Next up: kayaking around Hong Island.
💞
The islands look small, but when you see that tiny little kayak on the left you realize how large they are.
The light part in the center of this rock is a hermit crab that had grabbed a fish for lunch. Who knew?
You can see the little white fish hanging off the rock on the middle right side of this picture.
From there we moved to the famous Khao Phi Khan island, meaning 'hills leaning against each other.' The little pointy rock in the center with the name Khao Ta Poo, meaning 'nail island,' earned the nickname James Bond Island after The Man With The Golden Gun was filmed here in 1974. There are 3,000 visitors a day to this tiny little island!
Apparently James Bond Island was originally part of the big island but after many years the tide has separated it from the main land, leaving this neat stack that is small at the bottom and big at the top and adorned with trees.
We had time to explore a few caves while we were on the island.
We waded into the water in front of the famous rock. I went to the edge to get a pic without all the people in it. After I snapped it, the next step I took was like quick sand. I immediately stepped into mud up to my knees. I could pull my feet out, but my shoes would have been lost in the mud forever. Luckily Daisy was nearby and she went to find my hero to help me out. Crisis diverted.
The Newfern Restaurant in Koh Panyee (flag island) Village was our lunch stop. This is a little floating village established about 200 years ago located right in the ocean. At that time, you could not own land if you weren't Thai, so they made their homes on stilts on the water. Today it is a town consisting of 1600 Muslims, complete with an elementary school, police station, health center, mosque, plus many seafood restaurants and a plethora of souvenir shops.
As you can see in the background, the whole village is on stilts.
We were encouraged to take a stroll through the village and shops. Even though we were basically walking through their front yards, they don't mind because tourism is a large source of income.
As we made our way through the maze we ambled past the elementary school. It's crazy that these kids grow up without walking on land. They get along just fine; their soccer team has won big championship games for several years in a row.
The condition of their homes was humbling. These people exist on nearly nothing.
At first glance you notice the beautiful mosque, but look at the shacks in the foreground.
As we were driving away, I had to marvel at the colorful little floating village with the golden mosque in the background.
Full tummies + the hum of the boat motor = sleepy kids.
The last stop of the day was Naka Noi Island.
What's a day at the beach without burying someone in the sand?
The van ride home was pretty long; Eli had to pee and held it for a long time. Finally he told me he couldn't wait any longer. I asked the driver if we could stop somewhere because my son really had to pee. Right then and there he pulled over to the side of a very busy road. OK then!
The first night we arrived Daisy said she counted over 500 motorcycles/mopeds on the way to the condo. They were everywhere. That started our daily countings. The next day Zekers counted over 2,900 motorcycles in a 1.5 hour ride in the van! We counted dogs, cats, chickens, elephants, and little boys peeing on the side of the road. I only counted one of those.
For dinner Zekers got the coconut drink he had been wanting that you see everywhere.
New day, new adventure! This day was a slow boat built for leisure. It ended up being one of our favorite days.
As we enjoyed the slow ride to Racha Yai Island we were served breakfast on the boat.
Time for relaxing.
We arrived at Bungalow Bay, filled with beautiful turquoise water and schools of little fish every now and then.
This day was full of water toys. First Zeke went down the slide,
followed by Lijee, Daddy,
and then Daisy.
Thoughout the day we snorkeled, rode in a canoe,
paddle-boarded,
and the Pops and I went on a dive.
I almost forgot how much I love diving!
We also took a short boat ride to the beach.
Once again, burying someone, but this time the other brother.
I planned on swimming with Eli once back at the condo, but the water was so cold. Daddy always swims in the cold pools so I don't have to. That's love right there, folks.
Time to explore the streets for dinner.
I am slightly embarrassed to admit we went to McDonald's for dinner, followed by DQ for dessert. When I put myself in the kids' shoes, I realized they are missing America. Because it's been 5 months since we left the US, we decided to let them American it up with all kinds of bad fast food. Plus we had been having Thai food for lunch, so we actually have eaten some local food.
