Advertisement
Studying the flight board
They were concerned that our flight was cancelled (it wasn't!) Sa wad dee ka from Phuket!
We've been on the go almost every minute of the day since we left so this is the first chance I've had to post.
The trip over was uneventful, but such a novel experience for the girls that they were fascinated even by the in-flight safety demonstration! Zoe has found it rather hard going at times, though, as she has been way outside her comfort zone. She declared on the morning of departure that she thought she'd rather stay home with her friends! She became quite distressed as we descended into Bangkok with ear and stomach pains. That's been our only low time. It has been great watching the girls sharing these experiences and looking out for each other.
We spent the first night in Bangkok and the next morning had our first taste of local markets. The girls were very excited to purchase their first items for next-to-nothing.
We arrived in Patong in the afternoon, and after resolving a kaffuffle about our missing booking and the provision of unsuitable rooms we settled into the BanThai. The girls were blown away by the hotel's grand entry, two pools and in particular the bars in
the pools. They figured we must have spent a lot of money!! It is in a great spot, we are a little back from the hubbub of the beach, but it is only a hundred metres away. After a swim we hit the shops (of course). It was very offputting being badgered by every stallholder and tuktuk driver we passed: "Ma'm you come look at my shop?", "Tuk Tuk? Where you want to go?", "Move, DVD, CD?", "Dress for girls, for you, Madam?", "Welcome, where you from? Aussie? G'day mate!".... I didn't think we would be that obviously newly arrived from Australia, but apparently they can tell just from looking, and know for sure the minute we open our mouth!
Well we got lost. Not that it mattered too much, but the girls were hungry, so we just stopped at the nearest restaurant for dinner and saw a fabulous sunset. It was a great introduction.
Since then there has been more swimming, shopping, and bartering. Megan has become quite the expert. I suspect this is a skill she'd been practicing on her teachers about overdue homework. She seems to get things for 30% less than me, but frankly I can't
be bothered with it all. If I get close to half the initial price I'm happy.
We continue to be amazed by the way the traffic flows, the way the telephone cables are strung up, the way the stall holders seem to hand around all day (from 10am to 12pm) and hardly sell a thing.
We took a half day safari where we rode elephants, saw how monkeys pick coconuts, had a ride on the waterbuffalo, learned the value of every part of the coconut, tried some Thai cooking, and had lunch. It was a great introduction for the girls. On the way back from this tour, our driver hit a motorbike. I'm not sure what happened exactly, but the standard practice seems to be to toot to warn you are about to overtake, and just do it. Well there mustn't have been enough room... Bits of bike went everywhere, and the rider stood up, dusted his hands and waved his arms in outrage. Our driver drove on, and all of us were aghast!
That night we went to a BBQ and bar event arranged through the TripAdvisor forum. The bar was quite an eye-opener for the girls. It was
all very friendly, and our TripAdvisor guru/host, Richard, was a great source of information about all things Thai. He challenged us to figure out which 3 of the 4 ladies behing the bar were not realy ladies... you get the drift! We were also challenged to climb a pole and ring a bell. Megan was having the time of her life, and did it in the blink of an eye. Allan also couldn't resist getting in on the act. Zoe cowered in a corner for most of the evening.
The next day we took a canoe tour of limestone caves and lagoons in the Andaman Sea. It was superb, and the kids had a wonderful time. We saw crabs, walking fish, babboons (some sort of monkey thing!), bats, sea eagles, butterflies, and a monitor lizard. Our canoe paddlers were charming. And despite being dubious about the preparation of lunch in a very primitive kitchen (a couple of bowls) adjacent to the very smelly toilet, we all ate a fine feast.
So that's about it. We have one more day here, and we haven't even swum in the sea. So today is for relaxing and a bit of catching up with
diaries etc.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.434s; Tpl: 0.018s; cc: 8; qc: 51; dbt: 0.0589s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Reet
non-member comment
Wow!
I cant believe you are only in Thailand now... I thought you would of gone ages ago! Love the photos and it sounds like you are having a ball... make sure you post the link to this blog in Trip Advisor for the rest of the crew! Stay safe... Reet xxx (EmjayReet from TA)