Sunday, July 31, 2005

Round Trip

No glasses with me, and 5 days left of the trip, so this one will be a little shorter than the last.

We are back in Phi Phi. I want to cry. I want to laugh. I want to hug everyone on the island, and avoid some of it all at the same time.

It's been about a month since i was here, and right off the ferry, I could see what had changed (see photos- left side is June, right side, July- same places). The HiPhiPhi main center had moved, a few new restaurants were open. Several stores are now selling things that the surviving children have made during 'art therapy', and a way to continue raising funds for the rebuilding effort. We stopped and saw Lek, the woman who I (you) donated money to in order to continue health improvements with her leg. SHe recognized me at once, though couldn't quite place why. She has visiited with the doctors, and will go to her family in Trang for more work, but it looks promising. Her smile continues to be infectuous. she waves each time we walk by, holds my arm when we stop for a minute.










We took the same tsunami walk that I took with Jamie a month ago. The trash that had been piled up- what the volunteer divers had been dragging from the ocean- has been removed. Tourism, though still only at 15% of normal, is double what it was only a month ago! There is a lot still, to do. But it is being done, and seeing what is possible, really makes me impressed with the organization. On a side note, one of the links on the HIPhiPhi.com website, is Krabirelief.com. My students chose to donate, and I wanted to visit. In my head, I envisioned an orphanage- I will explain more alter, but I visited with the director of the program in AoNang, an AMercian ex-pat. He knew the names and stories of each child in the book. And many of them are from Phi Phi. All of this makes me certain that the money donated is going 100% to those in need.









for a few hours, i felt incredibly guilty that when we left Ranong, we didn't come back here. My stomache ached when I started counting how many days we could have been here, we could have made a difference. But then I recalled my swollen arms, and our not-so-happy bellies, and our reason for going north in the first place=to get well in a cooler climate. And although I didn;t pick up a hammer or a paintbrush as often as I had imagined and hoped, I donated in larger quantities. In the end, more money was spent than originally expected. And each person was gracious for the tourist dollars, for their livelihoods, for their dilapidated businesses.

It was easy for me to overlook my original anxiety about coming here- the age of most of the tourists, the excessive drinking, the 'this could be anywhere' feel of Koh Phi Phi. Those things are still true, but this time I had the experience of meeting the people for whom this is their life, their family, their love. I strongly urge those of you who are travelers to come out here to Phi Phi, or to Sri Lanka, or wherever is appealing- even though stretching of your comfort zones. Even in the midst of Ground Zero, there is a way to enjoy paradise, and know that by coming here, you are doing a great service to those who rely on our vacations for their everyday lives.

I'll leave it at that for now.
Thinking of you...

Friday, July 29, 2005

Pad Thai in your purse

Yes, you read it right. So for the most part, we have encountered edible if not excellent food. There has certainly been the occasional laughter, or careful, "hmmm... this is interesting." But usually, things go down gracefully, and life is good. Tonight, however, was a different story. But before THAT explanation, you have to know how we got here- to Koh Lanta.

We awoke this morning, quite early, even for Robinsons (those who know us, understand what this means), after a self-imposed late night for Shana's birthday. Since we were getting picked up at 10:00, we made sure to be ready by 8:30.Ha. And then we got in a seangtheaw, which is basically an extra long pick-up with a bench seat along each side, with all four of our backpacks (don't start), and drove to another hotel to pick up someone with another two backpacks, and then to the pier to pick up a Spanish couple with rolling suitcases, which, if you have ever traveled- I mean, going from place to place to place, via bus, boat and van, then you know this isn't the most efficient packing device. About 40 minutes later, we were dropped off at a site in Krabi town, to await our air-conditioned minivan. And THEN, there was the fact that the mini van seated 9, w/o luggage, which we all had A LOT of. We picked up yet another couple with several bags, and finally, an hour and a half after we left (but only 10 km further), we were on our way.
The minute the van started on the highway, English heavy metal started blaring throughout the luggage packed van (imagine legs and arms laying across random baggage) at a volume I think even college freshmen would find offensive,. But nobody said a word ,other than the sideways glances you give your traveling companion, in hopes that you aren't the only one!. An hour and a half hair-raising hours later, we got to the FIRST ferry crossing. And then drove some more, and then the SECOND ferry crossing, and then drove some more, until there was a pick-up. An ordinary pick-up, with no seats in the back, but plenty of room for all of the backpacks and a bar to lean against, brought us to our low season hideaway guesthouse, perched above the beautiful ANdaman Sea, swimming pool and stray dogs ready for our arrival.

