Thailand Day 4: To Phuket!

Day 4 was a travel day.  We had our hotel schedule a van for us in the morning and piled in.  It was one of the times I was grateful not to have any carseats, though we missed the two babies the whole time.  When we got to the airport I did as I normally do: stand back and let the children lead.  The four of them navigated security and found their way to the gate.  Then we went hunting for food and came back with this weird spread:

Pastries of various sorts.  Mostly good.

Btw this is what my arm looked like three days later. Tiger bite bruises.

Our flight to Phuket was about an hour and a half.  The airport down there is very small and not in great condition, but it was effective and we were met by our AirBnB host's driver who drove us the hour over to our place in Rawai.  There is tons of road work going on in Phuket right now as the government is building a hotly contested tunnel instead of a bridge.  Government excess is international.

When we arrived we were greeted by our American and Thai host and hostess.  Their home is fantastic, really the most beautiful AirBnB I've ever stayed in.  We stayed 3 nights for $309 for the six of us.  There is a pool in the court yard and it's super fancy.  I wanted to buy it but they said only Thai people can own property.  The kids were in the pool within 15 seconds of arrival and hardly got out unless it was pouring rain or I forced them out.

The hosts set up a car rental to be delivered right to the house and I had to pay for it on the spot in cash.  It's called credit cards, Thailand.  Start taking them.  I got really sick of having to take cash out all the time.

The crew in our elephant pants.

Last day of being 8.

Me plus my big three.

Here's the deal on spending in Thailand.  It feels like I spent a million dollars because every bill (dinner, massages for everybody) costs like 800 baht and you carry a lot of bills.  But 800 baht is $24.  So I'm doling out bills all day and feel like I'm going to be in the poor house when I get home but in reality, the whole trip for four of us doing nine days including transportation and accommodations (not airfare, which was $560 each out of SFO) was $2500.  That's about $75 per person per day, with hotel included (we did get a free couple of nights at a wonderful relative's home in BKK, for which I am very grateful!)  The most expensive activity we did happened the following day and the experience was worth triple what we paid.  When I went to the ATM I would get out $300 US which is about 10,000 baht.  Then I'd just peal off bills to whatever child needed a treat/drink/massage right then.  It would feel like a lot of cash but it'd really only be less than $10.  I just can't do math on 30:1 exchange rate in my head.

Anyway, we got our car and the hippie was the designated driver because I was far too scared to drive on the other side of the road.  He did great though he frequently hit the windshield wipers instead of the blinker and then would be very confused.  Were I to do this trip without such an adventurer I would have relied on drivers in Phuket which would have cost more.

AirBnB paradise.

Giving thanks for the fabulous pool.

Our first voyage from the AirBnB palace was to Rawai beach.  Looking for parking we accidentally followed a supply truck down a one way street that turned out to be an outdoor market.  Imagine backing up 200 yards driving on the wrong side of the road thronged by locals and trying not to hit anybody.  The hippie deserved a prize.

We went out on the pier at sunset and watched little kids fishing with plastic bottles on strings.  It was cool to see the children set free to roam with no parents.  Not once did anybody ever beg from us.  I assume their parents were running the nearby shops.  The scenery in Phuket is incomparable.  We couldn't wait to get out on the water and explore the islands.

Just off the pier was our first exposure to souvenir shopping and we all bartered for little trinkets and gifts.  The people were friendly and the tourists few.

Watching the local kids swim and fish.

Local kids just hanging out on the curb.

Back at the house the hippie went walking to find us sustenance and returned with, once again, the best food I've ever eaten for practically nickles.

Our host provided us with a list of tour boats that take you around to the islands of Phang Nga Bay, a National Park, we sent some emails and we had a plan for the next day.

"Take a romantic one!"

"Take a romantic one of me and Blake!"

