MARCH 17, 2008 – PHUKET
HAPPY SAINT PADDY’S DAY

The ship’s movements alert you to how close to port we are. We woke up at 6 something and the ship docked promptly at 7 am as planned. We had ordered room service but Ed decided not to go because he wasn’t feeling well and he wants to be OK for the overland to the Taj Mahal. Since he went to the MD yesterday, all he has to do is to show that receipt and they’ll refund the cost of today’s excursion.
I was down in the cabaret lounge before 8 am and we left promptly at 8:10 am as advertised. I was glad they had made the following announcement last night: If you arrive at the bus and you do not yet have your sticker, you will be required to come back on board and get your sticker in the Cabaret Lounge. This was said because some couples have one person go to the bus so they can get good seats while the other one picks up 2 stickers in the lounge. There was a clapping of hands with this announcement.
There are always seats for disabled and the tour guide in the first seats on both sides. One couple are each very wide and so they take two seats each and the tour guide arranges for a lift to the sites.
We left fairly quickly and I managed to get Sally (from Ko Sumai) again. Another passenger from the UK, Rojer, shared seats with me. Very pleasant fellow and I enjoyed visiting with him.
WAT CHALONG: This is a lovely setting and there was a Buddhist ordination going on that we were allowed to view quietly from the back of the temple. There are several temples on these grounds and we were allowed to roam freely as long as we took our shoes off before entering, no hats and no sunglasses, shoulders and knees covered. These wats and temples are so gorgeous that words don’t do justice to them. On a hill in the distance is an enormous (as yet unfinished) sitting Buddha which was erected after the Tsunami of 4 yrs ago; more than $1 million USD were collected to build this.
In addition to the religious buildings on this area, there were stalls with the usual tourist clutter for sale. There were so many dogs and cats around; I was surprised. One little puppy kept following us everywhere.
ISLAND SAFARI: This is the same company where we went on Ko Sumai, but their site here is much better developed. They have rice paddies for you to see, a water buffalo who does the work and upon whom you can sit for a photo. I wanted to ride the buffalo but it wasn’t covered in the package we had today so I contented myself with watching the buffalo work, getting a bath, and then having folks, mostly kids, sit on it for photos. If they weren’t tame, they could do a lot of damage with those horns!
First we went to ELEPHANT CAMP where there were 3 baby elephants. They did many of the same tricks we were shown in Ko Sumai but one was a little different: the elephant puts it’s trunk on your cheek and suctions it and smacks as if kissing you rather than the scalp massage. There was one other difference. A man was asked to volunteer for a very special Thai massage. He had to lay on his back and the towel was put over his pelvis and chest, but not his groin. On his private parts, something was put down on him. The baby elephant begins the massage her foot and then removes whatever had been put on the groin and begins to massage the private parts with her trunk. This was unexpected and very funny.
ANOTHER ELEPHANT RIDE: My partner for this ride was a fellow passenger. We had a good time and agreed that this ride was “smoother” than the one in Ko Sumai. To begin with, the cushion seat was different: we didn’t slide on it. Furthermore, there wasn’t a seatbelt on this one: they had a wooden rod across which we could hold onto. The ride again was about 30 minutes and included a trek through a muddy creek where the elephant kept exploring the waterway with her trunk. No she didn’t spray us but Mike did mention the possibility. This elephant was 27 y/o and the mahout has worked with her for 18 yrs.
They offered the usual photo of you on the elephant for $10. There was a lady selling Thai leather cutouts; her father taught this to her and she is teaching her daughter. At least that’s what she said. It all looks like it’s laser cut to me.
THAI LUNCHEON: This was buffet style with many wonderful selections. The fruits are so tasty here, especially the papaya. We got bottled water with the meal. At this location they grow orchids but few of them were blooming.
