We're Back!

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 Temple, Mike and Nick went golfing. This course was apparently much nicer than the last. That must mean it was REALLY nice because they raved about the first one they went to. Mike also decided that he was going to start a golf ball collection. He’s keeping one ball, with the courses emblem, from each course he plays on. It’ll be neat once he has a decent collection going.

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!)

Back to Phuket - I’m not sure if we got out of bed the day before we left. We were worn out from diving, our feet hurt from the blisters we got from the flippers rubbing on our toes, and we were a little sunburnt. Not to mention that bed was soooo comfortable. We watched movies all day, I took a relaxing bath, and when we finally did get out of bed, we went to a nice restaurant for dinner. That’s what R&R’s all about!

We left for Bangkok early in the afternoon so that we could ditch our bags at the airport and explore that city a bit before we left for Baghdad. Unfortunately, those plans were drowned by the very rainy weather that greeted us there. To pass the time, we asked the taxi to take us to the movie theatre and we watched movies. It’s considerably cheaper to see movies in Thailand and I think believe I like the theatres better! The chairs are huge leather, lounging recliners (minus the foot rests) AND when you purchase your ticket, you select the seat that you wish to sit in; so there’s no getting to the theatre early to get a decent seat together. It was nice. During the course of our trip we saw “The De Vinci Code” and “X-Men III”, both of which were great movies. I was pleased to see that “The De Vinci Code” actually followed the book very closely.

That concludes our vacation. I give Thailand an A+ and if you’re ever looking to go to Chiang Mai or Phuket, I HIGHLY recommend either of the places we stayed at. The Baan Orapin was wonderful..as were our hosts and Marina Phuket couldn’t have been more extravagant. It really was where the jungle met the sea.

Still Having a Fine Time in Chiang Mai!

Since we last met, we’ve been quite busy! I convinced everyone that we should rent a car…rather, I suggested we rent a car and went to ask Opus for additional information as to where to rent from..he called and ordered us a car to be delivered right away and Mike got upset with me for doing so (especially since I didn’t confirm with anyone before doing so). It was particularly nerve racking because the traffic in Chiang Mai is so crazy. Mike would have nothing to do with driving it/renting it/etc – I wanted the car..I was going to do all that was necessary with it. It turned out to be a great idea (and everyone agreed on this one) because we were given the freedom to drive along Mae Rim and visit all the Elephant Camps, Orchid Gardens, Waterfalls, the Monkey Center, the Snake Farm, and all the Adventure Centers. Of course we didn’t visit all this but we could if we wanted to. The Trekking Tours that were available allowed you to see much of this, but you were limited, in a group, and it cost much more. Once driving in and getting used to the traffic it didn’t seem quite so bad. If you took away all the scooters, it would be rather normal actually. I even got up the courage to drive to the center of town so we could go to Starbucks together J Since Monica has arrived, going together to places has been more expensive because we can’t all fit in one Tuk-tuk and that’s the way to travel! J

We went back to the Midnight Bar last night and to a little Sunday Market. Everyone seemed to have a great time and it was amusing watching Mike dance again. Gun seemed to be really happy that we were back. We didn’t get to drink for free again, which was fine – because we wouldn’t have allowed it even if it were offered. We also taught Monica how to play Yukor (sp)…something she should’ve known how to play a long time ago being from the Midwest!

Today’s Monica’s day. It’s her last day without something planned already so we told her we’d do what she wanted to do. So far she’s her normal “eh, I don’t care” self, so it looks like it’s going to be a pretty uneventful day. Tomorrow we’re going to rent a car again (imagine that!) and drop off Mike and Nick at the golf course. Then Monica and I are going to visit Bo Sang, an umbrella village, and go wherever else our heart desires. We figured it’d be more convenient to rent a car again since it will cost almost as much for Nick and Mike’s taxi ride AND Monica and I could go somewhere outside of Chiang Mai. I have a lot of orders for Silk Umbrellas that I have to fill. We’ll see how much they cost. J

Other than that, we just have plans to hit the Night Bazaar again..and go fishing..then it’s off to Phuket!

PS I’ve posted a few pictures up on the photo album with MANY more to come!