We passed this little shrine on the walk back. There are shrines everywhere; I was told there are 40,000 shrines in Thailand. Plus there are even more miniature shrines. Some look like little doll houses that are replicas. Even though I do not respect Buddhism, I have respect for the peoples' strong faith that they so proudly display.
Day 3 was a city tour of Phuket Island. We started with a quick stop at Banzaan seafood market. Lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, flowers, and seafood. Very cheap. Abe ate a large dinner here one evening for about $1.50.
Lots of fruits that I have never seen before. I think this furry grape-type thing is called longan, or dragon eyes because when it is peeled the inside is a white ball with a dark pit resembling an eye.
Our Phuket city tour continued to Kata Viewpoint.
This area was Nam Harn Windmill viewpoint. I thought there would be a neat antiquated windmill. Nope. It was one of the new fashioned type. White and big and kind of an eye sore. But the beach views were still gorgeous.
The Thais love their king. There are portraits of him everywhere. We went to
Star Wars Rise of Skywalker in Bangkok the day we left because we had time between checkout and the flight, and there was a time to stand to honor the king during their national anthem between 30 minutes of previews and ads before actual the start of the movie. His portrait is everywhere.
This area is called Promthem Cape, where we found this little elephant shrine. The Thais also love their elephants. They are seen as sacred because of Buddhism. It is the nation's national symbol, not only because it is viewed as sacred, but because of its strength, durability and longevity, or so I read.
There is a circle of elephants surrounding this statue. We think people donated them and continue to add little elephant statues to it.
Quite often there are food and drinks in front of statues and mini shrines.
We never asked, but I assume it is an offering of food and drink to the gods.
This is the part of the day that the kids were most excited for, and it was my highlight, as well.
We got to feed baby Bella!
Sweet Bella hugged us.
Then she planted a big ole kiss on our cheeks!
Big Buddha can be seen from many parts of Phuket because of its immense size (45 meters tall) and it is located on top of a hill. Construction started 15 years ago to honor the late King Rama (who was the people’s favorite and passed away 3 years ago) and is still under construction. Our guide said the people wanted to honor the king but the government said no, no more shrines. Consequently, the monument, all 30 millions bahts to date, has been built entirely from donations. There are approximately 1,000 visitors daily who add to the donation boxes located all along the property.
It is built from Burmese white jade marble and is beautiful.
Upon entrance the stairs are flanked with large serpent-type beings.
There is a miniature replica at the base. I'm tellin' ya, they like their mini-me's.
Thailand's literature attests Triphum Phra Ruang as a deity in the heavens who transforms himself to be a 33-headed elephant and is a symbol of fertility.
Many people were in line to receive blessings from monks.
Gold is seen as a blessing color, so there are many golden statues all around.
Look at the detail in this stone carving. Amazing work.
Got to keep this tour moving along...
Wat Chalong is over 200 years old. Wat means temple, and chalong means celebration. There are gold overlays everywhere, meaning blessings abound here.
I learned a bit about Buddhist monks. Once they dedicate themselves to being a monk, everything is free for them. They only eat two meals a day before noon, and those are provided by the people whose houses they visit. They must shave their
whole bodies (including down there). They are celibate and therefore may not touch a woman
at all (even a handshake), because this might pull their attention away from Buddha. This is the reason that women must cover their shoulders and legs when entering shrines.
I thought this picture inside the wat was interesting because it eludes to a naked woman under the covers. But women have to be covered, so why this picture?
Inside and outside the temples are gorgeous with so much effort put into the details.
The kids were fascinated with all the different curriencies in the donation box.
Just like a little princess.
There are lots of little wats within the temple grounds. As far as I could tell they are for different types of prayers. People are often setting off loud fireworks as a way to get the attention of the gods.
Even the ceilings are all very intricate.
These little guys had gold flakes and worshippers were taking the flakes off of them.
We toured Old Phuket City. Apparently there are Portuguese influences on the second floor structures and Chinese on the first floor. I could not tell a difference. The tsunami of 2004 took place on Patong Beach, which happened to be where our condo was located, but the effects did not reach Old Phuket City.
