One of the things we were really looking forward to was seeing all the hawngs around Phuket. Several cruisers who have been to Thailand in the past on yachts just raved about how great they are. Someone gave us the coordinates of about 30 or so in Phang Nga bay at the north end of Phuket Island. And there are tons more than just the 30 up there. The consensus was Continue reading
Continued from yesterday”¦ At the halfway point, the trainer offered to take some pictures. He got off and took a couple photos of us. Then he encouraged Eric to sit on the elephant’s neck. Eric slid off the bench and onto her neck. The elephant walked only about 10 feet, and Eric commented that staying on was a little bit tricky. The trainer instructed Eric to go back to the bench and Christi to move to the neck. After a few more photos, Christi expected to slide back on the bench. Instead, the trainer instructed the elephant to continue on. The path narrowed and began to descend.
Christi thought Eric’s comment about Continue reading
The first duty of the day was to get checked in. The ride to shore on the dinghy was OK since we were going with the 20 knots of wind. We decided to beach the dinghy instead of tying it to the pier. Since, technically, Ron wasn’t supposed to be on board, he scrambled as soon as we pulled up to the pier. All three departments are in one building at the base of the pier. While the check in process was definitely easy, Thailand is the new winner in the “most number of forms needing to be filled out and signed” contest. All in all, check in took about an hour.
We were going to go walk around a little bit and get lunch. Eric just glanced at the dinghy to make sure it was OK. It wasn’t. The tide had come in big time, and the dinghy was now floating, being bumped into the pole it was tied to with every incoming wave. Sigh. We needed to tie it to the pier, and unfortunately, we had forgotten the second rope back on Kosmos. The ride back was against the wind and Continue reading
Yesterday was chore and errand day. The first task of the day was to get fuel. We pulled out of the slip and moved the very short distance to the fuel dock. Eric had asked them twice if they had enough fuel, 3,400 liters, and both times they reassured us they did. They didn’t. As we were getting close to the 3,000 mark, the fuel pump ran dry. Eric asked if they had any more. “No more”. Eric asked when they were getting more. “Don’t know”. Allrighty then. We were disappointed to find out Continue reading
Continued from yesterday”¦ This house is actually three shop houses side by side, with doorways through the structural walls so one can walk through all three houses without having to go outside. Two of the houses were for the family, and the third was the servants quarters. The outside looks similar to all the other Chinese shophouses, with European style shuttered windows and relief style decorations designed into the exterior walls. The doors are made of a heavy, dark colored wood and intricately carved. The foyer is in the center house, and as soon as you step inside, it is clear that all the furniture in the house and many of the dividing walls are made of the same really super intricately carved dark wood. The furniture is inlaid with mother of pearl and gold and silver leaf, as are the walls. The glass is etched with designs. Quite large and expensive tapestries decorate the walls. The floor is tiled. It is the kind of place you are terrified to bring your young children because there are so many breakable things around, and it is hard to believe that young children once lived in this house.
We got to see the kitchen with all of its old school appliances hand crank ice cream makers, hand crank pasta makers, wood fire stoves, ice box, mortar and pestle for grinding up food, and all those other things that make a woman so thankful for modern day appliances. Upstairs, there were displays of Continue reading