Thailand

Wednesday, October 28 continued.... The flight to Phuket was a little over 9 hours. Fortunately Keith and I had purchased the entertainment package which allowed us to have our own screen to watch movies and tv shows and to play games, etc. Given the length of the flight, I thought the time went by pretty quickly (or maybe after the flight to Australia, anything less than 15 hours seems like a breeze). I watched two good movies – Pelham 123 and State of Play. We arrived in Phuket and cleared customs. We weren't sure what we would encounter when we landed, so we had arranged with our hotel to have a car waiting for us – which it was. In hindsight, as soon as we walked out the door there were at least 20 men asking if we wanted a taxi, so we would have been just fine. For anyone who hasn't been to Phuket it's actually an island with a number of different towns. We had decided to stay in Patong – the “happening scene” in Phuket – which was about 45 minutes from the airport. It was very exciting to be in a new a country. In a way it finally felt like we were traveling as there was a different language, style of living and culture. As we drove into Patong we could see lots of lights. There was a McDonalds, Haagen Daz, Starbucks and Subway mixed in with nice restaurants and lots and lots street markets or booths selling everything from sunglasses to knock off handbags, from massages (all kinds) to custom made suits. The streets seemed crowded with people and products. It wasn't shiny and new, but it was definitely a place where the influence of western culture had made its mark. Nestled behind all of this was the shiny and new – the fancy resorts. We pulled off the main street, went through a gate and there appeared the beautiful resort where we were staying – The Banthai Resort and Spa. One of the many nice things about Thailand is it is still pretty cheap. You can stay in a beautiful five-star place for around $100 a night. When we arrived, they took our luggage and brought us into a sitting area where they gave us cool towels and some sort of flavored tea. After filling out the paper work, they showed us to our room. Our bed was covered with flowers and the balcony overlooked one of the Resorts three pools. There was a fresh bowl of fruit and beside the bed was a control panel which controlled every light in the room as well as the air conditioning and the television. Keith and I couldn't have been happier. Though we were both tired from traveling, we couldn't resist the temptation to go out and “explore” a bit. Though the Resort was set back, once you walked out of the drive, you were right in the midst of it all. As you walked down the street you had people trying to sell you suits, massages, tuk tuk rides (the primary means of getting from one place to another in Thailand), etc. If you don't have the patience for that kind of thing, then Patong wouldn't be the place for you –fortunately Keith and I didn't mind. There was a slight sewer smell to Patong – I'm guessing a product of the fact that the sewer systems weren't able to keep up with the growth – but after awhile you didn't notice. There were also electrical wires everywhere – again a product I'm guessing of the growth. Patong WAS the happening place. At 11:00 pm on a Wednesday night the streets were packed. There was American music playing from almost ever bar. It never ceases to amaze me that no matter where I go in the world, from Australia to Thailand, American music seems to be the music of choice. For me, the only downside to Patong was the abundance of the prostitution. As you walked down the streets, girls where lined up outside of almost every bar and club – and some of them looked quite young. The prostitution seems very much like an accepted part of life, but for me, I still had a hard time seeing it all. After wandering around for a couple of hours and having a few cocktails, we were both beat and we decided to call it a night.

Thursday, October 29. Keith was up early while I tried to catch a few more winks. While Keith was out grabbing some breakfast he had been approached by a westerner who gave him a scratch ticket where, as luck would have it, Keith got three matching symbols. Three matching symbols meant he either won a laptop, $1,000 or a dream vacation – the catch of course was that in order to collect he had to sit through a 90 minute presentation for a timeshare type company. Keith retrieved me from the Resort and we were off to hear the “plug.” Well after three plus hours, a buffet breakfast and getting to hold a monkey, we ended up purchasing a “trial run.” Over the next three years we get one week each in any one of their hotels/spas/resorts all over the world. We get unlimited weeks for us, family and friends for the next three years and we pay anywhere from $99 - $999 a week depending on whether we get a studio or a four bedroom villa. Our family and friends get 10 free weeks in Thailand – so let me know when anyone wants to go! Keith also ended up winning the “dream vacation,” so we get another free week in Thailand. It's still undecided whether this was a good purchase or not, but we figure we can somehow make it work in our favor. When we finally got out of there I headed to the beach for a bit. The beach was nice enough and the ocean was like bathwater. As a a side note, Thailand is extremely humid. It is hot, but it's the humidity that gets to you more than anything else. I don't mind it so much, but I think Keith is still trying to get used to it. Anyway, after the beach we went to the main pool where we had a drink at the swim up bar and ordered a late lunch. After lunch I wanted to check out town a bit more. In the daytime, it wasn't as overwhelming as I had found it the night before. We bartered with a number of the street vendors and picked up a few souvenirs. We grabbed a couple of drinks and did some people watching. After a passing shower we headed back to the Resort. After showering we headed back out. We wandered around some more, having a couple of drinks here and there, did some very interesting people watching and grabbed some dinner. During dinner it started raining and raining and raining. When we finished dinner it was still raining. We tried to make our way back to the Resort by ducking from store to store, but we were pretty soaked by the time we got back. We had to be up early the next day, so we called it a night.

