Life in the Slow Lane: Thailand

City weary and tired of pollution we arrived in Phuket, Thailand late in the evening. Our hotel was located in Phuket Town which is not near any beach and not far from all beaches. Thoroughly leery of Asian traffic, Doug's suggestion of renting a scooter was met with many persuasive counter offers. In the end Jan climbed on hoping that nephew Seth and Meghan had never been so foolish in their Thailand travels. For the first miles Jan buried her head in Doug's back and made bargains with God. By the end of the first day she became brave enough to peek over his shoulder only to recall that we were driving a scooter on the wrong side of the road in a country where they did not know the language. Fear again! But how Jan longed for a scooter with Doug driving rather than that Trang mini bus with a reincarnated kamikazi pilot at the wheel.

After several days in Phuket we decided to head for the remote more southern islands of Ko Kraden and Ko Phai. A couple of hours of travel by on a long boat brought us to the amazing paradise of Ko Kraden. Stunning turqoise seas with amazing karst formations teeming with tropical fish. There are no motorized vehicles on the islands hence no noise and no pollution. Luggage and supplies were transported in human powered carts.

For nearly two weeks we ate breakfast, stepped out of our room and headed for the coral reef located just offshore. We snorkled for five hours a day often towing a kyak with fresh water along with us. The snorkling was world class and we longed for an underwater camera. Our solution was to head to the Phuket Aquarium to identify and photograph some of the things we had seen - huge pink and turqoise parrot fish, lion fish, spotted moray eels and a stunning variety of angel fish. It was second only to the Great Barrier Reef and much more accessible.

Thai food is wonderful, the people are charming and honest and we are planning our next trip. On our last day I did a spa afternoon. I had a facial, a 90 minute massage, a 30 minute reflexology treatment and a 30 minute herbal compress. That treat was $27 US including a generous tip. Time to leave Thailand and head back to Singapore to meet up with Martie and Wayne who have been in Myanmar.

Then we head back to the Northwest. IS IT STILL RAINING THERE?