We’re retracing our steps, now. We've left the bustle of Ao Nang and are now at a swanky spot just across from Karon Beach on Phuket Island. (Or Koh Phuket - pronounced "Goh Phuket". Whot fun!) There were few places able to accommodate 3 people for 4 nights at the same place, this being Chinese New Year and all, so we're ruffing it at a place where the pool goes right up to your room - no nude bathing allowed, which is a good thing. The clientele is Russian for the most part and the shapes are North American... not good viewing before breakfast.

Before leaving Ao Nang, we went to a Thai boxing match at the local arena. A free van takes you there but first you ride it up and down the street picking up patrons as the loud speaker blares out messages about the matches, the stars, and the time of entry. The arena was spacious and hot. Lane got us executive seats on long leather couches next to the ring. The executive seats were on 3 sides of the ring, the 4th left for a throng of family, fans, and wagerers. A loud bell and 2 fighters emerged to a crash of cymbals, drums, and the tuneless wailing of what we called a "snake charmers flute". The fighters bob and gesture, screw up their faces, and almost dance as they work to psyche out the rival. Then the fight begins. It's over fast as the kicking is hard and the punches are deadly. The winner is declared to the shouts and waving of the rabble on the side. Despite the din, I found it hard to stay awake. Kate too was OK to pass up the last 2 rounds, so we left Lane to enjoy the rest of the matches on his own. Been there done that! HOO, was it noisy!

This morning, Kate has gone to a Thai cooking class and we are keeping cool in one of the many internet shops. It's morning and by 8:30 it's already steamy hot.

The Thai custom of leaving shoes outside is getting to be familiar, although many places are too dirty for us to comply. Massage places have rows of shoes outside as do many private shops and even the hotel rooms have shoes outside the doors. People are easy going and accept the fact that the foreigners have their own customs. Everything seems to be tolerated. Girls in modest dress and hijabs walk past tourists with bare bulges flapping in the wind. Speedos leave little to the imagination. Boys who for all the world are girls (breast implants and shapely curves) give tourist info. to Harley riders in chains bearing tattoos of skulls and other gruesome imagery.

The hillsides here are fewer and less imposing and, between the cliffs, the countryside levels into wide, flat farmland. Rubber trees are planted in great rows. Small coconut cups fastened to the sides collect the sticky, white, smelly sap which when dry is like an elastic band. There are pineapple plantations, bananas of course, and some fruits and veggies we have never even heard of. Dragon fruit, for example is like a huge red turnip with curly red leaves coming out of it. The fruit inside is white, full of tiny black seeds and tastes to me like a mix of potato and watermelon! Breadfruit, mango, papaya, and the strangest citrus fruits are all so tempting. This is what makes the markets such a joy to explore. Interestingly, you can give a banana as an offering at the temple, but it has to be unpeeled. A peeled one is… an insult.

The music here sounds very western. We hear little of the traditional stuff. They have a karaoke style of entertainment here where a single singer wails out the Thai equivalent of "Thriller" to the recorded din of synthesized accompaniment. Most restaurants play the North American hit parade. After awhile, you get pretty tired of Celine and Shania.

I asked about varmints and the most dangerous thing in the area is the cobra. We were told that cobras don't like bug spray, so it's worn when tramping through the woods with a dual purpose. I see a marketing opportunity for "OFF" here. Note: elephants really do have flat feet and don’t leave much of a footprint. I looked… not even the toes make much of an impression… everything just gets pretty flat. Elephants used to play a serious role in both logging and agriculture, but machinery and worldwide pressure have changed their lot. Now they are paraded for tourists and kept as pets. They appear in much of the local artwork and are considered very good luck.

Good luck is a big thing here and many things are done to generate it. The first sale in the morning must be followed by a prayer and then the money given to the vendor is wiped across the merchandise. This encourages further good luck. If you can score the first sale, you might get a bargain or you might be one of many “first sales� which makes for a good pitch at the doorway.

In the big temple, boys line up to take part in a religious ceremony. They are required to enter the monastery as rite of passage. Some stay 10 days, some several months, and some for a lifetime. One of our guides told us he enjoyed his life in the monastery; he learned from it to be humble, caring, and grateful. Maybe this should be required in other countries.

On the crest of the highest hill in the town of Phuket, a giant Buddha is being built - it can be seen for miles. The “Big Buddha� signs lead you up a winding road to a large newly constructed landing and the marble base of this huge monument. Because indentured servitude can’t supply free labor, the costs escalated and now there’s an effort to complete the project with the help of grants, donations, and volunteers. We bought marble tiles and autographed them, to be placed alongside thousands of others which will soon become part of the towering form. Someday we’ll come back to see it finished, knowing we have played a minute role in its completion.

