We arrived in Singapore at about 3:30 PM local time (7 hours ahead of London) and caught a cab to our hotel, Le Meridien. After checking in, Justin and I walked along Orchard Street. It was strictly for shopping, having all the stores you might expect to find in New York, London or Paris.

We found an internet spot to catch up on e-mail and cool off, before heading out to walk some more. I picked one of the several tailor stores and ordered a couple of suits and shirts. I was pretty tired at this point, so did little negotiating and am sure I could have received a better price with some effort. However, I was happy with the quality of the fabrics.

Justin and I then tried to find a bar with the World Cup on the telly, but had no luck. The hotel concierge claimed that it should be on "everywhere", though we couldn't seem to find it anywhere. So, we headed back to the hotel to rest.

At midnight, I went back to Changi airport to pick up my other cousin joining the trip, Erin. At that point, Justin was fast asleep, and more than happy to stay and "guard" the hotel room. Erin made it through customs at about 1:00AM and we returned to the hotel for a few hours sleep before our flight the next morning to Bangkok.

Our flight for Bangkok left at 10:50 AM, so we caught a taxi from the hotel at 8:30. It was pretty warm and muggy in Singapore and even more so when we landed after our 2.5 hour flight.

Our transfer from the Bangkok airport was waiting for us on arrival, and we jumped in a mini-van for the transit to the New World Lodge. After checking in, we walked up Khao San road to a Wat we could see from our hotel. It turned out to be the Wat at which the Thai king served as a monk for 9 days in his younger years - we later learned that such brief stints as a monk were not so unusual and something of a right of passage for certain males in Thailand.

We eventually made our way to another Wat, where, while snapping some shots, a gentlemen approached and kindly highlighted a number of things we should see on a short stay in the Thai capital. He even helped us hail a tuk-tuk driver (which we agreed to pay 50 Bhat) to take us to some of these spots. One of these destinations included a wat with a large standing Bhudda and another was Wat Saket, where we found the Golden Mount and nice views overlooking Bangkok.

We soon headed back to the hotel for a 6:00 PM meeting with our backpacking travel group and Imaginative Travel guide (Nuri). The group turned out to be about 18 in size (not counting the guide). After covering the trip particulars, we headed out for dinner to one of the nearby restaurants. Wow, I love the Pad Thai.

We had most of Sunday free to explore Bangkok. Justin, Erin and I visited the Grand Palace, saw the emerald Bhudda statue (which is really jade, but as one of the local guides noted, who would make pilgrimages to the shrine to see only a Jade Bhudda) in Wat Phra Kaew, and took in the National Museum. The latter spot provided nice detail regarding Thai history, its many struggles with its neighbor Burma and the long lineage of Thai kings. We also visited Wat Pho with its enormous reclining Bhudda.

We returned to the hotel to meet our group at 4:00 PM and transited to Bangkok's Hualamphong rail station for our overnight trip to Chang Mai. I believe our car was technically 2nd class, but it was very passable, being air conditioned and allowing for each bunk (one bunk on each side of the aisle dropped down from overhead, the other was formed by laying down the two facing seats that sat on either side of the aisle) to be curtained off from the others. Before leaving the station, Erin, Justin and I hit KFC and Dunkin Donuts, not knowing exactly when or from where our next sound meal would come.

Chang Mai, founded in 1296, is Thailand's second largest city. It sits at a higher altitude than Bangkok and was cooler than the capital (though still warm and muggy by the northern European standards to which I was then accustomed to). On arrival, our guide Nuri arranged two "songthaews" (in reality, a pick-up truck set up to allow you to sit on either of two parallel benches in the canopied bed of the truck) to take us to the Chiang Mai Gate Hotel set just south of the center of town. There, we grabbed breakfast while waiting for our rooms to free up and then checked in and showered.

Our guide arranged a trip to the Wat Phra That Doi Suthep temple on the top of Doi Suthep mountain (1676m), about 16 km northwest of Chang Mai, which provided exquisite views of the city. After that, some of the tour group elected to take a Thai cooking class and visit a local orphanage, while Erin, Justin and I decided to wander around town and take in some of the sights. Wow, was it hot, but we saw some pretty neat Wats.