You can fill in the blanks about the room, and the food (remember the title) because now we are being told that we have to sign off in ten minutes. And so the story goes, that we will be doing the same trip again tomorrow morning, bright an early, back to Krabi town, to catch a two hour ferry to go to Phi Phi and call it a good time. So it all ends where it begins, and with it, another story will surface. SO with that I say good bye for now. I am sad I am at the end of this journey, but grateful I got to take it at all.
Look forward to seeing you!
Rebecca

Sunday, July 24, 2005

End of the northern hiatus


Somehow, I feel like I went on 'break'. But I am back at the beaches in the south, now, back to having the tsunami in the forefront of my mind, visually, and mentally, rather than on the back burner.

Our week in Chiang Mai was unplanned, and a must needed recooperation from what transpired, and didn't transpire in Ranong. Although I was somehwat disappointed in the whole thing, I haven't lost my drive to help, nor have I lost any respect for United Planet. I have already been in contact with one of the coordinators, and if nothing else, I believe it is and will be a grand learning experience all the way around.

Jamie and I took a day trip to Ayyuthya, the second capital of the Kingdom of Siam (now Thailand) about an hour north of Bangkok. It was really interesting and fun. We took a bus to get there and stopped at the summer palace, which was strange architecturally. It looked like the king who built it couldn't make up his mind whether to build it Thai style, or European style, so there are mixes everywhere. For example a statue of Venus, or the like, stands tall along the bridge, and in it;s background is an enlarged Thai spirit house in the water. Another strange one was a traditional Thai cottage, with lattice added, and a pink a white paint job that made it look like an English Tea House.

The ruins of Ayyuthya were beautiful, and a bit sad, as most of the Buddhas had been beheaded by the Burmese from a previous war. After viewing many ruins and temples, we headed back to Bangkok on teh Chao Praya river. Also in Bangkok, we visited the Royal Palace, Wat Pho, and Jim Thompson's house. All very interesting, and I won't go into detail.

Shana arrived, and the three of us headed to Siem Reap, Cambodia, to see the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat. It was like being on a field trip- our guide taught us so much and was so gracious. This, I will go into detail on in another posting, but I need the pictures to jog my memory, and there is a sunset over the beach, behind an enormous rock covered in palm trees that needs my immediate attention.


Peace to all of you!
Rebecca

Saturday, July 16, 2005

on our way to bangkok


Only have a second, but wanted to take advantage of a fast computer that I can send group email on!
Hope this finds you all healthy and well. We have been in CHiang Mai for nearly a week, and are now ready to go. It has been an adventure so far. After a week in rural Bang Ben, we decided NOT to go on a trek and sleep on the floor in village houses. Instead, we took a one day 'trek', sort of an appetizer plate of all the things trekking is popular for. We started out the day taking an hour long ride on an elephant. Our mahout (guide) seemed totally uninterested. He perched himself on top of the elephant's head, feet dangling on the bridge of the elephant's nose. He smoked cigarettes, and hummed the same song for the entire trip. Behind us was another elephant, with her baby girl chained to her, learning what mom was doing. The baby elephant started 'talking back' to his mom, and we ALL heard about it. I had no idea the little ones couple be so vocal! An hour later, we visited a Hmong village, learned a little aqbout how they live, and mostly, how they have modernized. Next, we hiked to a waterfall in the rain. Jamie was a bit scared, because it was slippery. But it was fun nonetheless. On the way, we say jackfruit and papaya and mango trees (all of them make me itch just thinking about it). The waterfall was pretty, but nothing like the one wwe swam in in Ranong. Finally, we took a trip to a Karen village, and then took a bamboo raft down the river. This is much different than the nice boats we take river rafting in the states. It is just ten rings (?) of bamboo tied together. The 'guide' stands on the front of the boat and uses a bamboo pole to guide the boat. Then there is someone on the back, also steering.

Well, within the first twenty minutes, we realized there were rapids on this river, and ten minutes after that, 2 of thefour of us fell in. Not the fun kind of falling in, either. At first, I tried to hold onto the boat, and then I realized it would be safer if I pushed it away, and just went downstream with my feet up. So that's what I tried to do, swallowing disgustingly brown water on the way. When all was said and done, everyione was fine. Wet, and a little sore, but fine. We were quite happy with our choice not to spend a night.

