Diary of Thailand--Part 3

7.28.11 (Day Five--Phuket)

We flew to Phuket this morning (it's pronounced Pookette, but feel free to say it the other way).  On the airplane, I got another fruit platter, and the seats were pretty--bright orange, yellow, or pink!  I had requested to get a special meal when I purchased my plane tickets--and "fruit platter" was the only choice I was fairly certain couldn't contain any additives or meat.  I had no idea I'd literally be getting a tray full of fresh fruit on every single little flight I was on!  I would get watermelon slices, cantaloupe, and some white melon with black seeds in it that I'd never seen before.  In Thailand we saw it for sale all over the place...it looked kind of like mini hot pink pineapples, but tasted more like melon.  The fruit was a nice supplement to my usual plane diet of nuts and Larabars!

At the airport, we took a van to our hotel, which was much nicer than the one we had stayed in in Bangkok.  This one actually had soap in the bathroom (and it was wrapped!!!), and space to walk.  The only downside was that we weren't right in the middle of all the action.  We were actually on a road with tons of construction.  Phuket is still rebuilding after a huge tsunami hit in 2004.  But, we were able to find a travel agent down the street who helped us set up our day trip we wanted for the next day, to go snorkeling at the Phi Phi (Pee Pee) Islands.

Next, we took motorcycle cabs to the beach!  We'd been seeing motorcycle cabs since we had arrived in Thailand.  Motorcycles will drive you around for cheap.  You just hop on the back and hold on tight!  It was common to see women in their work attire of heels and pencil mini skirts, sitting side-saddle on a motorcycle, their hair blowing in the wind.  Our drivers actually gave us helmets, which surprised me!  Cabs are definitely much more expensive here than in Bangkok, though!  On Phuket, it was also common to see entire families riding on motorcycles together...Dad, Mom, and baby...none of them strapped in, and none of them wearing helmets!

At the beach we swam for a while in the warm ocean, then we ate at an Indian/Thai food restaurant, which were literally all over the place!  After that we went back to the beach to watch the sunset and take pictures.

Geckos are everywhere!

Thailand Sunset

Our gecko friend in our hotel room!

7.29.11 (Day Six--Phi Phi Islands)

What an amazing day!!!  Nicole and I got picked up at 7:30am at our hotel and took a day trip with a large group on a boat to the Phi Phi (Pee Pee) Islands.  It was a large speed boat that sat 40 passengers, and the guide had a "Since 1979" tattoo on his forearm.  I sat next to a large Muslim family in burkas.  The grandma kept clinging to me for dear life when the ride got rough, which was almost the whole time (over an hour)!  We got wet on that ride--sprayed in the face with ocean water!  The water was rough because it was windy.  Some Aussie teenagers treated it like a roller coaster; they would lift up their arms and give each other high fives when we'd hit a bump.  I was smiling that open-mouthed smile I get when I'm laughing real hard.

We got to the islands and the water was clear turquoise, like in the Caribbean.  We snorkled at a couple of different stops, one much better than the other.  I saw all kinds of beautiful colors down there...parrot fish that were like pink-hued rainbows with turquoise, clown fish, colorful anemones, puffer fish, and bright red squiggly things that closed up when disturbed, only to open back up 2 seconds later.  I also saw a large school of tiny fish that jumped out of the water and flew through the air for a while before jumping back in!

Then we stopped at Monkey Island to give some bananas to the wild monkeys!  They were shy but one took the banana from my hand.  Not too many were out.  Kim was there a few days ago and said that tons were out, and they were like, violently attacking children, who they don't like!  They were cute, though, when I saw them!

We got fed lunch on another little island, and we swam in the warm turquoise transparent water.  We were also taken to another beach where we lounged on beach chairs for 75 Baht each and got asked every 2 seconds if we wanted ice cream or pina coladas.  It was relaxing, though!

On the boat ride home, one of the men in the Muslim family threw an empty package of gum into the ocean, and one of the Aussie parents yelled at him.  She was really angry.

