Judy has beach plans today.  My plans are for a round of golf at the Blue Canyon Golf Club.  I get picked up at 8:30 and driven to the course.  The driver takes me in and gets me checked into the locker room.  After I change shoes I head over the pro shop to set-up with clubs, a cart, and a caddie.  They load me into a van and take me over to the Lakes Course.  The tee box is crowded, so they move me up to the 5^th hole where I join Frederick and Maxim, both from France.

The Lakes Course is an appropriate title.  There is lots of water.  I wasn’t sure the dozen balls I brought were going to be enough.  I made it, only losing 3.  I planned on taking pictures, but my phone/camera battery is dead.  The course is really scenic, and my round is very up & down.  I have a birdie, but also several triple bogeys.  One sand trap cost me 4 strokes.  I just couldn’t hit the ball hard enough to get it out.  I’m getting used to playing with a caddy.  There will be an adjustment when I get back to the states and have to start taking care of my own clubs, and fixing divots in the fairway.  Life will be rough, but I’ll manage.

Back home after the round, it’s lunchtime and naptime.  Judy is back in the room working on more school stuff.  We walk out to the beach café for our last Phuket meal.  Sandwiches around the pool, and we’re officially spoiled.  We finish the day with a smoothie the Renaissance calls “The Wendy’s”.  It really close, and we’ve learned to love it.  Now it’s time to pack and get ready for Beijing.  It’s been a great nine days.  The adjustment to city life is going to be tough.

The sun sets on our final day in Phuket

A few political observations I made today.  No one around here is talking about any political issues.  There are few signs, and the hotel workers, when asked, don’t seem to have an opinion.  We noticed at the beach café that there was a big sign announcing “no alcohol sold today, until after midnight”.  Apparently no alcohol is sold on election day.

Back to another day of food and beach.  All the relaxing time gives me a chance to check up on activities in Bangkok.  Our original plans for this trip included a departure late Friday for Bangkok and two days sightseeing in the Thai capital.  All the political turmoil scared me off, so before Christmas I cancelled Bangkok and extended Phuket.  Right now it looks like it was a good decision.  Lots of street protests and the occasional shots fired and bomb blasts make for an undesirable destination.  Hopefully it won’t affect the airport when we go through on Monday.

Happy Birthday Judy!!  She is now  ???? years old.  We’re celebrating with a boat trip into the Phang Nga Bay National Park area.  The tour title is “James Bond Island” and canoe trip.  We are picked up early at the hotel, and transported to Royal Phuket Marina for the tour.

We’re split into groups, based on language for our guide.  Our guide also speaks Russian, so we get to hear all the descriptions and instructions in Russian.   There are about 30 in our group.  I saw a group of Chinese headed off, and also a group of Spanish speakers.

We load onto a big speedboat with three Yamaha 225 outboard motors and head out into the Andaman Sea.  It takes about 40 minutes to arrive at our first destination.  The ride is pretty bouncy for the first half.  I’m worried that Judy’s proclivity for seasickness will come into play, but she has no problems.

The islands seem to grow straight up out of the water.  We pull up to a small little inlet and begin unloading in pairs into inflatable canoes, each with a guide.  We’ve been told we’ll canoe into a cave, and ultimately into the Mangrove Lagoon.  Because the water level is up, we have to lie down as we move through the cave.  We get to a point where several canoes are stopped, and people have climbed out into the water, while others just backed out of the cave.  It makes for a really interesting time as the boats pass each other in the narrow confines.  Our guide asks us if we want to swim?  Huh?  I thought we were going to canoe to this lagoon.  Apparently the water is too high to continue in the canoe.  We climb out, a little confused about what is happening, but others have done it, so why not us?  We swim the remaining 50 yards or so to the end of the cave and come out into the sun.  It’s a gorgeous scene, so quiet and undisturbed.  The water is absolutely glass.  There are only 8 or 9 other people with us, and everyone is awestruck at the beauty.  The walls are sheer, and must be 200 or more feet high.  The only entrance is the cave we swam in thru.  Amazing! 

Headed toward the cave.

About to swim back to our canoe thru the cave.

We swim out, find our canoe, climb back in, and head out to another cave/lagoon.  This one requires climbing a ladder and walking through a dark cave, dealing with very uneven surfaces, lit only by our guide’s headlamp.  The view at the end is really peaceful and gorgeous, but our access is limited to only a small opening to peer through.  We make our way back through the cave, working very hard not to sprain an ankle, or worse.  Outside, we get back in the canoe and paddle back to the speedboat.

