Well, this is my last blog entry in Asia. :( I am leaving home tomorrow but I can't really complain since I had such a great time these last 8 weeks. In some ways I am looking forward to going home to family and friends but in other ways I am still not ready to go. At least I know that most likely I WILL be back in the near future! Anyway, this is what I've been doing since my last blog entry....

Kate and I stayed in Chiang Mai for 5 days mainly because we wanted to be around for the Sunday market. That is when they close off one of the main streets inside the old part of the city and let vendor after vendor setup stalls full of food, clothes, jewelry and lots of street performers. I have a video clip of this adorable old blind guy singing these engergetic Thai songs. Once I get home I will put the clip on my website.

Here is a guy at the Sunday market selling lessons on how to carve fruits into incredibely detailed flowers!

After Chiang Mai we decided to try and squeeze in some more beach time before we left. The closest and easiest island was Koh Samet which is only a couple hours from Bangkok. It is not the best island in Thailand but it was pretty nice. It is really popular with locals and didn't have much to do on it besides sit on the beach or play in the waves. The sun was very intense though and we ended up leaving early because we both got too sunburnt.

On our last day as we were checking out of our room I noticed a pretty large spider by the door. To give you an idea of the scale of this thing, if I put it in my hand it would be a little bit bigger then my palm! I ronically, the very same day we were shopping in a mall in Bangkok and on some of the jeans was another one even bigger! Ughh.

These past 3 days we have been just trying to get some last minute things done (like postcards and shopping) before we go back to the States. Kate wanted to say goodbye to an old friend before we left....

and we both wanted to go to Wat Pho before we left, to "pray" for a safe trip home. Wat Pho is a nice temple complex right next to the royal palace. It is most famous for it's huge reclining Buddha.

but it had some other nice Buddha rooms...

Well it has been a great time and I look forward to seeing all you guys when I get home!