Later, they took us back to the main island of Phuket and dropped us back off at our hotel.  We took off immediately to plan our trip for canoeing tomorrow and get dinner near the beach.  I ate Egyptian food, which made me think of the African I dated for a couple of months in Vancouver, Canada.

"I'm a vegetarian," I had told him.  I was expecting the usual reaction from him that I've often gotten from African-Americans when I tell them that--"You're a what???"

Instead, he didn't even bat an eye.  In his wonderful Sudani accent he replied, "Oh-Keh.  I cook Ejippsheyawn food."  He then proceeded to put the following together in a pot on the stove:  peanut butter, fresh tomatoes, vegetable oil, and fava beans.  We ate it with our hands using bread.  It was delicious!  So was the Egyptian food in Phuket!  Hmmm, maybe I should go to Egypt next...

After eating, we did a little souvenir shopping and got pedicures.  I got my toes painted sparkly gold...originally to look like a rapper's teeth, but once they were done, I realized they looked like all the golden Buddhas we've been seeing.  I'm obsessed with it!  Next, we took a tuk tuk back to the hotel...it'll be another early morning tomorrow!

View from the back of the boat

The water got so pretty!

7.30.11 (Day Seven--Phuket/James Bond Island)

We got up early today to get picked up to go sea canoeing.  While we waited for our ride, we watched kids playing on the construction site next door.  They were running around barefoot, climbing high and swinging from the bamboo rafters.  It caused me to have flashbacks of living in South Carolina as a child.

We moved there right before I went into the 3rd grade, into a brand new neighborhood that was still full of construction.  Being young, I of course made a bunch of little friends right away, with the other children already living there.  We used to go into the wooden frames of houses, and loved it if there were stairs built so we could climb to the top.  Of course, there were often no railings built yet.  One thing I remember especially was the huge drain pipes they were installing throughout the neighborhood.  They had installed the pipes, but hadn't installed the covers to the manholes yet, leaving them wide open for us to explore.  I could almost stand upright in them--some of the littler kids could stand up all the way.  We would climb down the ladders into the pipes and run through the underground labyrinths together for hours, popping our heads out every now and then like little groundhogs to try and see where we were.  We were always delighted with the results, because we'd be in some far away land!  It felt magical.

At one point, the older boy we were watching noticed, and started doing some things to show off to us...one of which was taking his younger 3 year old brother and dangling him off the second story of the structure by his head!  I stopped looking at him at that point so as to not encourage him any further!

Scarily enough, this made me think of my own childhood...

We got picked up by a van and took a long drive with more Australians, who seemed to make up a majority of the tourists in Phuket.  During the drive, we wondered about the state of Seoul.  Right before going to bed the night before, Nicole had gotten online with her iPod and learned that Seoul had suffered the largest rainstorms in years...and there had been a mudslide that had killed about 30 people!  Neither of our friends who had stayed in town over the break had posted anything about it on Facebook.  Could they be without power?  What would we be returning home to?

At the dock, we boarded a nice, large, mini-cruise-ship-type boat to take us to the islands.  They gave us local bananas and some pink spiky fruit like a lichi.  It was yummy!  The islands we saw were beautiful.  Trees grew straight out from cliffs and vines hung down, and leaves were growing from them, and there were cactus-looking trees, too.  The rock on the cliffs looked like paint was spilled down it in burnt oranges, creams, and dark grays.  We went through caves in little canoes with a guide who rowed us.  Ours looked about 16 years old and he smoked cigarettes.  He was Thai, but every bit as dark-skinned as an African, but with reddish undertones, which was quite interesting.

He rowed us into caves and we would get out of the canoe to explore them on foot, walking bent at a 90 degree angle, like  how Korean old ladies walk.  Then the cave ended and we were in the middle of the island, inside all the cliffs, and the air smelled fresh and amazing!  Trees' roots started halfway up the trunks, giving the illusion they were standing on tippy toes.  Unfortunately, my camera died before we got in there!  So I decided to just relax and soak up the beauty for myself.

