We hardly had time to recover from the flight before we found ourselves making yet more introductions - to the other half of our volunteer group: five Canadians, an American and another Brit. Steve, Jessi, Megan, Maddie, Paige, Callie and Emma respectively. And, of course, to our lovely project leader Claire, a native Thai who lectures at Bangkok university and who would, over the next two weeks, show us the Thailand tourists hardly ever get to see.

The minibus journey to Kanchanaburi gave us our first culture shock - the fearless bikers who weave in and out of traffic with their motorbikes impossibly loaded with everything from planks of wood to small children kept us occupied for some time, while the hair-raising 'exploits' of our driver (overtaking on a bend with a car coming at top speed in the other direction, anyone?) triggered motion sickness all round.

Bridge over the River Kwai

Now, for the moment we had been anticipating the most: our arrival at our two-week volunteer project, based at Moo Baan Dek (translated as 'Children's Village School'), a school and community for orphaned, abandoned or unwanted children. Our role at the village would be to teach the kids basic English, play games and generally give these children the love and attention they desperately need. I'll write more about Moo Baan Dek later.

Outside the school

The village is built in the jungle - but it has been tamed by volunteer workers over the years and also by the kids themselves, who have quickly taught the more terrifying jungle creatures such as spiders, snakes and scorpions to keep their distance for fear of dissection! The schoolhouses and dormitories are basic but strangely beautiful wooden structures and our volunteer house is no different: the downstairs dining area is open and the bedrooms and bathrooms are functional: our beds were thin mattresses on the floor but we had flushing toilets - the ultimate luxury! The best thing about our house, however, was the fact that it was built on the bank of the River Kwai. The view of the river, jungle and mountains was just incredible, and one I will never forget. Photos (below) just don't do it justice.

Our house at Moo Baan Dek

River Kwai after rain (view from our house)

So after settling into our house we set out to explore the village. The kids came to greet us right away, mostly to get their hands on our digital cameras! We walked down to a jetty on the river: there is a calm pocket of water where the kids are allowed to swim. Our first day at Moo Baan Dek was truly surreal, but it was about to get even more so...

The swimming jetty on the River Kwai

First encounter

17th cruise day: Ko Samui, Thailand

We had another time change last night and so I awoke late (7:15am) and it was only 6:15am! I was able to dose for a few more minutes before waking up to the sunrise and to the lowering of one of the tender boats which passed right by our window! We got up and put on our bathing suits, grabbed breakfast from the buffet and then met in the Cabaret Lounge to queue up for our tender. Our tour to Chawang Beach was supposed to be from 8:30am – 12:30pm. At 8:15am we were called into the tender and took seats up at the front so we could get a good view of the island as we approached. The ship had dropped anchor pretty far away and so we had a good 15 minute tender ride.

We pulled into a pier where there were several minibuses that housed 9 people. It was about 8:50am at this point and we started our ride across the island. The drivers were pretty crazy, as all seem to be in Asia, and they constantly passed the cars/trucks in front of them and weaved around the motorcycles that were supposed to be staying in the half lane that bordered both sides of the roads. Unlike Saigon where the drivers constantly honked at one another to pass, these drivers just flashed and blinked their headlights as they pulled into oncoming traffic in the opposite lane.

The island itself looked like a typical Caribbean island with small buildings housing stores, internet cafes, restaurants, and the odd bike shop. The buildings sat among rows and rows of palm trees and other vegetation that had a sickly green-brown, dried out color. It was hot, but not oppressively hot, as it was probably only in the mid 80's today with a nice breeze. There were stray dogs all over the island, but they looked well fed and nourished and they never came over to bother us. The island wasn't as dirty or impoverished as some parts of St. Maarten are or other poorer Caribbean islands, but it wasn't a very upscale island either. It was well developed as we passed through many busy streets crowded with supermarkets and other retail shops. Ko Samui is one of Thailand's most popular beach islands and it has its own airport to cater to the tourists.

The minibus dropped us off at Chawang Beach, which is the most popular beach section on the island. It had back to back resorts, each one very small in size and built almost on top of each other. We poked through one resort which was painted in very bright oranges and blues and would have been an eyesore had there not been a lot of beautiful dark wood bars and lobby areas to counteract it. The resorts were not glamorous at all – very bare bones, more European in feel. And as for the beach, we were very disappointed. Chawang Beach was supposed to have crystal clear water and pristine white sand beaches. I don't know how white the sand was, as there was so little of it! I think there was only 10 feet of sand before the surf pounded in. The water was a beautiful turquoise color, like what the Mediterranean must look like, but there was a lot of debris (sticks, leaf remnants) floating in the water. And the water was quite rough with waves large enough to body surf to shore. The beach had jet ski rentals and very, very cheap massages, which were offered on large wooden platforms on the beach. People from our tour jumped on those massages as it was less than $10 USD for a 1-hour full body massage.

