sucked dry in chiang mai

Our attempt to cross the skybridge in Kuala Lumpur ended badly. Of all the days that we could be there and all the days the skybridge could be closed, we were there on a Monday and Monday they were closed. Kirsten in particular was heartbroken. Now we have to return to Kuala Lumpur someday to try again.

We attempted to console ourselves with foot massages, but unluckily my masseur was a sweaty-handed Malaysian foot butcher. I left limping, with a bulge in my left foot's big toe that hadn't been there before.

For the last week we've been in Chiang Mai, on the adventure phase of our vacation. We rode elephants, went white-water rafting, floated on bamboo rafts and swam under a waterfall...and that was on our first day!

Since then we've immersed ourselves in various other enlightening and outdoor activities. Today we took a motorbike up Doi Pui, the mountain outside of town. Halfway through our overgrown wilderness trail en route to the Mon Thon Than waterfall, I felt a pain in my bum, but figured I could walk it off. Later, at the waterfalls, a fully engorged leech dropped from my shorts. I was the victim of a vicious Thai bum-sucker, and bled profusely.

After this disturbing encounter, we hiked a "nature trail" to the summit of Doi Pui, where I acquired four more leeches on my legs and Kirsten picked up one of her own. What a grand adventure! Tomorrow we flee towards Bangkok!