On To Thailand

Saturday was a travel day and we were up at 6:30, had breakfast and back to the jet. The flight was 5 hrs and 40 mins to Chiang Rai, Thailand. I got some great shots of places rarely seen.

Boarding the 757 at Gan International Airport

Takeoff in the Addu Archipelago

Coral reefs and lagoons of the Maldive Islands

After 1 hour, we crossed the west coast of Sri Lanka. This near Galle on the southwest coast. I was on the ground here in November, 2005 on the Jewels of the Indian Ocean trip and we saw some of the damage done by the December, 2004 tsunami, which occurred just 10 months before our visit. The coast shown here was hit hard.

The interior of Sri Lanka with mountains and mesas

East coast of Sri Lanka, the former island of Ceylon

The isolated and little visited Andaman and Nicobar Islands, another island chain that took the brunt of the 2004 tsunami

Henry Lawrence Island on the eastern shore of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Barren Island sits all alone out in the Indian Ocean east of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Notice the fairly recent lava flows on its upper left.

The west coast of Burma directly west of Bankok, Thailand

Field burning in Thailand, an omen of what was to come

The sky grew thicker as we neared Chiang Rai

Until finally, we couldn't even see the ground. This is smoke from forest fires and rice field burning in northern Thailand. See warning here.

Our first view of the Mekong River forming the boundary between Thailand and Laos (opposite shore). Our hotel is near the Golden Triangle with Burma.

Asian elephants greeting us upon arrival

Dancers

Our hotel is the Anantara Golden Triangle. More to come!