Back in Hong Kong

Yesterday afternoon we boarded a Dragon Air flight in Phuket with destination Hong Kong. We are on our way home. The flight was the flight from hell (almost). I ended up in a middle seat (which I hate). To add to the pain we got a family with 3 noisy kids and a nanny in front of us, and next to me was the grandmother. She was coughing almost all the way - as if she was coughing up her lungs - and blowing her nose. So I spent the flight with my head under the blanket. I was afraid of whatever bug it was that she suffered from. She really should have been waring a mask!

After being directed round in circles at the Hong Kong airport in an effort to find the Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge, we finally found it and were told we would be thrown out at 12.30! That ticked us off even more. However, we found a "generic" lounge (which of course was NOT free of charge). We decided to take a cubicle each and sleep for 6 hours, as our flight is not until later this afternoon. We had breakfast and now we are back at the Cathay Pacific lounge. Kim is asleep on a couch.

We will be leaving this afternoon, Saturday, and will be back Saturday morning. Yes, Saturday all the way :-)

Eighth Day in Phuket

Today was our last full day here in Phuket. We spent it at the pool although the weather was not cooperating. We had some distant thunder, dark clouds and sometimes a sprinkle. Nothing major though. Just too bad it wasn't sunny on our last day. They have not had any rain here since around Christmas time, so everybody was a bit surprised.

We found out that we have to leave our room at noon tomorrow, but since we don't have to leave until 4 pm for the airport, we were told we can use the healthclub/spa to shower and change. After dinner we checked it out and it is AWESOME! Sauna, hot and cold tubs, big showers and all the amenities. Another thing we didn't notice or check out until it is time to leave! Oh well - next time!

Before dinner we held a little ceremony for Roger at the spirit house on the premises. It is in the middle of a lotus pond. We lit candles, burned incense and left an offering of some of Roger's favorite things: KitKat, rum raisin ice cream, toffees, and a bottle of water. We also lit some candles that were in the shape of Plumera flowers (the fragrant kind they use for leis) set inside coconut shells so we could float them in the pond.

Seventh Day in Phuket

Today was an eventful and fun day. It started out with an hour long ride from Phuket province and into Pangnga Province. Our goal was the Tone Pariwat Wildlife Sanctuary where our first activity was elephant trekking. This was by far the best elephant trekking I have ever been part of. Not only did we go through the jungle and over very rugged terrain, but the greatest thing was that Kim got to take the place of the Mahut, i.e. the elephant "driver". She got to sit on the elephant's neck and actually "drive" her. I was sitting on the back in a throne like a real jungle queen. The trek went over rocks and even through a river. Along the way our elephant, Jambee, a 35 year old female with a mind of her own, was grazing and even decided to trek off the beaten path through the bush. She then decided to pose for a picture by lifting her head and wrapping her trunk high around a tree. She was the only one who did that. A true individual; a girl after our own hearts.

From here we drove further high up in the mountain and then took a short hike to a waterfall. Kim went in the water, which was icy cold. I opted to stay out because if I had gotten in I would never have been able to climb out. The rocks were very slippery. After the waterfall we returned to our base camp to prepare for our white water rafting. We were 4 Americans and 2 guides in our raft. Two girls from DC and us. Old age has its privileges - I did not have to paddle - just hold on to a rope and make sure I didn't fall out :-) It was a blast!

After the rafting we were served lunch and then returned to our hotel. We went straight to the pool and stayed there til Happy Hour. We had drinks, watched the sunset, and listened to the house band here at the Marriott. They are great.

For dinner we went to a restaurant that our DC friends told us about. There we discovered a little shopping plaza with several restaurants and shops. So we did some shopping to work up an appetite ;-) Dinner was good and very inexpensive - too bad we didn't discover that until today.

Sixth Day in Phuket

Spent the day at the beach side pool. We both got a little red today, because we were out during the hottest time of the day. The only day we bothered to find out how hot it is here, was yesterday, when it was 102F! Pretty hot! We were a little bit inland then so probably a few degrees cooler here by the water. So - there is not much to report today, but tomorow we are out on new adventures.

In the afternoon we went for a presentation here at the resort and also visited the new Marriott Mai Kao resort nextdoors and joined the Marriott Asia Pacific Club. After that we had a drink at the "Out of the Blue" bar and then dinner at the Deli.

Here are a few more pictures from our day yesterday.

Fifth Day in Phuket

On our itinerary today was a full day of touring Phuket Island. Our first stop was at an elephant camp where we had a short ride on an elephant. While at this camp we found out that another camp up the road had a brand new elephant baby! He was born on Valentine's Day and appropriately named Valentine; he was thus only 8 days old. It was quite special because normally the mother will not let you touch the baby, but this mother was very generous and let us pet him. He was sooo cute! From here we took a scenic road to Karon View Point. We then carried on up the mountain to see the new Big Buddha. He is 45 meters tall and made of white jade from Burma, his eyes are black jade from Burma and the white if the eyes are made of Mother of Pearl from Phuket. He is seated on a marble lotus and is supported by 76 pillars representing the 76 provinces of Thailand. He is still under construction because he went over budget! Quite impressive nevertheless, not to mention the views from the site are outstanding. A bronze model is situated next to the jade one (but smaller) and will remain there even after the big one is completed.

