A Three Island Tour

"When you come to Southern Thailand, you go see all the islands," that's what she said when we asked what else she'd recommend when we thanked her for booking our successful kayaking excursion yesterday. So we took her recommendation and booked the all-day three-island outing today.

We were on the boat with four very loud Italians, two Scandinavian families with two small boys in one family and the other with two pre-teen girls (which made us wonder why all 4 weren't in school), a couple from Norway with whom we traded off looking after each other' belongings on the beach, a single guy from Britain who has been here every year for the past five, and a half dozen others we know nothing about.

We spent several hours in the long-tail boat by the time we made the rounds to the islands, but the trips were worth making for the beauty we enjoyed at each location. The pictures tell the stories.

We are packing up now to be ready at 6:45am for breakfast and then a 7:15am taxi to the airport on our way back to Bangkok. We can't believe how early that sounds to get going! How quickly we get soft.

This trip is coming to an end way too quickly. Teri said tonight that it has set her up well for her upcoming birthday and her fifth decade of life. Mission accomplished!

Boating on Ao Thalan

This is what the brochure said we would experience on our tour today...

"Experience two atmosphere of the sea canoeing at mangrove area and sand bank when the level of tidy lows. You will enjoyable with many kinds of animals like monkey, mudkeeper, crabs and shells this trip you will get fun to see canyons, lagoons, and limestone historical painting and sea gipsy. Don't forget to take you sense of enjoyable. Excite and have fun."

Would you go on that trip?!!! Well, we did and the pictures tell the story best.

This evening we enjoyed a progressive supper from the street vendors.....mango smoothie, mango pancake, topped off with mango & sticky-rice. Not sure if you see a theme here!

Tomorrow we're gearing up for a two-island tour. Ah, what a difficult life....

Love
P&T

A Day at Poda Island

Ao Nang

The small 11 room hotel/B&B where we are staying is family owned and operated. After our breakfast this morning our sweet hostess patiently described tour options for us to consider during our stay. She must have recognized our dazed and confused expressions when she asked, "Where have you been traveling?" We explained we had been in Bangkok about one week and then Chiang Mai for another week and this was our final stop before traveling back home. "You need to just walk to the beach and sit in the shade. Enjoy the view. Relax," she said. We were so grateful to have her permission to take a break from vacationing. Unfortunately she failed to remind us to wear plenty of sun screen. We thought we were safe sitting in the shade with just quick dips in the water but realized later in the day when we were back in our room that we had both gotten burned. We'll be smarter tomorrow.

We had one of the best dining experiences of our trip this evening with an ocean front table, delicious Thai food, warm tropical breeze and glorious sunset.

What??

A few signs we think you'll enjoy as much as we did:

Chiang Mai

"You been OCD?" asked our tour guide as we were leaving our hotel. "Well, yes, some of my work friends accuse me of having OCD" I thought before realizing he was saying, "Old City." The central old part of Chiang Mai is surrounded by a moat with parts of the old crumbling wall still intact and our guide showed us this historic area before driving us up the mountain to Doi Suthep and the beautiful temple there.

Teri enjoyed a half day Thai cooking class making Pad Thai, Tom Yum soup, Red Curry, and Spring Rolls. Now the challenge will be finding all the special ingredients it takes to get the amazing results. The instructor spoke very good English and was understanding of my vegetarian preference.

We did some shopping several evenings, purchasing items from the street vendors. We were told that we would need towels at the elephant park later in the week and that purchase proved more difficult than we expected. Finally we found $9 towels at a department store, only to discover towels were provided in our traditional thatched-roof one-room "cabin". Thankfully we had warm water there and mosquito netting over the bed.

Our van ride to the Elephant Nature Park www.elephantnaturefoundation.org took 90 minutes or so Thursday once we gathered our van full of echo-tourists. When we arrived we were first given instructions on how to be safe around the elephants; where to stand, how to feed them, when to run, and which ones were never safe to approach. We were then taken to a raised platform where the elephants could walk up and be fed bunches of bananas, whole pineapple, small watermelons and pumpkins. Then came bath time. We all headed to the river with buckets and had a great time tossing water at the elephants and each other.

It comes as no surprise to any of us; Teri was a natural with the elephants. She was in her element. It was fun to watch. Unfortunately the photos don't catch all the nuances of their bonding. The property is not fenced so each of the 34 elephants has a personal mahout that makes sure she (all but 4 are female) doesn't wander off the property and destroy a neighbors crops.

After dinner we both received a traditional one hour Thai massage. That was a first for both of us and we've agreed to schedule that again before we leave. We still can't believe the price - $3.00 an hour!

To end our time at the elephant camp we floated down the river on inner tubes with 7 others. It was just what we needed on a very hot day.

Back in Bangkok

It's 11pm local time and we just arrived back to our hospital apartment from Chiang Mai. Ready for some sleep. Will process pictures tomorrow and show you our time with the elephants.

P&T