From Rang Hill we ran into some adorable little monkeys. We were warned to avoid touching them and saw some horrifying images of diseases they can cause.
That was sad, because I wanted to love them and hug them and pet them and squeeze them.
We made time for a cool drink on a neat swing.
Another afternoon spent in the pool cooling off after our tour.
In an effort to make it feel more like Christmas with presents, I put a description of the day's activities inside an envelope to open each day.
Christmas Eve was an activity day full of lots of fun things to do. Wat Tham Suwan Khuha is a temple inside a cave. I thought it was neat. The kids were unimpressed.
These little people are sitting right in front of the big guy.
He is labeled, "The Reclining Buddha." Buddhists believe in reincarnation upon death. I read somewhere that the reclining Buddha represents the entry of Buddha into Nirvana and the end of all reincarnations.
Once again, a little replica inside the same building of the big statue. This one is funny because his feet are sticking out of the box.
Out the back of the first cave there is even more cave to explore.
In 1890 King Rama V visited the cave and left some graffiti on the walls in the form of his name. Several other nobles have done so since.
I like caves and a temple inside a cave is a clever idea.
This picture was taken during a brewing fight. Said fight nor subsequent angry momma not pictured.
This place is nicknamed Monkey Cave because of the monkeys hanging around outside. Abe bought this bag of food to feed them, but this sneaky guy stole it right out of his hands and ate the whole thing by himself.
The babies hanging onto their mommas were cute.
I was holding a piece of food out and trying to video one of them taking it from my hands. Then this little guy ran up my leg, grabbed the corn and sat on my shoulder. It was the coolest thing ever, but all I could think of was those pictures of sick people I saw not even 24 hours before and I kept thinking, "Please don't bite me, please don't bite me."
From there we ventured to Ton Pari Wat Wildlife Sanctuary where we took a short hike to Sa Nang Manora waterfall.
Abe and the boys swam out there, and even though it was freezing, Daisy and I joined.
Lijee and Zeke tried catching the little fish.
We next shuttled to the white water rafting site. The shuttle buses sometimes had funny signs. No farting on this bus. Squeeze those cheeks together, big guy.
Our guide picked Daisy and me flowers for our helmets.
The views along the river were from a storybook, but photos do not do it justice. Rafting was one of our favorite activities of the trip.
We finished the adventure with lunch and ziplining.
The light was so bright I couldn't see to take the selfie. I got 4 of us and a 4-head.
Christmas Day was spent at the Phi Phi Islands (pronounced /pee-pee/). One of the most beautiful places ever. We started supes early so we could watch sunrise on the boat.
Totally worth the lack of morning sleep.
They said we might be able to see the sunrise. We started with those gorgeous orange skies that began to fade, so I thought we missed it. Then that tiny dot along the horizon appeared.
Very peaceful, rocking on the waves, watching the sun come up in all its glory.
In just a few minutes it was super bright. Shortly after that we made our first stop of the day at Bamboo Island.
It was nearly deserted at that time of day.
The boys climbed on the wall like we did on a Florida vacation a few years ago.
We were then treated to breakfast on the beach.
It doesn't get much better than this.
We hopped on the boat to see more of the Phi Phi Islands. This is Viking Cave. This guy collects the actual bird nests so people can make soup from it. Yes, soup from the nest. A bird called a swiftlet lays its eggs in a nest made from its saliva. Apparently it has many medicinal benefits and is expensive. After the babies hatch and are kicked out of the nest, it's left empty and it is then repurposed as bird nest soup. The little red logo is on the sign and we were told if we see it in the store it comes from this cave. We did, in fact, later spot it in stores.
From there we experienced the breathtaking beauty of Pileh Lagoon. Surrounded on three sides by high limestone cliffs, the turquoise waters are brilliantly emphasized.
The sun was dancing on the water.
We jumped in and swam for 15-20 minutes. We could see the tide rising during the time we were there. It gets up to the top of that dark line during high tide.
