Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Ko Phi Phi With The Family

So when I last left off, we were about to head off to Phi Phi Island. We woke up early & headed over to the ferry boats. It was really crowded as they had a whole bunch of boats & going to the same place. Luckily we had some guys helping us. We had to walk across two or three other boats to get to ours (they were all tied to each other). But soon we were on our way.

The boat made a brief stop at the island where “The Beach” was filmed so that we could all see the infamous beach. (It’s now a national park & they charge a fee to even step on the beach).

We finally reached the island & it was beautiful!

We spent the rest of the day relaxing on the beach.

The next day we went snorkeling.

The water was crystal clear.

Even though it had been a few years, you could still see signs of the tsunami.

There was a memorial close to our hotel that was really moving.

And the next day we were off to Bangkok.











A Brief Interlude

It’s that time of year again. Songkran starts this weekend…you may remember…the holiday that turns into a week-long water fight?!? Anyway, I could hear splashes & screaming this morning as I was getting ready for work so I knew that the previously-planned on white shirt was not going to work. And sure enough, as soon as I stepped out my front gate, the sweet kids that shout “hello” to me every day came running over with buckets of water & proceeded to douse the farang.

So now I’m sitting at work, soaking wet. Plus, the kids had added green dye to the water & now my arms & clothes have a definite green tinge to them…hopefully it doesn’t stain too badly!

I’m excited for this Songkran because a whole bunch of volunteers are going to Chaing Mai to celebrate. For those of you in America, Chaing Mai is to Songkran what New Orleans is to Mardi Gras…so it should be a fun time!