From the beach

Sunshine, banana trees, Australian Hornbills visiting the restaurant, crystal clear aquamarine waters, salty waves, yoga in a teak studio overlooking the South China Sea, delicious curries on the patio of local restaurants, sweating on the white sand, and side-stepping toads and geckos on the way to my bungalow perched at the top of a stone staircase on the hill overlooking the Haad Yuan bay.

This is my current life. It is terrible.

I arrived in Koh Phnang (a stunning Thai island off the east coast, in the South China Sea) and headed over to the Haad Yuan beach on Monday morning after departing from Siem Reap and all the amazing scenery of Angkor Wat and the surrounding temple structures. I've seen a lot of temples, churches and cathedrals around the world, but Angkor was still absolutely mind-blowing. The Bowlon Temple and Ta Phrom, along with Batey Srei (about 30 minutes by TukTuk away from the main Angkor site) was equally amazing. I want to go back. No... I need to go back. It's just too amazing for words. I met up with D&M and the Hockeys (it's the right pronunciation, but the real spelling is different) on Monday morning and am getting ready to depart tomorrow morning. My China comrades have already departed back to Bangkok for a few days, but I booked myself here until tomorrow so I could recharge my batteries before heading back to work on Monday.

So, alas, I'm on the tail-end of my nearly 5 weeks of winter vacation, and only one more night remains. Tomorrow, I'm hopping on the longtail boat, the bus, a ferry, another bus and two flights to go from here to Shenzhen in southern China, on the mainland just across from the glorious Hong Kong. Unfortunately I won't be able to make it over to HK, since I have to be back to work on Monday. A long but necessary trip back to the country I've been calling home for nearly a year and a half.

Disgusting. Work is only 3 days away.

I've met some amazing people, seen some amazing things, made classic traveling errors (no, I won't elaborate), and had an unbelievably fun time around this part of the Asian continent for the second year in a row, and it makes me want to see and re-see so many things. And unlike last year, I didn't rush too much and was smart enough to take some time to relax in the midst of the urgent need to see everything and do everything. From kayaking to rock climbing to feeding elephants to watching monkeys to doing yoga to reading a tonne and writing a lot and going running in the rural streets of Laos or meeting random globe-trotters, I've been able to experience things (yet again) that years ago I only dreamed of. It's hard to believe how close our dreams and ambitions are to our fingertips once we put ourselves in a position to make them real.

So, this will be my last entry before I return to the northern lands of DongBei. But I'm thinking about ya'll at home and abroad who may actually read these boring diatribes from time to time. I've been thinking about you all in your various locations around the globe. And I'm gonna send one personal shout-out... to my good friend and Europe sidekick, JLG, congrats to you and DM on your engagement and upcoming wedding! I can't wait to see you guys in the summer! And to SW and NT, two of my absolute favourite Victoria peeps, I can't wait to be at your wedding in July as well! Ya'll are amazing friends and can't wait to see ya'll.

As always and continually, much love from Southeast Asia (and again, soon, from China)...

T