Next stop is another big island with canoeing around some small caves, and then a little open water.  The views are breath-taking.  It’s kinda like Monument Valley, Utah, with water.  After another short jaunt we arrive at James Bond Island.  It’s the island where some scenes for “Man With the Golden Gun” were filmed.  There is a small beach area and several viewing points of the memorable island (see below).  After this island, we move to an island with a floating gypsy village, where we are served a really nice buffet lunch.

It’s hard for us to believe we’re in Thailand! These are sights I never expected to see in person!

This is the familiar island as seen in “Man With The Golden Gun.”

On our way back to the marina, we notice the tide is out, and the boat is staying very close to the channel markings.  The channel is really narrow.  As we near the marina, we pass another of the tour speedboats that has run aground.  I wonder if that group had to pay extra for the extra special experience they had (or will have).  It was going to be interesting getting those 30 or so people off that boat at low tide with all the mud.  I’m really glad it wasn’t us.

Back at the marina we are led to our van for the half-hour trip back to the Renaissance.  We’re home about 5:30.  It has been a fun but long day, and we’re both beat.  15 minutes after we walk in, there is a knock on the door, and the hotel delivers a birthday cake for Judy.  I guess they had noted it from her passport.  It was a perfect topper to the day. 

Happy Birthday!!!

Special preparations are going on below in the restaurant for the big Chinese New Year celebration.  There are lots of colorful decorations.  At 7:30, fireworks kick off the evening.  There was supposed to be a big drum performance at some point, but we were both asleep when, and if it occurred.

Our schedule for the next two days revolves around breakfast and then the beach.  The weather is great.  We try our beach chairs in a few new places, but other than that, we’re “vegging” out.

This is our regular view while we’re out on the beach.

When we get tired of the beach, we head back up to room.  Judy does school work, trying to get her school blog set-up.  The internet is not cooperating, and the material is loading really slow or not at all.

I’m spending my “room” time, organizing and editing our iPhoto.  I take a lot of pictures on a trip like this, and many of the them need to be deleted.  It takes time to look at all of them, making decisions about which to keep.  I really haven’t looked at them since before Xmas, so I have a lot of work to do.

The morning starts off the same as usual.  Breakfast is followed by a brief visit to the beach and a swim.  Our afternoon is going to be a different, however.  We meet our driver at 12:30 and head out for an afternoon of elephant riding, and a little Thailand education.  We pick up another couple down the road at the JW Marriott.  They are Indian, but have lived in Rochester, New York, since 1968.  They’ve been everywhere, and it’s fun to hear some of their stories during the hour drive to Siam Safari, home of the Elephant Trek.

When we arrive, we’re organized into groups and transported to our first stop, a brief explanation about the elephants and their mahouts (handlers).   Fully informed, we load onto our elephant, and start down the road.  There is a lot of swaying as the elephant lumbers along the path.  It’s intriguing watching the mahout “steer” the elephant.  There is a balance of urging, and patience as we make our way.  The elephant does seem to have a mind of her own.  If a person were prone to seasickness, this might be a rough ride.  When I read about the tour, I thought that ½ hour was not a very long ride, but when we get off, I’ve had more than enough elephant riding.

Our group guide, our elephant, and our mahout

Chalong Bay in the background. We’re on the back of the elephant. Picture taken by our mahout.

Loaded up and riding.

Our mahout!

Swaying on down the path!

The remainder of the tour is a series of educational stops.  We walk over to an area where they demonstrate the training of some of the younger elephants.  The younger kids get to feed them.  Next stop is a demonstration of tapping a rubber tree, and then how to convert the sap into rubber.  It’s really well done.

Stop #3 is them is the making of Thai curry spices.  They demonstrate the process, and then we get to sample.  Stop #4 is the coconut.  The demonstration includes traditional ways to open a coconut, how to grate the meat, how to make coconut milk, and then how to make coconut oil.   They don’t waste much of the coconut.  We’ve had curry on rice, then some coconut, and now a little Thai coffee to finish it off.   Next is a demonstration of rice production and the use of the water buffalo in the process.  We really enjoyed the demos.  They peppered the presentation with humor, and the basic info was good.

