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Week
Ending 6 July 2002 (Bob)
Final paint - she really glows! - Pro Yachting
lived up to its name, and sprayed the final coat of white paint on the coachroof
and cockpit and LP looks like new! She has never looked so good during our
ownership of her, what with new paint, new toerail and rubrail, and shiny
stainless throughout. We hope we don't mess her up too much on our planned
transit of the Red Sea next year.
Sharon and Stephanie arrive - On Wednesday afternoon we
were on hand at Phuket airport to welcome them, complete with an official sign
announcing: "Long Passages Deluxe Holidays - Welcome Sharon and
Stephanie" . First stop after returning to the marina was a
quick look around, and then to meet some friends at the weekly yachtie's Bar-B-Q
at Scampi.
Phuket highlights to date -  By
week's end the visitors had been treated to a $0.50 lunch at 'Green Chairs',
watched elephants and acrobats perform on-stage at FantaSea, and lounged
at Patong Beach, one of the 'world's best 10 beaches' according to one
survey. We drove around the island, ducking rain squalls as we went,
visiting lighthouses, shopping malls, Buddhist temples, and beaches along the
way.
Next week: Phi Phi Island and on to Bangkok and Chiang
Mai
Week
Ending 13 July 2002 (Bob)
Sightseeing with S&S - This week began the serious
sightseeing and travel for Sharon and Stephanie as they got their first glimpses
of Thailand:
Ko Phi Phi Don - Known as 'Pee Pee', this is a resort
island about 25 miles, or 2 hours from Phuket by fast ferry. The ride over
was rough and a few passengers fed the fish or dug out the barf bags, but
despite the 20-25 knot winds and 8' seas our guests breezed through with flying
colours. For the next 36 hours they:
- Snorkeled - once from a large tour boat upon arrival
at the island and a second time from the decks of a 'long-tail' that helped
us find a secluded spot of coral reef of our own. This was Sharon's
first dive and she and Stephanie really enjoyed it.
- Shopped - the alleys of Phi Phi offer opportunities
to find postcards, silks, wood carving, and a plethora of souvenirs.
- Ate - lots of restaurants on Phi Phi offered many
choices, and we never missed a meal while on this friendly island.
- Continued a tradition -
 While
in Phuket, we had established a tradition to taste the Mai Tai's in
every city we visited, and so Phi Phi was no exception.
- Enjoyed Thai Massages - After a hard day of
vacationing, the massage parlors of Phi Phi offered a nice way to relax as
experienced masseuses found all of the visitor's tight muscles, and worked
them loose. In fact the ladies rushed from the parlor to the ferry on
the last day with only minutes to spare.
Simon Cabaret - Thailand
has a very permissive culture, and transvestite shows are one of their features
as the 'lady boys' strut their stuff. The premiere show in Phuket is at
the Simon Cabaret, and we had front row seats as  drop-dead
gorgeous dancers and a Tina Turner look-alike vied with more masculine guys for
our attention. Sharon and Stephanie capped off the evening by having their
picture taken with one of the more fetching 'ladies'.
Sea Canoeing - After so much 'culture' it was time for
a little outdoors activity again, so Sharon and Stephanie scheduled a sea canoe
trip to Phang Na bay. 'Traveler's tummy' delayed Sharon's first outing so
on successive days Judi went with Stephanie and then Sharon on 'John Grey's Sea
Canoes' trip. This day-long trip started with a ride to the 'hongs' (small
islands with a lagoon in the center) and canoe rides through the lagoons and
caves of the hongs. They were magic trips and made us look forward to
visiting the bay on Long Passages when she is back in shape.
Travel to Chiang Mai via Bangkok - With  memories of
Phuket still fresh in our mind, it was time to move North to see some of rural
Thailand. We took a quick flight to Bangkok and shopped and walked for 24
hours with a break for the obligatory Mai Tai at the famous Oriental
Hotel. Late on 13 July we climbed aboard a clean train for our over-night
trip to Chiang Mai, and next week's adventures.
Week
Ending 20 July 2002 (Bob)
Chiang Mai - This moderate-sized city in the north of
Thailand has lots of things to do, and so has developed into a fun tourist
destination. The Night Bazaar sells beautiful wood carvings, stunning silk
scarves and clothes, furniture of all varieties, 'antiques', fake Rolex watches,
and lots of jewelry and knick-knacks. Our hotel (the Royal Lanna) was a
short walk to the market, and a longish walk to the city center. Chiang
Mai was the capital of the northern (Lan Na) kingdom of Thailand but
crumbling city walls and moat are all that remain to remind us of a glorious
past.