Unaware of what was in store for us, we signed up for the cave tour. We were told to wear good shoes and to expect to lie down - all sage advice. Nobody else had signed up so we had the van, driver, and guide to ourselves.

Everything seems to be a long drive from the town, so we settled in to watch the scenery. Again, the cliff sides were magnificent and the entrance to the cave was right up against a great wall of streaked and striated limestone. Water running down the surface creates all the stalactites and mites on the outside, so the formations are like drapery, twisted columns and waterfalls of grey and yellow stone.

We got into a low plastic rowboat with room for about 6 people. The entrance to the cave appeared like a long open mouth into which we ducked as we entered. The ceiling was low and irregular and you really had to watch your head. The river soon opened into a vault. We were helped onto a small landing where a well lit path led down and into a number of ornate chambers. Colored lights set the formations apart from the grey walls and it was nice to see that the natural ceiling had been so beautifully preserved. I've been to places where vandals have broken off many of the small, hanging bits - which is such a crime!

This cave, it turns, out is a shrine. After we had gone for perhaps 50 yards, another great vault opened up. In the center was a large limestone bulge about the size and shape of a 40 foot boat. Rising up from one end of the shape were 3 huge phallus-like projections around which were hung various wreaths, necklaces, and other adornments. Offerings, figures, tiny shrines, and other signs of devotion decorated the mound and we were told that this is where you come to pray if you want to get pregnant - and if you are already in the family way, to pray for the birth of a boy.

Our guide, Kip, told us that this was such a sacred place that at one time a male member of a tribe would be ritually sacrificed after a big ceremony in order for his spirit to keep the place safe. Nothing like sacrificing a male member... in order to protect the male member.

Back in the boat, we were then instructed to lie back and make sure we were absolutely flat. Dolly Parton would have had problems in this space. We moved away from the landing and suddenly the ceiling came down to the level of our faces. The boatmen paddled as they stooped; one in front, one in back. Kip was behind me and he held my head in his hands. At first this was an irritation, but after a few minutes I appreciated the support. For what seemed like an endless time, we crept through the tiny space.

Hanging projections were close enough to lick and any motion changed the position of the boat enough to make us hit hard. The air was hot and humid. A flashlight lit the way and the sound of dripping water, moving paddles, and breathing was all you could hear. This trip was certainly not for everyone! They said the tunnel was 60 yards long, but it seemed to take forever. I was glad to see light and the great exit vault at the end. We had gone through a path travelled by millions of people for centuries, through a sacred place… and we lived to tell the tale. Next time I'll ask to see the postcards!

After this, we went to the hot springs - another spectacular natural phenomenon. A series of rounded pools sloped down into a larger pool, fed by a cool stream. What a paradise. After this was another natural spring with more spectacular limestone channels through which warm water flowed in a steady, clear stream into a great sandy pool. No wonder these people don't travel! Why leave such a place??

It gets boring after awhile. Phenomenon after spectacular sight after visual wonder after lunch after dinner... and the weather stays hot and clear. Some of the earliest humanoid fossils have been found around here and one wonders why they spread past this peninsula!

I just have the elephant ride to tell you about and it won't take long. You climb onto a platform, get onto a flat seat and ride around a path for about 20 minutes. The trainer or whatever he's called sits on the elephant's neck and with his feet and a metal hook, prods the animal to go right or left. It's a bumpy ride and I felt more than sorry for the elephants. The best part is when they pee - it's a wondrous amount of liquid. We also enjoyed watching them eat. We fed them bananas and it was neat to see something stuff a banana into its mouth with its nose.

Well, that's probably enough for today. Tonight we pack once more....and the adventure continues. LJ

Today, we asked a tuk tuk driver to take us into the town of Krabi, but he insisted we go to his house first and get his car. The tuk-tuk is maneuverable, light and cheap to run. Vendors sell gas in wine bottles and it's fun to see a driver "feeding" his ride. He took us down a series of tiny rural roads and we were soon quite lost. The thought of never coming home crossed our minds, but it would have made for a cool and adventurous ending!