Hunter and I laid on a beach towel and went swimming for about an hour before the heavens opened and a downpour started. We ran for shelter, ducking into a nearby resort, and then poked in a few shops on the main road of the beach, which held rip-off American brand clothes and fake purses, and lots of surfing attire. Several shops were actually closed and some restaurants didn't open until 12pm. There wasn't much to see or do so luckily the rain stopped after 15 min and we could head back to the beach for another 40 minutes of sun before meeting the minibus for the ride back to the pier. We got there just in time to take one of the few remaining seats in the stuffy tender and we were on board the ship before 1pm.

We spent the rest of the afternoon sunbathing on the 11th deck. It was the perfect tanning day as the boat wasn't yet moving (several passengers were quite delayed getting on the ship and then they had to raise up the tenders). We stayed out until 5pm when we showered for dinner. Dinner wasn't too bad, although our main courses (meatloaf and turkey) weren't too tasty. Luckily dessert was delicious, although we passed on the Baked Alaska because we didn't want to wait around for the waiter parade. We were at the table by ourselves again and really enjoyed the 4th night of eating alone.

After dinner, we went back to the room to pack. I had missed the passport pickup earlier in the day and they delivered it to our stateroom. Somehow I managed to fit everything in and we placed our bags outside the door on our way out to the 8:30pm final show, which was a comic magician (terrible) and a different comedian, Mike Flint (almost as terrible as the magician and the same guy Hunter saw the other night). I slept through practically the whole thing. We then walked around the ship to take pictures, dropped off some books in the library, laid on lounge chairs gazing at the stars, and then poked our head into the Tahitian Lounge to see the Ballroom Dancing with the crew – no one was there except Luke (the singer) and Ruth (the head dance captain), who are obviously dating :) We went back to our room to change and throw our evening clothes into the suitcase before it was taken away, ordered room service water and milk, and then set to typing up our final email of the day and use up our remaining Internet minutes. It was a very nice, relaxing day – just the way it should be on our last day of the cruise!

written by  mohicanfan on January 2, 2010 from Ko Samui, Thailand
from the travel blog: Beijing/Shanghai and a Princess Southeast Asia Cruise - Dec 2009
tagged Thailand, Asia and Cruise
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Flight home from Bangkok, Thailand

2:15am started our very long travel day back home. Our adventure has come to an end :( We had showered the night before and just had to throw on clothes and check all our bags were packed before heading downstairs. There were actually a lot of people working in the resort and we checked out quickly, with the receptionist bowing the formal Sawaskeekdat, the traditional greeting meaning “good morning,” “good afternoon,” “good evening,” “hello,” and “goodbye.” It is nice to have just one word for all those meanings! I had 733 Baht left and the taxi ride was only 500Baht + 100 Baht tip and was a quick 30 minutes (no traffic – including the one police check point inside Bangkok) and we got to the airport before all of the Princess Cruise transfers. We had a short line but it was a bit slow moving. We got our tickets and seat assignments for Bangkok – Narita and then cleared passport control. The airport was beautiful. It looked brand new and had a very open feel to it with super high and curved ceilings and gates that were below the main walkway. We had to go through several levels of screening – the traditional carry-on baggage screening, and then a full body pat-down and shoe search at the gate, along with a hand search of the carry-on luggage. Finally we were on board the plane and we were one of the first ones on, so we had plenty of time to fall asleep before the plane even was completely boarded!

The flight to Narita, Japan was over 5 hours and we ate a breakfast omelet meal and a turkey sandwich snack. Hunter and I slept the rest of the time and didn't even watch movies. Once in Narita, we had a good 4 hours before the flight was to depart, so we sat in the nice Continental Lounge and had free drinks (another Gin and Tonic for Hunter) and snacks of chips, pretzels, apple pie, etc. I left for a short time to go to the transfer counter to get a seat assignment as it wasn't printed on my ticket (although I had it on my itinerary). There was no line and I made it back for another half hour in the lounge. The outlets accepted US style plugs and there was free internet, so we easily passed the time catching up on all we missed in technology and entertainment in the US these past three weeks!

