Arrived home safely on Air Canada 016... along with hundreds of other passengers.  I must have checked in too early, as I had to wait for nearly everybody else's luggage to come out before mine.

When I left, it was below zero and snowing.  Now it is above freezing and raining.

I was kinda looking forward to the snow.

But I was really looking forward to seeing my girls again.

I'll post a lot more photos when I can sort through them.

Well it's time to leave Asia and fly back to Toronto.

 15 hours is a long time to be stuck in your seat, but I think they may have given me an exit row seat.

 See you on the other side...

My whole trip to Asia I've been craving authentic vietnamese food.  There are only a few places around Markham/Toronto to get it.  I read online that it is popular in Thailand and Laos now.  Well turns out, the closest I got to it was some pork noodle soup in Savannakhet and it was more Chinese style.

Well I left Bangkok this morning on a Cathay Pacific flight and landed in Hong Kong (a huge airport).  I caught the shuttle to the hotel and was pleased to learn there was a vietnamese place next door.  After shopping in the outlet mall, I went to Deli Viet.  It was gourmet style, but still the same basic ingredients and excellent.  Spring rolls, barbeque beef with rice noodles and a mango soda.

I may do a bit of sight-seeing tomorrow... maybe take the Ngong Ping cable car to the top of the mountain, before I head out for the 15 hour flight home.

Sunday was a full day but a good day.  Despite having the freedom to sleep in (we arranged to meet for breakfast at 10am), construction on the new deck outside began at 6:45 complete with saws and hammers.  So, no sleeping in, but I was able to take a walk down the street and get some good pictures.

After our fried egg and bread, and arguing about the guesthouse bill for half an hour, we headed to the repeater site for one last work session.  Things were looking good and we left feeling confident that the system will perform well.

We then drove north for 2 hours from Savannakhet to Thakhek where I caught the ferry across back to Nakhom Phanom in Thailand.  You have to pay for everything at the ferry crossing... a porter for the bags (steep hill with heavy bags... porter = good), Laos immigration fee, ferry ticket price, Thai immigration fee, port fee, porter fee.  Now that said, it only amounts to $8-9 CAD, but psychologically it feels expensive.

My colleagues arranged transportation for me to the airport where I caught my PBair flight back to Bangkok.  Not having too much time to catch my flight in the morning, I opted to stay at the Novotel airport hotel.  It is very nice and I had a nice buffet dinner before heading to bed.

I was able to download pictures on to my computer, so I'll try and bulk upload to Smugmug (http://ejtech.smugmug.com/gallery/7272418) when I can.

We finished emptying the batteries at 3 am and now trying to recharge them. Fortunately the solar is working great (56.5A), because the 1970s contraption a local crew is providing isnt working too well.

 At least it proves our solar is designed properly.

Well we are 7.5 hours into our battery test. We are doing voltage measurements every hour... Here is Silvan from ABB waiting as the time passes.

 We've been up for 17 hours now and it's getting a bit difficult to ... stay... awak... e.

We were preparing to do a capacity test on the batteries, which can take up to 10 hours.

 We had breakfast at 7am, on site at 8... Did some servicing, had lunch and began our test at 4 pm. It's gonna be a long day...

I'll upload more photos later as I managed to get a signal from Thailand that handles data but it is weak.

 The solar is powering fiber optic communications along this 500 kv line into Thailand. Those towers are traversing the Mekong river.

Here is where we are staying. Quaint and rustic but livable.

 The food at the restaurant is edible and hasnt bothered me so far.

 It's located right on the shores of the Mekong overlooking Thailand.

Let's just say it pays big time to have someone who knows the system ( or lack thereof). I'm feeling a little lost at the moment, but fortunately the customer arranged transport for me.
It's actually a beautiful evening now that the humidity is gone. A balmy 24 degrees I would guess.