Just back from 10 night trip to Thailand with my Mum and her friend Gillian.
We stayed in at Patong Beach Hotel - right in the heart of this holiday destination. It was a great time with my mum and sharing this traveling experience with her. Very thankful she was so generous in taking me on the trip with her. It was also good to see Gillian again who is a family friend from way back. She is also the mum of the kids that I was school of the air home tutor for in the Aboriginal community, which was the last time I had seen her (4 years now)!
We shopped at the markets that had lots of the same sorts of things - t-shirts, dvds, watches, sunglasses, tailored suits & dress, shoes, tourist: hats, towels, wooden elephants, tissue box covers and much more... oh did I mention shoes??
Patong Beach StreetNow as some of you know I do have a small and moderate love for shoes. So I think I did well by coming home with only 4 pairs since each shoe averaged a whole $5.
But instead of talking shopping which you can do at home or pretty much anywhere, I will move to my impressions of the culture and country of Thailand, well perhaps Patong Beach anyway!
First impression of Patong Beach, Phuket - hot, smelly and humid! Got used to the smell by day 2 and pretty much never got used to the humidity except when in the air conditioning!!
It was hard to get to know the culture of this town as it is so geared to the tourism market. The locals are there to appease all needs, desires, wants and greed of the tourist - Which is quite sad... Patong Beach could be soon made an new Aussie state, every second person is an Aussie's with tattoos who are on their annual holiday there.
But to our holiday... We did two tours, one to Phang Nga and the other around Phi Phi Islands mountains/rock that go straight up out of the water.
On the Phang Nga trip we travelled in a Longtail boat, had lunch at a Muslim Fishing Village, except we didn't have time to look around... only stayed in the restaurant.Phang Nga / James Bond Island was beautiful, absolutely spectacular. Absolutely picturesque. Some of the photos of me, like the one below, look as though I am superimposed - but no it's the real deal. Mind blowing!
Before we got to the Phang Nga region we stopped off for an elephant trek, buffalo cart ride and see some very cute monkeys, except for the cheeky monkey that bit me.
Phang Nga - Long Tail Boat Ride
Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Ley, were two of the most beautiful islands ever... Phi Phi Ley is where "The Beach" movie was filmed. So beautiful. Again absolutey stunning. Thailand truly has some of the most glorious parts of God's creation!On our trip was Shampoo and her family. Shampoo owned the tour booking company that is at our hotel. She was trying out the tour to recommend it to customers. She was so kind and looked out for us the entire time. It was a treat to meet her family, all very polite and kind.
Later in the arvo near Phi Phi Don, we were let out for a snorkel - oh the fish we saw were fantastic. So many colours adorned the fish. I am however still suffering from the sea lice bites, grr...
Some of the funniest sites were seen while getting ready for the swim. An Indian couple who never been swimming before gave it a go, many Asians who decided to go in fully clothed all with life jackets, some Indian boys who don't own swimmers and decided to go in just their underpants, an very obese man jumping off the boat, some Thai boys who forgot swimmers bought some from the boat and got changed in front of everyone!And then me and a few other Aussie's and some Brazilians went in with swimmers and our snorkel - I never felt so normal yet in such a minority.
We also went to Phuket town, local growers markets (which was a daring place to eat dinner but so worth it) and the Butterfly gardens. But lots of the time was spent in the Patong Beach Markets and the beach and by the hotel's gorgeous pools.
But in effort to get to know the place better we refused to eat at any of the restaurants and so we risked it to eat at the side-of-the-road stalls, where the Thai themselves eat. Which was great... we had no problems, we never got sick and got to enjoy the delight of real Thai food and real chats with Thai people. Plus we finished off most meals with Banana/Choc Pancake mmmmmmmmmmmm yummy!!!
As we walked home from dinner every night we would have to walk up the 'red light' street. Which was really sad. The whole street is blocked off after sun down and the lady boys and prostitutes emerge. Again the Thai folk seem to be appeasing the demand of tourism.I was really saddened by the exploitation of these women (& lady boy men) and disturbed by their seaming willingness but also I saw how sad and lonely the men who hire these people... lonely and desperate enough to make a trip to Thailand on your own to hire a woman to travel with for the week. Really didn't know who to blame, who to feel sorry for or what to think...
But having said that Mum, Gillian and I found the Thai people very polite, honest and kind - which we attributed to their Buddhist Culture. Animals were treated well, their dogs were clean and healthy. Plus when both my Mum and I lost our wallets on separate occasions (yes, yes, it runs in the family OK!) our wallets were returned with nothing taken.So I guess Precepts 1 (harmonious conduct regarding Life) and 2 (harmonious conduct regarding Property) are the easier precepts to keep in the Buddhist faith. However, it seems they turn a blind eye to Precepts 3 (harmonious conduct regarding Sexual Conduct) and 5 (harmonious conduct regarding Mindfulness - intoxication).
Instead of a Gideon's bible in the hotel we got a great little book "Karma for today's traveler" by Phra Bhasakorn Bhailai with David Freyer... which is a good read, well... Helping me get a better insight into this ever increasing popular religion... I should do another post critiquing this book.... but just quickly it seems highly illogical and impossible.
Superimposed 'me' @ Phang NgaPlus can't go on holidays without my Uncle Piper. So I read CONTENDING FOR OUR ALL - John Piper, which Marcia gave
to me for my birthday. This book is Piper's insights into the life lessons of Athenasius (bishop), John Owen (pastor) and J. Gresham Machen (seminary founder). WOW! What heroes of the faith... they really fought hard and contended their all for the truth of the gospel and the glory of Christ. Great examples of perseverance in the faith in conflict and controversy, for the sake of Truth, the Kingdom, the Cross and for the sake of Christ's church.Hmmm ... if you have read this far I applaud you. I guess I will stop ranting and just say I enjoyed my time away! Thank God that I feel refreshed spiritually, emotionally and physically! Very thankful to him for blessing me we such a restful holiday.