Thailand Day 5: Kayaks and Caves

Day 5 was Jude's 9th birthday.  To celebrate we took a boat tour of Phang Nga Bay.
Tour companies in Thailand are often full service.  Our AirBnB host put us in contact with Phuket Sail Tours and they showed up the next morning at about 7am to cart all of us over to their home base.  There were three other groups on our tour totaling about 15 people on a huge doubledecker boat.  This was the most expensive activity we did in Thailand costing about $80/adult and I think $60/kid but it was worth triple that.  At their base camp they gave us a full breakfast and then put us on the big boat.  The boat had a ton of food and drinks for us to snack on at will as we sailed an hour out to the first islands in the national park Phang Nga Bay.  This area is defined by the islands that look like they're upside down or floating because the limestone bases have been eroded away into magical cliff like islands jutting out of the water.  Kicking back in the boat and watching them slowly approach was like watching National Geographic.

Once we approached one of the islands the guides loaded us into kayaks and started paddling toward the overhanging cliffs.  When we got to the cliffs we were told to lay down in the kayak so that we could be paddled under them.  We understood that we would be going right up to the overhangs and maybe a little way into a cave, but what actually happened was beyond the tour guide's English ability to describe.
In we went on these kayaks into a completely black cave with clearance above the water of about three feet.  And then two feet.  And then no clearance at all about 100 yards in.  Once we could go no further in the kayaks the guides mimed sweetly "Get out."

Laying flat in the kayak through the cave passage.

Get out.  Get out of the kayak and completely submerge yourself in the black water with only about a head space of black air above you.  Get out of the kayak, you can touch the bottom.  What's in there?  Who knows.  Get out.

In the black cave hoping for the best.

My third born child riding a stranger's back into a water cave.

And guess who had to be first?  Me, of course.  Nobody was going to do it unless I jumped in and pretended that everything was ok.  Suddenly, I was in the water and had two kids clinging to me for "safety".  The guides had the flashlights.  The hippie jumped in and so did most of the rest of the tour, save a few wimps who wanted to be left behind.  Si hung back but then, when he realized he was going to be left in a black tunnel with strangers, he panicked and swam after me.  The guide swung him up on his back and pointed through the basketball size hole infront of us saying "It get big!" and through the little hole we swam.

Head and shoulders clearance, barely.  Black water, lit by flashlights, hope they keep working.  

That cave opened into a much larger one and we thought that was the end of the tour.  But no, onward further we had to go to the other side of that interior cave and through and through in chin deep water holding up my precious children until suddenly everything opened up into brightness.  We had reached a lagoon!  The water was crystal clear blue.  The sides of the lagoon towered above us, maybe 200 feet completely enclosed.  The foliage was untouched, other than the children climbing the trees that grew from the center of the lagoon.

Light, at last.

In the Lagoon.

The water in here was only hip deep and I don't know what the ground was.  Rock maybe?

Monkey boy before we saw real monkeys in these trees.

If there are trees they will climb them.  Spot the guide.

Unidentified creepy animal.

Creatures from the green lagoon.

The guides spotted movement in the trees overhead and started hooting at it.  One by one out came monkey after monkey, shimmying down the trees and jumping into the water.  I think we counted nine monkeys, half of which were babies on their mother's backs.  We kept a safe distance from them because, duh, they are wild monkeys.

Two of the nine monkeys we saw playing in the water.

Monkey pic.

After we played in the lagoon for an hour we swam back through the caves, got back on the kayaks and paddled back to the big boat where the most delicious Thai meal had been prepared for us.  Again, so much good food and not enough room in our tummies.
Our next stop was a cluster of islands that we just kayaked around and enjoyed.  Our boat passed by "James Bond Island" where they filmed the man with the Golden Gun.  Later we visited a large dry cave we could crawl around and finally we spent an hour on an uninhabited island with a pure white beach.  The kids took the kayaks for a spin while we relaxed on the beach and swam.  Few place in the world are quite so beautiful.
When we got back on the boat the tour guide brought out a lovely chocolate cake for Jude and we sang to him on the boat.  Pretty good ninth birthday!

Singing to the birthday boy!

On the boat ride back a squall dumped on us but we were generally untouched.  We had really good luck with the weather overall.  The day was long and full of food, gorgeous vistas, warm water, creepy caves, jumpy monkeys, and the bluest ocean you ever did see.  Nice work on the whole scenic experience down in Phuket, God.

James Bond Island

After we went home and rested we went out to a fancy restaurant to celebrate Jude's birth.  Guess how the food was.  You're right.  It was amazing.  On our walk back to our car we had to pass a lot of bars filled with beautiful women -- the naughty kind of bars.  It was, however, amusing to watch the Hippie bat away all their attention.

