Hello all, sorry that it has been a while since I updated you; I should be able to be more up to date now as I have got a new toy in the form of a laptop which I got in Thailand At the time of writing this I am sitting on the beach in Koh Samet Thailand looking out on a blue warm sea with the finest sand that I have ever come across. It is like lying on flour. I am in and out of the sea all day long. In the evening the beach turns into a restaurant where we sit on cushions eating and drinking watching the world go by. The group has got quite large now as we are mixed with the old and young gappers about 60 of usI have just finished on the elephant project. We had 2 elephants to help look after by giving them a shower twice a day and getting food for them. They each have an owner who are called mahouts, they look after them all of their lives. I have been for a ride on them which was not the most comfortable of thing to do is but it's good fun.The place where we were staying at was brand new so the 7 of us were the first to stay. No alcohol is allowed on site so Jack the local farmer brought a cool box up on his tractor and we sat in a wooden hut next to the road only lit by candles and oil lamps. We went trekking in the jungle for 3 days and slept on a dried up river bed which was rock; it was very uncomfortable but good fun. Even though it was very hot we had a fire going for 3 days to boil the water and cook our toast.Previous to Thailand, I spent some time in Cambodia. We had 12 in our group and everyone had some kind of illness. I collapsed in a pile as it was so hot and I had not drank enough water; one girl was admitted to hospital suffering from dehydration and a Swiss guy broke his ankle. We did the normal sightseeing of the temples and the killing fields. One night we went back to one of the guide's house for dinner, it was the normal rice and chicken until the dessert. It was a plate of fried tarantulas (spiders). Some of the group ate them but I could not do it. Talking of rice, after almost eight weeks of just rice and noodles I do not want to eat any more so I am indulging in western food on Koh samet - chips and steak.On the 17th of February I am off to Australia for almost 7 weeks where I shall write again. In the meantime, I shall put some pictures from Koh Samet on.John