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Thailand 27 December 2004 - 7 January 2005 |
airlai.com ericlai.com |
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26 Dec
2004:
disaster
strikes Southeast Asia 27-29 Dec 2004: LAX to Anchorage to Taipei to Hong Kong to Bangkok 30 Dec 2004: Ayutthaya, Khao Yai 31 Dec 2004: Phetchaburi (Imperial Lakeview) 1 Jan 2005: Cha-am, Kaeng Krachan Dam, Hua Hin 2 Jan 2005: Wat Khow Temple, Khoa Hin Lek 3 Jan 2005: Bangkok 4 Jan 2005: Damnoensaduak Floating Market, Samphran Elephant Ground, Rose Garden 5 Jan 2005: Phra Pathom Chedi, Erawan National Park, Sri Nakharin Dam, Kanchanaburi (Bridge over the River Kwai) 6 Jan 2005: Grand Palace, Suan-Lum Night Market 7 Jan 2005: Bangkok to Taipei to LAX back to the AirLai.com homepage |
Saturday,
1 January 2005 With the tsunami having struck just six days prior, the elements still seemed slightly out of their natural sorts down on the coast. Nowhere was this more evident than at Cha-am Beach, where the seas churned and the winds howled. [See the video]
From Cha-am, Avi and I made our way up to Phetchaburi. From the road, we saw sights like these:
In Phetchaburi, we drove onto Kaeng Krachan Dam: From the dam, we drove back south, this time to the beach town of Hua Hin. There, we again encountered the raging seas: After grabbing some pad thai at the Hua Hin Marriott (it's as greasy there as it is in the U.S.), we combed some of the beachside shops. As the sun set, I saw and heard a scene I'd never encountered before: thousands of bats screeching in the trees above. [See the video] Once the traffic in Hua Hin subsided, Avi and I made our way back to Cha-am, where we met Apichai's family for dinner at the Springfield Hotel. Following a brief pit stop back at the Imperial Lakeview, Avi, Apichai, and I headed back to Hua Hin, this time to check out the Night Market — an assortment of late-night boutiques and shops offering pirated CDs, fake Rolexes, and .. unfortunately .. Starbucks:
Given the wares, there wasn't a whole lot to buy at the Night Market, so I headed back to the Imperial Lakeview empty-handed. But that was alright — there would be plenty of time for shopping later. |
On 1 January
2005, it was 81°F during the day and 66°F at night. |
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