You can barely see boats on the water at the bottom of the cliffs, to give you an idea of how high they are.
Right on the entry way to the lagoon we got to snorkel.
Beautiful fish and coral.
The wind in my hair, sun on my face, waves rocking the boat, hum of the boat motor...I could spend all my days this, soaking up this scenery, including things like this cute little island on the left called Boot Island.
This is Maya Beach. Not much to look at now. The movie
The Beach was filmed here and consequently it was bombarded with tourists. It is now protected indefinitely for the coral and surrounding area to heal and grow.
Macaque monkey troops live on the rocks of Monkey Beach. The truth is, I had to pee so badly during this photo op that I couldn't really enjoy it.
Camel Rock Beach is where stopped for another snorkel time.
Once again, sparkling water, lots of colorful fish and interesting coral.
The last stop of the tour was for lunch and relaxation at Koh Rang Yai.
👆🏽my boys👇🏽
💓my always and forever💓
DanFam5 played a rousing game of Marco Polo before it was time to head back.
The next morning we said goodbye to Phuket with a little stroll to Patong Beach,
and a tuktuk ride back to the condo.
Hello, Bangkok! Notice Abe's on the phone looking up directions for our hotel. We thought it was a semi-short walk.
Turns out it wasn't. We took the metro, walked down busy sidewalks, past a junkyard in the middle of the city, down busy streets the size of alleys with no sidewalks, all while pulling and/or carrying our luggage, until we found our hotel.
The first dip in the pool was well deserved!
Eli couldn't find Zeke in the hotel. He went on the balcony and said, "Oh, there you are, watching TV." There were 3 or 4 big screens we could see from the room.
I enjoyed the setting sun.
I also liked watching the nightlife from above the busy streets.
I decided to go with a few historic sites of Bangkok for our next couple tours and days. The first day we took a tour van to catch the Maeklong Train. I noticed a couple things about Thailand toilets. One is the signage is always different and usually comical.
The second is that there are a lot of toilets like these:
which is the need for signs like these in the type toilets that Americans are used to.
A disturbing amount of toilets in Phuket (and even Korea, as far as that goes) do not have toilet paper. So many that when a vendor was selling rolls of tp outside of a restroom I took him up on it and carried it around in my purse. Sorta like an old grandma sticking a dinner roll in her purse.
I thought the kids would enjoy a train ride across the countryside on the Maeklong train.
Our guide pointed out these salt farms as we drove past. Only a month ago I would not have known what a salt farm was (if you do not know, refer to my Yesan Apple post).
Finally the train pulled into the station. It was insanity. Food stands were located right next to the tracks. You can see the shade umbrellas that are pulled back so the train did not hit them. The market earned the moniker 'umbrella pull down market' because that is exactly what happens when the train comes through. This market was established in 1905 and due heavily to tourism is still going strong.
I am looking straight down the window out of the train.You can see how close the items are to the track.
There were throngs of people to take pictures of the famous Maeklong Train.
We forced our way through the market, but it was nuts!
There were some stands with a few clothing items, some with candy, lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, and tons of seafood.
Not sure if it seems healthy to have all this fish out in the warm climate, but it must be because they do it daily. One hundred baht for those fish is about $3.
This is the same fish stand that I took a photo of from the train in the picture above.
There are actually streets for cars in this town, too, but the railway market is where the real action is.
Here are my people making our way through the crowds following the train leaving about 30 minutes after ours arrived. As the train passed, the umbrellas, items and people filled in the space as if nothing else had been there only moments before.
We jetted from the railway market to the floating market. We took a longtail speedboat along the canal to get there. This speedboat is not a speedboat like we took in Phuket. It's called a longtail 'speedboat' because there is a propeller connected to a really long pipe that the driver uses to steer it with. It's speedier than a person rowing, hence the name longtail speedboat.
Along the way I spotted another little doll house shrine.
