Phuket

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We arrived in Phuket and met our guide, Kom, at the airport. We also met Amy, who is the manager of Destination Asia, Phuket, and is from Edmonton. The traffic is certainly not as crazy as Bangkok, and we passed rubber tree and pineapple plantations along the way. The landscape is very tropical and reminds us of Mexico. We checked into our resort, the Katathani, which is on Kata Beach. A lovely place with a gorgeous beach and very lush grounds. We met for a drink at the beach bar, and then headed for dinner at a local restaurant close to the resort. I had chicken fingers and fries....and they were delicious!! Nice to have a change from Asian food.

On Monday we spent the day on the beach, which is not owned by the resort, so we had to pay 200 baht to rent chairs and umbrella. The ocean is so warm, and the sandy bottom goes on forever. We took TukTuk taxis into Kata beach for dinner. TukTuks here seat 6, so that is perfect for our group of 12.

On Tuesday we headed out by bus to the Royal Phuket Marina, where we boarded a large speedboat. We saw James Bond Island, where "The Man With the Golden Gun" was filmed. Gorgeous scenery...very similar to Halong Bay. Then we passed a fishing village, which even had a floating soccer field! All of the people in the village are Muslim, and it is also known as gypsy village. We stopped the boat at a secluded beach and boarded some rubber kayaks, two to a boat plus a local person doing the paddling. We went into the caves....such an eerie feeling as we silently floated through the underground passages...often having to lay down in the boat so that we wouldn’t hit our heads on the overhead rock formations. We ended up in a gorgeous lagoon, where we saw monkeys and amazing scenery. We went through another series of tunnels and ended up in a mangrove swamp, where we waited for the tide to rise so that we could paddle out again. We then stopped at Rang Yai Island, which had a gorgeous white sandy beach and beautiful peacocks wandering around. We had a delicious lunch while seated at a long table under a canopy, on the beach. Then we relaxed in beach chairs under the trees and swam in the ocean, before heading back to the marina. We rested up a bit, then headed into town for a wonderful dinner at the Boathouse restaurant. Fabulous food and a wonderful piano player to entertain us.

On Wednesday we spent the day at the pool close to our rooms. In the late afternoon we were picked up in two mini-vans and went into Phuket town. The girls took one van and went shopping....first to an optical shop and a local market, and then to a large shopping mall. The guys took a van and went to a bar high up on the hill, close to the large statue of Buddha that overlooks the town. We all met up for dinner at a local restaurant overlooking the water, and Jim arrived to join us again. I enjoyed a wonderful 3 piece jazz combo, and had a delicious starter dish....deep fried prawns in orange sauce...yummy!

Thursday was fishing day for the guys. They spent the day on a 47 foot yacht with Jim, and caught lots of tuna fish, which they enjoyed for lunch and gave the rest to the guides at the end of the day. Dave Walsh caught the biggest fish, so is the "International Man of the Year" for the SOS Asian fishing trip. The girls headed into Kata town in a TukTuk, and did some more shopping at the local stores. Found some great bargains, but had to come back to the resort at noon to cool down in the pool as it is extremely hot today....38 degrees with 97 percent humidty! They guys didn’t get home until late, so we had a quick dinner and headed to bed.

Friday was our last day, so we decided to spend it on the beach. We were all using lots of sunscreen and looking for shade...as we were starting to get pretty sunburned! We saw some interesting things on the beach....quite a few topless Europeans and some interesting photo shoots in the rocks in front of our lounge chairs! We had lunch at the beach bar and then got ready for our farewell dinner with Jim and Or.

Jim promised more surprises for our final night, and believe me....he wasn’t kidding!!! There was a huge thundershower at 5, and it just poured. We had drinks together in one of our rooms, and then met in the lobby at 7 and we proceeded to a restaurant at the resort. Luckily the rain had stopped . As we entered, we were greeted by 2 baby elephants and their trainers! We fed them bananas and cucumbers, and one of them even did a dance and played the harmonica!!! No, I am not making this up! Then Jim revealed the trophy for the winner of the fishing trip....a gorgeous elephant figure with a fish dangling from his trunk. He had made up a trophy plaque for each of the guys, so presented the trophy to Dave and each of the guys got their plaque to keep as a souvenir. We assembled on an outdoor platform, a few metres from the ocean. The ocean breeze and the rain had cooled things off, and it was just magical. Jim made a speech and talked about how every important event should be marked by something special. On his signal, the fireworks started. An amazing display in the night sky over the ocean! We sat down to a beautiful table, set on a dias overlooking the ocean. The meal was wonderful, with many traditional Thai dishes. After dinner Jim told us to move down to the beach, where there were 15 large white lanterns waiting for us.....about 5 feet high. The tradition is that you light the lantern and as it goes up into the sky you make a wish, and you will leave all of your bad luck behind and your wish will come true. We each lit one lantern, and the guys sent the last lantern up together. Then we came back to enjoy our dessert and tea and coffee. The final surprise was a performance by a group of school children playing a traditonal Thai instrument called the ongalauw. There was a group of about 20 children and they all played the Canadian national anthem, while a large billboard type structure lit up on the beach with the Thai and Canadian flags. It was such a moving experience....there were many tears. Bruce, Dave and Jim made speeches, and it is really impossible to describe how we were all feeling. I think I have run out of adjectives!! We can really never repay our friend Jim for all the wonderful things he has done to make this a trip of a lifetime. He and his staff have worked for 2 years to make this a special event for us, and they have gone above and beyond our expectations.

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