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Saying good-bye to Italian friends at Koh Lanta 

Approaching Railay Beach - Krabi 

Arriving at Railay Bay Resort and Spa 

One of the little critters we saw 

The pool at Railay Bay Resort and Spa 

Sunset on Railay Beach - Krabi 

Our cottage at Railay Bay Resort and Spa 

Our last night - all good things must come to an end! 

Phanang Beach - Krabi 

The End 

Final Thoughts from Thailand

We arrived back at Buddy Lodge in Bangkok (where we had stayed the first 3 nights)at about 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, February 8th to pick up our suitcases, repack and do some more shopping. As I mentioned before Thailand is a shopper's paradise - so many vendors, such cheap prices and you are expected to barter. I feel badly about doing that because everything is so cheap but I did more of it as my money dwindled. Sash was relentless!!:)

We met up with a couple of Canadian teacher colleagues of mine (Carol-Ann and Vanessa - Vanessa and I have the same birthday)and they walked around with us and then we had a drink and some food together. Sash was determined to keep shopping until the last store closed!! Both of us ended up having to take out more money. You know the old traveller's credo - "take 1/2 the amount of clothes and twice the amount of money you think you will need" - truer words were never spoken!! YIKES!!

After Carol-Ann and Vanessa headed off to their hotel to go to bed, Sash and I sat at an all night cafe and did some people watching although at 1:00 a.m., there were not as many people as usual on Khao San Road. Around 3:00 a.m., we were both getting 'punchy' and so decided to head to the airport. Our ride to the airport in a taxi proved to be hilarious for us just because we were tired and started taking stupid pictures of each other in the back of the cab and laughing hysterically!! (You had to be there!!)

On arriving at the airport, we changed into our 'cold weather' clothes. YUCK!! and then tried to find a secluded space on the floor to catch a few winks (didn't really happen!) We checked in about 8:30 a.m., had some breakfast and then had a foot massage before boarding the plane.

The first leg of our journey home was together to Hong Kong, then Sash had a 2 hour stopover and continued on to Toronto. I had less than an hour and then continued on to Seoul (Incheon). I arrived there at 7:40 p.m. Thursday night and stayed overnight at a backpacker's hostel. They picked me up and took me back to the airport on Friday where I caught an express bus back to Gwangju and then caught another bus back to Yeonggwang. I was a little miffed at the one bus driver who refused to help me load my bags into the belly of the bus even though he saw me struggling - I guess his motto is "it's not my job lady"!!

I arrived back in my apartment around 5:30 p.m. Friday. It was kind of lonely coming back to an empty apartment but I definitely have wonderful memories and pictures of a fantastic trip with an equally fantastic, fun friend - let's do it again Sash!! Hope you enjoyed the pics everyone!!

Random Thoughts

One of the most interesting, cute and scary sights I have seen in Thailand is the kids going to school - not in cars or on buses - but on the back and front of their mom or dad's motor bike. Yes, 2 or 3 kids are on one bike with a mother or father. It is crazy. Hundreds of motor bikes all taking kids to school. Some very little kids half asleep, some eating breakfast - none with helmets on!! The parents wear helmets but not the kids. What's with that?

It has been a few days since I wrote about my adventure. It is really hard for me to concentrate on writing when I am on vacation. I have seen lots of great things and done some amazing things - elephant ride, bamboo rafting, etc.

We have done a lot in our two weeks and I think I am going to have to go home to have a rest but it's been amazing.

After our day trip to Koh Phi Phi, we went by boat from Phuket to Koh Lanta. This is a smaller quieter island. Our resort was called Blue Andaman Lanta Resort. It was quite nice although the people at the front desk were not very friendly. The young staff members were cute (mostly Muslim) and we met some really nice people - a couple from England who live on a boat in Greece and have done so for the past 6 years. They invited us to visit them in Greece so I think that could possibly be my holiday in the summer before I come home!! We also met a really nice Australian couple and a family from Italy. There are a lot of European tourists here.

