Phuket, Thailand

We were welcomed to the beautiful beaches of Phuket by gray skies and rain.  Although it wasn’t the weather of choice, we couldn’t complain compared to the devastating tsunami weather that was here very recently.  During Christmas 2004, less than five years ago, the city was awakened by an unexpected tsunami that took a devastating number of lives from this small beach town.  People’s lives were turned upside down after the tsunami hit without any prior warning or time for evacuation. To help you see it better, the tsunami took only 30 minutes to travel from Thailand to Sri Lanka, destroying everything in its path.  Out ship has been traveling from Thailand for a day and a half and is just now reaching the waters surrounding Sri Lanka. I have never been able to put anything into perspective so well as the realization of truly how fast the tsunami moved into these people’s lives and homes.  It was pretty incredible to see the city and how it has recovered remarkably in the past 5 years. 

Phuket is a beautiful beach town where resorts and local restaurants are not easily missed.  But today’s adventure took us to a much more exotic location to enjoy the culture of Thailand. The venue included many Thai experiences including an elephant ride, a cooking class featuring a Thai food appetizer, a presentation on how rubber is made from rubber trees, and a baby elephant show.  I would have to say that the elephant ride was for sure my favorite part.  We sat on a two-person seat that was saddled on to the elephants back, while our guide sat right on the elephant’s head.  It was actually a very impressive balancing act on his part.  We just sat back and enjoyed the bumpy ride.  At one point we accidentally dropped an umbrella off, and the elephant reached down and picked it up with it’s trunk and gave it back.  Now that’s not something you see everyday.  The baby elephant show was really fun too and the elephants must have gotten more than their share of bananas for the day because we alone fed them each at least a basket full.  After the cultural Thai experience we visited one of the local temples.  It was, like the others I have seen, very beautiful.  But, now that I’m a temple snob and have seen my fair share of temples throughout Asia, I will say that unfortunately, Phuket gets no bragging rights on their temples. Our day would not be complete of course, without a stop at the Thailand Handicrafts Market, to help them fill the yearly quota for their number one income…surprise, surprise…tourism.  (Can you tell that I have been on a few too many “directed towards rich American” tours?)  Not to sound unappreciative of course, I am thoroughly enjoying the tours and countries I am visiting, but sometimes I wonder if they are just putting on a cultural act for all the American foreigners who ride in on the big fancy buses.

Back on the ship, we are on our way towards India and have had a few days to relax and enjoy the warm weather by the pool.  I am finding more and more that the other passengers on the ship are finding it very hard to place me amongst the family and wondering where and how I fall into place with the 3 children and parents I am with.  I have been asked “How old is your son?” when walking with Grisha, who is 5.  And I have also been asked “Is there an adult who can sign?” when trying to buy bingo cards for the two other kids. At home I only thought of myself as an average 22 year old, but apparently now I am old enough to have a 5 year old son, but not old enough to buy bingo cards. I will give my 85-year-old friends the benefit of the doubt and blame it on both their poor eyesight and poor use of common sense.