Bangkok, February 10, 2018 More palaces and more temples, arrrgh! Lesson to self: No matter how long and detailed a travel itinerary is make sure to study it with great care. If there are repeated visits to cathedrals, leave out a few. If there are repeated mentions of temples, leave out all but the most important. While we had an interesting day, I would have much preferred to spend it touring the city, maybe checking out a museum, the parks, or a famou...

Bangkok, February 9, 2018 As we prepared to fly to Bangkok yesterday, the song, One Night in Bangkok, was repeatedly playing in my head. Did you know it is actually about a chess match??? We arrived around 6 and settled in. Our hotel literally sits on the Chao Phraya River. The river is wide and busy with barges and ferries, tour boats and water taxis. A high spanned bridge sits off to the right and the sun was setting behind buildings to our left. ...

Luang Prabang, Laos- February 8, 2018 Oh dear we are rapidly moving toward the end do of this fascinating, happy trip. We have only three more destinations remaining and the three are in Thailand. As I say the name, Thailand, I cannot help but recall my simple but real and wonderful roots in Marianna, Arkansas. As a child, I knew nothing of Thailand or any of the other countries ...

Luang Prabang, Laos - February 7, 2018 We had a welcomed short day with the tour guide - we've just about had our fill with tour guides but hey, I must admit, their service is the quickest and fastest way to get a download of local information and history. We were able to relish an afternoon on our own. Today we spent the sunny and much warmer day in the city center, with very little driving. We leisurely walked around the bustling, quite attractive anc...

Luang Prabang, Laos - February 5-6, 2018 Dang! We were not expecting this! It was cold here, about 50 degrees and windy when we landed at Luang Prabang Airport! Yikes, we had to pile on layers just to be warm enough to go to dinner, but boy did we sleep well. Our hotel is built around the former home of the last prince. The home still stands on the grounds and is used as a special hotel suite. The entire city of Luang Prabang was named a UNESCO worl...