Elephant Camp - and more -  On
our first full day we did the tourist thing and went to an elephant training
camp. The mahouts put a dozen elephants thru their paces showing how they
could play drums, kick soccer balls, dance, and balance on 2 legs on a narrow
log, and other antics - very impressive. More useful skills included
dragging and stacking logs, one of the real uses in rural Thailand. Then
it was our turn as we piled aboard a rustic seat and were carried into river and
through the forest. It was a thrilling ride, at one point our mahout had
to negotiate the right of way with a few drifting rafts, and hawkers had set up
banana selling stations along the path so that we could reward our elephant.
Although the pachyderm did not have any shocker absorbers, one hour did
not seem long enough! After the ride, we were deposited on the river bank,
and boarded a pair of bamboo rafts to drift back down the river. It
was a very peaceful way to travel, interrupted only once by wading ladies
selling handicrafts to the drifting tourists. This was then followed by a slow
ox-cart ride to lunch and a stop at an Orchid and Butterfly Farm on
the way back to our hotel. The elephant ride was definitely the highlight
of the day.
Mae Hong Son - Judi organized a 2-day  customized
tour to Mae Hong Son, a mountain town a short distance from Myanmar (aka
Burma). Our guide was a young Thai lady, Yu Pin, who helped make
our trip a delight. There had been some recent mortar exchanges across the
Thai-Burma border, but we were assured that Mae Hong Son was safe, so off we
went:
- The drive of 1800 curves - The mountain road
was very curvaceous, 1800 of them we were told, and it took 6 hours to drive
about 120 miles. Lunch was at a restaurant in Pai, a cute town
that looked like it would be a good overnight spot if we had more time to
visit. A stop at a cave, with mildly interesting formations and lots
of smelly bat guano rounded out the drive.
- Elephant ride - Another
 day
and another elephant ride. This one in the Pai river where the
elephants walked down a steep, muddy river-bank and showed how sure-footed
they really were. The river was deep enough to reach their bellies and
we sheltered under umbrellas on one of the few rainy days of this
vacation. At one point our mahout dismounted, to take our photos, and
the pachyderm would not cooperate by letting him back on board - we had
visions of our elephant stampeding through the forest with us holding on for
our lives! That was not to be - using a fence as a ladder, our mahout
was soon back in charge. Back at the loading station, we bought the
$0.50 obligatory bunch of bananas and gave the elephants their treat.
- Hill-tribe Village visits - On the way to Mae Hong
Son we stopped at a village of the Lisu people, a hill-tribe group
that wear characteristically colorful tunics even while working on the hilly
rice fields. Despite the rain, the people were quite friendly and we
got a tour of the local school - plus the opportunity to buy a few
souvenirs.
 The
next day we took an exciting long-tail ride on a river towards the Myanmar
border, and visited a village of the long-necked Karen people.
For many years, women have worn brass coils around their necks, some
weighing up to 10#, and this tradition continues with children aged 10 or so
wearing them to school. The hill-tribe people were often nomadic, and
many originated in Myanmar, but have fled to Thailand to escape the
militaristic regime across the border. Thailand has allowed them to
stay, but has made them settle into villages, and has not yet conferred full
citizenship on them.
- Flight to Chiang Mai - Deciding to skip the 1800
curves, we took the chicken way out and took the 40 minute flight from Mae
Hong Son to Chiang Mai, not as exciting but easier of the bod.
Wats, Wats, and more Wats - Walking around Chiang Mai
reminded us we were in a Buddhist country, with wats (Buddhist temples)
scattered around the city. We visited several, taking pictures and
enjoying the beautiful art-work and solitude inside each of them. We found
woodcarvings and leather carvings that were better than in most of the shops or
markets, and better prices, so we loaded up (and recruited Sharon to carry them
back to the US).
Thai Cooking - On our last  day
all except Bob chose one of the hallmark attractions of Chiang Mai, a Thai
Cooking Class. The school was The Master Thai Cookery Course and it
was a fascinating experience. It started with a visit to the market to
select ingredients for the day, and educate the 20+ westerners on the fine
points of Thai produce. For three hours Judi, Sharon, and Stephanie
listened, chopped, stirred, and tossed ingredients into the red-hot woks -
sampling as they went. By the end of the lesson they retired, satisfied
with their new culinary skills and their lunch. A great experience with
wonderful instructors.