Kop's house was a tiny concrete cube with a corrugated metal roof and an outdoor kitchen. His 2 boys were playing noisily outside and his wife, wearing the hijab and very polite, welcomed us as if bringing home strangers was all part of her day. It's a good thing we took the car. The road to Krabi is unfinished, fast paced and long. A few minutes into the trip, a truck making a U-turn ahead of us crossed the path of a young man on a motor scooter and the impact was awful. The traffic formed a "y" passing the scene on either side, everyone looking at the victim, lying, bleeding on the road. He was lucky to be alive. There wasn't much left of the scooter. Another good reason to be travelling with an experienced driver! People crowded in to help and as we left the scene, the ambulance arrived, but we were unnerved by the incident for the rest of the day.

Again, the hillsides really take your breath away. On either side of the road, massive walls of limestone tower above you, the vegetation hanging off it is thick and rich and interesting fruits and flowers hang just out of reach. So many kinds of plants- if the human race started somewhere, it must have been near here. You couldn't starve if you tried! It took about 45 minutes of furious turns and more near misses to get to Krabi and the sky was beginning to darken. We had time to run to the big night market before the rains came and the market was a great place to take shelter. We were about the only Caucasians there, so we felt we had come to the right place.

We have been looking for the best of local grub and we hit the mother lode. Everywhere you looked, food was being prepared and it all looked so good! Chicken on skewers, great steaming pots of meat in curry sauces, fruits of all kinds, desserts and drinks...it was heaven. We bought a little from as many vendors as we could and ate as we walked from stall to stall. The rain began to cascade down onto the plastic tarps, canopies and umbrellas. We dodged the torrents as they fell, too eager to hit the next banquet to notice how wet we were. The folks enjoyed our enjoyment and the time went fast. This was truly a highlight and it didn't matter that we had no time to see more of the town.

We were glad to find Kop, our driver waiting for us and the drive back to Ao Nang was even more exciting in the dark. Everyone drives a scooter here. Hoards of young people, tourists, kids, families all course around the turns. Few wear helmets and according to Kop, there were a lot of accidents - too many. Next, we have planned a tour of the limestone caves and a ride on an elephant. When in Ao Nang... do as the tourists do...

We left Phi Phi around noon, yesterday, joining a diverse group of folks at the dockside. Thank goodness we are travelling with small bags, because you have to climb from one boat to another to get to the one you want. This ferry took us across a calm stretch of water, again into a bay surrounded by fantastic sheer limestone cliffs and tiny sandy bays.

Ao Nang is a few miles from the town of Krabi which is much easier to find on a map. Ao Nang a pretty resort town with a high class clientele, clean streets and many international restaurants. The traffic, however is characteristically fast and the streets are no place to dawdle. Vehicles flow in the opposite direction to ours and if you look the wrong way for a second, you can be flattened. Taxis are motorcycles with a sidecar chassis and enough seating for 3. Seven is the max! A canvas surrey keeps you out of the sun and a fast talking driver makes for a fun tour around the coastline. Our hotel is modest and clean and the air conditioning works like a charm. Without it, we would have to really change our routines and our clothing many times a day.

I walked down to the beach this morning and bought a lemon ice from a street vendor. The fruit drinks here are fantastic, flavorful, fresh and cold. We go from stall to stall on our travels trying all the juices and the local fare. Coconut, pineapple and bananas taste so sweet and different from the imported fruit we get at home - we just can't get enough.
A few observations: So many young European travelers have tattoos. This is big business here. Tattoo shops are combined with laundry, travel and manicure businesses and the art ranges from sublime to ridiculous.

Cashews grow here and the nuts are available in every flavor- much like our potato chips. A single nut grows on the end of a pepper-shaped fruit. The fruits are soft, red or yellow and they make a sweet drink- much like apple juice. The nut pod on the bottom of the fruit is so hard it has to be cracked by an instrument built especially for this purpose. I always thought cashews grew like walnuts - this was a real eye opener. No wonder they are so expensive! We bought some packages to give as gifts, but we have no room to keep them, so they have become part of our menu.

Small private shrines are everywhere. You see them at gas stations, in mini malls, on street corners and in front of private homes. Gifts of food and drink are put on the balconies of these shrines as an offering. I rather like these customs; the idea of praying to a fat, smiling man seems so positive - so healthy!

The big community temples provide baskets of miniature food and drink items for you to give as offerings. You can also buy the thinnest gold leaf sheets to press onto the icons. Lotus blossoms on long stems are also a popular gift when making your devotions. Outside most temples, a cone shaped hollow oven provides a safe place to blow off a few dozen rounds of fireworks for good luck and after awhile, the noise drives you crazy! The vendors must be used to it because the tourists are the only ones jumping out of their skins and holding their hands to their ears! This is the Asia I’ve been looking for!

We are off to continue the adventure, so I'll sign off for now. Sa-was dee, ka!