Further Insights

brave readers of the kip chronicle,


i feel that it is time to address some advice that has been given to me. now, keep in mind, this particular list serve is not for the prude or PG crowd. of course, my family and many of their friends are on it. but i must say i have suffered a barage of emails about thai massages. i indulged last night, it was a two hour massage, and strictly a massage. seriously, just a massage. so relax. i am. i went with a british friend that i met yesterday while awaiting nate's arrival. this brit along with a canadian (both in their late fifties) took me out for drinks and then dinner. the canadian told me of his adventures with the hells angels and running speed across the border. the british bloak had less crazy stories, but he definately had a concupiscence that manifested itself in his constant stares at the women on the street. so basically, i had beers with two dirty old men. gross. oh well, it was free and certainly entertaining. the hotel im staying at gave a 20 percent discount at the massage place next door and for 8 bucks for a two hour massage along side a dirty old man, i couldnt resist. john (the brit) and i changed into a silk shirt and pants. we shared a room and i must say that i havent heard something so "brillant" in my whole life. he was righetously pissed at the time and definately enjoyed his massage. of course, he then took his massuse out for drinks. i enjoyed my massage too, but there were too many elbows involved. afterwards, rather than joining john and said massuse, i went up to my room and promptly passed out. i awakened at 3:30am when nate arrived, 28 hours late. but that is another story for another time.

the food. well, simply put, delish. all of my travels and all of the advice and travel books that i have read state explicitly not to eat the food sold on the street. they warn of the dangers and parasites. but again, lets get back to frugality. i have eaten all of my meals on the street. obviously. this usually means that breakfast is a tom yum soup or some type of noodle. lunch and dinner are no different, expect sometimes i hook up a little rice. my stomach has been rumble free thus far, but dont worry, if he starts up i packed enough immodium to plug a whale.

tomorrow nate and i are heading down to pattaya in the south east, then over to cambodia and the bokor national forest, some remote island, and then phenom penh to work for conservation international.

things are great and i am thrilled to have mr. ratledge along for the ride. i forgot how big he was (6' 3''), so all of that "fitting in" i was doing is now lost. no more subtle wanderings. oh well. its nice to have a travel companion. so thats it for now, you will next hear from me when i am in cambodia. wild.

lots of love,
kip

ps. mom they even have a starbucks here. so whenever you come here, you can leave your coffee beans at home.