Thailand continued...

ISo behind the resort was a little village. To find it you were supposed to take the path behind the bar. Well, one pat leads way into the jungle and the other path is by the OLD bar and is crawling distance. There were about 10 ramshackle huts of restaurants and one of them had like 6 kinds of seafood, for two, for 600 baht. Thats about 18 bucks. But we chose to eat at the fancy Thai fusion place instead. I couldn't find the fusion part but it was delicious and up on the hillside near the spa. So the village is a series of huts and then there is a monstrous footbridge. I'm not sure how much stuff was pre-tsunami and how much was post tsunami. There are signs everywhere with the directions to flee in case of tsunami. A small tsunami really would have made this vacation even more exciting! Or cannibals. Since it was off season you can really see evidence of how many tourists will show up in the winter months. I bet the place is hopping but luckily its not like ton sai bay where you can get Che Guevera shirts, McDoobie shirts with pot leaves and any number of cheesy bullshit american-ized crap souveniers.
When it was time to go back to Phuket we caught a ferry back. First we had to take another speedboat around to Ton Sai bay and then get on the ferry. The ferry is gross. It was packed to the gills and pretty rocky. It didn;t leave until 2:30 so we checked out at 12, caught the speedboat at 1ish, then waited some more for the ferry. Asian people, apparently mostly Chinese and Japanese, push a lot. It makes you want to pop them and tell them to cut it out. It happens getting on elevators, escalators, they steal in line for the bathroom, and yes, on ferries too. But I am much bigger and stronger and I block them well. Push away tiny lady, I'm still in front of you and a giant. Oh, and someone puked on the ferry and just left it. And then someone had to sit next to it the entire ride. I would rather bake in the sun on the upper deck. In fact I just gagged thinking about it. Once we arrived at port we had another ride and it took about an hour to get to the next hotel. It was really far from Phuket town and the debauchery of that place so we didn't get to go. I was tired from all of the travel anyway so it was nice to hang out at the Naithonburi hotel. We swam in their gorgeous pool and then ate there. The food was good and sleep was much appreciated. We had to catch our cab at 7 am so we just relaxed.
The next day we got up, ate and took our ride to the airport. We did the customs game again of stamp out and then waited for two hours in the airport. Its a tiny airport and we had much time to try and spend the rest of our bahts. I succeeded with gusto!
Once we got back to Singapore we waited to get our stamp into the country and by the time we got home it was 1:15 to 1:30. Thats the problem with travel is that it takes for-EVER. Basically from 1pm sunday until 1pm Monday we were working our way home.
Yesterday after getting home, dropping off our bags and resting for a bit we headed out to Bugis Street mall. We ate lunch in the basement food court. It was like the mall food court but there were tons of places with food on sticks and there weren;t any places to sit unless you went to a restaurant that had its own seating. I ended up with fried scallops, fried shrimp, and miso soup. YUM!!!!! Scott got a delicious noodle bowl of sorts. This place really knows how to hook up some rice and noodles! Afterwards we went to the Bugis Street market. That place sucks. It could be cool but only if you are in the mood for swealtering steamy alleys of shopping for tacky clothes and cheap trinkets. There were hundreds of pushy people and with 4 people in our group its a pain in the ass to keep up with each other. So we got out of there quick. We eventually met up with Scott's dad and we decided to go to the night safari! The animals were so close you could touch them. There were fishing cats and giant tapirs. The binturong was cool too. The night safari was completely pitch black dark except for these lights that weren't too bright but bright enough to help you spot the critters. They feed them so the animals are out and about when you're going by. Hyenas, tigers, rhinos, and a variety of cool deer. I loved the night safari!
I'm not sure what all we're going to see today. My feet are dying a slow painful death but I must press on!

PS- Susie, I will be home Friday night super duper late. The plane lands at 9:30 or so but by the time we get through customs it'll be like 11:30 or 12 I imagine.

Thailand was fantastic!

Friday morning we flew to Phucket Thailand. We flew on AirAsia. Now, many of you have never flown on the free seating airlines. Its like running the gauntlet. People push and shove and line up like 30 minutes early. Then they take you ticket and its like a sprint to the plane to ensure you get the seat you want. I guess this ensures people get to the plane in time but it sucks. Another thing that sucks about traveling in Asia is that you constantly are going through emmigration/immigration lines. It gets old and trip by trip my carryon gets lighter and lighter.

So, upon arriving in thailand you can see the ocean from the airport! We had an arranged ride to the boat and we were wisked away immediately. The scenery was so different from what I'm used to. There would be a brand new house painted vividly and almost leaning against it would be a shanty town made of scraps screating huts. Then there would be a ginormous temple all painted red and gold and very ornate. Dogs lay in the street and motorbikes zip in and out of traffic. There were even girls riding side saddle.

