Just takin’ it easy

We left our nice hotel in Kata and moved to Bang Tao beach area. The main reason is that it is much closer to the airport. (More on that later) It is also very quiet. like a lot of Thailand, we have been here before, and stayed at the same hotel, called the Kris Resort. New last year and quite nice. The area is north of Patong and part of the area most devastated by the tsunami, but it is difficult to tell now, as it has all been rebuilt. The town proper is quite some distance from the resort area and so does not lend itself well to those who shop. Speaking of she who shops, I fear that she is possibly coming down with some blighted disease, for she has refrained from purchasing to excess, and in fact we have yet to send even one parcel home. With the exception of a few shirts, well that and a few scarves, she remains without purchases. I trust that this will remedy itself once we get to Bali, as I am certain that there must be a cure for this malady.

Like I mentioned, Bang Tao is quite laid back, and as I was trying my best to blend in, sitting on the deck doing nothing, I noticed some of the locals hard at work. This was in a rather large field next to our hotel, and the work crew comprised of three men and a monkey, or perhaps four men, one of whom was quite short and very hairy. Now the “short hairy one” was tied to a long rope, and was sent up the coconut trees to harvest the coconuts. He was really quite selective and upon removing the chosen coconut from the tree, would wing it down in the area of the three other fellows, one of whom would collect the coconut and throw it in a cart attached to a motorcycle. Or perhaps  the hairy guy was trying to hit the other three, but a coconut is big enough to see coming. The rope on the main worker guy was, I assume, a means to encourage him to come back down from the tree on demand. It would also prevent him from sitting in the treetop laughing and presenting the finger to those still on the ground. When you think that this was a thriving enterprise with at least three and one half employees, the only one who appeared to be working had a big responsibility in that all their livelihoods rested on his shoulders. Sort of like government work.

Now I did mention that we moved, partially to be closer to the airport. Our flight to Bali left at 8:50 AM, and as it is considered an international flight we were expected to be there two hours prior. Even with our closer proximity to the airport, we are still a good half hour away, so that makes our hotel departure in the neighborhood of 6:00 AM. Now even with a “flash face” from the magic face case that would still mean a “open your eyes, its morning” time of about 5:00 AM. Well we made arrangements for a wake up call for 5:00 AM and a taxi at 6:00, and then promptly went to sleep, and slept, and slept until 6:00 AM when we were informed that our taxi was waiting. It seems that our wake up call must have gone to the wrong room, so now we are scrambling. At 6:20, we are checking out and getting into our “new taxi” and on the way to the airport. But this is Thailand, panic is not that necessary. We cleared customs and all that stuff, and still made our flight. Next stop Kuala Lumpur, and then Bali, — but that is another blog.

Back to the Big Buddha

Took another trip up to the Big Buddha. This would be the third such trip, as we have visited the site each year that we have visited this area. The Buddha was begun about ten years ago and is constructed from concrete, all 150 feet of it. After shaping the statue, the surface was inlaid with white marble tiles, which were again shaped and smoothed to give it’s present surface. The scaffolding that is presently erected around the head portion of the statue is to enable the workers to do the fine finishing touches. In this instance it was to install the eyes of the Buddha. The pupils were ground and shaped from serpentine rock from Burma, and the whites of the eyes are shaped from mother of pearl. It remains but to install the marble tiles on the lotus pedals, where the Buddha sits, and the  statue proper will be completed, but the job far from over. Construction now begins upon the retaining wall and temple buildings. Now it is not that the workers are so desperately slow, but as the construction was done through donation and the sale of the marble tiles. So finance had a very big part in the building.

Now i am a bit uncertain if possibly the Thai peoples are hoping to construct an edifice which may last thousand of years. The Cambodians have Anchor Wat which has stood the test of time, the Chinese have the Great wall, and now the Thai have the Giant Buddha. Little do they realize that they still have their mattresses, which I am certain will last a thousand years. All those coil springs which they managed to scrounge from General Motors after the production of the autos of the 60’s, went into the production of mattresses. The beds that we slept upon three years ago are every bit as firm today as they were then. I believe that had general motors engineered the rest of the car to last as long as the coil springs, they would not now be owned by the US taxpayer. But back to the Buddha! You can see the square shaped marble tiles on the bee hive shaped items in the picture, both in the rough installation and then again once they have been ground and shaped. These “bee hives” are actually part of the hair styling of the Buddha, where hundreds of these adorn the head. It gives you a bit of the picture of just how much labor has gone into the construction.

Interesting to note that the scaffolding is comprised of bamboo sticks, tied together with chunks of old rope. The workers scurry about this rather flimsy looking structure, with no apparent worries. No thank you very much!

Our next stretch appears to be Bali. Don’t know how the internet will be, but I will try to keep in touch, and the blog updated. And oh yes, you will note the addition of some photos to the blog. Grand daughter, Brooklyn, tried to teach me how to do this last year, but having the mental retention of a chicken, by the time I tried it, it didn’t work. Took another lesson this year from son (Troy), and voila. Not yet perfect, but getting there.

Best to all

T

People watching

Upon looking at the west coast beach areas of Koh Phuket, (Phuket Island), it is hard to realize the devastation that was here a few short years ago. Hotels and resorts have been rebuilt and the beaches are full and the towns are busy. Soon the death and destruction left by the Tsunami will be but a memory, a tale to be passed down by an older generation.