We boarded as silver elite on the flight to EWR and had the same style plane (with plugs) and the same seats 17A and 17B as we did on the flight from EWR to Beijing. We had just as many meals – a dinner within the first hour of Chinese style beef and rice and noodles or a choice of perch and salmon (we chose the beef), followed by a mid-flight snack of a sandwich and ice cream cup, and lastly another full meal (fettuccine with cream sauce or an omelet – we chose the pasta) before landing. Hunter and I watched 500 Days of Summer, followed by the Pixar film Up, and then slept for a full 6 hours, thanks to our 2 Tylenol PM tablets.

The flight landed at 4:45pm (12 ½ hours later) and we were one of the first ones off the plane, as we were seated at the front. We had no wait for the passport control and only a small wait for our checked baggage to come through. At this time I couldn't tell if my connecting flight to ORF was on time, and if it was, I would be cutting it close. I dropped off my two large suitcases to be checked through and said a teary goodbye to Hunter who headed for his taxi. He had to work the next day! He had a long ride as there was bumper to bumper traffic due to a truck accident. I cleared through another round of carry-on baggage screening and then learned my fight was delayed until 7:20pm. That delay turned into a much longer delay and the plane didn't leave EWR until 10:30pm. I finally landed in ORF at 11:35pm.

Hunter and I agree that this was by far our best trip yet. We spent great quality time together and experienced so many new sights, together. We wouldn't have changed one thing about the trip and are thankful it all went so well. Now, we just need to decide when and where our next adventure will be!

written by  mohicanfan on January 4, 2010 from Bangkok, Thailand
from the travel blog: Beijing/Shanghai and a Princess Southeast Asia Cruise - Dec 2009
tagged Thailand, Asia and Cruise
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Gyeongbok Palace

Gyeongbok Palace

Outside of Gyongbok Palace

Crazy shoe arcade

We decided to head out that night and went to Hongdae area to find a bar. It was such a cool area, the University area, where lots of young people are hanging out. We grabbed a quick pizza there too. Then we ended up going to a bar underneath Mute in Itaewon. Wow so impressed with the 'mixologist' bar tenders there. They were lighting drinks on fire and making layered drinks and all kinds of interesting things.

Thursday we slept in a little (finally!), hit the gym and relaxed until our flight that early evening. Thailand here we come!

We landed in Thailand around 11pm and found a fixed price cab to take us on the hour trek to our hotel in Karon Beach Phuket. My first impression was that Thailand was a little sketchy, but hey it was late at night and the airport wasn't exactly state of the art. The people seem to be insanely hospitable, and the Hilton Arcadia hotel is insanely awesome! We got the hotel on Hilton points and a few extra dollars. I've never been much of a resort person or so I thought, but this is really a resort, and I definitely love it! Can't wait for Thailand adventure to start.

written by  blondie on June 7, 2012 from Seoul, South Korea
from the travel blog: Asian Persuasion - June 2012
tagged Thailand and Seoul
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Medium traffic in Phuket - not raining though!

Random elephant on the road

Coast off of southern Phuket

View from our hotel room and foggy camera

Big Buddha on Ko Phuket

Kris in Phuket Town - I liked the tiles :)

South tip of Phuket - best place to watch the sunset

South tip of Phuket - Laem Phromthep

Buddha shrine at the south tip of Phuket

We finished off the night eating pad thai at the Pad Thai Place for 120 Baht, which is $4 USD. The operation was totally outside, and very basic - eg the dishwasher was a person 30 feet away using a bucket and a sponge. Although the food was good, I truly wondered how in the world they weren't losing money on two pad thai dinners with two drinks all for that price... and then my mind started to wonder if we were going to have stomach or other issues in the morning :)
I guess we'll find out.

written by  blondie on June 8, 2012 from Phuket, Thailand
from the travel blog: Asian Persuasion - June 2012
tagged Thailand and Phuket
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I thought I could navigate us to the port so we could take a ferry to Ko Phi Phi (Islands about 42km from Phuket's East coast), but I overestimated my capabilities to figure out just exactly which port we should be heading to, and what company's ferry we were looking for. I got the departure times from the hotel and I thought I had the ferry company's name, but we ended up just stopping and and asking someone directions. Luckily the locals are super helpful and we were up early, so we had some time to spare. We ended up following a woman on a moped to Chalong port, and after talking with some folks, we ended up settling on a speed boat tour of the islands (with Anda Varee tours) which included lunch and snorkeling for 1500 baht each (about $50 USD each).