Quick Overview

Okie dokie. I thought I’d take Monica’s cue and catch everyone up on what’s been going on since we got here... We flew in on Emirates. They ranked right up there with SAS which has always been my favorite airline. Monica and Nick had a great experience with JAL so I guess we did pretty good with booking. Our flights went rather painless too. The longest layover we had was six hours in Dubai. There was plenty to look at there, so we didn’t get too bored.

Chiang Mai has been very rainy since we got here. Fortunately it’s rained mostly in the evening/early morning so it hasn’t affected our activities too much. Mike and I arrived late in the afternoon, spent the evening relaxing, and went to bed early since we had to rise early to pick up Nick. We decided to pick both Monica and Nick up from the airport since both were traveling alone. Nick had an overall good experience flying. We were a little worried since the longest flight he’s taken has been 3 ½ hours. His first flight alone was over 12 hours…He was obviously very happy to be in Thailand. He hadn’t slept much on the flight and was still wide awake from his natural high. We took a walk around Chiang Mai after breakfast to just see the sights. It was a nice look at the city. It’s interesting that no one walks in this country. I guess it’s a status symbol to own a vehicle so everyone runs around on scooters. We are the only ones walking usually and there is a constant barrage of taxis harassing us for a ride everywhere we go. Plus! There aren’t any sidewalks on half the streets! Despite this, we still choose to walk most places. I’m not sure if I would feel comfortable driving. They drive on the opposite side of the street, everyone drives manual, and no one seems to obey the lines on the road. Not only this, but the stick shift is on the opposite side. It’s take a bit to get used to shifting with the left hand! I know, I know…excuses, excuses. I would like to rent a car just for a day to get north of the city. There are tons of tours that will pick you up but they only go to one spot and you’re stuck in a group. There is an area full of waterfalls, elephants, villages, monkey centers, snake trainers, etc. etc. in an area. I’d like to drive up there and see it all. During our walk around the city we were trying to find the bar a friend from work owns. Despite Mike’s photogenic memory, we were unsuccessful in doing so. It was amusing because Mike pointed to exactly where it was on the map and we explored this area quite thoroughly. After spending so much time looking for it, we decided to just ask Tim. He gave us the address and we were able to find the bar much quicker the following day. It was a lot of fun doing so. The bartender treated us to drinks all afternoon. By the end of the evening Mike was dancing solo on the floor for more than an hour. The bartender loved watching him and I almost think his whole objective was to see how drunk he could get Mike. Haha. It’s amusing how people react to drinking. Nick becomes a very friendly over-conversationalist and Mike becomes a dancer.

We have visited a couple markets now. We went to the day market near our Bed and Breakfast twice and last night we went to the Night Bazaar in the rain. I’d like to think my bargaining skills are improving. I think I got a pretty good deal on the items I’ve purchased so far. The only thing I’m disappointed on is a shirt Mike bought that I later found out we could have purchased for much less. Ah well. You win some and you lose some. There seems to be much less pressure to buy something at the day market. At the Night Bazaar everyone is pushing you to look at their booth and buy their items. “Discount for you!”. We only went through half so far since it was raining. I think I’ll get most of my souvenirs from there.

I should probably describe the place we’re staying at. I’m very happy with it! We rented a two bedroom, two floor, two bathroom villa. It has two showers, a bathtub, two toilets, a porch, two balconies, a kitchen, dining room, living room, and canopy beds. Everything is teak and the foliage is just beautiful. There are gardens everywhere. It’s nice because you go from the craziness of the street to serenity. We’ve spent every evening sitting on our porch playing Yatzee. They offer a menu with several breakfast items to choose from – ranging from American to Thai. The staff is very helpful and courteous and the location is close enough to everything to suit our needs. Overall, an A+.

Plans for the next few days include a full spa treatment today, mountain biking, traveling north of here, mountain climbing, etc. Monica and I decided to go all out at the spa. We’re getting wrapped, steamed, caked in mud, slathered in oil, etc. etc. Four hours of total relaxation. I’ve never been to a spa before and I’ve heard this one is a pretty good one and the prices are reasonable. I’m looking forward to it. J

I suppose that’s enough rambling for now. You probably won’t hear from me again until we get back. La-konn!