After the last demo, our group is loaded onto a vehicle and moved into town and down to the docks at Chalong Bay.  We have a sunset cruise with a buffet meal out into the bay.  It’s an old wooden boat at first view, but after we’re onboard, it’s really very nice.  The food is good, and the view is even better.  Back at the dock, they load us back into a van for our return trip.  It’s been a full day! 

The setting sun on Chalong Bay

SUNDAY, 1/26/14

We wake up ready to eat (of course).  What is it about a breakfast buffet that makes a person over-eat?  I am hurting when I leave the restaurant.  We head out to the beach, find a chair and begin the vacation.  The beach is really nice and the weather couldn’t be better.  The water temperature is perfect.  The biggest problem I think we’re going to have is avoiding sunburn.  The temptation is to stay out here too long, especially on the first day.

Breakfast in the morning calm

Looking back up toward the room

We head back to the room with no sunburn, ready for a nap and whatever else the hotel might hold.  Later in the evening, we head back out to the beach, enjoying the view and the cool breezes.  I hope we can stand 9 days of this.

Mai Khao beach, looking south from the Renaissance beach area

MONDAY, 1/27/14

 Looks like we’re headed for another boring day of good food and tropical breezes.  They tell us about a beach barbeque with entertainment for the evening, so we make a reservation.  The set-up on the beach is first-class, and the entertainment is fun.  We’re getting into this vacation thing.

Judy got off to school, coughing steadily.  She’s got some kind of a cold.  Apparently, many of the faculty at BISS has the same thing.  Judy said several of the teachers missed school today.  New Years programs were the big activity today.  Judy attended the elementary program, but had a class during the secondary program.  She said the dances and songs were all well prepared by the Chinese teachers.

A little more New Year decorating around BISS

Dressed for the day. All the women had red vests, the men had blue.

One of the elementary dances at the BISS New Year’s assembly.

 My big job today is to prep for our travel tomorrow.  I finish up the laundry, pull out the suitcases, and begin my own packing.  I walk over to the Marriott and get my swimming in.  I try to catch up syncing the iPad and both our iPhones when I get back.  The internet is so slow, it takes forever.   As I go to bed, I’m hoping there is a taxi around at 4:00 am, when we need to leave. 

Yea!!! Today we travel!  We’re up around 2:30 am, and are walking out to a taxi at 4:00 am.  There are two parked out front of the apartments, and both drivers are in their passenger seat, with the seat propped back, sleeping.  I knock on the window of the first one in line, and he groggily wakes up.  After a few minutes of language struggles, we’re driving away.  There is no traffic this time of the day.  We saw a traffic accident site for the first time in Beijing on the way to the airport.  It looked like the driver might have gone to sleep and crashed into the side railing.  As crazy as the traffic is in Beijing, I’m surprised we haven’t seen more.

Airport arrival and check-in is smooth.  We make the long trek to our departure gate, through Immigration and then through Security.  We get to our gate after another long walk.  This is a really big, new, wide-open terminal.  About a half-hour before our flight is scheduled to depart, Judy realizes she can’t find her phone.  She races back so security, thinking maybe she left it there.  She returns 10 minutes later empty-handed.  They needed her passport and also wanted to see her bag.  I go back with her this time.  Her phone shows up on the “Find My iPhone” app on my phone, and the map shows it’s in the airport terminal.   Back at security, they scan Judy’s bag and check her passport.  Then they scan my bag and check my bag also.  They want to make sure it’s not hidden in our bags somewhere.  Now, the “Find My iPhone” app map shows Judy’s phone near the gate.  We’re beginning to think she put it in her coat sometime in the taxi ride.  She put her coat in her suitcase right before we checked the bag.  We won’t need coats in Phuket.  As we board the plane, the app still shows the phone close by.  The phone has got to be in the suitcase (we hope).  We’ll find out in Phuket.

No problems at the Bangkok airport.  We make the transfer to our Phuket flight smoothly.  No sign of any political unrest.  The flight path into Phuket comes in over water.  I was beginning to wonder if we had pontoons on our plane. It’s a small airport, with only one runway, shared by incoming and outgoing flights.  After we disembark and get our luggage, we run the gauntlet of taxi entrepreneurs.  I find one with a price close to what I understand is the standard fare, and it’s air-conditioned.  It’s definetly warmer here (around 85 degrees F).  There’s not much need for sweaters and layering now.