Speedboats ready to take off for the islands

We left around 9:30, and it took about an hour to get to our first stop, Maya Bay, at Ko Phi Phi Lae. They filmed part of "The Beach" here, and you can see from the photos how beautiful this beach is!

Maya Bay at Ko Phi Phi Lae

Maya Bay at Ko Phi Phi Lae

Maya Bay at Ko Phi Phi Lae

Maya Bay at Ko Phi Phi Lae

Next stop was Loh Samah Bay for snorkeling. Kris went and said the water was a little cloudy and couldn't see much. I passed to stay with our belongings. We didn't plan to exactly do this tour, so we had a few cell phones we probably shouldn't have brought.

Ko Phi Phi

Monkey beach was the next stop. I really liked our guide because he was so in touch with the nature. He disapproved of feeding the Monkeys on Monkey island, because they are starting to rely only on human tourists for their food. They now bite tourists and now after generations of tourists feeding them, they are starting to have a have a hard time finding their own food. He also disapproved of feeding the fish bread, because the bread gets caught in the corals and then the fish start to attack the corals to get the bread, destroying the reefs.

We took a lunch break at Ton sai Bay on Ko Phi Phi Don, which is the largest of the Phi Phi Island group.

Drinking out of a coconut

Kris on the rock where he cut his foot

Kris' cut foot

Somehow we picked the perfect day to go on the island tour. It was sunny the whole time except for about 15 minutes of rain. I did get a tid bit of sunburn on my shoulders despite my SPF 30. I think I should have reapplied after all the swimming.

So today, between my slight sunburn and Kris now impaired foot, we decided to lay low. We checked out Patong beach area where we got a few souvenirs and met an Australian couple, and I had time to hit the gym. And yes, mom, another post card for you that we mailed out today :) We also met another interesting few people in the Hyatt club where we turned the hours-devours into dinner. I also finally learned how to say hello and thank-you in Thai a bit more properly.

Tonight we took delivery of the 45kg big Buddha that Kris liked at the shop in Phuket Town called Hi.So. It's too heavy, so we'll need to figure out how to ship it tomorrow before we leave for Bangkok.

written by  blondie on June 10, 2012 from Ko Phi Phi, Thailand
from the travel blog: Asian Persuasion - June 2012
tagged Thailand and Phuket
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Sunset from our hotel in Phuket

Our Buddha packeged up and ready to be shipped

Our new Buddha

For as great as i am with directions (for those of you that don't know, i am damn near a human compass and I am always our navigator) I am just as fully aware that for whatever reason I suck at military time. If I had blogged at the time of our honeymoon, i would have written about the time we missed our ferry from Ibiza to Mallorca because I bought us two tickets for 01:00 (1AM) but I had Kris and I trekking to the ferry with all of our luggage that same day at 1PM (13:00) only to find out we had missed our ferry by 12 hours. I then proceeded to lose our first class tickets so we had to sit in the lower ferry deck with no a/c and Kris almost passed out and puked. Way to go Elaine. Ok so here is lesson #2 (I'm sure there have been more incidents in between here, but none as significant as these two).

The restaurant we were dilly dallying when we realized we might miss our flight

Us dilly dallying and missing our flight

Our new plane from Phuket to Bangkok - Bangkok Airways

Erawan Shrine outside of the Hyatt Hotel, Bangkok

The Emerald Buddha at the Grand Palace

Kris in the Grand Palace

Kris holding up part of the Grand Palace

Wat Phra Kaew

Palace doors at Wat Phra Kaew

Grand Palace & Wat Phra Kaew

The second wat we visited was Wat Pho, home of the reclining Buddha. This represents Buddha's passing into nirvana. It's the longest Buddha at 46 meters long and 15 meters high! Huge!

Wat Pho - not sure why it's spelled numerous ways

Lying down Buddha at Wat Pho

The third wat we went to was Wat Saket, the Golden Mount. This wat was up on a hill so that you could see around the city which was cool. By this third wat, Kris was starting to pass out from heat exhaustion, so we went back to the hotel to rest up a little.

Golden Mount, Wat Saket

Buddha on the way up the Golden Mount

Pictures and more on our blog :)

written by  romcomcation on December 30, 2014 from Phuket, Thailand
from the travel blog: Romcomcation
tagged Thailand, Paradise, Phuket and SriPanwa
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