Sunday afternoon at the track

After brunch this morning, a bunch of us took off to the Royal Turf Club to place a few bets on the ponies. Local knowledge definitely won out, the horses the locals seemed to be in favor of nearly always weren't the ones that we thought looked best on paper. In the last race I put 100 baht on #12 for John (who didn't make it out but wanted to get in on the action), and 100 on #7 for myself in one last ditch shot for victory. Coming into the stretch #12 had a decent lead but somehow by the finish line my horse managed to pass him up for the win. I got a big 220 baht, turned out he was the heavy favorite though when I bet on him the odds were substantially larger. Somebody got wise at the end. At least I walked out with a win!

Quick trip to Khao Yai

Dung and I took a road trip up to Khao Yai close by the National Park for a quick weekend. Monday's a holiday so we went up Sunday night as the place we stayed at was a little too pricey for two nights... We stayed at Kirimaya which is right on the fringes of the Park and a great hotel in the middle of the jungle. We got in and immediately got on our bikes (first time we actually loaded them on the car) and wandered around rural Thailand for a couple hours. The great thing about Thailand is the countryside is beautiful and the roads are first-rate, we got in some fabulous scenery and had a good two hours out. Followed that up with a big fish at a local restaurant (plus four other dishes), then next day a little practice chipping and putting on the practice green at the resort's golf club, some time at the pool then back out for another hour ride around some of the vineyards in the area. We packed a lot into the weekend, but could have done even more. Probably the last time we'll be through that way, however.....