The Farming Binturong: And so it begins...almost.

Hey everyone! This post is coming a couple prior to departure. I figured I should give a short, tentative timeline of our plans. Lizzie (for those of you who don't know she is my girlfriend) and I are leaving for Thailand in two days. We will have two additional travel companions: Stefanie Couchman and Mason Stabler. Stefanie was Lizzie's best friend growing up and her and her boyfriend (Mason) both attended Kenyon College where they met. As Lizzie and I went to Denison, only a 35min drive away, we had the privilege of hung out a few times. Our group of four has suddenly become less random.

The group. Lizzie, Dylan, Stefanie, Mason.

The day after our arrival we hope to travel to a farm on the island of Ko Mak. If we don't hear from her in the next few days we'll probably just show up and see what happens. The trip is all about rolling with the punches. Hopefully there won't be too many punches, maybe love taps instead. Ko Mak is part of a greater island archipelago on which we had already planned on doing some hiking and camping. So if the farm doesn't work out we will likely just start with the hiking and camping.

Ko Mak Island. This is smaller and part of a national marine reserve.

Ko Chang Island. This island is the largest of the archipelago and more developed.

After this adventure we head back to Bangkok to meet up with the train in order to head south. There is a shrimp and oyster farm that we will be working at for about 10 days on the island of Ko Phi Phi. There was going to be another farm in this region, but Tom sold his farm. It happens. After shrimping we will take the train down to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where Mason apparently has family. This will likely be the site of our great reef adventure, as the area is rumored to have some of the best snorkeling opportunities in the world.

Kuala Lumpur Skyline

These are all other peoples' pictures from Kuala Lumpur. Signs of things to come perhaps.

After visiting with Mason's family in Kuala Lumpur, we fly to Chiang Mai, Thailand. From a geographical standpoint, until this point we will have been predominantly coastal. The Chiang Mai Province, however, is more mountainous. It is also a center of cultural diversity with over 300 Buddhist temples as well as a few mosques, churches and temples (there is a Sikh and a Hindu temple.) There are two farms in Chiang Mai that we will go to. The Metta Experiment, as it is called, is a permaculture ecovillage has some organic farming responsibilities. It is a place where you can learn about Buddhist "middle path" philosophy. There are monks as well as professors from the nearby university who occasionally stop through and discuss Buddhism. Should be interesting. The other farm, called Rainbow Springs Farm, is more of a traditional farm with vegetables and fruit orchards and is situated at the foot of mountains. Both seem like nice meditative retreats. After The two farms Lizzie and I will have some free time. Who knows what we'll do?! Wish us luck.