decided to head to Darwin the next day. I had no idea what I was about to experience. At the campsite, we met someone who was a trained mechanic who gave our car the last once-over before we left. AFter filling every bottle imaginable with water, we were on the road. It was a beautiful and endless drive. Its so hard to describe the scenery. There were points of the drive in which the scene did not change for hours. We were on the road for 30+ hours. There were formations on the side of the road that turned out to be large termite mounds. At the beginning of our journey, they were just about a foot tall, scattered across the landscape. Near the end, when the land was getting more and more wet, they grew to at least 7 feet tall and 3+ feet wide. They were pretty impressive.
We just arrived here yesterday, i'm still adjusting to being out of the car and in this heat. We asked if we could swim at the beach and the woman just shook her head and pointed at a newspaper article that stated that 273 saltwater crocs were trapped in this bay this past year. I think i'll stick with the campsites pool for now... I bought a plane ticket today that leaves wedsday night for melbourne. From there, I'll catch my ride to Thailand. email me if you're sending me a letter there so I pick it up before I leave Melbourne. Thanks!

I just came ashore from a fabulous tour of the Whitsundays Islands. The Whitsundays is a grouping of islands that are protected as a national park. I chose to do a three day sailing tour with a group of travelers that I met on the Fraser tour. There were 29 of us in all. The weather was not favoring us for the first day but we were blessed with an amazing sunset. The boat rocked me to sleep and I slept better than I have in ages. The next day, with the sun shining and the waves rolling, we motored to a protected bay and hiked to a white sand beach named White Haven Beach. The water was bright blue and glowing with the sand reflecting the sun from the bottom. It was a beautiful site. The sand was made up of quartz and was very fine, so soft. From there, we donned our full body stinger suits and jumped in to explore the coral reefs with snorkels. The visiablity was not too great but I was fortunate enough to see a sea turtle. He was about three feet wide and swimming so gracefully. I was told that there haven't been to many sitings in that area. The skipper surprised us with actually setting up the sails for the rest of the day and we sailed to another protective bay for the night. We had a few drinks and soaked up the full-moonlight. It was a magical night.
On a side note, Oz has mixed drinks in a can, ranging from rum and coke to vodka and orange soda. We had quite a variety on board. It never got out of hand but I find them interesting. I've heard that they're only found in NZ and Australia. They are still pretty potent.

I just came back from a three day trip to Fraser Island, the biggest sand island in the world. It was a wonderful trip. Me and my travel mates were grouped up with six other people, three other Germans, two English and one Italian. We all climbed in our 4WD truck and were underway. The island is amazing. We bumped around the remote roads through the rainforests and over the beaches. Over the last three days, we swam in warm, crystal blue lakes with white sandy shores and hiked around the rainforests. The island is known, in part, for the most pure strain of dingos. We saw so many especially throughout dinner. One local described them best, they did look like hungry dogs. Everyone was still alittle cautious when they were around. We didn't bother them and they kept there distance, a good balance. We drifted down a small creek and checked out a 1935 ship wreak on the coast. Because of the box jellyfish and blue bottles, we were warned not to venture out into the surf. One local said that a 27-ft hammer head shark was caught off the shore. Its head was 7 ft wide! I don't know if its true but it makes for an impressive story! *Smile* I felt so fortunate because the group all got along really well. It made for a wonderful experience.

I've been in Brisbane for a few days now. Its been a fun journey to the city. We stopped in Byron Bay for a few days. ITs a small hippie/surf town. I loved it! WE stayed at Arts Factory Lodge. The campsite looked like a festival! We met SO MANY really awesome people there. We taught a couple of Italian Guys how to play the card game, shithead. A really addictive game, you'll love it. The water was so warm and inviting the first day. The currents shifted and the water was pretty aggressive the last day we were there. There were so many people in the water having a good time. The night life was non-existant the first night. It being Sunday, all the pubs and clubs close at 9 or 10. The last night we were there Tessa and I closed a backpackers pub called Cheeky Monkey. The entire crowd gathered outside around two guitar players and we all sang along. THe cops came and broke up the crowd so we all migrated to the beach. The rain eventually dispersed the crowd. IT was Such a fun night.

Hey all! if you want to send stuff my way, i'm planning on being in Caines at the end of April. Please note that I have to carry every thing you send so keep it light. I would love to hear from you!

Anne Karpfinger (in bold, underlined letters)
Poste Restante
Main Post Shop
Caines, Australia

Hey all! On thursday morn, Tessa, Steph from Germany and Christian (also from germany) hopped in the car and were headed north. For the first few nights we camped on the beach or in picnic areas. At Valla beach, on night two, we saw glow in the dark critters in the waves of the beach. If you didn't focus, it looked like a trick of the eye. As we travel further north, the weather is getting warmer and warmer. At the next beach, kokaberra (a large bird) was hanging out near us as we got lunch ready. When the cheese was out, we swooped down and took a good portion of it. After we cut some more, he landed on the table and began to take more. We couldn't scare it away! Needless to say, we didn't stay much longer after that. Yesterday, Christian randomly decided to stop and watch people hang gliding over a beautiful cliff. WE all stood by and admired. They were offering half hour rides for 140. I always wanted to try it but it was too pricy (dear) so i just enjoyed the view. The instructor asked me to step over the fence and next thing i know, i'm strapped into the harness and up in the sky!! He offered me an introductory ride for 10 minutes, just for fun! It was so out of the blue, i was totally excited! It was an amazing ride! We flew above the cliff and down by the ocean, they said they saw sharks from the air earlier that day, I didn't see any. It was a quick flight but i wasn't complaining. I was just stoked to try it! I would definately recommend it to anyone! Next on my list is paragliding... *Smile*