Awe, Phucket!
The fall portion of our trip included a week of “rest” in Phuket (pronounced “Poo-ket”). After being on the go for 2 1/2 months, we were enthused about having seven days to unpack and just hang out. We had a bit of a false start, but ended up having a great re-charging time here.
Our stay in Phuket got off to an interesting start. We flew from Chiang Mai to Phuket, drove to a dock, and then took a gorgeous 45 minute boat ride to our hideaway destination, a hotel called Yao Noi on a small island. We were dazzled on the boat ride over with the beauty of Phuket. It looked straight out of a James Bond movie, and actually was (”Man with the Golden Gun” and “Casino Royale”). So we were totally psyched to get to our destination. But after arriving, our first several hours were spent trying to get our Thai point person to say something in English besides “still under construction.”
Four hours later, the
English-speaking Assistant Manager showed up, apparently having just spent time on a different planet. We learned we had thirteen different pillow options, but she had little to offer in the way of activities. We asked if the hotel had a naturalist available, and her answer was, “Oh, yes, of course. Would you like someone specializing in reflexology, or in self-healing?” Well, we knew we had a “code red” on our hands. To top things off, our room seemed to have been designed by Rube Goldberg. Fortunately, our travel consultant in the U.S. (Samantha McClure) and our local contacts (Abercrombie and Kent) did a fabulous job of getting things sorted out, and our Phuket stay got back on track quickly.
We did have one highlight at the Yoi Nol prior to departing. The question our kids have for everyone is, “Are there snakes here?” The hotel staff assured us that there were no snakes at the hotel. Well, we saw three Indo-Chinese Rat Snakes during our brief stay, and Gibson got a great picture of this critter. Of course, the hotel’s “expert” looked at the picture and told us that we had seen a cobra (about the same as mistaking a labrador retriever for a sabre-toothed tiger!). Anyway, our stay did have its highlights!
As we explored Phuket, we saw signs of the horrible tsunami of 2004, which killed more than 200,000 people around the Indian Ocean. However, much of Phuket has been completely rebuilt, so it was not all that obvious that such a natural disaster had decimated the area recently. Odd that Phuket could recover, while New Orleans still struggles. But some of the natives here related their experiences, and it reminded us of Charlestonians experience with Hurricane Hugo in 1989. The boats in the photo above had been carried 100 yards or so on shore at a location that suffered 20 casualties during the tsunami.
We spent our last five days in Phuket, blissfully, at the Amanpuri Hotel, which was a fabulous spot for us. We didn’t do much of anything other than schoolwork, swimming pool, beach, and a little baseball. The food and staff there were wonderful, and it was exactly what we were hoping for — complete relaxation with suitcases completely unpacked.
During our stay at the Amanpuri, we celebrated Halloween in an unusual way. Elizabeth made costumes for the kids and bought a big basket of candy. We figured it didn’t make sense to knock on the hotel rooms of perfect strangers from other countries and say “Trick or Treat” — unless we wanted to get arrested! So we took a big basket of candy and reverse “Trick or Treated.” We approached people, gave them candy, and did our best to explain the meaning of Halloween. Our kids didn’t see why this was a good deal for them, and some of the people we encountered looked justifiably wary of us. But the kids looked 
great, dressed as an elephant and a snake handler. We even managed to have an impromptu surrogate pumpkin, as our resourceful Thai chef turned an onion into a Jack-O-Lantern. Like everything else we encountered in Thailand, it was done with creativity and kindness — what a great country!
We had a lot of fun with hermit crabs during our times on the beach. At one point, Gibson got this video of Elizabeth and Sterling chasing down this particularly elusive crab. Take a look! Life can be tough as a lowly crab, that’s for sure.
I regret to report that we had yet another boulder incident with Sterling. This girl just loves to live on the edge! Our photo album lays out the full story, but you can see that she had her work cut out for her in getting out from under an 18-ton boulder. Between boulders and snakes, this girl is keeping us on our toes!!
Click here to see our Phuket photos.