Thailand and where I'm going next....

Here are two pictures that Joanne took of me on our trip to Thailand (more of her pictures are available here). Thailand exceeded my expectations, and I expected a lot. The food was cheap and delicious, the accommodation was inexpensive and friendly, and the travel within the country was easy and hassle-free. I had fresh mango juice for a dollar, discovered the joys of snorkeling (I saw millions of shiny neon fish and a white manta ray!), and received Thai massages that were as relaxing as they were cheap (and they were very, very cheap).

The challenges of our trips to Cambodia and the Philippines made me appreciate Thailand even more. There is less desperation for the tourist dollar in Thailand, whereas in Cambodia* and the Philippines people do not just charge a tourist price, but attempt to gouge and scam tourists for all they're worth.

I've returned from vacation three kilograms lighter, with a stomach that hasn't quite yet worked all the bugs out. It's kind of disheartening, since I've been trying to gain weight so that I can fight -81kg at judo tournaments next year. After getting up to 75kg with much diligence and effort, I have no landed firmly back in the -73kg division. Maybe I'm just not meant to weigh more than I do. I missed training a lot, and it's good to be back at it again.

*Crossing the border to Cambodia was ridiculous. Everyone tried to rip us off. We avoided one visa scam and ended up getting conned in another for $10 each by a border guard. After that we were misdirected away from a free shuttle bus to the border town's bus station to a bus that took us to a tour guiding company. After we got off the bus and made it clear that we wanted nothing to do with the scamster, he proceeded to follow us around Poi Pet for the better part of two hours, instructing everyone in Khmer not to tell us where to find the real bus station. It's hot in Cambodia and we were up at 5am to start our trip, so needless to say this was rather unpleasant. It looked like we were never going to find the bus station, and that eventually we were going to have to let the scamster have his way with us, until finally, a cab driver appeared out of nowhere and we were rescued from the awful situation