Quick Overview of Thailand

Here is the first half of our trip to Thailand... a quick and dirty overview! Like I said before, Aaron did a much better job at summing up our adventures pre-Bangkok, so I will still advertise for it! (link on the right "Aarons blog"). However, I felt like I should still write a bit about it! Sorry if its a repeat! As for pictures..... well....... Im really exhausted from this weekend, and honestly, Im feeling kinda lazy, so if y'all could just go to the pictures link and see for yourself, itd be wonderful! Thanks!

Adam, Aaron and I all decided we needed a little break from the Japanese life and what better place to do that than Phuket! As it was the beginning of the rainy season in Thailand we were expecting it to be rainy, of course, but to our pleasant surprise it hardly rained at all! However, it was super hot and humid, pretty much like Japan in August.... yay.... But, we spent most of our time on Patong Beach where we lazed around on the beach, tried to get tan but ended up getting very, very burned! Aaron slathered on oil while I slathered on sunblock, but after playing in the very warm water and jumping in the waves, I promptly forgot all about my skin and forgot to reapply the sunblock.... Payback for being stupid I guess! Adam was the smart one, always under the shade of the beach umbrella!

Anyway, we took a few excursions! One day we decided to rent a car and go exploring. We went to a national park area (aka jungle) where there was supposedly a waterfall that we hiked for over an hour to find and couldnt! Aaron is accostumed to driving in Japan, so for him driving on the left side was no problem at all. However, as this was a new experience for Adam and I, it was a bit nerve-racking! With Aaron in the passenger's seat playing driving instructor, and me feeling like I was 15 all over again with a tendency to hug the outer line, things got a little interesting! I think I almost took out a biker, a pedestrian and ran over the curb a couple times while turning left.... luckily, nothing bad happened, but there were a LOT of close calls. It was a good thing we opted for the automatic. Had we gotten the manual I would have either been doing all the driving myself or have had to teach both the boys how to drive stick... on the left side. Honestly, I think it would have been a bit too much!

We also took an island tour around the Phi Phi Islands which included snorkeling! That was my favorite part, since every time Id been snorkeling before, it was either too dark, too murky or there just weren't any cool fish! This time, though, was fantastic.... especially for those of us who don't need glasses to see farther than 3 feet (sorry guys!).

The boys also went to a Muay Thai (aka Thai Boxing) match, which they said was really interesting. I guess there were a few matches at the beginning with little kids fighting! Supposedly they start out early and stick with it for life. They said the kids were even more vicious than the adults!

While we were there, we ran into a dutch guy who has owned a restaurant there for awhile. We ended up talking about the tsunami and how it impacted the island. He said that the residents themselves dont talk about it much and dont seem as affected or sad as we might think they would. According to him, Patong Beach was getting really dirty and trashy with all the tourists and the food carts all over the beach. When the tsunami it, it washed everything away and, according to the people there, its actually cleaner and better now than before. I guess it just needed a good washing! He told us that some people died, and of course that was sad, but that the residents accept the tsunami as something natural that just happens sometimes. I thought that was really interesting. Im sure the situation was different in other places, though.

Over all, and despite our adventure in actually getting to Thailand (we got stuck in Beijing for 24 hours... nightmare to say the least) and the atrociously hot and humid weather in Bangkok, the trip was glorious and a much needed and much appreciated vacation!