New News

Well as those of you at JVA might have noticed I have yet to come back to work there. That is because I have accepted a postion at another firm. At this time I am working in Denver and in a couple of months I will be moving to Avon. I wanted to thank everyone at JVA for the friendship and education. Working with all of you was great, it was simply time for me to try something else. I wish all of you the best and if you ever end up in the mountains and want to look me, it is probably easiest to reach me at: karirogne@gmail.com

This is the view from my window at work. I am up on the 19th floor in down town Denver. It is a new great experience when the wind starts to blow and the building sways. So far it hasn't made me sick.

A few more pictures

In going through our pictures I have found a few more that I liked and thought that everyone who is still check this thing out might enjoy. These are all from the eastern portion of Laos.
A mother and her two girls walking though town one day.
Bath time at the river.
A man and woman going up a road with some farm equipment.
Most homes in this part of Laos had a loom underneith.
A spindle of thread.

Bangkok and the end

Our last stop in Thailand was Bangkok where you can get your fill of tourists and gold wats. Kari can keep looking at the wats for days but the crowds and the heat were overwhelming.


A typical vision while walking around these really popular sights.

The (in)famous Kho San Road in Bangkok

The long tail boat motor of the rivers/canals of Bangkok is much larger than that of the coastal towns and islands, these guys have a transmission. This must be where all of those parts are going that we saw back in China town on our first day here in March.


The wat below our hotel in contrast with the new high rise buildings going up all over town.

At the airport at 1:00 waiting for the plane. We had a 30 hour travel day on top of the day of site seeing around town.

We will try in the next few weeks to put up our favorite pictures, those that didn't make it into the blog but are worth a sentence. Again if anyone wants more pictures of any place or anything just let us know.

Koh Lanta

We arrived at Koh Lanta at the end of the tourist season and the beginning of the rainy season. Resorts were pulling their beach chairs from the wide and long beaches and shutting down, and the ocean wasn't as friendly as it was when Kari was there 6 years ago. We don't know if this was due to the incoming cyclone that hit Myanmar or just the start of the rain. Koh Lanta has a large Muslim population which has been able to stop the high rise developments and the Vegas debauchery seen on Phuket, this leaves a semi-quite island with women in hijabs and more mosques than wats, plus great food with friendly service.
A view of the old town.
Lady sitting in old town shucking garlic.
Typical transportation methods, including Muslim woman and man with shirt off.

After 4 days of beach and moto-scooter sight seeing we took off back to the big city
(Bangkok).

Koh Phi Phi

This small pair of islands just to the east of Phuket is popular with both backpackers as well as honeymooners. The inhabited island is hourglass shaped with high hills at both end and a curved, lower beaches and resorts in the center. When the 2004 Sunami swept over the low beaches at the height of tourist season, 2000 lives were lost and only 700 bodies were recovered. Today, warning systems and evacuation routs have been implemented. New housing for the local inhabitants is in the process of being built at higher elevations in on the island.
We spend a couple days here to relax on the beach before moving on the the even quieter Koh Lanta. We wonder about the environmental impact of staying on Koh Phi Phi because it is such a small island that everything must be imported on boats from the mainland and all trash must be transported back to the mainland by boat.

Phuket

The Island of Phuket on the Southwestern peninsula of Thailand has developed into a tourist destination onto itself hugely popular with Europeans. With its own international airport, some travelers connect to fly directly to the island for their entire Thailand vacation. White sand beaches are backed by resort hotels and guest houses as well as hill top wats. Aside from the standard restaurants, T shirt, sunglasses, and gift shops that accompany a tourist destination, Phuket’s other popular businesses include numerous tailored suit shops, massage parlors (with both standard and extra services available), as well as bars where higher priced drinks come complete with young ladies for company.

We stayed here for a couple of days to enjoy the great beaches and also did our dive trip out of this area.






The Island of Phuket on the Southwestern peninsula of Thailand has developed into a tourist destination onto itself hugely popular with Europeans. With its own international airport, some travelers connect to fly directly to the island for their entire Thailand vacation. White sand beaches are backed by resort hotels and guest houses as well as hill top wats. Aside from the standard restaurants, T shirt, sunglasses, and gift shops that accompany a tourist destination, Phuket’s other popular businesses include numerous tailored suit shops, massage parlors (with both standard and extra services available), as well as bars where higher priced drinks come complete with young ladies for company.