This is the entry to the Damnoen Saduak floating market. It is the oldest and claimed to be the most famous floating market in Thailand. The Damnoen Sudak Canal is the longest canal in Thailand, with over 200 branches. It was built to connect the Mae Klong River with Chinese rivers to help with transportation and trade. Over 150 years and it is still used for trade, so I would say that was a wise business/political decision by King Rama IV.
First we had lunch inside the market.
Here's proof that we did not eat American fast food every meal.
It was very colorful, noisy and busy. Daisy and Eli learned the art of bartering as they purchased souvenirs.
As we boarded our longtail boat that took us to the shops of the market along the canal, our guide treated us to khan buang. These tasty little treats are crispy crepes filled with sweet meringue and topped with candied duck egg yolk. Apparently this is an ancient recipe dating 600 years back. We can see why it has stuck around.
We just floated along while our captain paddled the boat along the maze of canals from vendor to vendor.
We couldn't resit the famous coconut ice cream. The vendor floated their boat up to their ours, we made the transaction, received the goods, and she was gone. Almost like a drug deal.
Yum, and such pretty presentation!
We arrived back in Bangkok mid-afternoon. We had a hard time catching a taxi to the hotel. Although it wasn't very far (we took a taxi there), the time of day was too congested with traffic. Three drivers told us no. So we took the metro and walked from there.
We went down an alley that should have been a shortcut, but ended up being a dead end. Alas, we finally made it back.
One thing I noticed about Thailand was the cute little to-go bags they use for food. Just little cellophane bags tied at the top, resembling live fish you buy from Walmart or PetSmart. Even soup goes home in these.
I caught the sunrise on our way out the door to this next adventure.
The first stop of the day was the River Kwai Bridge.
Approximately 700 US servicemen were Japanese prisoners of war during WWII and were moved to Thailand and Burma and forced to work on the construction of the Thailand-Burma Railway Project. Three hundred fifty-six of these men died from disease, malnutrition, overwork and physical abuse.
The other end of the bridge boasts a couple temple statues.
Their bright color and beauty are a stark contrast to the POW camp recreation on the other side of the bridge.
I love this photo of the Daiser.
Our guide gave us lotus seeds to eat. I have taken pictures of the lotus pods in ponds, but had no clue you could eat the seeds inside.
She also gave us a sample of makham thet, or manilla tamarind. Who knew these fruits existed?
Our next stop was Mallika Village, "The Siamese Living Heritage City." The city 'aims to mirror the Siamese urban communities and commercial areas in 1905.'
This is what homes of the nobles looked like.
We had lunch in this little hut on the water.
My pad Thai was served on a weaved bowl and banana leaf. It was a little spicy, and as I was eating I had to sneeze. My mouth was full and I didn't want to spray food everywhere so I tried to contain my sneeze. The spices went straight up into my head and gave me the oddest sensation ever! It was like I was cooking on the inside of my head. It quickly passed but was a super strange sensation.
In an attempt at keepin it real, we were forced to trade our bahts for Mahn coins, or the traditional coins of a Siamese village in the early 1900s. It felt like buying carnival coupons at the Texas State fair to purchase fried foods.
The village was serene and pretty.
The mango sticky rice is a famous Thai snack and had to be tried.
We got a unique view of the village from a rickshaw ride. In the early 1900s rickshaw rides were provided by Chinese immigrants living in the there.
We enjoyed one more train ride along the Thai-Bura Railway, otherwise known as Death Railway. Over 100,000 laborers (mostly POWs) died during the 16-month construction between 1942-43. The completed railway was 250 miles long between Thailand and Burma which aided the Japanese war effort.
We did not ride the train all the way to the River Kwai Bridge that we saw earlier in the day, but we did cross over Thamkra Sae.
The train passed many fields along the tracks. Our guide said Thailand is called the Kitchen of the World due to its large production of Jasmine rice, coconut, bananas, pineapple, lychee, and sea food, just to name a few.
The guy in orange is a monk. All the monks wear orange so they are well spotted and respected. I wonder if they get a choice as to where they live and serve or if they are assigned places. This monk’s life is way different from those we saw in Phuket and Bangkok.
