December 1 2000, Bangkok Thailand

Monika at Wat Pho in Bangkok

The wats in the palace grounds, Bangkok

Another shot of Palace Wats

December 5 2000, Chiang Mai Thailand

You can get a nice iced coffee in a plastic bag to go from a street vendor here in Chiang Mai for less than 25 cents (US).

The market near here has among other things roasted chicken heads like these. (I go for the satay skewers myself).

If the chicken heads aren't enough for you, you can try the cockroaches. (I didn't see anyone buying these).

Traditional Thai fingernail dance

December 11, 2000 - Chiang Mai Thailand

We've been here a week and completed our first level course in Thai massage at ITM. Started the second level course today. They call Thailand the land of smiles, and that is my perception of it also. Maybe its the Buddhist philosophy, but I find the smile density here is probably higher than anyplace we've been. Chiang Mai is a busy place and the second largest city in Thailand, but still only about 1/40th the size of Bangkok. Every modern convenience is available here. There is a shopping center a few blocks from where we are staying that contains an ice skating arena and a bowling alley among other things. We are both planning to return here again.

This really nice room was $14/night including refrigerator, and satellite TV. We could get it by the month for less.

Our diplomas from the Massage Institute

The temple steps to Doi Sutep

December 18, 2000

Flew back to Bangkok, today. In the morning we board the plane to return home. It doesn't seem like a year has gone by since we started. At times it seemed like more had passed, but now its hard to believe its over.

December 19, 2000

Long flight back to Los Angeles. There we rented a car, stuffed our boxed bikes in the backseat, the rest of our gear in the trunk, and started the drive to Henderson Nevada, to spend Christmas with Monika's daughter. It took 3 hours just to get out of LA traffic. This is the worst place I've driven all year, and I didn't miss it.

December 31, 2000 - Burbank California

Started home toward Portland today, with a stop in at the Burbank Hilton where those few who paid to finish the ride are finishing today. Since we already paid for the room a year ago we want to take advantage of it. The new year's eve party this time was much smaller and a much different tone. Tim encouraged us to get up early to ride in the rose parade again this year. After last years experience we opted to sleep in. I did switch on the TV just before the parade start, checked all the channels and found that once again, there was no coverage of the riders in the parade. They must have been sent off early again.