USUAL TOURIST TRAP: This is a lapidary place. As you walk through, they show gems in various stages of preparation. The next room is? Well of course, a place where they have lots of jewelry and you are guaranteed to have one or more salespeople with you at all times. Many of us headed upstairs for the “crafts” section. Lots of lovely linens (actually Thai silk in most instances) and dishes plus other mish mash. Leaving this area takes you into a coffee shop where you can have a free soft drink and wait for the serious spenders; if they wanted to stay even longer, the facility will get them back to the ship (about 30 min away by car).
RETURN TO SHIP: There are a number of stalls in the pier area. Not many folks were tempted but there are still die hard “shoppers” who can’t go by a stall without looking.
Ed was washed and dressed and watching TV; no surprise there. He was sure that his decision to stay in was the right one.
WHILE I’M THINKING ABOUT IT: I encountered a different kind of squat toilet today. (I just know you’re all very excited to hear about this.) For those of you uninitiated, Western toilets are not usually found in the rural areas. A squat toilet is usually simply a keyhole shaped basin flush (no pun intended) with the floor. More commonly, there is a bucket of water nearby and you pour some of this into this basin to “flush”. Also, while I’m thinking about it, you do not put anything non-biological (don’t you love how discrete I am?) into this toilet; you put tissue (which you must almost always provide yourself) into a garbage can nearby.
Well this one today was keyhole shaped and there was the expected bucket of water nearby and the trash receptacle too. But the ceramic wasn’t flush with the floor; it was about 2-3” elevated all around, and about 3-4” wide with a crosshatched section on each side perfect for your shoes. I guess this is the latest in “modern” technology in the rural areas of Asia.
DINNER: (the sequencing of these entries is not lost on me either). Hank and Erna weren’t at dinner but everyone else was. Bill got his camera stolen off of him in a crowded place; he had it hanging over his shoulder. It was a nice one but they can probably get it replaced via American Express. However, the loss of several hundred photos is the more sad loss. There are so many people who have lost or had damage to their cameras. Linda was telling me that she went into the ladies room at the Harbor Front terminal in Singapore and saw a very nice camera which clearly had been left inadvertently. She and Claude checked the photos on it and identified the owner who, not surprisingly, was a fellow passenger on this ship and returned the camera. You can imagine their relief upon receiving it.
ENTERTAINMENT: Tonite’s entertainment is an Asian dulcimer player. I walked past his cabin and heard the music so I may miss it. I got very little sleep last night and it was useless to try to get any when I returned this afternoon. Late entry: I did go to see him after I cleaned out my email. He is delightful and the selections of music run the gamit but show off the instrument beautifully. And again, I have to remark about how skilled these musicians on the ship are. They get the music of the guest performer on the day of the performance and they play absolutely flawlessly!
TWO GLORIOUS DAYS AT SEA: Oh boy. We will receive our arrival and departure forms for India in our mailboxes tomorrow and they must be returned to the purser’s office by noon tomorrow. The Indian immigration authorities must be on board. If it’s like last time, they’ll require that we personally appear before them before they’ll stamp our passports. Since we are going on an overland, we will have to have our passports with us (I’m assuming here.) The free space in my passport is becoming every more precious. The guy stamped across the staple area the last time. I pointed out the blank spaces above and below the written materials in the beginning of my passport but he didn’t bite. I wonder if they have rules about where these must be put. If I had time and thought it would work, I’d go to an American consulate or embassy somewhere and ask them to put in some extras. I thought about doing it before I left the US but I was afraid I wouldn’t get it back in time for leaving. It took so long to get the China and India visas, there wasn’t much time left. You can bet when I get home I’ll have them put a double set of pages in as my passport doesn’t expire until 2015. Then there’s always the Irish passport route; Fr. Cribben carries both but only used the Irish passport for Pitcairn.
ST. PATRICK’S DAY: Speaking of the Irish, the ship is decorated for St. Paddy’s Day, the drink waiters are all in green plastic hats (they already wear green jackets), and there are green items placed strategically all over the ship.
YIPPEE! Again. We turn our clocks back one more hour … again.
Ok, that’s all for tonite. I’ll clean up my emails and then send this out. Hope all is well.