We basically 'hung out' at the pool and beach (not a great beach - at low tide there were all these rocks sticking up - kind of interesting but kind of lousy for swimming). We left there yesterday and took a boat to Krabi province to Railay Beach. Now Railay Beach is BEAUTIFUL. Huge craggy limestone cliffs and caves, monkeys and beautiful sunsets. This is our last night here. Tomorrow we take a long boat to the pier and then a taxi to the Krabi airport to fly back to Bangkok to pick up the rest of our clothes that we left in the hotel where we stayed at the beginning of the journey. We will repack, shop a little more and then head to the airport. We are going to pull an 'all nighter'.

We fly the first leg of the return flight together to Hong Kong and then separate.

All in all an amazing adventure!! Let me encourage you to go out and see the world!! It is SO WORTH IT!!

Koh Phi Phi

We were up early today to get picked up to go to the harbour and catch a large cruiser for a day trip to Koh Phi Phi. Lot of people of all races, shapes and sizes.

The first leg of the journey was about 2 hours. Then we transferred to a smaller boat to go snorkelling. I cannot snorkel because of wearing contacts (well at least I am always afraid of losing them so I don't take the chance!!) Sash did though and although she said there were some nice fish, she didn't think it compared to snorkelling in Hawaii or Cuba (she has done both!!)

After snorkelling, we went the next leg of the journey to our final destination - Koh Phi Phi, where we had lunch and about an hour to look around the beach where we docked. Sasha and I had our picture taken in the water at the spot where the tsunami hit in December 2004 - a very sobering location. There is a memorial set up there too. Hard to believe that 13 months ago, many thousands of people lost there lives right there on that beach (as well as many other locations and countries). They were vacationing just like we are and without any warning were swallowed up in a massive wall of crashing destructive water - nature's fury!! UNBELIEVABLE!! Thankfully, we had a beautiful, hot, sunny day to enjoy the beach!! In fact, we both got a little "fried" but that's what sun holidays are for. We do use sun protection too!! After lunch and free time, we boarded the ship again to return to Phuket. All in all a great relaxing day with plenty of time to chat.

So far, Sash and I have both said that although Thailand is beautiful, there are many beautiful places in the world and we both have the bug to "keep travelling"!!

At the end of the journey, I will try to get my pictures downloaded and put them up here. If all else fails, I will certainly do it when I get back to Korea.

In the midst of this holiday, I have learned that my Mom is very low and so I will be returning home to see her in a couple of weeks. I am reminded of the verses in Ecclesiastes that says "to everything there is a purpose...a time to be born and a time to die........" Mom has lived a good long life and I hope and pray that God will keep her alive long enough for me to see her before she goes to be with Him. What better place could there be for her to go to!! No earthly place compares to heaven!!

That's all for now.

On the beach

Yesterday we flew into Phuket ($55 for a 1 hour flight). A friend of Sash's from work has a friend who lives in Phuket so we hooked up with him and are staying with him in his amazing house that has a pool. He also has a cute little 8 week golden retriever. We are here for 3 days. This house is so lovely - 3 bedrooms, tiles on the floors and walls, ceiling fans, open concept and, did I mention the POOL. Oh, my gosh, I think I've died and gone to heaven. I could live here. I must check into teaching in Thailand!!

We hung out at the beach yesterday until Bruce picked us up, then went to his place, sat around and had a swim in the pool, then took him out for dinner.

This morning we sat around the pool for a while, then walked down towards the beach, used the internet and had brunch at a Canadian/Thai owned restaurant. We booked a day trip to Koh (Island) Phi Phi for tomorrow and then spent a few hours on the beach. Shopped for a little while then got a ride back with the English couple who live in the house behind Bruce's ( on the same property). Sat around the pool again then Bruce drove us into Kata Beach where we shopped a little more and then had dinner at a beachside cafe. After that Sash had, what she said was the best one yet, a foot massage while I had a shoulder and back massage. OH, SO GOOD!! for about $5.

We are now heading home because we are getting up early to go to our day trip to Phi Phi (pronounced pee pee!!)

A great day - beautiful weather, beautiful accommodation, beautiful location!!

That's all for now.