from the first world to the end of the world and back

From memory (at) blank.org Wed May 23 23:11:21 2001
Date: Thu, 24 May 2001 02:06:06 GMT
From: "Nathan J. Mehl, Road Worrier" <memory (at) blank.org>
To: memory (at) blank.org
Subject: exiled from paradise


Just a quick update this time.  We're sitting in the departure lounge of
Phuket International Airport, where we have a bit of time to kill before
our flight leaves.  First we have a 12-hour layover in Singapore, then the
13-hour leg-crusher flight to Amsterdam.

I'm looking forward to seeing Amsterdam, but can't say I'm all that happy
to be leaving Thailand.  Only in the last few days have I been feeling
actually adjusted to the local time, and... well... I suspect that somehow
I could cope with a few more days relaxing on the beach and poking through
marketplaces.  Oh well, something for next year...

Yesterday we spent on a "Snorkel Safari" tour.  It was kind of a bust as
far as the snorkling went, but mostly a good time regardless.  We were
driven down to the Phuket marina, where a stereotypically obnoxious tanned
swedish scuba diver met us, and we were ferried over to a tiny island off
the coast of Phuket, where we had the afternoon to ourselves to snorkel,
sunburn, swim, whatever...  Unfortunately, between the heavy waves and the
silt that they kicked up, we didn't see anywhere near as much interesting
stuff as we did snorkling in Hawaii... a couple of schools of iridescent
tropical fish and some coral, but none of the tiger sharks and dolphins
that the tour brouchure breathlessly spoke about.  Probably another
artifact of being here at low season.  The island was mostly populated by a
large gaggle of Japanese tourists, who had brough a very small dog with
them, "Momo" (Japanese for "peach"), who was perhaps the most entertaining
thing on the island, as he spent most of the afternoon digging himself into
the sand and chasing bugs...

Amazingly during all of this, I've mostly avoided getting sunburned.  With
my snorkling debacle in Hawaii firmly in mind, I kept a shirt on the entire
time, and got away with only a touch of red on the top of my feet.  Miranda
was not quite so lucky, and despite having repeatedly slathered on quite a
bit of SPF45 sunblock, managed to tag her arms and legs.  Ah, the benefits
of being really, really pale. :-b

There's not too much to tell after that... we got back to the hotel in the
evening and hung out on the beach through sundown.  Miranda got a
beach-chair massage and I took a few more photos and read until the light
got too dim.  Then we ordered dinner and went to bed relatively early in
order to be up in time to catch a miserably early (0800) shuttle to the
airport.

We noticed two visitors in the bungalow before we went to bed: a tiny green
lizard (very, very cute), and a large brown spider (not at all so cute). 
Neither of them seemed inclined to bother us much, so after I took a few
photos of the lizard, we turned in.

And here I am, typing away at an internet access point in the airport.  Did
I mention that I really don't want to leave?  Oh well, too late, paid the
departure tax and everything...

Next stop: Singapore.  No clue what we'll do for 10 hours there...probably
go shopping like all the other tourists.  Then, Amsterdam.  If I can still
remember how to type after the first coffeehouse, I'll send an update from
there.  Then, home!

-n

p.s. I've added a few people to this list that I left off previously due
     to my usual spazziness.  The previous travelogues, if you're at all
     interested, are at http://apocalypse.org/~memory/travel/