Thailand Day 6: Monks and Monkeys

Today was "explore at our own pace because I made no plans" day.  This meant the hippie was in charge of piloting our little Mazda around the island on the wrong side of the road and I had to navigate toward whatever sounded interesting.  We did a little shopping but found not much of note.  By the way, I feel like I didn't fully experience Thai merchandise.  There are big malls with movie theaters in Bangkok but we didn't put them on our itinerary mostly because we were there for sites and not shops.  Most of the merchandise was found in the airports.  We tried hitting a little mall in Phuket but found it lacking charm of any kind.

We went instead up to the peak in Phuket to visit the Big Buddha.  There's a giant Buddha sitting a top one of the mountains and we followed the signs to get there.  On the road we passed a number of elephants, reptile experience joints (hard pass, just say no to snakes), bird places, roadside restaurants, and temples.  At the top we found the Buddha exactly as advertised, but with the typical temple accoutrement such as places to worship, instructions on Buddhism, and monks offering blessings.

There was also "Buddha's handprint" and evil monkeys who fear no humans and chased Mimi and me away from their precious garbage cans.  Have you ever been chased by a pack of monkeys?  Not recommended.  We hauled ass away from them.  You'd think that just seeing wild monkeys would be cool but no, I prefer monkeys in cages where they belong throwing poop at you.  Far too close for comfort.

The monks were cool, though!  For a small change offering you could walk up and kneel in front of the monk who says a blessing.  I'm assuming it was a blessing.  I don't speak Thai.  It could have been a curse or the number to his secret lock box in Switzerland.  But they gave us bracelets.

Then we wandered around the temple and found instructions on seven step meditation.  This temple offered more instruction and a little privacy to enjoy the quiet peace of the place.  I recommend a visit to the Big Buddha.  The hippie's highlight was seeing his favorite book of all time highlighted along with a picture and bio of Steve Jobs, buddhist convert.  I guess the hippie is more up on his Buddhism than I'd realized.  For those interested, it's called Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunkyu Suzuki.  I've listened to the audio but find the narrator's voice produces more of a complete zen experience for me (sleep).

I appreciated that this temple made effort to share the tenants of Buddhism so that the kids could know a bit more about the way of life.  It's not dogmatic and opposed to blind faith, but encourages seeking wisdom from a variety of sources.  I very much appreciate that I can supplement their LDS upbringing with Buddhist virtues.  Wherever there is good we seek it.

On our way down the mountain we stopped for, you guess it, Thai food.  The best Thai food ever.  Noticing a theme?  It's all the best thai food ever.  All of it.  While we were waiting for our food Mimi skipped down the road a bit to say hello to an elephant.  Like you do whilst in Thailand.
I have very fond memories of this little adventure.  We were blasting Paul Simon's Graceland, driving on the wrong side of the road, passing elephants and Buddhas, having the time of our lives.

Our next stop was the beach town part of Phuket, Patong Beach.  This part of town feels like a second world Santa Cruz.  There are massage places every other storefront so we did that first.  I loved that they left the curtains open so I could enjoy watching the children get their massages.  I'm willing to pay for them (a whole $7) if they will kindly remember exactly what the massage therapist did and then do the same moves on me when we get home.  Thai massage is great for little growing bodies.  Somebody could make a fortune offering massages for growing pains and shin splints.  The ladies chattered in Thai and very much enjoyed our wails and giggles when they started the bending and pulling part.

After massages we walked down to the beach and the kids spent three hours playing in the water and building sandcastles as the sun set.  I think we probably had Thai food for dinner at some point.  I bet it was delicious.

Thailand Day 7: Tropical Paradise and Bangkok by Night

I saved my number one Phuket activity for our last day: boat taxi to an uninhabited island.
Phuket is surrounded by little islands.  To get to those islands you simply find your way to the beach and waltz up to a taxi stand.  The taxi stands are for boats!  Each taxi guy has a list of locations and prices.  We pointed and he hooked us up with one of his boat kids whose boat was about two blocks away.  We followed in our car but Mimi, being the Mimi that she is, begged to ride on the back of the boat kid's scooter.  Just this once, kid.  Don't get used to it.

