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Published: January 19th 2010
Bophut Bay (3rd pair of sunglasses - Luckily I always by cheap ones !)
We left Koh Phangnan on Saturday morning after breakfast. Nai was our breakfast chef for the days we had been there.
He was a young Burmese man of about 18 or 19 who had been working at Haad Salad for 19 months. He worked to send money home to his family in Burma. He told me his family was very poor, he was the eldest and he had 2 younger brothers and 2 younger sisters at home- who went to school which was expensive for the family.
When Nai first came to the resort to work his boss did not like him - Nai said because he did not speak or write Thai or speak English. However, it is widely known here, that the Thai people look down on the Burmese why? I dont know - perhaps someone can enlighten me- I gather it is a kind of class system.
I find both Thai people and Burmese, beautiful people - kind, thoughtful, friendly and very respectful, particularly to their elders.(I am afraid Rob does not fall into that category easily, and always points out to me when they call him 'Papa'!!)
Anyway, Nai has been learning English from the foreigners (he is too polite to call us 'farangs'(and a little Swedish and German too) and is learning to write in English. His boss now likes him so he is much happier!!
He told me that his mother had phoned him that morning but he longed to see his mother's face and her smile!
He didnt know when that would be- my heart went out to him, this lovely smiley boy who made special pancakes in the shapes of flowers and elephants for the children of the guests at the resort who were completely delighted with their breakfast- but he was missing his family!
Rob and I gave him a generous tip for his family and just as we were leaving he appeared at our table with a 'thank you' pancake for us - a most delicious lemon and sugar one!! mmmm....
Once we were about to leave breakfast for a second time we were stopped in our tracks, by what sounded like gun shots! It turned out firecrackers were being set off.
Everyone rushed to the edge of the decking of the restaurant and looked down at the beach. A fisherman on a large long tail boat had set off firecrackers which culminated in an explosion of bright red petals which fluttered from the sky, down on to the boat. It was very pretty.
Simon tells me fisherman do it for good luck, before going out to sea and he says if you are at the pier in Phuket for the early morning ferry to Koh Phi Phi, all the long tial fishing boats are doing this and it is quite a spectacle!
The Thai people are very spiritual,many following the teachings of Budda or /and Aminism, and outside all buildings of any significance,particularly businesses and even some houses, you will find pretty mini-temple like structures.
To you or I, these look like incredibly, elaborate bird tables. They are in fact Spirit Houses and they usually, but not always, come in pairs - a shortish one and a taller one. They are exquisitely and colourfully painted and decorated with flowers and garlands. The smaller one is for the Spirits of the Land and the larger one is for the spirits of the air.
If you would like to find out more go to www.chiangmai-chiangrai.com/spirit_house.
I will try to upload a photo of the one where we are at the moment! I would love to bring one home but would not fit it in to the carry on luggage!
We came on the boat from Koh Phangnan to Koh Samui which has many very upmarket resorts! We are staying in a perfect place right on the beach - not upmarket, but very well run by an English couple who have been coming to Thailand since 1978. Our room is beautiful with a magnificent view over the Gulf of Thailand and has everything we could want. hammocks to lie in, a super book and DVD library, and free wifi everywhere. It is situated at the end of a beautiful Bophut Bay and the fishing village of Bophut which has a very nice French influence with many shopsm restaurants and bars.We are here until Wednesday when we fly to Bangkok for a couple of nights before Australia.
We have not been as adventurous in Thailand as we had originally thought we might be - (in November we were talking about visiting Cambodia and Laos) and have stayed longer in places than we thought we would,
I think it has taken me longer to come to terms emotionally with leaving school behind and being on Phi Phi for the 5th anniversary. It has been really good to have been able to take our time and settle in a few places before moving on.
We had an outing yesterday to a Safari Park in an open jeep. The trip was great through the beautiful Thai countryside with a good veiws of the coast and mountains. We did not like the Safari Park though as the animals were kept in very meagre surroundings and the park held regular shows where they got the wild animals to do things - very cruel. I feel a letter to the Thai Government coming on!
We are visiting Steve Irwin's Zoo in Australia and hoping to see a marked contrast!
The high spot of the outing was lunch in a hill top restaurant on the top of the rainforest 635m above sea level, and the food was good too!
After that we stopped to look at Tarmin Stone Garden which was a magical place. We descended down steep steps to the river bed where sculptures of mythical thai people and places had been carved from rock. There were places to sit and small houses, narrow steps and paths to explore. Rob and I decided it would be a very spooky place at night. The whole scene had been created by a Thai artist.
This will be my last blog from Thailand. Tomorrow we are off to Bangkok for 2 nights before flying to Australia. Bangkok is a frenetic city but we have been a few times now and know our way about a bit. We are staying at the newest Siam Hotel - Siam Riverside - We have stayed with friends at our favourite -New Siam 2- a sister hotel, but it was fully booked by the time we got round to making enquiries about it.
Rob is keen to go to the Vertigo Bar on the top floor of the Banyan Tree so I may have to get a new item for my very reduced wardrobe! If you are not suitably dresseed the staff give you something to wear which means you can mingle appropriately with the Cocktail dresses.
Rob is also hoping to find the Blues Bar where he became Harmonica Player for the night many moons ago!!I have no doubt he will!However it will not be the same experience without our friends from the holiday club!
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penny
non-member comment
lost in translation
i remember being very taken with spirit houses in thai and asked a taxi driver to help us find one to take home - he was a bit confused and eventually took us to an off licence!!