Rai Lei Beach/Jesse's Visit

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Jim's brother Jesse came to stay with us for a little over a week, which was fantastic. During that time, we did a lot of sightseeing and Max got to spend time with his uncle, which was great. One of the highlights of the visit was a trip we took to Krabi. Last time we stayed at the Sheraton Krabi which had beautiful beach. This time, we stayed on Railei Beach at the Railei Bay Resort. The beaches there were truly spectacular.

Railei Beach is on the Andaman sea in the Krabi province in the Southwest of Thailand and is only accessible by boat because of the limestone cliffs that surround it. We were at the resort over Christmas weekend and I can tell you that Christmas at a sunny beach is an ideal way to spend it. The resort was well located and we had beautiful weather the whole time. Most of the time we enjoyed the sand and water, but also Jesse and Jim did some sea kayaking along the coast where they got to go into some sea caves and further explore the cliffs. Although I didn't get a chance to kayak (someone had to watch Max after all), there were caves walking distance from the beach and also when the tide was low, you could practically wade out to some of the islands. Railei Beach actually consists of several different beaches. We were there on the Tsunami anniversary and there was a brief moving memorial when people joined hands on the beach and walked to the sea at the time the wave hit. We couldn't help but think that had we lived in Thailand a year earlier, we could easily have been in that region at the wrong time.

In Bangkok, Jesse went to the Grand Palace on his own and we also visited Jim Thompson's house, the new aquarium that just opened in Bangkok (a wonderful place to bring kids), Chatuchak market, and the Suan Lum Night Bazaar. Jim also took Jesse to see a Muay Thai match (Thai kickboxing).

One of the nicest things we did was to take a trip to Bang Pa (the Thai royal family summer palace) and Ayutthaya, which was an old Thai capital (from 1350 until 1767 when it was destroyed by the Burmese), now in ruins. Ayutthaya is a UNESCO world heritage site. We only explored a bit of it as it is really quite massive. Hopefully we will get to spend more time there in the future as it is truly breathtaking. The river journey back from Ayutthaya to Bangkok was most pleasant.

We were sorry to see Jesse go, but look forward to welcoming our friends Eric, Stacey and their daughter Gigi who arrive next week.

In the next entry I will give some more details of life in Bangkok.

Take care and Happy New Year!

Maddy

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Photos

Jim, Jesse and Max at Bang Pa
This is the Summer Palace for the Thai royal family.

Who broke the Buddhas?
Max kept asking us who broke these? Finally we told him that Daddy accidentally broke them, to which he seemed satisfied.

Suspension Bridge on Chao Praya
On the way back from Ayutthaya we took a several hour boat trip back to Bangkok. This was one of the sights along the journey.

View of Wat Arun
Temple of the Dawn. Also viewed from the river.

Max and his haul
Lots of holiday presents.

Max and his Nascar underwear
Ok who got him this as a present? This seems more like an Uncle Billy present than from Jim's parents.

Max and Jesse
On the boat that we took to Railei beach.

Tractor Pull
The water tractor that hauls you from the longtail boat to the shore. Courtesy of the hotel.

Sea Cave
This picture was taken from a sea cave. You can see the beach and crystal clear water.

Max, Dad and Jesse
In Railei Bay Resort pool.

Tsunami Memorial
We were on Railei Beach on the anniversary of the Tsunami. People joined hands and walked to the sea in remembrance.