suitably epic jungle adventures...

there are so many things i want to write about from thailand, however it's been so hectic, and that pattern looks like continuing... so i'm going to upload as many photos as i can tonight, and then hopefully add some more when we return from the villages. mocha, one of the toddlers living in this place, stole my charger and (only) battery (i inadvertantly left my spare in san jose) today, and if i don't find the battery that will be the end of my photo taking...

anyway..we returned last night from an epic jungle adventure... it was very very fun...


this is boon shu and takwa (dee's brother, real name tomahawk, but called takwa by most people), in takwa's most magnificent beast... what it lacked in brakes, starter motor and windows, it made up for with rpg launcher switches, flashy motorcycle exhaust, radiator cap cutout in the bonnet, amazing paint job (every part of the engine, including hoses, spark plugs - seriously everything was painted blue and red, to match the racing car seats), and all sorts of other unexpected additional features...





not long out of sangkhla buri we turned off the tar onto a dirt road. we had two 4wds, both single cab utes, and there were 15 of us. takwa's beast took the lead. it required roll starting to get it going every time, and one of the guys had to leap off the back to chock the wheels when we stopped; compensating for the absence of brakes. at times the vehicle's momentum would drive it over the chock repeatedly, with the chock boy running along side attempting to halt it...

the road grew increasingly rugged, and takwa's door, which was wired shut with bungy cord which had lost some of it's elasticity, casually flapped open something like a fish gill - quite mesmerising to watch... the cars were constantly swaying, jouncing, rattling, bashing form side to side, so i ended up standing... for three days i stood, at the back of a ute with no tail gate, going up and down some amazingly steep hills and through some crazy river crossings... rossco and i did most of this trip back in 2006, but that was sitting on top of a loaded ute and was far more padded...








there's so many more photos, and much much more to write, but technology is failing, and it's 12:30am and we've been pushing a crazy schedule,(and the girls in the room are trying to sleep), so i might have to leave it here for the time being, and write about getting bogged with no gear and having to sleep in the jungle, and crossing into burma and having porcupine for dinner, and playing games with the kids and swimming in the river, and watching fireflies flit through the bush next week when we get back... and write about thanksgiving in seattle too...