I saw many of these type of bushes. I later learned it is cassava, which is used for elephant food.
Now for one of our favorite parts of the whole trip...
Upon arrival at Chang Puak Camp we floated on a raft down the Kwai Noi River.
It was very peaceful. We were floating with the current, listening to birds chirp and that's about it.
But then our tour guide said we could jump in and chaos ensued.
Lijee was the first brave one to jump.
Then the whole DanFam5 joined him.
So much for that peaceful bamboo ride.
When we came to shore it was
ELEPHANT TIME! It was nothing short of magical.
We got to feed them. Remember those lotus seeds from earlier? Turns out elephants like those.
You can drop them in their trunk or they can suck it up out of your hand.
They also like grass and leaves.
The guys asked if anyone wanted to be picked up on his trunk. Yes please!
Such sweet, gentle giants.
We even got to bathe them!
These big logs kept floating by. The guy would tell us, "Chocolate, chocolate."
This time the kids tried the trunk ride, too.
After bathing we fed them some more. They knew to eat lotus seeds and grass, but when we gave them baht bills, they knew to hand it to the trainer. How did they know, I have no clue. Smart little boogars.
Before they left they gave us kisses. The elephant would put his trunk up to your cheek for a minute and then give a loud smack as he pulled it off.
We adored the elephants. A definite favorite!
Our last full day in Thailand. I'm not gonna lie. Eli was the happiest when we let him eat at McDonald's. This was his first McD's breakfast in 5 months. He was pleased.
My people were tired of tours and ready to go home. We took it easy with a hop on-hop off river boat.
Chinatown, or Yaowarat by its local name, was packed. It is known as the road that never sleeps. Wat Mangkon Kamalawat is directly behind us. Here was saw several young monks, like in their early teens. I wonder if that is their choice of livelihood, or if the idea of 'free living' enticed them/their parents? Apparently people frequent this temple in an effort to 'change the bad fortune bestowed upon them according to their zodiac for the year.'
See all those wires? They were everywhere and not out of reach. Apparently people do not get hurt by them but it looks pretty dangerous to me.
A little shrine right in the middle of Chinatown.
Abe loved the street food as much as Lijee loved McDonald's.
Remember bird nest soup? Here is that brand at the store.
I found it interesting that street signs are green, just like at home.
Wat Kalayanamit is a famous in Bangkok. It was built in 1825. The Phra Buddha Trail Rattanayok is enshrined in the center.
Wat Arun is known as the Temple of Dawn. It was built during the Ayutthaya period, around 300 years ago.
Look at the detail on this.
Notice the portraits of the king and queen in the front.
There are two of these flanking the entrance to the chapel. They are called the Giant Guardians.
The boys are performing a sacrifice.
The river was very busy with tourist boats. Bangkok was the world's most visited city in 2018, so that might have something to do with it. The colorful boat pictured is a longtail speedboat. You can see the long stick that holds the propeller.
Wat Pho has a reclining Buddha enshrined within.
My bicycle enthusiasts.
I liked the bicycle artwork at Tha Maharaj.
We got suckered into a long tuktuk ride. First we negotiated for the ride we wanted, then we got suckered into a long one we didn't want. But we got to see parts of Bangkok that we otherwise would not have. So there's that.
This sign was in the tuktuk. We decided it meant you shouldn't eat beans, beans, the musical fruit.
This temple is one that is off the tourist path that our long tuktuk ride took us to.
Back to tourist time at the mall.
We had a lazy day on travel day. I watched a market man wheeling in his cart full of fresh veg on the street below. Later when I ate on the street I tried to see if I could spot which one was him but I couldn't tell.
Daisy and I started our lazy morning with a swim.
We had a bit of time to kill at the airport.
This was about 2:00am while we were waiting on our connecting flight.
We spent the night on the plane. The morning sun rising from the clouds was a sight to behold.
The early stages of planning this trip included cheap airfare and hotels. However, once we added activities and food for so many days, the trip was anything but cheap. However, we saw a part of the world we have never seen before and made some wonderful memories!
