Thailand - Phuket

The girls had two weeks off from school this past spring break. Hannah opted to go on a school sponsored service trip to an orphanage in Nepal for the first week. (She will hopefully write about that in a separate posting soon.) For the second week of spring break we decided to have a family vacation in Phuket, an island connected by bridges to the mainland of southern Thailand.

We stayed at a modest resort right on the water - Best Western Bangtao. The beach is lovely:

 

Vendors walk up and down the beach selling nice fabrics and Thai tourist knick-knacks. At first I thought a woman was handing me a stuffed animal to look at when it turned out to be the real thing. It's called a slow loris. Pictures were of course a must and a generous tip was given.

There are lots of nice restaurants available right on the beach. Just walk up the beach until you find the one that's right for you. Did I mention this was a relaxing beach vacation?

An obligatory beautiful vacation sunset, right on cue.

We had more delicious thai food at restaurants further up the beach. The high tide meant we actually waded through the water when it was time to leave this restaurant Much more fun than using the front door.

John's favorite cool modern restaurant, Bliss Beach Club, still right on the beach:

We took a boat ride in Phang Nga Bay to see Khao Tapoo, also known as James Bond island, made famous in the movie "The Man With the Golden Gun"

Along the way we saw lots of the gigantic limestone islands that Thailand is known for,

and a single monkey

Our tour to James Bond Island was in a big speed boat that held about 40 people. Aside from the captain and a special tour guide just for us, everyone was Russian. Thailand is a popular place for them to go escape the cold Russian winters.

Later in the day we transferred from the big boat into smaller sea kayaks to explore the limestone caves and mangroves. Someone else did the paddling for us.

 By the time Hannah and I got to this tunnel, the water was too high for us to slip through, so we went around the long way to the mangrove cove beyond.

Evolution is alive and well and living in Thailand. This is called a walking fish. Look closely.

Next stop, the floating Muslim village Koh Panyee for lunch.

Another irresistible animal was offered to the girls by a Thai Ladyboy. Ladyboys are a highly visible and generally accepted part of modern Thai culture.

Last stop, a pristine beach. Our speed boat was the first to arrive that afternoon and we had it all to ourselves for a while, along with our 34 Russian shipmates.

Towards the end of our vacation we decided to go on an elephant ride. The elephants and other animals at Camp Chang Kalim are not treated as well as the ones at the Lampang Elephant Conservation Center near Chiang Mai in northern Thailand that Hannah and I visited a few years ago. The chains are short and the mahouts, or elephant handlers, were rather harsh with the metal hooks during the ride. But the animals didn't seem too distressed by the conditions. Next time, though, I'll do a little more research before signing up for an activity like this!

Our hotel had a big french tour group with planned activities. The girls joined some of them for a game of volleyball and a chance to actually speak some french.

Right next to the hotel is a place we called the puppy bar. It's also known as the Bob Marley bar. The music of Bob Marley can be heard all over Phuket - on the beaches, in the restaurants, and in the bars. The residents of Phuket like to channel the laid back atmosphere of Jamaica. And there's no doubt about it, with or without the reggae music, Phuket is a great place to relax.

Austria

We have friends, an American family, from the girls' school in Abu Dhabi that have lived all over the Middle East. Despite all of their moves, for the last seven years they have consistently returned to ski at the same place in Austria. Each year they invite friends to join them. This year a dozen families, totaling about 50 people, participated. Our friends have the trip completely worked out, including flights, charter busses, and lodging. All the rest of us had to do was sign up and enjoy the ride.

We started with a late night flight from Abu Dhabi to Munich. Most people slept on the charter bus that took us over the border into Austria, but Hannah took a nice series of landscape photos.

A few hours down the scenic roads we arrived at the Alphof, our hotel in Kirchdorf in Tirol. We could walk out of the back door of the hotel, step into our skis, and get on a chairlift right there.

We ended up skiing for four days at Kirchdorf, St. Johan in Tirol, and Steinplatte. For the ski buffs out there, Kirchdorf is good for beginners and first day on the slope, St. Johan in Tirol is more difficult and slightly icy on the day we were there. Steinplatte was our favorite, with a vast range of slopes.

Views from our room, night and day. The temperature hovered right around freezing which made it fairly comfortable for those of use to eighty and sunny every day. It was nice to see real snow.

 My brother Steve and his wife Renata flew in from California to ski with us. The hotel has a dining room with a huge buffet for both breakfast and dinner. We all ate lots of good food and gained lots of weight. But you need that extra energy for the ski slopes, right?

After our first day of skiing, the ski instructors took us to the local tavern.

New Years Eve included a party on the slopes. Lots of countries were represented, although I don't think they had a flag for the UAE. Then the local ski team showed off their skills with candle light. And fires.

Later in the evening there was a candle light festival in the town square. I have never been so close to fireworks in my life.

A few nights later we went on a horse drawn sled ride. The air was crisp, but the blankets were cozy.

On our last full day we stepped out of our skis and into a tour bus that took us to Salzburg.

More landscape photos from Hannah:

I have an image of a formidable edifice seared into my brain from a multiple country tour I went on with family friends when I was about 12 years old, except I had forgotten where I was or even if my image really existed.  It was nice to confirm, many years later, that my image really does exist and is in fact the Salzburg Fortress .

A statue honoring Mozart in his home town and inside the Salzburg Cathedral:

We had a very Austrian lunch at a nice restaurant near Mozart's birthplace. Lots of locals brought their dogs right in with them. The pets were all well behaved and mostly just slept under the tables. Definitely not the States, or Abu Dhabi, for that matter.

More pedestrian friendly street shots.

Views along the Salzach River.

One of the more unique features of the town is a pedestrian bridge where people leave locks of love, complete with hearts and names. In a similar fashion, memories of Austria will be forever locked in my heart.