We are back! We had a great time in China. The trip started with about a week in Beijing for a conference and some meetings, followed by two months in Kunming, then about a week in Thailand. On the side, I had a couple of trips to Shanghai and Hanoi to build some partnerships and initiate some research. The Bluey Louey saga has ended, with Bluey locked up for good, destined to rust away in a junk yard. Avah and I went to try to get her out once and we were able to see her one last time, but too much paperwork and fines to pay to justify going for the release.
We had a great time in Thailand. I spent the first day meeting with faculty from King Mongkut University of Technology Thonburi. This was a very good meeting and I was very happy to meet the faculty there. I think that this will be a good interaction. After that meeting, we flew to Thailand to have some fun in the sun for a long weekend. We went to Khao Lak, about an hour north of the Phuket airport. It was wonderful, just the way I like it. I've heard that Phuket can be a tourist circus, which is what I try to avoid on my vacations. Khao Lak is a quiet village, still with plenty of local food and amenities, but without the hassle of being constantly hounded by people trying to squeeze your last Baht out of you. The place we stayed...Baan Khao Lak was pretty great, centrally located and there were only about 5 families in the whole resort (summer is off-season because of the monsoon storms). It only actually rained for a few minutes on the first day, so we really lucked out. We rented a motorcycle to get around, which was admittedly risky, but also very fun and mobile for all involved. We took it all over, up into the mountains, through the town, etc. Much better than walking in the July heat. Kylie didn't like the beach so we spent a lot of time in the pool. Avah learned to swim for the most part and both girls had a lot of confidence in the pool. We rode an elephant
through the jungle and visited some waterfalls. Overall, it was a great vacation. It was a little eerie being in the location in Thailand that was hardest hit by the Tsunami. Even four years later there is still evidence. Most striking was the destroyed and abandoned resort down the beach from ours that was slowly being swallowed by the jungle.We are back in the states now, visiting Julie's family, then to a wedding, then visiting my family for a couple of days in Prescott. Then back to "normal" life in Knoxville to write some papers and prep my new class for the fall.