We did a lot more, too, but really enjoyed our time relaxing here in Chiang Mai. We head to Bangkok in a few hours, and meet up with Shana tomorrow night. THen off to Cambodia's Angkor wat on the 21st. Hope to hear from you soon!Love, Rebecca

Monday, July 11, 2005

off we go


How do I sum up a week in one entry?
Jamie and I arrived in Ranong on SUnday, July 3rd, spent the night in the small town which has a small tourist center, as it is the place to go to renew your Thailand visa in nearby Burma (Myanmar). We were told to meet our United Planet rep at the KiwiOrchid Guesthouse at 10:00 am on Monday. When we got there, there were several other volunteers from many different organizations. Our representative turned out to be a rep named Ralph, from Greenway, a Thai organization funded by a man named Patrick, who is originally Dutch, but moved here over twenty years ago. Intuition was at a peak, and I whispered to Jamie, "we can leave after a week if this isn't what we signed up for."

At the table, we were told that United Planet (3 of us) and Commondo (Dutch- 6 people) would be building a Muy Thai boxing gym, with the hopes of turning it into a community center, with library, etc. The others would be going to the national park and helping making and painting chairs so they could re-open for tourism. Right away, I was thinking that was more suited for me and Jamie, but kept quiet at first. We were driven to the 'volunteer house' where we were told what our schedule would be- breakfast at homestay, Thai lessons for one hour, then work. There was a cultural and educational component, which is one of the things that Jamie and I liked. But the Commondo group had been told they would be doing construction the entire time. SO right away, we recognized that there was lack of communication between organizations, which I think is typical in any country. We had lunch, and asked when we would see our homestays. We were told very soon, and waited, watching the rain, and staring at the mosque accross the narrow road for several hours, doing nothing ,really, but waiting to get to our new homes with our luggage. We asked for the third time, and finally, we were able to go meet our new 'family'.


The drive was wet, the area was wet, and very green because of it. There were marshes everywhere, with egrets and buffalo roaming around. Small houses, some made of concrete right on the land, some made of wood and risen on stilts, dotted the road. Families of three and four traveled past us via motorbike (yes, all of them on one bike, no helmets), most of the women wearing the Muslim headdresses. We got to our home last, a small concrete bungalow resting precariously on the muddy banks of one of the many rivers that made the village of Bang Ben an island. The roof was tin, and everything inside smelled of mothballs. Mami Nom was a beautiful woman, older, non-Muslim, but not quite Buddhist. We heard later, she was actually Lao, but not many people in town know that. She showed us her kitchen, which was out the back door, across some wodden planks, into a shack, basicaly, tin roof again. But the shack was constructed with sticks, stick floor, stick walls. There wre three gas burners inside, and she sat on the floor cooking, talking to us in Thai, while we just kept responing with 'Uh-huh" as if we understood. My bedroom was accesses two ways- one, from the outside, the other, through a small window in the bathroom (yes, that is how I got to the bathroom at night- through the window). The bathroom was nothing I had ever seen before. There was an eastern toilet in the ground (a.k.a. 'squatty pottie'), sovered with a board, and a bucket full of water next to it, with a tupperware scoop floating on top. This is how you 'flush' the toilet- by scooping clean water into the bowl until everything goes down (right into the river, I assume,as all the food and washing did, but I never asked). Nect to the toilet was a cement tub, filled with rainwater from the roof pouring into the gutter, and then running through a pipe, which was interesteing during torrential rain, as it filled rather quickly. Floating in this tub was also a scoop, meant for bathing.
Thais bathe about three times a day this way, and you NEVER get into the tub, as it spoils the clean water. So you scoop water out of the cement, stand next to it, usually next to a hole in the cement wall for drainage (again, into the river) and you pour it over yourslef. It takes quite a while, and was a bit cold. As there were a lot of western volunteers in the area, we could talk about this new experience freely, and one of the English guys coined it 'taking a scoop' instead of the usual 'taking a shower'. Food was good, however, it was often cooked hours before we were ready to eat it, and although it was kept covered and away from bugs, I think this is the reason I have been having some stomach issues. Jamie had them a bit, too. I could write for hours about our experioence with Mommie Nom and her daughter Miss Pen. But I will save your eyes from the reading now, and write more another time, or share with you all in person.

