Thailand part 3 (Phi Phi Island)

Phi Phi Islands
1/7/2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbq412haY1c
It was just over 5 years ago that the great Tsunami hit SE Asia as well Phi Phi island. While we were there you could see some of the results of the devastation. All in all though, this resort area for energized was rebuilt to even a higher standard than before.

Bev, enjoying the ride from Railay to Phi Phi Island.

Coming into Phi Phi in southern Thailand.


Main entrance to Phi Phi Island.


View from our room on Phi Phi.


One of the many streets which network all over the island.


Glimpse off of the beaten path.


Yes, it was a warm day!


Living quarters behind all of the tourist shops.


View from poolside.


Bev snorkling.


Caves coming into the harbor.


Leaving Phi Phi, heading towards Phuket.


Ferry heading towards Phuket; people just "hanging" out around the boat.

Thailand Part 2 (Railay Beach)

Railay Beach
28/6/2009

From Ao Nang Beach we took the 20 minute Long Tail boat ride to the quiet resort area of Railay Beach. This is where you will find rock climbing as well as hiking and just relaxing from city noises. We highly recommend it if you are in the area.

Railay West below, to the right, and Railay East just a walk through the paths to the other side.

The long-tail ride from AoNang.

Railay West.

Views from the beach.

Early morning walks along the beach.

Resort room.

Entrance to room.

Railay East as we get set to leave.

Railay East cliffs for climbing.

Yes, we had to hike out to the boats to load only to transfer to a larger boat heading to Phi Phi.

Part 1 (LAX to Bangkok Thailand to Krabi)

Here we go!
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thailand


It has been very busy these past nine days while here in Oregon;moving kids to and from camps as well as up and down I-5. With that said, we can finally begin our focus on getting to Bangkok and then to Krabi's Ao Nang Beach located in Southern Thailand.



23/6/09
The morning began much like every morning when being shuttled to Eugene airport to catch a flight; 4am wake up, 6:40am flight to Seattle, only this time we turned around to take a southbound to LAX; arrival 11am. It was a 12 hour layover in LA with really no place to hangout or go; the feeling of Tom Hanks in "Terminal" comes to mind.

So, lets get this straight, 4am wake up call, the flight to Seattle and then to LAX, the nice 12hr layover and THEN the 17 hr flight to Bangkok. I personally have never flown for that length of time needless to say, and have it stay dark the whole flight; not to mention we com-pletely missed Wednesday all together; it just went right on by to Thursday morning when we landed in Thailand.



May I mention that Thai Air rocks! I don't think the crew of 22+ ever slept as they kept food and accommodations coming throughout the entire flight or so it seemed. Below, our flight awaits as Bev gets ready, if one can, for the 17 hour flight to Bangkok!


Bangkok Thailand
25/6/2009

Outside of the airport in Bangkok.

Heading into city.

Skytrain of Bangkok that took us to destinations around Bangkok such as....

the Siam Mall,

a 9000 booth market with...

shopping and...

local foods.

A ride back in a tuk-tuk to our resort area...

and a great view of the Skyline!

Leaving Bangkok July 8th.



Krabi Provience Thailand
Ao Nang Beach; 25/6/2009

Krabi airport, below, gives us a quick glimpse as to what is coming as far as local culture After getting pointed in the right direction, we were off right away to Southern Thailand to begin an adventure. It was to be Ao Nang beach right away in order to set the rest of the trip up.


Long Tail boats rest along side Ao Nang Beach.

Our resort while in Ao Nang.

Early morning walks brought the locals out to gather; Bev inspects the goods.

One of the many limestone rocks.

Scooters everywhere as we walk the streets.

A walk above the beach line.

Changes since 2004

I remembered that I had started this blog page nearly 5 years ago in order to document our trip to Belize, Central America. Has it really been that long?

Since my last post quite a bit has occurred. Bev is still working as an administrator in incredible Sitka Alaska. Steve on the other hand was granted permission to move; and move he did all the way north to Barrow Alaska. This occurred in the fall of 2008; how this went down is a chapter in itself so we won't get into within these pages as we want to keep to the point, travel. This time we are heading to Thailand, more specifically, Krabi and the Ao Nang resort area.

With all that has been happening in that country over the past year, we are a little apprehensive. Lets see, constant war zone along the Cambodian border, (they tell me not to worry about it, the dispute is about a strip of land) airport siege, (again, they say don't worry about it) not to mention riots and protests in the streets of Bangkok. Hmmmm, yes a little apprehensive to say the least. And now the latest; American tourists having issues in the Phi Phi Islands. We're still moving forward!

In the summer of 2010, Bev joined Steve in Barrow AK. She will be the building principal at Barrow High School. for the 2010-11 school year.