It would appear as though there are more Europeans here this year, than in the past. Still a lot of Scandinavians, but Europe appears to be the area to flee from this year. Maybe the mounds of snow that they are encountering, along with the strong winds and freezing temperatures has encouraged them to travel. Something new that I noticed this year, particularly in Patong, are the number of old Gaffers with a “suicide” hair do By this, I mean “dyed by their own hand” It would seem that once these old fellows escape from their extended care lodges, or the watchful scrutiny of care giver children, they flee to Patong and incorporate a clever disguise. The problem with “dyeing on the cheap” is that there appears to be a very small choice in colors. Those with a full head of hair appear to prefer “coal black”, as extracted from a can of Nugget shoe polish. This give the casual look of possibly a black cat having landed on ones head, and then hung on for dear life I have been tempted to take a peek under the black mat with the thoughts of finding a pair of eyes glaring at me, but that would only satisfy idle curiosity. The other group of debonair gentlemen are those with a comb-over. This is where they try to extract sufficient hair from their ears to drag up to the top of their skulls, or as close to as possible. (I have more experience in this category). Now for some reason, these dashing rascals appear to prefer a brilliant orange color, similar to the dye used on the robes of the novice monks, and is thus likely to be very available and for a modest cost. The result is a fuzzy orange wreath, worn in the Roman style, part way around the head. Now as Patong is the area of choice for the party crowd, and is thus filled with the younger tourist group, I suspect that the clever disguise is used in hopes of blending in — I hate to tell them, “it ain’t working”. Of course, I could be mistaken and Patong is actually hosting a convention for retired circus clowns. One never knows.

We have now moved to Kata, probably the most quiet of the three major beach towns on Phuket, but our favorite, eating and sleeping playing a bigger role in our life style it seems. We will be here for a few more days and decide if and when we will move on to Bali and Malaysia.

We will keep you posted.

T

Deja – vu Asia 2010

Have you ever opened your eyes and thought “ I’ve seen this before”? Well I had that deja vu experience, but hey, here we are, back in Thailand, and I have seen this before. Fortunately, strong winds and horizontal rains that were on the verge of sleet, prompted her own self into booking some tickets, and here we are. I, of course put up a valiant struggle to stay at home and enjoy the rain — or perhaps I was mistaken that I did that, and if I had, I should be beaten with a stick. Ah yes, — it is good to be back. There is an abundance of sun, and Thailand is still filled with warm and friendly people.

We were fortunate in our flight arrangements to procure our tickets with Cathay Pacific. As we were flying “baggage”, and in the air for some seventeen hours it is nice to have the bit of extra leg room that they seem to provide. All they need to do now, is figure out a way to abolish jet-lag and travel will be a breeze. Had a bit of a time turning day into night and vice versa — hey, maybe I am morphing back into a teenager? Falling into the swing of things now. It is amazing what one can do when they force themselves.

Don’t know just how frequent the blogs will be this trip. The difficulty in us repeatedly returning to these same areas which we enjoy so much, is finding new things to write about, but I’ll try. I believe that I have previously mentioned a time or three, just how great is the variety of fresh fruit, and how much we enjoy having it so readily available. I have not included “Durian” , (see above photo) in that list, as I had not savored its flesh. Now for those of you not in the know, durian is a fruit which hides in a sort of shell, about the size of a basketball. It is covered with little pyramid shaped spikey lumps, and is definitely not the type of fruit which you would like to be dropped in your lap. In addition, most hotels here, have warnings posted in the rooms stating that durian is not allowed, and if the rule is broken, eviction may result. This bad rap for the poor durian appears to be the result of a some what distinctive odor, likened to that of rotting flesh, or possibly rotten eggs. However, faint heart never kissed a pig, and as we found a fruit vendor who was willing to sell us a small amount of just the flesh, we added it to our purchase. Now, in order to offset the distinctive odor and ugly appearance, supposedly, the flesh has the texture of a pudding and an incredible amount of healthy benefits. Methinks that this last bit of PR was devised by those who wished to sell said durian, as when I opened the package, I was definitely aware of a distinctive odor. It was not that of a rose garden! Now not having a great deal of experience with rotting flesh, trying my best to eat all meat products in the fridge in a timely fashion. I am not quite as responsive to the condition of vegetables, for I surmise that they could get stuck in ones throat and become a health hazard. Anyway, back to my durian, I would guess that the smell would be somewhere in a mix of possibly rotted flesh and diaper poo. The “pudding – like” flesh, was more like that of partially cooked artichokes, but what the heck, I had gotten this far, and the truth was in the taste. Well, my guess is, some of scent of the “diaper poo” spilled over into the flavor, so on a scale of one to ten, I would be hard pressed to give it a two. Maybe it is like a single malt, an acquired taste. I shall never find out — the durian, not the single malt.

Decided yesterday to dine at one of our favorite restaurants in this area, “The Red Chair Restaurant”. This is a small place , off the beaten track, and mostly frequented by locals — very good food and very cheap. The one small setback is that we are staying in Karon, and the restaurant is in Kata, which I believe must be about a hundred miles apart, — well maybe 3 ½ miles apart, but it feels like a hundred in the hot sun. On our return walk, Bonnie appeared to get tired of my whining and snivelling about my “poor me” and my sore feet, so she suggested — no, insisted, that I experience a fish foot massage. This also gave her some time to stroll through some shops while I was otherwise occupied. Now this fish thing was a long aquarium set on the floor, and next to a bench, upon which you could sit. First a young lady washed your feet, not that my feet would require such treatment after three hours of walking in the afternoon sun, and then you plunked your feet into the fish bowl. You are immediately beset upon by cannibalistic hoards of these fish, who commence to eat you alive. Now, in fact, these fish are only two or three inches long, and are only dining upon the old dead pieces of skin particles on your feet. It is a different experience to say the least. Would I take it over the traditional Thai foot massage?, probably not, but it is like comparing apples and oranges — same, same, but different. By the time we made it back to our hotel in Karon, I am certain that we had consumed more calories than we had gained, and I suspect that this is a good thing.

We will be changing accommodation today so I will get back to blogging once we are settled. Take care and have fun!

T