On our way home, we saw a motorcycle accident, which wasn't surprising.  They drive pretty crazy here, not staying in lanes, and driving on the shoulders and stuff.  It's funny seeing mom, dad, and baby on one motorcycle with no helmets or anything!

For dinner we walked up the road from our hotel and ate at a place with geckos all over the walls and ceilings, waiting by the lights for a tasty moth or fly.  They gave us sour mango smoothies which I loved and Nicole didn't, and amazing spring rolls.  I ate red curry that was delicious and blow-your-top-off spicy (I had ordered it a little spicy!)...the kind of spicy where if you accidentally inhale a little while it's in your mouth, or swallow a bit funny, you get the spice in the back of your throat and choke a bit.  My dad would have been proud of what a champ I was eating it though!

The hotel manager called us a cab to take us back to the airport that night.  Our plane was scheduled for 12:30am.  It wasn't anywhere close to ideal, but it had been our only choice.  The Phuket airport was a bit of a madhouse!  Totally crowded despite the horrible time of night.  Drunks were causing a small raucous in the line for customs, and sleepy children were crying, or watching movies on iPads from their strollers.

After we boarded the plane, I took the middle seat next to Nicole and a Chinese woman reading a newspaper.  On the cover was a picture Seoul, flooded with water.  Cars were almost entirely submerged!  Too bad I can't read Chinese...

That's Seoul underwater!!!  What does it say???

7.31.11 (Day Eight--Traveling Home)

Changing planes in Shanghai was no fun.  Traveling sounds quite glamorous, I'm sure...but really it's anything but.  At least when it comes to the actual traveling part.  Airports and planes teeter on a fine line between boring on a good day to downright aggravating.  We had a 6 hour layover in Shanghai, and we had to first collect our checked bags at the baggage claim and go through customs, which means getting eyeballed and questioned by authorities in a country that hasn't really been opened to outsiders for very long.  Then we had to carry our heavy bags (it was like 6am and we'd been flying all night already) and switch terminals, which meant going all the way outside and waiting for a shuttle bus.  Then we entered another huge terminal and had to find where we were to recheck in.  The counters weren't open yet so we stood in line with some other folks waiting for someone to show up.  All we wanted to do was find a bench and lie down on it, like you often see weary travelers doing in airports.

Luckily, Nicole and I are both pretty mellow personalities and weren't snapping at each other like many other people would be doing under such circumstances.  We weren't due to arrive in Seoul until 2pm, and even then, we would have to hop on the subway and travel at least another hour or two.  Then, we would have to walk through our neighborhood alleys with our bags to get home.  And what would the conditions of the subways and roads be when we got there?  We still didn't know for sure. Turns out we didn't need to be worried...we got home and everything was fine and normal!

Yes, traveling is exciting, amazing, and you always learn something new.  But it's also downright exhausting.  Being in Thailand made me appreciate many things.  One thing it reinforced was my appreciation for the fact that English is my native language.  On all the little day trips we went on, and whenever communicating with someone who is a non-native English speaker, English is always the common language used.  So for me, it's quite easy!  But for people from France, or Spain, or China, or  Iran, or wherever--they also depend on their English when traveling abroad--even when they aren't traveling to an English-speaking country!  So I am very lucky, indeed!

I also learned to appreciate Seoul even more--because I don't get constantly lied to or haggled for money here!  If someone asks to help, it's because they genuinely want to help me--not because they want a tip or want me to buy something or ride in their taxi.  I never thought I'd feel relieved to get back to a country that actually speaks less English than the one I was in before!  But, I did!  I know the subways here, and I know how to get home in a cab.  And even though we didn't have any problems in Thailand, I feel reassured knowing that Seoul is very safe and has a low crime rate.

Yes, it's really fun to travel...but it's always really nice to get home!

A couple wearing matching shirts--that means we're on our way home to Korea!