Back to Bangkok - We took the night train and by 0900
rolled into Bangkok's central station, 2 hours late and slightly bleary
eyed. The trains are much cleaner than in China, and one can get a regular
meal if desired. We found the bottom bunks to be much better than the
uppers - wider plus a you can see out the window, unfortunately all were booked
so we had to make due with uppers on this trip.
Weekend market at Chatuchak - Back in Bangkok on a
Saturday, we had to visit the famed Chatuchak Weekend Market. This
is a 40-acre plot with hundreds of stalls selling clothing, food, souvenirs,
antiques, handicrafts, and miscellaneous other stuff. Thousands of Bangkok
residents and tourists push by each other in search of the elusive ... whatever!
After a couple of hours we faded, and returned to our hotel, with nothing but
memories to show for a couple of hours at the market.
Next week: More of Bangkok
Week
Ending 27 July 2002 (Bob)
The Royal Palace - Our  visit
to this beautiful site was a reminder that Thailand is still a kingdom, and they
really venerate their royalty here. Gold adorns many of the buildings, and
we had to remove our shoes to enter many of the buildings. Although the
current king (Rama IX) does not live here at the moment, it is certainly fit for
a king! It has numerous temples, throne room, weapons museum and an interesting
collection of clothing, uniforms, and jewelry.
Thai dancing show -  Judi
had tried to locate someplace with traditional Thai dancing, but the Tourist
Authority of Thailand (TAT) had been completely useless. Finally she
found a show at the near-by Sheraton, so we had an evening with a great buffet
and lots of dancing. The performance included segments from the Indian
epic Ramayana, similar to that seen in Bali.
The dancers were so graceful and the musicians playing drums and gamels
(similar to xylophones) were very accomplished - all of us enjoyed the evening
very much.
Hard Rock Caf� - Souvenirs for those left back in the
US are a serious obligation, so we had to visit the Hard Rock Caf� Bangkok
for a juicy steak and T-shirts! The steaks and ribs were great and shirts
were bought, although cheaper knock-offs are available on the streets for 75%
off.
Meeting Stephanie's friend - Stephanie had met a lady
on a flight from LA to Portland several months ago, and she said "call me
if you come to Bangkok", so we did! We agreed to meet Tansee
at Siam Center in the middle of Bangkok, later to find out she had to travel 1
1/2 hours to meet us since she lives on the outskirts of the city. She
teaches Thai dancing and runs a Montessori school keeping very active for
someone who, at 71, considered herself 'retired'. After lunch at a
jam-packed Thai noodle restaurant, we had a delightful time chatting with her.
Ayutthaya (and more Wats) - From  the
14th to the 18th century, Ayutthaya had been the capital of what is now
Thailand. It was a beautiful city, surrounded by rivers with many palaces
and temples. For 400 years the kings of Thailand reigned from here,
fighting off attacks from Burma. Western explorers wrote about it in
glowing terms, however in 1767 the Burmese attacked again, this time capturing
and sacking the city. They beheaded most statues of Buddha, to demonstrate
their power, and melted the gold from all of them. A bus took us the 50
miles from Bangkok and found all buildings in ruins, just like they were left in
the 18th century, and this gave us a sneak preview of what Ankor Wat may be
like. After walking through the ruins (with a side diversion where Sharon
rode a scooter to one of the wats to try to locate a lost camera) we boarded a
boat for a leisurely lunch as we returned to the big city.
Farewell and back to Phuket - The final days of
Sharon and Stephanie's visit went by quickly as we visited the wat of the
reclining Buddha in Bangkok, toured the canals of Thornburi (a section of
Bangkok) and bought final souvenirs. After a suicidal cab ride to the
airport area, we settled into the Comfort Inn Suites (dingy, but close to
the airport) and set alarms for 0400 for an early flight back to the US for the
girls, and a later flight to Phuket for us.
Highlights: Great trip, we saw and experienced so many
things it is hard to pick the best, but we would have to include:
- Sea canoes in the hongs of Phang Nga Bay
- Riding Elephants
- Visiting the hill-tribes near Chiang Mai
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