That night, we headed out with the group to Chang Mai's night market, which had lots of stalls lining a few roads on the eastern side of the city center. Apparently, the Chang Mai night market is larger than even Bangkok's. There were no shortage of trinkets. We were able to find some provisions that would come in very handy (I would eventually realize how lax my packing was for this trip - omitting a rain slicker, multi-tool, pillow, hat, flashlight light, towel and various assorted sundries I would ruefully miss at different times). I also saw a couple of vendors that seemed to selling real paintings (rather than prints). We knew we would be back in Chang Mai towards the end of our trip so focused on buying the things we would need over the next few days of jungle trekking and mentally noting the spots we wanted to return to for souvenirs.

After breakfast, we grabbed a couple of songthaews for the 1.5 hour trip into the mountains surrounding Chang Mai. Along the way, we stopped to see the Mork Fa waterfalls, which were quite nice. When we later stopped for lunch at a roadside cafe (really just a roadside shack with a tin roof), the rain started pouring down. This was a bit disconcerting since we knew we would be walking for most of the afternoon after lunch. Fortunately, the deluge was short lived and had subsided by the time we finished eating and started driving about an hour later.

It was not too much longer before we reached the point where the songthaews deposited us with our belongings along the side of the road. We donned our packs and "leech guards" (in reality, thin white socks with a draw string to tie off above the bottom of our pants legs) and set off into the countryside. We weren't walking on much of a path - more of a track used sporadically by some wild animals (which we never saw). Our trek was fine at first while our course was reasonably level. However, before too long, we started taking in more steep descents which, due to the recent rains, were slippery to start and became more so as each person passed, gradually erasing the little bit of scrub grass that otherwise served as footholds. What was originally billed as a 1.5 hour nature hike through the jungle to a remote hill village, soon turned into a 3 hour slip and slide fest accompanied by a respectable number of bumps and bruises. I fell at least a dozen times, though miraculously without any real injury.

While the trekking itself was not particularly long or challenging (other than the staying upright part), the lack of scenery (lots of trees, but no breaks in the trees to really see the countryside) left me somewhat unfulfilled compared with prior trekking experiences in Peru, Ecuador and China. Our guide noted that this was the thrill of being in the jungle and that, in reality, this had been the "easy" day of trekking - he noted we should expect more of the same (though longer) the following day. Given the relatively low return (in the form of picture worthy opportunities) for our effort (lots of falling down), I asked if we might be able to identify a "super easy" path that I and any others so inclined could use to walk to the next village while the rest of the group took in more of the "easy" path. After asking in the village, our guide concluded that there really was no alternative trail, but the path for the following day's trekking would in actuality be easier with more photo ops than previously advertised.

The group split between two "guest-houses" - each being nothing more than a wood floored pole building sans electricity and water. Sleeping would be on thin mats laid on the floor under mosquito netting. Each house had an outbuilding with the squat style toilet (typical in many remote parts of Asia) and a spigot in the wall for washing off (we were not told where the water came from, and I was afraid to find out). Some of the group elected to bathe in the stream that ran through the center of the village.

We regrouped after dark for dinner - at this point all actions were taken by candle / flash light (which I had also forgotten to pack). The food - sweet and sour with rice and vegetable soup - was excellent. After dinner Nuri and one of the local guides (who had joined the group to lead us through the jungle) told stories about the "Karen", the hill tribe that lived in this area and whom were our hosts (and about which more can be read here). The stories were interesting but I was dead-tired. After about 30 minutes, most of the group retired to their respective guest houses and the floor mats that awaited them.

The roosters started crowing before 4:00 AM. Sounded like one was standing under the house directly beneath where we lay. It was almost comical how each time during the next 2 hours that "our" rooster crowed I would think to myself that this might be his last go at it for the morning. Then a rooster would crow somewhere in the distance and I knew he would have to respond - which he did. This ritual was repeated in the next hill village we stayed in as well.

I got up about 6:00 and did some Sudoku. I had washed my pants the night before and moved them into the morning sun to facilitate their drying. We left the village about 10:00 AM. Trekking was indeed longer - about 5 hours. It was very hot but rained a little only once (possibly why it was so hot). The path was marvelously improved from the prior day - still not much more than a footpath, but at least graveled and actually used by humans - though I still managed to fall once. Today's trekking afforded occasional views of the surrounding hills and valleys, which was somewhat of an improvement over the prior day.

