Ko Yao Island Resort Phuket

... and the receptionist hails me a moped bike. He is charging 400 Baht for the round trip. I have 450 Baht. We go. It is a very hilly ride, and I keep sliding forward into the back of the driver as we descend the steep downhills, and evidently my driver is homophobic, because as soon as my front flesh comes into contact with his back flesh he quickly scoots forward. By the time we find a western union in the next town over he is pretty much sitting on the handlebars. I get the ...

... oncoming lanes because he couldn’t slow down fast enough with a steel to steel grind. It was risky but I would glance back, afraid I may lose sight of my impending doom, several times to check the pulse of my co-passengers. Their faces mirrored that of mine. Somehow we made it down the hill without our pulsed going through the roof of this casualty causing doom wagon. We checked into our hotel.

The days that followed were devoted to growing the size ...

... that he wasn't supposed to be there; that he really should be fishing and making money. I thought perhaps she was older, maybe a parent figure, expected. But she was 8. Eight years old and having been indoctrinated by her parents into thinking that her brother, attending school, was in the wrong. That making a few hundred dollars off the sweat off his back was worth more than this free education and an open future and thousands of dollars and possibilities more.

... JOY" which was a Swedish bakery and small hotel just set back from the main beach area - would recommend anyone if they are ever on the island. After lunch and a hot walk through town we decided a spot of sunbathing was in order, only to find nearly every sunbed by the pool (and there were over 30 of them) occupied. When we say occupied, nobody was actually sitting in them but towels and possessions were ...

... Since this is my first trip to Southeast Asia, my visit to Phuket was the closest I have come to the carnage that devastated this region in the world (the greatest damage was inflicted on Sumatra and Thailand second). Close to 250 people died on Phuket alone on that day. With the tsunami in the back of my mind, I reached the beaches of Phuket in a particularly somber mood. This mood was attenuated by the constant reminders throughout the island ...

... The BONUS to a balcony is that you can hang your wetsuit overnight for it to dry. :) The mid priced room has the built in couch (which really isn't functional, though), balcony and a glass shower door (which still does not stop water from getting EVERYWHERE). Our toilet had a leak which was humorous to us. But at least we had a toilet. House keeping learned quickly that we americans adore toilet paper and gave us an ...

... I could feel myself bbq-ing under the sun. I couldn't have survived through the heat for 2 and a half hours if I did not find the ...

... at Phuket airport. The town is cute, and cozy and very very Thai. It was relaxing and we treated ourselves to the 50% discount at the hotel spa experiencing for the first time a Tropical Fruit Body Scrub. I don't know what was in it, but it smelled deeeelicious like lemongrass, and fruit with some milky mixture and exfoliating beads. The women massaged us with the mixture for an hour scrubbing our pores (which could get painful) and letting us soak in the scrub ...

... Nothing a few more beers couldn't fix up. If you've never been there it's kind of hard to explain the intensity. The street is littered with 'women' who eye you out like you were Megan Fox walking through a construction yard in a g-string. They also shower you with flattery "Hello Handsome Man!" - why, thankyou, I am quite handsome. Coupled with the street vendors and people yelling "Taxi!" at you from every corner (and not like back home when you drop a drink) the ...

Hi Everyone Well alot has happened since we got into Thailand, after finally getting over our food poisining and diet of rice, it was so good to eat some real food and I have been on Thai food ever since. We moved from a cheap guest house in Ao Nang to some really "Typically Thai" bugalows in the bush, cheap, fan and cold showers. The weather here is extreme at the moment it is really "REALLY" hot in the morning and afternoon and then ...