To continue, we were driven to the dock where we caught a speedboat to Phi Phi. I don't like boats because I am both scared and very prone to being sea-sick. My sister once told me that if you fall overboard, you will get ground up by the motor. Then the sharks will eat you. I think deep down inside I still believe this. Anyway, I held on for dear life and eventually ended up laying down trying not to puke. But we made it safe and sound to the beautiful Phi Phi islands. When we arrived they pulled up to this amphibian truck that scooped us out of the boat and drove us to land. Our bags were wisked away to our rooms and we were led by many beautiful thai people to the reception areas. They gave us delicious coconut drinks with orchids and flowers hanging out of them. Everywhere I looked were fancy flowers. They were lining the steps, sprinkled in the ashtrays, floating in decorative urns, and spilling out of the numerous fruit bowls. We were sent to our rooms to freshen up and our room was our own little thatch hut. It had ac and cable, a huge bed and yes, flowers in the toilet. Fantastic! Before dinner I promptly booked the spa session for Scott and I to have a massage the next day. For dinner I had heard that "the" place to go was a little village behind the bar. Well, we chose the wrong bar and ended up walking halfway across the island. We passed workers housing, a soccer game, chickens, toads, a mountain rise, a twisted ankle, and 2 snakes before we finally conceded that yes, its dark and maybe we should head back. So we gave up and hightailed it out of the jungle and this tiny path trailing through the wilderness. We ended up eating at the hotel restaurant and I got my first taste of thai food. I ordered a prawn something or other and asked for one spicy instead of 3. Well, it was still to hot for me to eat so I switched with scott after breaking into a full sweat. He had a rock lobster thingy. The house band played wonderful renditions of Fleetwood Mack and the Eagles. The breeze off the bay into the open air restaurant was fantastic and whatever they do for bug control works wonders! So that was our first day in Thailand.

Day 2 we got up early and had a delicious continental breakfast and then rented a longtail boat for 4 hours. Yes, after 30 minutes I was terrified and motion sick. I toughed it out and eventually spent the trip laying on the floorboards. We made it through choppy seas to the place where they filmed "The Beach" starring Leonardo DiCaprio. When you park your boat there a park ranger turns up and wants a sum of money that was paid by Scott's Dad. There were so many tourists and its kind of too crowded. But it is still beautiful and I was certainly glad to get out of the boat. So, the scenery out in the water is miles of sea with theses crazy rock formations jutting up at impossible heights. Its so foreign and beautiful, even if you're queasy and scared to death. After "The Beach" we went to a cove on the other side of the island and snorkled. I saw some HUGE angelfish, and some other cool brightly colored yellow and purple and blue fish. There were anemones and colorful coral piece everywhere as well. It was beautiful. Luckily, when Scott's mom fell into the boat the didn't hurt herself except for a bruise and a scrape. Once we were finished snorkling we headed back. We passed viking cave that has cave paintings and stuff but we didn't stop. The locals also harvest birds nest for birds nest soup. The birds make nests with spit and its a delicacy. I will eat some if I see it. I eventually puked a little but not grossly violently. I just heaved a little over the edge and laid back down. We next went to Ton Sai Bay which is where Scott and I would have ended up if we made it over the mountain. Its like a small bustling village city filled with dirty shops, expensive crappy food and hippy backpackers galore. I'm sure that it gets much worse in the on season. But it was still wonderfully dirty and gross and exciting and new. This is also the same place where we caught the ferry on Sunday. This is also the place where I broke all of the CDC rules and let a monkey sit on me. It was a gibbon and so impossibly cute in his little tank top and diaper. He gently held on to my head for the photo ops and I loved every minute of geting rabies and lice and some sort of flesh eating virus that begins in my liver. When we finished our lunch of amazing difficulty we headed back to the resort. I had to get back for the massage.

The massage was wonderful. They sent a cart to pick us up and brought us up onto the hillside. They gave us tea and then brough us to our room. Scott and I got our massages in the same room and they made us disrobe in front of them while making a halfassed attempt to pretend to sheild us with a silk scarf. Scott got a dude massage therapist and I got a chunky happy little lady. My lady immediately jumped on the table and crushed my spine. I didn't realize it at the time, it took a day or so. But she twisted and poked and prodded all of my muscles and then they put boiling rocks wrapped in towels all over us. It was wonderful unil I woke up crippled the next day. Everything they do at that resport makes it feel like their entire job is to worship you. Everyone smiles and it so sweet and they bow with the little pressed hands thing. It was truly a new kind of heaven. All of the rest of my food at the resort was fantastic and I had a variety of prawn dishes and that delicious coconut milk soup like at Surin. The soup is better in thailand.

So thats all I can write for now. Tomorrow I will tell you more about the village, the ferry, the next hotel and today. Its not as exciting as the stuff I have already told you but its still gotta wait. I'm exhausted, its 10:20pm and I've been up since 5:30 or so.

Good night!

Heaven

Today we got up and went shopping. I finally have all the crap I am going to buy. Well, unless I buy more fabric. Today we went to the art museum and saw some exhibit that Scott wanted to see. I forget the dude's name. Anyway it was cool and when we were finished there we went to little India and Arab Street. It was sooooo nice. It was storefront after storefront of fabric. Most was Sari fabric and silks but there were a few shops with cotton batiks. I bought a ton of them. Its not fantastic stuff but its still fantastic to me!
Muhammed at the rug store was kickass! He gave us many free waters and then sold me a rug for 50 sing dollars. That would be 35 dollars US and it has machine guns and grenades and helicopters and stuff. Then he only charged me 45 dollars! It ended up being about 32 bucks. Its a sweet deal. Its not huge, but its kickass.
My dogs are killing me so goodbye! Thailand tomorrow! But aparently the seas are rough so we may not get to go to the phi phi islands. Damn. Even if we're just in phucket it will be rad!