Heather's Thairy

Heather's journey to Bangkok, Thailand: a year of adventure!

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Apology

Dear Readers,
Please accept my humble regrets and sincere apologies for the delay in my latest entry. I actually am behind two; I am really trying to get them ready for posting. Here's what I can tell you right now:
1. I am great. Ray and I are having a fantastic time. School is going well, parent day was fine, I have been sick but it's not serious.
2. I have done some incredibly exciting things in the past little while. I will share them with you soon. Here is a little taste of what's to come...





Until next time,
Heather

Monday, November 20, 2006

Krabirthday

My birthday was last Sunday, so I took my personal day on Monday and Ray and I flew out to Krabi. I'd never been and had heard that it is possibly the most beautiful place in Thailand...
The first night we arrived around 8:30 and headed from the airport to Ao Nang, the beach where you can catch longtail boats to Railay beach and other places. Ao Nang is quite touristy but was fairly nice- we found a great hotel called "Ao Nang Palace Hotel" for only 800 baht a night. We were skeptical about the ocean view when we first arrived, but were pleasantly surprised in the morning:



The next morning we took a longtail boat to West Railay beach. We had been told that the less expensive accommodation is found on the East side, so we walked across to the other "beach". I put that in quotations because the East side is mudflats and construction and not much else. It was awful. After some consideration and a bit of rain, we took another boat to Ton Sai beach.







Ton Sai is very beautiful and is the hub for rockclimbing. We stayed at Mambo guesthouse in a sketchy little hut with no sink and a mosquito net. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it was not somewhere that I was willing to spend my birthday at, so the next morning we found a much nicer place to stay.
Sunday was spent mostly eating; it rained quite a bit. We managed to see another brilliant sunset and played some pool.







We vowed to get up early on Monday and explore more of Krabi. We took a boat from Ton Sai back to West Railay and walked towards an alleged viewpoint, which we never did find. We did find the pathway that connects East Railay to Phra Nang beach, which is the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. The walk itself was absolutely stunning too...


The pathway is alongside caverns and cliffside formations that are amazing.






Some of the rocks were breathtaking...it was spectacular. I thought it was really neat to see the places where water and minerals are dripping and forming new stalactites...or stalagmites...or whatever.



Phra Nang was fairly empty when we got there; there is only one resort on Phra Nang, a ridiculously expensive and heavily guarded place where very rich, very blonde European people lounge around in the pool instead of on the dirty old beach. Lucky for us!







It was a great weekend. My birthday was more low-key than usual; it was really nice and quiet and relaxing and just sort of came and went. Krabi is wonderful- I will definitely visit again.



Until next time,
Heather

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Catching Some Rays

Last weekend was another trip to Hua Hin to show Ray the beach and get some sun. The weather was fantastic; it was sunny and breezy and not too hot. Apparently it is jellyfish season and there were huge dead jellies all over the beach, which is gross but highly amusing for someone like me. Rainy season is over in Thailand- the seasons here are so strange! Rainy season came and went with such an abruptness: for about four or five weeks it rained each and every day around the same time with a vengeance like I've never seen. Then suddenly it was like someone turned the taps off, and it hasn't rained a drop since. I almost miss the rain- almost.





We spent most of our time on the beach lounging around; had some good food, had a massage (Ray was a big fan of the Thai massage, and as far as we could tell his masseur was a big fan of him), saw a lady-boy cabaret show...a full and fun weekend, for sure.

The doi boys caberet is in this strange little venue that is dark and cramped and doesn't really promise a great show. However, the performers are pretty enthusiastic and certainly a lot of fun. Though the costumes seem to have been worn about a million times- one of the ladyboys was telling us he hasn't had a holiday since August- they are still very intricate and fancy.



It's a little hard to take when a man looks better in a dress than you do...and applies his makeup better...just kidding.











One of the numbers was funny- the ladyboy was dressed in a hideous wig with his teeth blacked out, making horrible faces. Eventually it turned out to be "I Will Survive", and Ray got to dance onstage, which was not only hilarious but also an indication that Ray is destined for stardom.

Until next time,
Heather

Loi Krathong

Thailand celebrated the water festival, Loi Kratong, last weekend. The kids at school made "kratong", which are floating candle holders made of leaves and flowers. They had a little ceremony in the fountain out back of the school with chanting and singing and marching.





On Sunday night there were fireworks by the river which we could see from my window. It's really amazing to be in this country and be a part of their celebrations and traditions- I feel very lucky to be able to see how other people live and take part in totally new experiences like this.

Until next time,
Heather