Having visited the Big Buddha and the temple up there, we continued to Chalong Temple, the largest and most famous temple in Phuket. One of the differences between a Chinese and a Thai Buddhist temple is that the Thai construction uses real 24 Carat gold leaf in its decorations. After the temple we went to a state controlled jewelry and hand craft place. There was a nice sapphire ring that I liked, but did not buy. Next stop was a cashew factory. Here we were shown how they harvest the nuts one by one. They actually crack open each nut by hand! Amazing. The fruit looks a little like a pear and the nut sits at the end of it. Only one nut per fruit. No wonder they are expensive in the US. We were given numerous samples and also bought some. Our last stop before lunch was a Chinese mansion over 100 years old. It contained items from many parts of the world and scenes from several movies, such as The Killing Fields, The Young Indiana Jones and Good Morning Vietnam were filmed there. Surprisingly a family still lives there on the upper levels, but have kindly opened portions of the mansion as a museum.

We were supposed to have lunch inside a waterfall, but unfortunately due to climate changes it has dried up and they moved the restaurant to a different location. The ambiance was less than spectacular but the food was good, except the beef was tough as shoe leather. Our last stop was at a farm cooperative - it was run by the entire village. Here they grow vegetables, herbs, and flowers such as orchids and Birds of Paradise. They also have water buffalos and they had a white one. Quite rare - only one in a thousand born. In addition they grow and harvest rubber trees. We saw how they tap the trees and process the natural latex. One of the highlights was the coconut picking monkeys. Our demonstration was given by an 11 year old, female pigtailed macaque, named Linda. After our demonstration she was rewarded with fruit. We were told that she also likes candy and I had some toffees from the cashew factory that she loved. She took the paper off herself and was really happy with the fruity and milk variety, but she dissected the peanuts out of the coconut/peanut one because she only likes cashews! Very funny! It was quite a day!


Back at the hotel we had a swim in the pool and later went to the Owners' Party here at the resort.

Fourth Day In Phuket

Today we were picked up by a mini van from the hotel and drove across the island to the north east coast to Ao Po Pier. We were going sea kayaking with Andaman Sea Kayak Company. I have done this trip with them twice before and it is spectacular! This time there were 15 Australians, 2 South Africans and the two of us from the US. The hour long boat trip on the "escort boat" brought us to Phang Nga Bay National Park. This is a natural art gallery full of majestic limestone formations.

We were split up with 2 persons + a paddler (local) for each kayak and started to explore these wonderful islands with its caves and hongs (Thai for "room"). To enter the sea caves or tunnels, it is almost like a dream and you feel pretty small. You have to enter when the tide is low as the tunnels fill with water at high tide. The caves (tunnels) are 20 - 150 meters long and at several points you have to lie flat in the kayak or you cannot get through! In one cave, the skirt of my bathing suite got stuck and my boobs touched the roof! Mind you, inside these caves there are bats hanging above you! Not for the faint of heart! Parts of the tunnels are of course pitch black and you have to navigate with a flash light. We visited 3 different islands with caves and hongs. Inside these hongs some of the walls are covered with vegetation, others sparkle like diamonds. We also saw some monkeys and walking fish. They look like a mix between a frog and a fish. While on the big boat we saw a lot of eagles, rather small and reddish and they were diving in the water for chicken bits thrown from our boat.

After the cave exploring we once again got onboard the big boat and lunch was served. The goal this time was Naka Yai Island where there was a beach with a bar and Kim had a Pina Colada served in a coconut. We spent about an hour on this beach and then we went back to Ao Po Pier and then returned to the hotel in the minivan.

Back at the hotel we once again witnessed the sunset dance and then went back to our apartment to shower and change for dinner. Tonight we managed to get a table at the Thai restaurant. Delish!

Third Day in Phuket

We started the day with breakfast on our balcony. It was an unadventurous day spent mostly by the pool. The complex has 3 large pools. Today we first went to the main pool with its waterspouting elephants. We stayed there for lunch as well, took a stroll on the beach and I actually got into the sea with its strong currents, but managed to get both in and out without any incidents.

Later in the afternoon we moved over to the Blue Pool. Kim went for her daily massage and then we went to watch the traditional Thai sunset ceremony at the Mirror Pool by the lobby. It looks like the dancers are dancing on the water. It is very slow and controlled movements and quite beatiful. There are also men dancing with fire and a drummer. This ceremony is repeated daily shortly before sunset. After this we went for Happy Hour - 2 drinks for the price of one. We had 2 each :-)

Back to the room to change and get ready for dinner. First we planned to go to the Japanese restaurant, but found out that a steak dinner was US$150!!! No steak is THAT good. Then we tried the Marriott Cafe, but they did not have any vegetarian dishes so we walked to the other end of the compound to visit the Thai restaurant, just to find out that they had a wine tasting thing going on and that it was sold out! So we ended up at the Siam Deli again. Definitely the least expensive place here and decent stuff to eat.