We made it back safe and sound! Fortunately, the flights went rather smoothly. Every flight was on time or not delayed enough to matter so all was well. We both found it rather difficult to sleep on the planes so we were very tired when we made it in. We also ended up coming in on the Rhino. It’s been a year since I’ve had to do that and I must say this time was a much better experience. I had napped prior to the ride so I wasn’t as tired and I knew what was going on and where I was going…so I guess there was just less stress involved. Mike ended up with a bit of a tummy ache which is still lingering today, so he’s not too pleasant.
The remainder of our R&R was very nice. We did end up going to Bo Sang but I didn’t buy any umbrellas. I was actually a little disappointed in them! Everyone wanted silk umbrellas, but all that was available was artificial silk (not Thai Silk) AND the patterns, while beautiful, weren’t quite what I wanted..nor what I envisioned others wanting....so sorry folks - no umbrellas. The factory itself was pretty interesting. There were several stations set up for the different steps that went into making the umbrellas. All the artists wanted to paint scenes on our clothing/purses/etc as we walked through. As you said “no” to the first, the next started asking. It was amusing. J
Monica and I also climbed the steps to visit one of the temples. It wasn’t the “famous” one of the area but it was one Monica wanted to see. I think she just picked one that was on the way to Bo Sang since we were in the area. It was nearly 300 steps to get to the temple but it was worth the trek. The statues and structures were awesome..as were the paintings within. We didn’t stay inside long though. There were people inside meditating and I felt like I was intruding. Hopefully not!
While we went to the Bo Sang and the
Our time in Chiang Mai ended with a dinner cruise on the river after Monica and Nick departed. We had our own candlelight glow and all the lanterns from the restaurants to light up the river. It was neat watching all the bats dart in and out of the shadows. Very romantic.
Phuket was absolutely beautiful and it was completely different than Chiang Mai: the people, the traffic, the weather, the atmosphere, humidity…everything. Our resort greeted us at the airport and escorted us to our room. While they ensured our room was ready, they provided us with tropical drinks from a fresh coconut. The room was stunning. It had a spectacular view of the ocean. There was fresh fruit available and fresh flowers on everything. We had a huge bed, big plasma television, balcony and large bathroom. There was an extra large bathtub, a separate shower, separate toilet, etc. etc. I thought it was a very nice room.
Our first night we ate dinner at the “On the Rock” restaurant compliments of the resort. We ate right at sunset and the restaurant is on the rocks along the ocean/beach so it was quite the view. To top things off, dinner was great. We finished the evening relaxing on the balcony with an expensive bottle of wine.
We spent our second day walking along the beach and wandering through Phuket. The beach ended up being a lot longer than we originally thought. We were also surprised to find they didn’t keep it as clean as we would think they would. Perhaps it’s because it was the ‘off’ season. We also put on our swim suits and jumped in the waves a bit and built some sand castles. The waves actually got quite big and pulled you under. They weren’t kidding when they posted the caution sign for the under tow.
Scuba diving was a lot of fun and I was surprised to see how much Mike enjoyed it. We left early in the morning, waited at the diving place until everyone arrived and loaded up and then drove to the opposite coast. We had about an hour and a half ride on the boat until we reached the reef we would explore. During the ride, we went over hand signals and procedure with the diving instructor. We also got to take in the breathtaking view of all the islands we passed. It’s been a really long time since I’ve been on a boat and the ocean was significantly more choppy than I’m used to so I ended up a little sea sick by time we reached our destination. Fortunately, I wasn’t THAT seasick..just enough so that I didn’t venture far from the railing….just in case. Haha.
We ended up diving in two reefs – each for about 40 minutes. We started out the first dive with a little practicing on the surface and then down we went! It pressure change was definitely noticeable on our ears. I haven’t been able to get mine to pop in years so it was not pleasant having them do so on the assent. The discomfort was well worth it though. Once you got under water and convinced yourself that the breathing apparatus really did work, it was a lot of fun! Haha. We saw a lot of cool fish and pretty coral. The only downer was that you could tell some of the coral was dying.
The second reef was much more beautiful than the first. There was more variety to the coral and more fish. It made me really happy that I had brought my camera with. I finally got to use the underwater casing that I had bought for my digital camera many years ago. Yay!
(Speaking of pictures, I have A LOT of pictures to upload and I’m seeing now that I won’t be able to do the upload quickly with the internet connection here..so unfortunately, I will have to do the upload slowly. It will be done..but only a few pictures at a time. I will also sort through them before I post them so I don’t do too many duplicates. Hope you don’t mind Nick and Monica!)
We left for
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