TK - Five of us signed up to do a kayak expedition. We were taken up river 12 KM then walked through rice fields and villages to a stream that was coming out from a cave. The guide gave us rubber rings and we jumped in the stream and paddled into the cave. The water was just about warm enough, but even so there were plenty of screams from the girls! We were all taken aback by the sheer size of the place, we pulled ourselves along by a rope and marveled at the st...

TK: I woke before dawn and headed out with Jules, Lindsey and Julie to watch the giving of alms to the novice monks. It was a fascinating spectacle where devotees line the road with offerings of sticky rice, dried food or money, the monks process past with the lid off their alms bowls in silence receiving the offerings. They cannot touch women. Sometimes their bowl is full before they get to the end, so they give some back to young boys who wait in line. The mon...