Friday, October 30. We were up bright and early to go on a day tour over to Ko Phi Phi (we had negotiated a free tour there with our “trial run”) – a beautiful small island that is most known as the sight where the movie The Beach (with Leonardo DiCaprio) was filmed. It also was one of the islands hit the hardest by the 2004 tsunami (as a side note, both in Patong and on Ko Phi Phi there are signs everywhere showing the tsunami evacuation route). We were picked up around 7:15 am by the bus. After picking up a number of other people, we made it to the other side of the island to catch our ferry. It was about a two hour ferry ride over to the island. Ko Phi Phi is actually made up of two small islands – Ko Phi Phi Don and Ko Phi Phi Leh. After dropping off some folks in Ko Phi Phi Don, we went and saw the sights of Ko Phi Phi Leh. There were spectacular lagoons, caves and beaches all around the island. We then headed back to Ko Phi Phi Don where we went snorkeling. Other than the Great Barrier Reef, this was the best snorkeling Keith and I had ever done. Next we had some lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the island. There were little remnants of the tsunami but it was easy to see how so much damage could have been done. By about 2:30 pm we were headed back on the ferry to Phuket. Once we got back to the Resort, we took a quick dip in the pool, showered and headed out for the evening. Approximately 7,000 servicemen from the United States had arrived (mostly likely coming from Iraq and Afghanistan) so the streets were filled. Once again this conjured up many emotions for me. We had a delicious dinner and wandered around the streets people watching and having a couple of beers. At one bar we saw the host of the television show Dinner Impossible (though sadly it was only later that Keith realized this). We then called it a night.

Saturday, October 31. Today was travel day from Phuket to the small island of Ko Samui. We got up on the early side to go take some final pictures of Phuket and had some breakfast. Though Ko Samui is only a short flight from Phuket, because of the time we wanted to go, all the flight were booked – as a result we had to fly up to Bangkok and then back down to Ko Samui. The flight to Bangkok was less than 2 hours and the Bangkok airport was enormous! We had a brief lay over where amazingly Keith was able to get an ice coffee from Dunkin Donuts (though it still didn't taste the same as home) and I got a pretzel from Aunt Annie's. The trip from Bangkok to Ko Samui was another short flight – under 2 hours. Arriving in Ko Samui was wonderful. They only have one runway and one baggage carousel. We caught a bus to where we were staying, the Centara Grand Beach Resort on Chaweng Beach – the “happening spot” on Ko Samui. We were in paradise. We had thought the Banthai in Phuket had been nice, but the Centara blew it out of the water. The Resort is set on several acres, has six restaurants, a huge pool, gardens, koi ponds, etc. all right on the beach. The beach is 6 km long and gorgeous. After checking into our room, where again we were presented with flowers on the bed, a balcony overlooking the pool and ocean and a fresh fruit bowl, we headed down to one of the many bars for happy hour where they were having a 2 for 1 drink special. After a few delicious cocktails, we were both hungry so we decided to wander down to the beach. There, on the beach, they had tables and a beautiful buffet set up. The food was amazing and the setting was like nothing I had ever experienced before. There were live singers and candlelight. It was a perfect end to the day.

Sunday, November 1. We decided to rent a moped and drive around the island. You could rent a moped for less than $10 a day. After some breakfast, Keith and I hit the road. It was quite warm out, but since there apparently there is no helmet law (or if there is one it isn't enforced), we were able to ride with the wind blowing through our hair. It took most of the day to get around the island especially since we stopped a number of times to take in the sights. We climbed to the top of Overlap Stone – which was not fun given the heat, but it did provide some spectacular views of the island. We stopped at a few temples, saw (what we think) were some kind of oxen along the road, and viewed the Big Buddha – a giant gold Buddha at the top of some stairs. We had a fabulous Italian lunch overlooking the ocean in a spot called Fisherman's Village. We had to put gas in the moped once and though there are a couple of gas stations on the island, they sell gas in glass bottles all along the road for about 40 baht a liter. The island of Ko Samui (like Phuket) is very lush and green. It also is quite mountainous. It's virtually impossible to go directly across the island but rather you need to go around the island. There are several towns on Ko Samui. Chaweng Beach, the main town is similar to Patong in so far as what people are selling, but on a much smaller scale. The island is not shiny and new, but there are, and they are building, many shiny and new places. It was 4 or 5:00 pm by the time we got back to the Resort and we were both spent from spending the day in the sun and our behinds were quite sore from sitting on the moped for so long. We went for a swim in the pool and then a walk along the beach. We then showered and got ready to go out for the evening. They have a big celebration every year on the full moon in the 12th month of the traditional Thai lunar calendar (usually November) called Loy Krathong (where they celebrate the Goddess of Water). The official celebration is tomorrow night but the towns are gearing up. We headed down to where there was a big festival of sorts going on for the local people. There were booth selling all kinds of different food (including various bugs) and drinks. After wandering around there for a bit, we grabbed some dinner and an ice cream and called it a night.

Monday, November 2. Much of the day was a lazy a day. I tried to sleep in a bit while Keith returned the moped. After some breakfast we wandered around town a bit in hopes of securing some transportation over to the legendary full-moon party over in Ko Pha Ngan. Back to the Resort we went. Keith watched some television while I worked on planning some more of our trip. Keith met with a guy and were headed over on a 6:00 pm speed boat. It should be something else. Every full moon 8,000 – 10,000 people gather on Hat Rin Beach on the island of Ko Pha Ngan for a non-stop party. It should be particularly crazy this full moon due to Loy Krathong. Keith and I can't wait!