March 13, 2008 – KO SUMAI, THAILAND

Ed and I both have sore throats and post nasal drip again. This is now the second day. We don’t know if it’s the a/c on the bus, in our room, or the fact that our carpets were cleaned while we were gone. I had about decided I could stop all the pulmonary meds I’ve been on, but now I think that’s premature.
We moved some of the stored stuff around so we could have things a little more organized. Some of our ideas worked, some didn’t. We don’t have much room to work with.
We dragged around and finally got ready and went up to the buffet to get something for breakfast before they shut down. We have an 11:30 call for the tender so it takes some planning to eat before we leave.
One lady from the Seam Reap trip stopped to ask us how we were doing after the ordeal. She said she had a pedometer on and she had walked 6 ½ miles that day, something she probably hadn’t done since she was a child.
The ocean is a lighter green and the ship stirs up silt as it turns to put the anchor down so it must be pretty shallow here. This is a tender port and there is a local, double decker tender alongside so I presume that’s for some of the tours. The captain got us here 1 ½ hours early. When we leave this evening, he will be running full throttle to make it to Singapore on time. Tomorrow is a sea day and our last “Awesome crocks” trivia group meeting. Eric is treating us all to a little “drinkie” at the end. I’ll miss those Aussies something terrible. Almost every Australian we’ve met has been a delight.
The Susan Komen walk is again tomorrow morning so we know we’ll get at least 3 miles in.
TENDER PORT: There was an announcement earlier this morning discouraging people with mobility problems from going out as the movement of the water on the pier was difficult. I don’t know how many observed this request but it wasn’t that many from the looks of things. The water near the ship is calm interestingly enough.
We boarded three busses for this tour and our tour guide Sally was a 7th generation Chinese in Thailand. She was a delight. We later learned that all the guides and busses were brought here from Phuket because there are not enough local facilities to manage the number of us; on this tour alone there were at least 120. They also brought an additional elephant over because of our large number.
Tomorrow is a sea day, then Singapore, then another sea day, and then Phuket. These guides and busses will be there by then for our tours.
SITTING BUDDHA: This was an all gold, huge Buddha on the top of a hill with many smaller buddhas on the way up. It is the largest Buddha (I’ve forgotten the details). We spent a few minutes here before moving on to the highlight of the day.
ISLAND SAFARI ADVENTURE: www.islandsafaritour.com This involved several activities and they divided us up into four groups to accommodate all the activities. Our group went to the baby elephant show first. One was 7 yrs old and the other 3 yrs. Old. They are simply adorable. They played basketball, stood on their hind legs, front legs, sat down and crossed their legs, walked on their hind feet, and more.
They asked for volunteers for an elephant massage. Ed volunteered and the little elephant was so gentle with his foot and pressing down all over his back, all the while he was massaging Ed’s scalp with his trunk. Ed said he used suction to do this. It was darling to watch. The picture I’ll post is a photo of the photo the folks at the sanctuary took. They rescue elephants and save them so it is kind’ve a way to support this good work. They also took a photo of us on the elephant ride which is a good one too but we only have the original of that one.
Next we went to ride the elephant. You climb stairs to a staging platform and from there you step on the elephant’s back and onto the seat for two people. They lock you in with a seat belt and off you go.
Our guide had told us to practice: left, right, forward, back. She was right. You use new muscles to keep your balance on these things. A camel is easier. But it is fun. The elephant we rode is 25 yrs old; don’t ask the name, it was Thai. She got hungry and went to a side patch to get something (I think this was the ruse of the driver). We saw banana groves, coconut trees galore, and other things in the refuge on our 30 min ride. The driver gave me a hibiscus to wear in my hair and while he has been driving the elephant, always with quiet words (not English), he was making each of us an origami ring out of palm leaves. Somehow all of this reminded me of the movie Hatari with it’s elephant walk.
The ride was over way too soon, and we went for a potty break where I found a very pregnant cat languidly sleeping on one of the tables at the concession stand. As always we have been given cold water regularly and “refreshing tissues” whose fragrance is always subtle but wonderful, so we just waited for the others. Oh yes, and these were Western toilets; the ones at the Buddha statue were squat toilets.
Then we had another Thai cooking demonstration and they made the same salad we had made in Bangkok. Ed said it’s still good.
Next was the monkey school. They teach monkeys to harvest only ripe coconuts and carry them to the water buffalo basket. The monkeys are all male and at least 2 yrs old. They are macaque; ours was Michael. Before Michael showed off his coconut harvesting skills, he was available for photos, so I went up and he was sitting waiting with his hands folded in front of him just as the Thai do when they greet you. Then when I put my hand out, he put his hand in mine. I expected his hands to be calloused and rough, but they were actually soft. This was great fun for me as I’ve always loved monkeys.
These trained monkeys return to their country of origin with their boss or owner. They had a problem initially because the monkeys only understood commands in Thai; now they use English commands. They can work until they are 12 to 15 yrs old.
I wanted to ride a water buffalo but that wasn’t offered here even though you see them here and there. Maybe somewhere else or another time.
This was such a short time in this resort where many Brits and Germans retire. There are numerous condominiums and time shares. Prices are cheaper than in the states but not by much. And then there are the complications of being a non-citizen. The resorts here are marvelous and the beaches on the opposite side of the island are sugar white we were told; many folks went snorkeling there.
We returned to the ship on a local 2 decker tender. This was a unique adventure and quite safe though some folks were uncomfortable with this. There were two small boats which came up next to the tender we were on and I overheard some folks speculating that these could be pirates. We are entering the areas where pirates are known to take over ships. Sometimes I get really annoyed with this nervous nellies who immediately think of all the awful things that could befall us. Why did they sign up for this trip in the first place?
I was glad to get back to the ship as I’m beginning to feel achy. I took a pill, drank lots of water, sprayed my nose several times (here I thought I could give it up), and laid down until dinner.
DINNER: All except Hank and Erna were here tonite. Lea and Bill went to Seam Reap also and we talked about our various experiences. They will be doing the Taj Mahal on their own as well but opted to take the ship tours for Valley of the Kings and other Egyptian sites due to the security issues there.
When we are on these jaunts, especially when the heat is so hot, (the tour guide asked me about my flushed face), I don’t worry too much about calories as I’m am so drained. It isn’t the exertion per se; it’s the heat and humidity.
I downloaded the photos, all 300+ and converted two which I’ll post and then began to write this blog. Ed went to the entertainment but it didn’t sound like it was worth the effort. Besides I don’t want to get behind on these blogs.
OH NO! Tonite we have to put our clocks FORWARD one hour! We’ll get the hour back later but we are so spoiled by now. And the Komen walk begins at 8:15 instead of the original 9 am I thought based on our last experience. So I’m going to try to get to bed early tonite. Let’s hope Ed agrees.