Beach Time

Greetings,

Jo Ann making her offering to Buddah

We are enjoying beach time for about a week here and then another week farther south. Koh Chang is on the eastern side of Thailands long peninsula, facing west into the sunsets. I know that explanation is confusing so check the map closely. Koh, in Thai, means island and we are a short ferry ride from the mainland and about a four hour bus trip from Bangkok. We are on the main beach and it's still a very small place. I think most people normally vacation on the West side near Phuket and Phi Phi. That was the side that got hit by the Tsumani, so this place will probably get real popular until things are rebuilt there. Right now it reminds me of Santa Cruz, circa 1953.

Notice the resemblance?

We spent a few days in Bangkok before we flew here. I have to say all of the big Asian cities end up being so much alike, and spending more than a couple of days in any of them gets tiring very quickly. I really think that we are just about "Templed out". After looking closely at about fifty thousand different ones, it's difficult to pick out any thing new. We saw the major attractions in Bangkok and rode their light rail but it was hard to get excited about the thought of staying another day. Maybe we are just tired or possibly jaded at this point, with large cities.

The beach here is nice and the water is warm. All the ingredients for a relaxing time. I had hesitated, initially, about coming here. The research I did made it sound as if it had changed over the years and turned into a very built up, tourist trap, kind of place. Penny's daughter, Crystal, had reported that on her trip it was the nicest beach she visited. With the tsunami, our choices were cut in half so we decided to try it. I have determined after a few days what the changes might be attributed to. Everyone complains about how built up everything is. Yes, there is no remaining beach front property available on the island. They complain about the tourists. There are huge numbers of Europeans staying here, but not the bus loads of tour groups that we have seen other places. I really think that what is happened is the effect on the locals. The Thai's here are not the happy, friendly, helpful people that I have grown to love. That change is sad.

Sunset from where we are staying

The Europeans seem very demanding. Especially the Germans. I have always been keenly aware of the "ugly American" profile, but I can't see how Americans, as a group, could be any worse. Very few UK folks, Australians, or Americans. It feels kind of strange.

The Thai's attitude didn't really occur to me until yesterday(I am often very slow). We rented a Chopper, or a scooter if you ask JoAnn. Yea, sure, it was probably only a 40cc, sleek looking, all plastic, motor bike. We rode over the mountain to the other side of the island. Not where the tourists stay. We stopped several times and the local people were great. We stopped and visited a large Sunday party, at the end of the road, where the village was raising money for their temple. I donated 100 Bhat(about 2.50) and they thought we were millionaires. They really enjoyed JoAnn going through the Buddhist rituals of lighting the candle, giving the flowers as an offering and rubbing this gold leaf kind of stuff on the golden Buddah. Since we don't speak Thai, I don't have a clue what they were saying, but they were really enjoying leading Jo Ann through the process that every Buddhist just takes for granted. JoAnn loves this type of interaction and was all smiles as she stumbled through. As we have said before, what we really enjoy during this adventure is the people and their cultures.

The "Chopper"

We are evaluating some changes to our itinerary, but have made no firm decisions. The last few weeks are to be on some South Pacific islands. The Cooks, Bora Bora, and Tahiti were our first choices. We are not sure if more island time is what we are looking for and the transportation hassles and costs might just be too great. Maybe by the time we are finished with New Zealand it will be just what we are looking for. Maybe not. As we get closer to home that "missing our kids" stuff gets stronger and stronger. We have been gone four and a half months and I can't tell if thats a long time or not. I know that if we were at home four and a half months would seem to fly by.

The place we are staying

We leave tomorrow morning, back to Bangkok, then fly on to Koh Samui. Remember my lesson? Yes, it's another tropical island. Talk about lucky, we were able to get some concert tickets over the Internet. That means we need to be in Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia, on the first, to see "Sting". We got great seats, something that is almost impossible to do at home any longer. JoAnn is more than very excited. I'm anxious to see how the Malaysian people party. We will let you know.

We hope that everyone is doing well and staying healthy. As always we appreciate hearing from all of you. Nothing is too mundane to write us about. We enjoy it all.

Love,

Don and Jo Ann

The Royal Palace in Bangkok