Patong detour

When it seemed that the situation in Bangkok wasn't improving, we decided to save it for another trip. Instead we headed of to Patong beach, which is 45 minutes south of Bang Tao, but worlds apart from the quiet, laid back beach experience of Bang Tao. We have had to be alert here. We witnessed the damaged Jet Ski scam we read about being executed. Last night Joanne violated the have small change rule and ended up paying about $20 to use the bathroom when she didn't get the right change back.

Relaxing in Phukek

We arrived at our hotel near Bang Tao beach. We are staying at the Outrigger resort, part of the Laguna development. It is very beautiful, but there are not that many people here. This is a large development with many properties for sale - the real estate boom even reached here.

Arrived in Chiang Mai

After a long trip, we jumped right into it with an awesome cooking class and followed that up with a short walk around the old town with visits to a couple of temples. Verbecks-1, jet lag-0.

I decided to leave my computer behind, traveling with just my iPad. I just realized I can't get photos on the blog unless I take them with the iPad itself so all I have is a picture of Joanne figuring out our next steps.

If you are traveling to Thailand try to make sure you bring a phone that uses a SIM card. I picked up a free SIM card and the rate on calls is just .05 per minute even to the US.

In case you are wondering about the Thailand flooding, we are unaffected here and there were no problems at the Bangkok airport.

The Verbeck World Chaos Tour resumes

After seemingly leaving a trail of chaos behind us this past summer in Italy, Greece, Egypt, Israel, Turkey, etc. we are now heading to flooded Thailand where we seem to have fallen behind the chaos. Our original plan was to stay in Bangkok upon arrival, but we have decided to wait to see if the receding floods improves conditions by the end of our trip. The boys are staying home with Nana, so this is the first trip longer than a weekend Joanne and I have had since out honeymoon.

Look for our check-ins from the SPOT GPS device on my facebook page.