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• When I looked up the cave in the article below in Google I found your pictures... thought I would let you know because if the situation were reversed I too would like to have somethig to ponder on Thanksgiving.

  It must be obvious... that there is a contradiction in wanting to be perfectly secure in a universe whose very nature is momentariness and fluidity. …Alan Wilson Watts (6 January 1915 - 16 November 1973)
  Pete

  BANGKOK (Reuters) - Eight people, including four Swedish tourists and a 10-year-old German boy, drowned when a flash flood trapped them in a cave in southern Thailand, but a British woman survived, officials said on Sunday.

  One other foreign tourist, whose identity and nationality were not immediately known, was among those drowned in the 500 metre (1,640 ft) deep Nam Talu cave in the Khao Sok national park along with a Thai tourist guide and a boatman, they said.

  But a 17-year-old British woman was found alive after a long search that began on Saturday night, park official Thirayudh Mungpaisal told Reuters.

  "We found her in the cave, at the top part of the cave. We guess that the water pushed her up there and she couldn't get down," he said.

  The woman was slightly injured and recovering in hospital, he said, declining to give names.

  Police Lieutenant Colonel Pichan Kalayasiri told Reuters by telephone from Surat Thani province, where the forested park draws trekkers and bird watchers, that the dead included a German boy aged 10.

  The cave on the Rachaprpa reservoir is home to bats.

• thanks! yes, the photos are posted:
  https://www.ronrothman.com/gallery/southeast-asia-2006. and thanks for sending us yours--you'll recognize quite a few of them in our gallery, no doubt.

  sorry to hear about your pad thai! (and you were such prodigy in Chiang Mai; who would've guessed that it would end in disaster back home? :) ) we haven't even tried cooking thai food yet; perhaps we'll all have better luck if we join forces?

• Hooray! You posted them! They all look fantastic, of course- love the one of the two of you at Angkor Wat and how happy you look on the beach. I should clarify for your readers that the American judge doesn't give 6's lightly in her food ratings- khao soi is a rare exception to the "no food above a 4" rule.

  Speaking of which- we made pad thai for dinner last night. Had to throw it out. Something weird with the tamarind paste. But I persevere...

• With the traveling track record you kids have, am so glad you are home safe. Gram

• hi sharrin! if you liked the elephant photo, just wait til you see the rest of our photos. we've got some good ones of your daughter--cooking pad thai, blessing herself with a lotus flower bud, eating crispy thai chicken bits, performing a traditional thai dance in front of about 300 people, etc. etc. etc.!

  check back in a week or so, they should be posted by then.

  and thanks for writing! :)

• Welcome home...although I know you'd rather still be traveling!
  Danielle sent your info to me so I could see her on an elephant : )
  Today, I looked at your blog to "escape."
  Thanx for the e-trip !!!

• hi!!!

  ugh, we are zombies today.

  so how many pictures did you end up taking? we've got some good ones of you--can't wait to share! is it easy for you to burn & send us a CD? (i'll wait to post our photos until i've merged ours with yours.) if not, maybe you can ftp them (ask ADW :-D ) to my server instead.

• Yes, boo for you guys, but hooray from all your many fans, who are delighted to have you back! Hope the jet lag passes quickly and the relaxation lingers. Welcome home!!