Belize 2004

Belize! http://www.lonelyplanet.com/belize

As one could have figured, we didn't really think of the layovers in hours but in minutes. So, the two 6 hour lay overs we had in coming to Belize, not to mention the red eye flight in between, really kicked our butts! Once the plane was on the ground and we stepped through the doors, there was an immediate wall of humidity; one of those walls of heat from the memorable weight cutting saunas from years ago. The terrain was so flat and far enough from the Belize City that we really couldn't get a feel of what was to come.

As we have learned over the years, cab rides within local towns in foreign countries are generally quick; This $20.00 / 10 mile ride set the tone for driver etiquette in Belize. Here we were in this tattered 1980 station wagon, getting the ultimate thrill ride. Speeding, passing on corners not to mention a few horn honks for those who were walking along the road; very much the norm in Belize.

Once into Belize City we wasted no time in getting right to water taxi area. The "ferry" ride to the Cayes (keys)! WOW!! Lets just say we were in a 40' open air boat with three 225hp motors. Seats 20-30 right; wrong! Fifty-five plus bodies and their gear loaded onto the boat; after all it was the last trip out of town for the day.
The captain was VERY upset at the fact that so many people were getting on his boat to a point that we had about 12-15 inches of clearance to the water. It was also interesting to witness that our American slang words are universal. Hmm, it is a small world after all.



The ride was very nice and wet; ninety minutes to Ambergris Cayes from Belize City. We passed by many other islands while in route as well as an 18 hole exclusive golf course in the middle of no where. $220.00us for a full day of being wined and dined and oh yes, some golf is the sticker price.
















Once back on land in San Pedro, Ambergris Cayes, we relaxed and took in some of the "low key" sites and sounds of the island. We hung out in the open air bars in the evening to listen to live music. We also got to go into some of the local schools where we handed out playground balls, basketballs, and footballs. The kids had no idea what a football was so they spent the evening shooting it through the hoops at the local play ground.

By far the most developed of the cayes, Ambergris is still fairly laid-back. San Pedro is a true town – more impressive in a lot of ways than the nation’s capital, but there are enough sandy streets and beachside bars to maintain the impression of a tropical paradise.

Outside of town, mostly to the south, large resorts and gated retirement villages are springing up with frightening regularity. Even so, there are still a surprising amount of budget-friendly establishments in the downtown area.

Here is a shot of main street San Pedro. Seeing actual trucks in the Cayes was a rare sight. Golf carts and bicycles were the main modes of transportation.









Belize is home to the second longest barrier reef in the world. Who knew?








So we took a snorkeling trip out to the reef area where we swam with rays and "nurse" sharks. And, oh ya, Bev wanted no part of the swimming but did dress up for the occasion; woooo hoooo!







Off to Caye Caulker. If we were thinking that San Pedro was low key, then we just stepped back into time to true "Island life" Needless to say, our stay was brief as we were looking for things to do and explore. We took a few day trips in order to get the general feel of the country.

During much of the 20th century, coconut processing, fishing, lobster trapping and boat building formed the backbone of the island’s economy. Caulker was one of the first islands to establish a fisherfolk cooperative in the 1960s, allowing members to receive fair prices for the lobster and other sea life pulled from their waters.

Caye Caulker remains a fishing village, and boat design and construction continue, but tourism is taking over the economy. Tourism began in the late 1960s and 1970s when small numbers of hippies found their way to the island.

Today, international visitors come in steady numbers, however, although many islanders operate tourism-related businesses, there are no plans for large-scale development. Caulker residents enjoy the slow rhythm of life as much as visitors do as you can see here at the "split", created by a 2002 hurricane. The force of these winds and surf literally split an island to make a harbor situation for Caye Caulker.




We found plenty to do "off island" as can see in some of the pictures below.

Though Maya have been living around Corozal since 1500 BC, modern Corozal dates from only 1849. In that year, refugees from the War of the Castes in Yucatán fled across the border to this safe haven. They founded a town and named it after the cohune palm, a symbol of fertility. For years it had the look of a typical Caribbean town, until Hurricane Janet roared through in 1955 and blew away many of the old wooden buildings on stilts. Much of Corozal’s cinder block architecture dates from the late 1950s.




Lamanai, to the left, not only spans all phases of ancient Maya civilization but also tells a tale of ongoing Maya occupation and resistance for centuries after the Europeans arrived. This adds up to the longest known unbroken occupation in the Maya world. Lamanai was inhabited at least as early as 1500 BC, and was already a major ceremonial center, with large temples, in late Preclassic times.




The ruins are known both for their impressive architecture and marvelous setting, surrounded by dense jungle overlooking the New River Lagoon.







http://www.belizezoo.org/index.html