Phuket

Evacuation sign posted in front of the hotel. It was not all that built up around our hotel. This was one of the areas hit hard in 2004.

Sunset Point

A few minutes later Bryce woke up.

Hundreds of elephants surround the shrine at Sunset Point.

Nature hike in the jungle and beautiful waterfalls.

The Big Buddha of Phuket

Bryce (and Daddy) Build a Sand Castle

So we had a day (or two) on the beach with sun, water, elephants, and of course sand. Bryce loves to play in the sand so daddy said lets build a sand castle. Huh - said Bryce. So daddy explained the idea and after a long stick out (during which Bryce got bored and wandered off to see the elephants).

Daddy finally said lets just show you.

So we got setup.

Then we had to do some planning and measuring

The sand got dry so we needed water

It was really hot and we needed some more water;
while daddy was trying to figure out what to do, Bryce set off to get the water.

We had to go early, but when we came back the next day it was still there. So we build it up some more.

Bryce wants it to be known that while daddy was mostly digging around, Bryce did the delicate work.

Laguna Phuket Triathlon

1.8k Swim, 55k Bike, 12k Run

With the Bangkok airports being closed Ramiro, Bonnie, Bryce and Kookai loaded up the car and drove to Phuket. It has been nice to have the car but we did not want to drive back.
Phuket is a very hilly beach resort Island. Beautiful beaches and beautiful lush hills set for a postcard. That is till you are actually supposed to ride them in tomorrows triathlon.
We both finished and set "Personal Best's" not hard to do since we never concord this course before. Ramiro broke his rear bike wheel at 8k of 55k and his shoe separated as he tried to dismount at the bike finish, aka not such a good bike. The swim was great as it spans two bodies of water the Andaman Sea and a lagoon. Different and fun since in the middle of the swim you get out and run up the sandy hill. Many people were stumbling there way across.

The run was nice. Two laps of the Laguna Phuket Golf Course, a world class golf course. The best part was they gave out ice cold sponges...take your breath away when your not expecting the cold chill.All in all a challenging and fun Tri.

Sunflower Fields Forever

Today I traveled up to Lop Buri, a city about 3 hours north of Bangkok. The American Womens' Club offered a trip to see the sunflower fields. This sounded like a must see. Sunflowers -- Thais call them Thantawan -- grow in central, northern and northeastern Thailand each year, from November through January (with the best time being late November).The fields around Lop Buri are filled with bright yellow sunflowers. These are commercial crops raised for producing seeds and oil, yet they have become something of a tourist attraction. This isn't mentioned in most guide books. The large fields or yellow and green flowers set against the surrounding steep limestone hills are quite striking.
Next we went up to a Wat overlooking the sunflower fields valley, but you could not see the sunflowers from this point.
I have heard you need to try the local cuisine anytime you visit a foreign country, so I figured it was time to try something from the bug cart. So I ate a fried grub worm and it tasted like a french fry. I even had a second one. We took a tractor pull out across the Topasak Dam and saw the Buddha on the otherside of the lake. It sat upon a very large pink lotus flower.Our final stop was at the Phra Prang Sam Yot. This is a 18th Buddhist Century temple that is overtaken by monkeys, by the hundreds!!! They must multiply like rabbits.

Frogs and Snails and...

puppy-dogs' tails that's what little boys are made of.

Bryce, just being one of the boys.

Loy Krathong Festival

Loy Krathong is held on the full moon in the twelfth lunar month of the traditional Thai calender, by western calender it generally occurs in November. Every year thousands of people gather to celebrate and float their krathong down water ways.
In Thai "Loy" means to float and "Krathong" means a circular floating object with decoration of banana leaves, flowers, a candle and incense sticks. Some people also light lanterns and float them into the sky, similar to a hot air balloon. Flying or floating away misfortune and bad things in the past and asking for good luck in the future.

Here is to luck,

and floating away misfortune!

South of Bangkok

Since it was Veteran's Day we decided to get out and see the outskirts of Bangkok. Not too far south there is a Crocodile Farm and Zoo. We saw man vs. the man eating crocodile show. The sound of the jaws slapping shut is amazing, it is a hollow roar.After the show we rode a train through the zoo seeing lions and tigers and peacocks oh my. We then saw an elephant show, where the elephants painted, peddled a tuk-tuk, and even danced on a tight rope. After we walked over to the largest crocodile farm where Bonnie was brave enough to feed them chicken carcases. There were different types of crocs, we never knew there was such a variety, long tail, no tail, albino, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, no eyes,and humpback to name a few. Ramiro deemed it "The Croc Freak Show".
A short drive down the road to The Ancient Siam Museum. It is a drive through park that is the shape of Thailand. There are replicas of statues, Wats, Palaces and so much more. We really enjoyed this park and are eager to return and enjoy the park more thoroughly and at a slower pace.We had lunch at a pier and saw hundreds maybe even thousands of sea birds (aka seagulls). This pier attracts people from all around to eat at the seafood restaurant on the end of the pier. The other attraction are the seasonal sea birds we just happened to be here at the right time, or might I say the wrong time. People were paying to feed the seagulls. We took a few pix with Bryce and then headed for cover.Our final destination was the Erawan Museum to see the three headed elephant monument. This was so much larger than I ever imagined it would be. It is a monument to Buddha and his elephant, Erawan. It is good luck to wai to the statue, so we did, Bryce even followed our lead.