Greetings from Thailand

My dear friends

Warm greetings from Thailand, the land of smiles!

I have been here for two weeks now and will stay for a couple of weeks with a friend in northern Chiang Mai before returning to Kathmandu next month. It's my second time in Thailand and I have been having such a lot of fun...

I have been to Pattaya and Nakhon Si Thammarat - both have the sea and the beautiful beaches. Pattaya is very touristy, of course. But Nakhon in the south is more like countryside. I stayed with a local family there, eating Thai, talking Thai and behaving Thai! While in Nakhon, I had the opportunity to visit the Ao Nang beach in Krabi... God, this is the place - so beautiful! Also, my friends took me to another beach whose name I cannot remember now (because it's too long!), where life in 1962 was devastated by a disaster similar to the Tsunami.

Left Nakhon last night and am posting this message from Bangkok. I must admit I don't like this place very much. The country is much friendlier!

Tomorrow morning, I take the train to Chiang Mai, where I was last week and where I already have a lot of friends. I have been teaching them English and learning Thai from them in return. Who knows if this is where my future lies?

Haven't been following any news from Nepal (as I wrote to Gyanu), but it does not look good there. Take good care.

When I get back, I will have an interesting niyatra-like story to post, involving a local lass... hmmm!

Have a great day!

Hikmat