Bangkok to Phuket

Sorry for the long break, but the post I wrote last week did not seem to post to my weblog.

Let me start by saying the "The world is a dream, not because the dream is false, but because it's more real than it seems." This trip is to say the least very intense. I think culture shock is not strong enough a word. Although there are some familiar things here everything else is so very different. As the time passes I find myself adjusting to all of it fairly well. It's almost becoming a second nature. I try not to think about how much I miss all of you, but every night in my dreams my mind goes home, and I see you all again. Seriously, since I started this trip my dreams have become really vivid. I wake up, and what was familiar was a dream, and this dreamlike world is reality.

So back to reality....Harv and I left Pattaya about a week ago, and spent three days in Bangkok. While in Bangkok Harvey went over to Bumrungrad Hospital to check it out. This place looks like a five star hotel, and offers internationally accredited medical services at next to nothing. So Harv and I went to the dental clinic. I got a broken filling replaced, and Harv got a checkup and cleaning. I made an appointment for next week for some more dental work, and I plan to go to their dermatologist for a skin cancer screening. The filling cost me 2400 baht, which works out to 60 dollars. The service was excellent, and we both got appointments without any trouble even though we went on the weekend.

Now we are on Patong Beach in Phuket. This is a really beautiful beach town with a night life that goes on til 3 or 4 A.M. I've been staying up so late that I've finally been able to take advantage of the free breakfasts the hotels all offer. It ends at 10:30, so for all the time I've been in Thailand, I've made it to like three free breakfasts. I've made it to breakfast twice in the three days I've been in Phuket. Sleeping in the afternoon seems to be the only way I can keep up with this town.

Harv and I are trying to figure out what were going to do next. We both have dental appointments in Bangkok next week, but the islands to the South of here are calling. One complication to all of that is our visas run out on the 26th. What most people do is make a border run. That means head to the nearest border with another country leave Thailand, then turn around and get another 30 day visa. Last night we met an old English guy who owns a little beer bar here. He said we can make a run up to Burma to some Island that has a Casino. Burma is a really troubled country, but apparently this island is safe. With another thirty day visa we can go to the Islands to the South, and have time for the medical stuff in Bangkok.

That's all for now..I'll try to prepare some more pictures. I'll have to send them out in an email, because I'm using a computer at an internet cafe, and I can't post pictures to the weblog without my laptop.