The ride to the Renaissance Phuket Resort and Spa is about 20 minutes.  We arrive and it’s gorgeous.  Cold face towels and fruit juice greet us at check-in.  We make it to the room, and it’s equally luxurious.  NEWS FLASH:  WE FOUND THE PHONE IN THE COAT!  We have a great view of the lobby and restaurant from our balcony.  Our first job is to rest.  It’s been a long day of terminals and flying.  The combined flight time of our two legs from Beijing to Bangkok, and then Phuket is 6½ hours.  It’s been a long time since 2:30 am in Beijing.  We begin enjoying the resting part of our vacation immediately.  We’ll explore the area tomorrow. 

The lobby area as we drive up

Our room, as viewed from the lobby: top floor, 4th from the left.

View from the room back towards the lobby

It has been a very uneventful week.  Judy has been teaching her regular classes as well as rehearsing Annie segments every chance she gets.  They have rehearsals Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, and both rehearsals go well.  Of course, they’re behind, but when has a musical not been “behind”.

The Chinese New Year Assembly on Friday is requiring a lot of time from the students.  The Chinese teachers at BISS are organizing it, and are taking responsibility for all aspects.  Of course, they’re competing for time with the students against the Annie rehearsals to prepare for their assembly.  Several students missed Tuesday’s Annie rehearsal because of a shopping excursion.  The Chinese teachers took a group after school to purchase clothes to wear in the assembly.  Since the teachers involved in the musical had worked hard to schedule this week’s extra after school rehearsals, the sudden decision to go shopping by the Chinese teachers didn’t go over so well.

My week has revolved around three activities.  I’ve been walking over to the Marriott and swimming every day.  Back at the apartment, I’ve been working on a GarageBand project for the Guitar Club at BHSFIC.  They’re working on a tune called “Jet Lag”.  It’s a really straightforward rock and roll tune.  They need a drum track to play on top of.  I’m putting together GarageBand loops and experimenting with how to add accents where needed to fit the piece.  As with anything I do on a computer, there’s lots of trial and error, and it’s time consuming.

I’m also spending lots of time online searching out travel opportunities for Spring Break, at the end of March.  We’re going to have 5 days, and we want to make them count.  I’ve been checking out sites in Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Phillippines.  There are too many places to visit, and not enough time.  I’m also trying to follow the political activities in Bangkok.  The anti-government forces have threatened to shut down the Bangkok Airport.  We fly through Bangkok on our way to Phuket on Saturday.  Here’s hoping it doesn’t get complicated.

Thursday night is the BISS staff New Years Party.  There is a bus from school to the restaurant at 5:30.  I take the subway over to meet Judy after the Annie rehearsal.  It’s a fun evening.  The food is great, and it just keeps coming.  There was a video of all the staff saying “Happy New Year” in their own way.  There were some really humorous versions.  The restaurant had a stage show, that included traditional Chinese dancing and singing.  There was also a magician (pretty good), and a juggler.  There was girl who balanced and spun big barrels on her feet while she laid on her back.  The finale of her act was a huge barrel with one of the BISS staff members (bigger that me) climbing inside.  Then she spun the barrel with him inside. 

We’re headed back to IKEA today.  We bought a few extra curtains by mistake (two panels in each bag instead of one).  It was the fastest trip ever for us.  I took care of the return while Judy picked out the replacement drapes.  We were home in less than an hour.

Back at the apartment, we finish hanging all the drapes, and a few other sundry items that needed placement.  The changes look great.  Bit by bit the apartment is becoming upgraded.

Two items are really big in the news in Beijing these days.  I read in the paper that fireworks are going on sale Saturday, Jan. 25.  From what we’re told by the “old-timers” at BISS, it’s a crazy time.  They tell us we can expect to hear fireworks (big commercial type fireworks, not firecrackers) going off 24/7.  It’s supposed to last for two weeks.  Since we’re leaving town the day the fireworks go on sale, we may miss a lot of the activity.  There have already been a few nights when we heard big fireworks in the neighborhood.

The second subject getting a lot of talk is the discussion of the “human migration” that takes place during the Spring Festival (New Year).  It’s a tradition for everyone to go back home during this holiday.  The news outlets are saying that over 3 billion train tickets have been sold for this holiday.  That’s a lot of people.  Apparently, many people can’t get tickets, and there are reports of false ID’s being used to purchase tickets and then scalped.  The online ticketing process is not functioning as smoothly as needed under the pressure   Standing-room only tickets are also being sold.