Volunteering- as I mentioned before, MOnday was pretty much a travel day rather than a work day which didn't make too much sense to me, as the other volunteers were there Sunday. We all met- all 26 of us, and our Thai leaders, and Ralph, at the Wasana Resort in Laem Son National Park (the village of Bang Ben is pretty much part of the park). Lucky Jamie and I- we were right next door, and, maybe unfortunately in some ways, spent all of our evenings there as it was clean and bright, and remarkably absent was the smell of mothballs. VOlunteers came from all across Europe, the UK, and the States, which was very fun. We all shared stories and wondered what would happen when weactually started working. Tuesday, after Thai lessons, we drove up to the site for the gym. I have to insert here, that until Thursday, it was raining cats and dogs, which offered us a respite from the heat, and I also found my ankles again. But it was hard to see or move quickly as it was sheets of water. The site was covered with trees- palms, banana, and some other that I would soon find out was poisonous. We sat down in the volunteer house across the street to discuss the plan. I was feeling completely out of my comfort zone, and to make it more strange, Ralph decided I would be the 'manager' and lead the meetings, and make lists of what we needed. This made no sense to me, as we had two building contractors in our group. I think Ralph was trying to have us do 'the teambuilding' thing, but it seemed like a waste of time. He also said we had to wait for the things we needed, which we argued was a waste of time, as we could at least clear the plot while we waited for the proper equipment. So we took charge, and started digging. And clearing. And raking. And sawing. And Jamie and I and a few other....less handy.....dragged branches and logs and things to a burn pile. Again, intuition told me this wasn't good, as when I touched one particular tree, I felt stickiness. A week later, and I have blisters up and down my arms and hands which took 3 visits to the doctor (the one in Bang Ben didn't know English and kept saying chicken pox, and gave me antibiotics for 1.50 US which I didn't take, but will keep in my med bag for future probs if needed)- the doctor at the airport agreed with my personal prognosis and gave me the right topical treatment, and it is still disgusting, but getting better.

After the trees were cut down and dragged, it was time to start digging holes which would have to wait until Wednesday. Then it was mentioned that we would not go to the school Wed- we would dig holes. The group was all on the same page, the leader not. He wanted us all to 'be together' and we decided that 'being together' meant for us that we all did what we felt most useful doing, so again, we took charge and Jamie and I went to the school on Wed. We were told on the spot that we would teach English. The teacher walked out of the room full of 15 year olds, leaving us alone. Um, ok. Now, being a teacher, I was able to handle it well, and Jamie was brilliant at bouncing off me, and picking a few activities that suited her comfort level. It was a great experience- one I would actually hope to do long term in a Spanish speaking country in the near future- but not one we were prep[ared for. ANd then we waited. And waited. And finally were brought back to the boxing gym, where it was still pouring, and everyone was soaking wet, wrinkled and filthy, digging holes. We opted out. The tools they had were primitive at best, and several of us felt it unsafe to handle them in such a downpour. The next morning, everyone came to the table with their frustration, that this was not a priority- to do heavy construction in the poourning rain. ANd as we were all told this was what the Thais wanted, we were all frustrated seeing that there were no Thais working on it. THe other group of 17- the ones building and painting chairs? 11 of them left as there was no work for them to do.

Patrick, the leader of Greenway, came and talked with all of us, and we decided to migrate to the painting group, as that was more our capability. He was fine with that. Ralph was not. The groups decided to merge completely and we went to the beach. This seemed right. The beach was devoid of any humans, as the villagers were completely frightened of the sea. This is where we thought we could make the difference. So we all started cleaning. We dug up fishing traps that had washed on shore 6 months ago, and had been buried under wet sand for months. We picked up trash- old shoes, styrofoam from the traps, ropes, nets. It was a mess. When we all had dinner together that night we felt good. We didn;t build chairs because the Thais were busy doing it, which felt even better, showing us that is what they wanted. But it started raining again, and it wasn't possible to clean as everything blew out of the bags, out of our hands. We sawed apart three fallen trees, but again, too many people for one job. So we left.

Any regrets? No, not at all. We had a cultural experience that will never be forgotten. We met fantastic people from all over the world! We brought our smiles and our dollars to an area where there are no tourists. We walked to the beach every day, with children looking to see where we were going, some adults even coming to see. We showed we cared. I will assume that United Planet and Greenway's lack of communication with each other and with the volunteers was specific to our experience, and remember that both strive to make a difference. For this, I am not angry. But we felt like we weren't doing anything, and would rather see more (which in the big picture means spend more, which was part of the original goal). Hopefully we can get a small refund and redirect it to HiPhiPhi. We shall see when we actually have a chat with UP. And that is how it will have to stand for now.


