Phuket, Thailand

Hi family,I expect you're all preparing for Easter and many of you are off on Spring Break. Happy Easter!! Tia and Sara's school's vacation was last week and we went to Phuket, Thailand. Burasari Resort was on Patong beach (the busiest place on the island) and every time we traveled the 170 steps from the lobby to the beach, we were surrounded by new sights and experiences. Most of our wanderings were in search of the best Pad Thai cooked at one of the small street stalls. The food vendors transport their wok, serving dishes, numerous ingredients, on small kitchen attached to their bicycle.

I think the girls' favorite time was running and cartwheeling in the soft sand in the evenings after dinner. We watched several lanterns being lit and floating into the night. Vendors offered ones for us to purchase and launch ourselves but Tia's keen observation was "what a waste of money Dad! they just float away."

Sara's goal for the trip was to go snorkeling and we accomplished it on a cruise to the Phi Phi Islands. Maya beach is the most beautiful beach you'd ever see- if you could just figure a way to get rid of all those jillions of tourists and cruise boats. :-) We ended up snorkeled with LOTS of brightly colored fish but the coral was still pretty devestated from the tsunami. Tia decided her goal for the trip was to try parasailing. "Oh no" was Mom and Dad's initial response but on the last day both Tia and Sara took a turn. One fellow climbed into the parachute lines for every trip to help guide it. They went pretty HIGH but each girl was thrilled and landed safely in the soft sand.

Several days we just relaxed on the beach, played in the sand and swam in the warm sea. Beach food from the vendors was good but for one meal Quyen walked the girls across the street for BurgerKing. They were still barefoot in their swimsuits! - What a life. :-)Phuket is a very international vacation destination so we recreated with people of many nationalities. Tia and Sara learned how to say banana in Australian "nana" and thank you in Thai "cap cuhn cah" (cap cuhn cap" if you're a boy). They also kept us posted on what direction to avert our eyes to avoid seeing the topless European sunbathing ladies. Most were 50plus years old. Quyen observed that the super-model topless sunbathers must've been at another beach.

The highlight of our trip was sea canoeing through the limestone caves and Hongs (lagoons). What interesting landscape! I've created a separate blog entry for the "Hong by Starlight" tour.

Now we're home and the kitty is happy to have her girls back to provide limitless attention.

Love ya, Paula

Phuket "Hong by Starlight"

Hi Grandaddy (and the rest of our family),We are in Phuket right now and on the last day of a wonderful vacation. Yesterday we went on a tour called the "Hong by Starlight".

We traveled on a 20-person ferry-type boat into Phang Nga Bay and went "sea caving", paddling inflatable sea canoes through beautiful limestone caves to explore numerous Hongs (limestone lagoons). The caves were filled with with mystery- sparkling stagtites, small bats attached above, and some portions so pitch-dark Tia and Sara giggling reached for their flashlights.

The Hongs held further sights, high limestone walls decorated with jungle-like trees and vines, small long-tail mackau monkey families near the shore, and mangrove trees rising from the muddy bottom on their tangled roots. Sara had fun spotting the next cave to explore. Depending on the tide-level, some were impassable and some we could barely squeeze through.

When back at the boat we had freetime for swimming and paddling, but we had to lookout for the jellyfish! Tia's big grin was fun to watch when she was paddling the canoe.

To recreate the traditional Buddhist offering to the sea, we decorated our own Loi Kratong with banana leaves, flowers, candles, and incense sticks. After a wonderful seafood dinner at sunset we re-boarded our inflatable canoes. The tide had risen so some so we had to lay flat in the bottom of our crafts to maneuver through the dark caves into a Hong. After we launched the candle-lit Kratongs, the sight of them floating on the dark peaceful sea was simply beautiful. I asked Sara how she remembered it- "Peaceful Sea" were he words.

What a fantastic experience!

Indonesia Week

Happy St. Patty's Day everyone! Girls me me coming out of the shower this morn. singing "you don't have any green on!" (I was just a towel) and pinched me. Sneaky little buggers.

This is a busy week. Gir's school is celebrating "Indonesia Week" so assemblies/festivals, special vendors, and cultural displays every day this week. Monday Tia's class taught us parent how to play gamelan music and Sara's class performed a special dance about rice harvesting for the whole school.. Tuesday was a holiday to honor Hindu New Year "Nyepi" and Quyen arrived home from his fishing trip to Alor.

Today's St. Patrick's Day so I got pinched (see comment above), and Satuday is the start of Spring break. Through it all, they get to dress-up every day of Indonesia week. Monday they wore traditional Indo clothes of kabaya and batik print skirt and today wore their sarongs for Bali day. Busy but fun.

Love you all! Paula

P.S. Mental note: buy some green towels for next year! :-)