I'm now up in Chiang Mai in the north-west part of Thailand. The night before leaving, we went to "Paragon" which was a huge shopping mall in Bangkok. Unfortunately, Gucci was closed (open for appointment only) so I couldn't get another suit made there. Riiiight....Anyways, since I'm not much of a mall person or even a window-shopper, I got bored pretty quickly although I did enjoy the gourmet supermarket.

The drive up here was not bad. We drove half-way and stayed the night in a guest house before heading to a hot spring today. I got good and dirty with a mud scrub and now my skin is smoother than ever (price=150 baht or about $4). I love how low the prices for health-related goods and services are in Thailand. People really emphasize their health here. (Whenever we eat anything with garlic in it, Ma always says "for health!").

Now I'm trying to finish up my shopping at a market before going back to our guest house. Tomorrow we will do some sort of Thai-herb something or other... (I didn't really understand but I get the impression that it might be like a sauna or something else health-related).

From here, plans are (I think) to go back to Udon Thani before flying to Bangkok on Saturday morning for my flight on Saturday night. It will be a long 36 hour journey home, as I have a 12 layover in Seoul. Maybe I'll venture out of the airport for the day...