So here we sit, after a luxurious night of air conditioning, clean white sheets, a tub and shower, and a pedicure, in Chiang Mai. We will go on some sort of Hill Tribe adventure here, after my stomach settles and my weird skin thing clears up a bit. All is well in paradise- being here reminds me how everything is possible. We were in a remote seaside village with no public transport and were told we couldn't get a flight out for a few days. Yet, we made it happen by just saying "ok. but take us to the airport anyway". 4 hours later, 2 plane trips on different airlines, not pre-booked, costing a total of less than 100 dollars, we are hours and hours away, missing some things, grateful for others. ANd with that, I will say goodbye, take care and I do enjoy your emails, so please write!!!

Much love....
Rebecca

Sunday, July 03, 2005

Has anyone seen my ankles?

I swear they were here a few weeks ago. I have been poking and pulling at my mosquito-bitten skin, and I can't seem to find those two little bones on either foot! IT IS SOOOOO HOT! They have gone into hiding.


Here I sit in Ranong town, a much more Thai town than we have been in. I have only seen two other farang. Here, we pay Thai prices for the internet- 15 baht an hour. That is about 42 cents. Of course, you pay for what you get, and it has taken me an hour to send two emails, but, like they say around here, mai ben rai. We head out for the village tomorrow, and I wanted to take a little time to write about what has been settiling in my brain, and my heart, and what I have been seeing.

Phi Phi seems like weeks ago. WIth the date change, we only ended up being there three full days, and only volunteered one, as Friday is a 'day off' for all volunteers. As tourists, we experienced massages every day, fabulous food (though I think I need to bring in a picture of a plum and a picture of a pig and tell them that plums don;t have teeth) beautiful water, a strenuous hike, monkeys, snorkeling. We hired a longtail to take us out to Phi Phi Leh again after a hard trip the first day that led us to stick around the island due to waves. It was more beautiful than I remembered, and snorkeling felt ok over there, as the island is uninhabited. later the same day, we hiked to the viewpoint where you can see Ao Dalam bay and Ton Sai bay meet in a narrow isthmus, and could see where, exactly, the wave came and left. From here you could see that Ton Sai was full of anchored boats- diving boats, a couple of fishing boats, a few speedboats (annoying), and about twenty longtail boats. A lot, but less than I remember. On the other side, absolutely nothing. This is not how it used to be.

There was a man at the top restaurant who told us all about that day, and since he spoke so much English we were able to ask him a lot more. My memory was fresh fish outside every restaurant, and on this trip, it was non-existent in most. It was on the menu, but never available. I thought maybe the fishermen were scared, or there weren't enough tourists to warrant to many fish. But it turns out that our little war in the middle east has driven up gas prices everywhere, and the fisherman cannot AFFORD to fish as they used to. Probably not news to a lot of you- I am sure on some level I knew that. But at home, it is always so easy to just get caught up in the effects at home.
Anyway, he was a wealth of information about trees, places, the tsunami, it was interesting. All of this was discussed over the most amazing view that I am not going to even try to put into words, because there is no way, absolutely no way to explain it.

So what do I think now about Phi Phi after my first memory of it? A little differently. The people have touched me in a way that the ending of your favorite book sticks with you somewhere in your mind. In the same was I can still recite Stay Gold, by Robert Frost, twenty years after I learned it, I think I will remember Lek, Mr. Lee, and many of the places and things I saw for the rest of my life. Amidst the war zone, hope prevailed. Yes, it is still full of vodka and red bull buckets, fire dancing, and 22 year olds. Yes, there is still the untz untz that drowns out the sound of the waves gently lapping against the shore. But I can overlook all of that, knowing that they are all there helping the THAI people who love Phi Phi and call it home. I know I will come again, to check up on the people of the island, to see what will happen when the government makes up its mind on what to do about building. HOPE will stick with me, as I will remember the one day that I helped scrape paint off cement poles, avoiding, but drawn to, the little shrine for the 4 year old that will never be forgotten. And you better believe the SF Chron is going to get a letter to the editor about their story, as it completely overlooked the work of the volunteers, and didn't mention that the island is not only acccessible to day-trippers, but to people who want to stay as well. Thailand does not end with the "one German tourist having lunch with a bored looking Thai woman". Hello? People who have been here before could tell you exactly why she was looking bored, and it had little to do with the lack of tourist. SHe was working. Interesting they chose to puclish that in such an undertone. Sorry- I digress. Would I recommend Phi Phi to someone over 30 wanting to travel to Thailand? Yes, if they were interested in helping, but the things that I didn't like about it before still exist. Yes, if they avoided going out at night other than a leisurely dinner during low season. I am sure there will be more to process about that later.