 We waded through the water and hopped in the longtail boat then off we went.  The sky was blue, the water aquamarine, the kids dragged their hands in the water, and we jetted away to a tropical white sand island.
We had the place nearly to ourselves, but for the little shack food stand off in the trees.
We lay on the beach, we played in the sand, we collected seashells, we floated in the water, we explored the rocks.  It was magical.  After a few hours the boat kid drove us back to the main island.
You wanna know what it looked like?  It looked like paradise.

Our next stop was the Phuket airport and then back to Bangkok.  Our Bangkok flight arrived at about 8pm but our flight to the US (via Hong Kong) wasn't until 4am.

Sooooooo ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK AND THE WORLD'S YOUR OYSTER!  THE BARS ARE TEMPLES BUT THE PEARLS AINT FREE.  ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK MAKES A HARD MAN HUMBLE! NOT MUCH BETWEEN DESPAIR AND ECSTACY! I CAN FEEL THE DEVIL WALKING NEXT TO ME!!
But really, we grabbed a nice taxi guy outside the airport, loaded his trunk with our suitcases and shoved all six of us in there and took off for a Bangkok midnight spree.
Side note: here's three pictures of fun stuff in Phuket:

Cake varieties

Some kinda weird rainbow lobster

Check out that baby seat.  Totally safe.

First stop was trying to find Wat Arun which is on the far side of the Chao Praya River.  It's the one you see in lots of photos, all lit up and ancient looking next to the water.  Unfortunately, our driver had no idea where it was and it seemed to be under construction and most definitely closed when we got there, after like an hour of asking strangers for directions.  Luckily, right nearby was a restaurant our taxi driver had heard about and knew was very popular, though he'd never been there.  Turns out, it's the most famous Pad Thai restaurant in all of Thailand.  Quite literally, the homeplace and best pad thai in the whole world: Pad Thai Thip Samai.  The walls were covered in all the article and awards written about the place.  There was a line, but we had time and our driver parked and ate with us.  He spoke pretty good English and we loved getting to know a local.  It was indeed the best Pad Thai I've ever eaten.  Of all the best dishes we had in Thailand, this was the best of all the very bests and such a fun experience.

Our bottoms were still sandy and it was far past midnight so we decided to head to the airport (two different airports in Bangkok, the one that serves Phuket doesn't serve our international flights).  I checked all the kids in and they led me to the gate while the hippie went in search of the phone Blake had misplaced when we first arrived.  They navigated us through the long security lines, through customs, and walked miles to our gate.  Finally, we found our gate and all four of those cute little children fell fast asleep until we boarded.  The hippie spent the majority of the time spending all the Baht we had left at the duty free stores.

From Bangkok to Hong Kong, 5 hours or so arriving at the crack of dawn.  I did not have a good experience in Hong Kong.  The kids and the Hippie were practically comatose and I had to talk to a Trump supporter while we waited in line to check in for our next flight.  Then we tried to have breakfast but it ended up costing $80 for no reason.  Stupid overpriced Hong Kong.  Also, there were none of those silky kimonos available to buy and I wanted one.  Also I was very tired.

At last we boarded our flight to SFO and our Asian tour came to a ten hour end.  The adventure from Phuket to SFO all in one day ended up being an adventure in time warping.  Grandpa Jim picked us up in SF and carted us home to sleep the entire day away in Danville.  Blake and the Hippie flew back to Utah for a family trip to Bear Lake.  The kids and I slept, ate with the fam and then drove home in the middle of the night because we were all wide awake and couldn't wait to get our babies back.  We got into SLC at about 8am and drove straight to pick up our sweet babies and our family was whole again.
It was a magical trip and, though we've been to six countries this year (Netherlands, Belgium, France, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong) it has only whet my appetite for more family travel, next time with the babies too!
Thanks for coming on the journey with us.  If you and your family or friends have caught the travel bug I urge you to visit www.getglobetrotting.com to have your whole trip planned for you.  My sister Camille, fellow travel addict, opened a budget travel business and is now having me help plan some of the trips.  There is adventure out there and it is more affordable now than it has ever been in my entire life time.  I hope you go, and if you do, that you tell me so I can follow along vicariously on your adventures.