While resting after climbing a particularly long hill in the mid-day sun, our guide Nuri asked if we preferred a route that would take about an hour longer but give us more "jungle time" or a shorter route that would require fording a river - a consensus quickly emerged to pursue the latter. When we eventually reached it, the river was pretty shallow (about thigh high) and slow moving. We each took our hiking boots off and crossed either barefoot or in sandals.

Soon after crossing the river, we arrived in an elephant training camp, where we rehydrated and ate lunch. After lounging for about an hour, we boarded elephants - 2 of our group on each animal - and headed down river (literally walking in the river). This was pretty neat and the highlight of the trekking for me so far.

We arrived and disembarked from our mounts in another Karen village about 1.5 hours later. This village seemed slightly better put together than the village we stayed in for our first night. The guest house was large enough to accommodate our entire group. The spigot for washing was in a bamboo walled room actually attached to the house - it was clear we were drawing closer to the pampered existences we remembered so fondly. Still, a few from the group bathed in the stream that ran behind the house.

Dinner involved more sweet and sour and rice along with curry (both a hot and mild version) - the food was again excellent. After dinner, we sat around a camp fire while the village women, dressed in traditional garb, performed some customary dances. I turned in before too long and got a pretty good night's sleep.

Roosters at 4:00 AM again. This would be a great wake-up call if there was any light to actually do anything at this time.

After breakfast, we headed down the hill from the village to the river where a number of bamboo rafts had been lashed together. I had never done bamboo rafting, so this looked to be an opportunity to add another "first time" experience to the list of lifetime accomplishments - right after elephant riding. The rafts were literally bamboo poles tied together with strips of what looked like bamboo bark. While surprisingly simple in their construction, the rafts did quite well for the duration of our c. 2 hour trip down river. There were 3 or 4 from our group along with a pole wielding pilot at the front and rear of each raft. We encountered low level rapids a couple of times and, on more than one occasion, the raft that Justin and I were riding on tipped enough that we had to hang on to avoid slipping off the side. Yet, the trip was smooth enough to get out the camera equipment to shoot some film at different points. All in all, this was a very enjoyable excursion.

By around noon, we exited the river and ate lunch. We then boarded the songthaews for the 2 hour trip back to Chang Mai. Along the way, we stopped at an orchid farm, which also had a large outdoor butterfly room, both of which were quite nice.

In Chang Mai, the shower never felt so good. Later, Erin, Justin and an Australian from our group, Bromwen, headed to the Riverview Restaurant, which our guide Nuri had recommended. It was good food, but I was finding that Pad Thai tends to taste the same (good) everywhere - or maybe we were just exceptionally lucky. Then it was back to the night market to do some serious haggling where I was able to pick up a couple of paintings.

Back in Bangkok, we checked into our hotel, showered and grabbed some food with the group. Six of us then headed out to one of the "Lady-Boy" transvestite shows that our guide Nuri recommended. I had seen a similar show in an earlier trip to Phuket, so knew what to expect. The show was a highbrow, classy affair, of course. Erin (who is a medical student) noted that she could tell that the performers were men due to the fat deposits. Justin seemed a little unnerved at the thought of men being so adept at passing themselves off as women.

Our taxi picked us up at 4:15 AM to catch our 7:00 AM flight to Singapore. After landing, we took a taxi to central Singapore, where I received a quick fitting on the suits I had ordered and then headed out to the island of Sentosa. The Sentosa resort was very nice - particularly compared to our accommodations over the preceding 9 days. We all relaxed for the afternoon. That evening, I attended the wedding of my friend, Tai, while Erin and Justin continued enjoying the island's amenities.

We got a late check out from the hotel, allowing us to swim in the pool and bask in the sun until 2:00. After that, Justin and Erin explored the beach, while I visited with my friend, Wan. In the late afternoon, Justin, Erin and I did some more exploring of the island - taking in the alpine slide and the cable car that connects the island to Singapore. By 8:00, we were back at the resort to catch a taxi to the airport and out flights home.