We spent last night in a fancy western-style hotel (22 US including breakfast) in Karon beach, Phuket. I think I already blogged about getting stuck in the middle of the ocean with a funnel cloud. Still have sea legs.Mai ben rai. We met a really nice couple from Salinas/Santa Cruz in the taxi to Karon. Teachers, of course, and an easy connection for the obvious reasons. Phuket was empty. We could have counted the people in town. Restaurants were open, but there was rarely more than three people in them. Very sad. It made it hard to be happy about a good deal. We went to Patong briefly to shop, and I didn't have the ill-feeling I thought I would after my last horrible experience there (which seems to be quite common with the non-partying thirty something crowd. Yay! I am not alone). We also tried to book our flight from Ranong to Bangkok, and no one seemed to know if that was possible. Thought of a ten hour bus ride to Bangkok loomed heavy, and I got a bit anxious to leave for Ranong and get that all worked out.

This morning we woke up and took a taxi to the bus station for the 10:00 bus (5 hours) to Ranong. Well, typical of Thailand, nobody really has the answer, but they don;t want to loose face and tell you, and there was no bus at 10:00. It was at noon, which would put us in Ranong at night. So we hired a taxi for 75 bucks to drive us 4 hours, rather than waiting 2 for a 5 hour bus. Around 11"00, we passed the 8:00 bus!!! Driving up here wqas beautiful, green verdant valleys with huge mountains. It reminded me a bit of Costa Rica. About an hour into the trip, we got to Khao Lak. Somehow I had pictured this a bit off the main highway, but no. The destruction was massive, all the way to and somewhat beyond the highway. In some places, concrete slabs were standing, some with a pipe or a wall still intact. In other places, it looked like someone took a huge rake and just sifted everything over two inches high into a heap on the side of the road. We stopped for a picture of the poilce boat that you may have seen in pics on the news and internet, that is far away from the ocean. I had read 2 km, the driver said 5 km from the sea. My guess? Somewhere in the middle. Mai ben rai. It was hard not to feel like a disaster tourist, but I am here because of the disaster, and there is nothing I can do to avoid seeing what I see.

We are now in Ranong, a provincial town, funny smells, cracked concrete, very little English. Gone are the milky green and blue waves, replaced by street noise and Thai television in every shop where we really have to investigate packages and make a good guess of what is inside. Tomorrow morning we will be picked up by United Planet and taken to the fishing village. It is quite Muslim- people are covered head to toe (not in the city, but on the way). I look forward to reading your comments and emails when I return on the 18th. Oh yeah- and we have a flight from Ranong to Bangkok on the 18th where we will meet Shana.

The kid-friendly blog is www.rebecca2005.blogspot.com

Miss you all
Love Rebecca

Saturday, July 02, 2005

quick check-in


Hi all, just wanted to let you know we are safe here in Phuket, getting ready for the bus to Ranong tomorrow. We took a ferry from Phi Phi and it was pretty choppy. The people sitting out front (helm??) of the boat got thrashed! three of them came inside the cabin after a few waves, completely soaked through to the bone. It wasn't raining, or anything, but I did see my first funnel cloud to the left of us. It scared me for a sec, as it actually went all the way to the water, and water was spraying upwards. But I took a deep breath and reminded myself that the Thais do this trip several times daily all year long. About half way to Phuket (an hour?), the engine just shut off. COmpletely. Everyone kind of looked at each other, and the drivers tried to turn over the engine a couple of times unsuccessfully. Without the sea breeze, it got really hot!! Jamie and I looked at each other and started cracking up hysterically.

We all kind of moved up to the deck of the ship and made funny jokes about being stuck in the middle of the ocean (with lots of boats going past us, so we weren't too worried), and looked for the next funnel cloud. There was one, but very small. It took about twenty minutes, but we got to phuket safe and sound. Now we are in Karon beach, and it is almost devoid of tourists. Nice for us, but sucks for them. Got a GREAT place for 22 dollars- really nice restaurant and pool.


Trying to plan how we areoging to get to bangkok from Phuket, as there seems to be no more flights or something. I can't really tell, and all they keep saying is "yes" without ever showing me anything. So, mai ben rai (no problem), we will figure it out as we need to. Otherwise, just another squelcher in paradise. If you don;t hear from me for a couple of weeks,. I will get on the internet again on the 19th at the lastest.
Much love...