Ko Samui

We flew from Bangkok to spend three days in Ko Samui: two at Varinda Resort on Lamai Beach and one at Sunrise Bungalows.
Ko Samui is also referred to as the Coconut Island and is the third largest island of Thailand after Phuket and Ko Chang. Samui Island is famous for its coconuts so we had to sample a few to see if there was any merit to this. We all agreed it was great and very fresh! When we were sitting on the beach a coconut "appeared" and we were glad it landed beside us, not "on" any of us. One of the massage technicians offered to cut it for us.


We relied on our tour guide Geline and another travel agent (Tong Tong) to make the reservations as we had no luck booking on the internet due to the Chinese New Year. We had no idea what type of accommodations we were getting so it was a pleasant surprise to find this lovely resort on the hillside and just a five-minute walk from the beach. Erik and Spencer were quite thrilled to have their own "bachelor pad" and we all enjoyed the unique atmosphere of the Thai-family owned resort. We'd definitely recommend this destination!
The kids enjoyed playing in the powerful waves.


Thailand is known for it's custom-made suits and massages so we decided to be tourists and try these things out. Georg and Dion were fitted for suits and Sue and I started our quest for the perfect massage. The Thai massage wasn't quite as relaxing as we'd hoped. We had a tough time with the knuckle cracking and the walking on the back. Yes, it was less than $7.00 so we aren't complaining.

The sea, the sand, the spa, and world class diving all features of Phuket are calling us, so next stop: Phuket.

Kanchanaburi

We hired a driver and tour guide to take us to Kanchanaburi which is about a two and a half hour drive from Bangkok. Backpacks loaded with water, sandwiches and snacks, we headed out at 7:15 a.m. for our day trip. Our tour guide assured us there would be many "Happy Breaks" and "No problem" with four children for the long voyage. She was right.


Our first stop was "Bridge over the River Kwae"


We walked across the bridge and discussed the Death Railway: a strategic railway built between Thailand and Burma in 1942. Our tour included a visit to the Jeath War Museum. The word Jeath replaces the word Death because it sounds too horrific. Construction began on September 16, 1942 at Nong Pladuk, Thailand by approximately 200,000 prisoners of war from England, America, Austrailia, Canada, and Holland. Many labourers died of disease, stavation and lack of medical equipment. Photos in the museum tell a very sad story of the life and death of those who "slaved" on the railway.

This is written in the museum materials that we received.
"Dear visitors, The Jeath Museum has been constructed not for the maintenance of hatred among human beings, especially the Japanese and allied countries, but to warn and teach us the lesson of HOW TERRIBLE WAR IS."

Our group stopped for a traditional Thai meal on a floating barge before driving on to the Tiger Temple. The Tiger Temple was established in February 1999 when the first cub arrived. It was a female cub of Indochinese tiger subspecies and her condition was very poor.
We were able to hold the little tigers because one of the handlers (Rod from Banff) overheard Georg say "eh" and recognized us as fellow Canadians. Sue is an animal lover and the feeling seems to be mutual. The little tiger cuddled in her arms and seemed to want to go asleep. Another experience that only Sue experienced (I'm sure this is a one-of-a-kind experience) was a "licking" by a resident (a deer). While waiting for Brett to return from the "Happy Place" a deer approached Sue, licked her hand and then continued to lick her arm! I think this would be animal magnetism. Sue with Baby Tiger

By the way, she also seems to attract "short people" as she calls them. They are just drawn to her and seem to want to get close to her. Isn't it wonderful that she's been a preschool teacher/Mom to so many short people over the years!



Boys with Tiger


Baby Tiger


We drove to an elephant training camp where we watched an elephant show. The little elephants would collect 20 baht and go "shopping." Returning with a bag of potatoes or bananas they would wait expectantly to be fed the treats.

They also performed a little show of dancing and bowing and standing on two legs. Anyone wishing to have a massage could request an "elephant massage." Georg was volunteered for one such massage.


Two-by-two we went for an elephant ride that lasted over 40 minutes and included a quick trip through the water. Erik was happy to be able to "drive" his elephant. He switched places with the regular driver and spent the whole time trying to balance on the elephant's head.


The day ended at 10 pm. Everyone was tired and we all agreed that today was a 10.

Touring Bangkok

Our group of eight toured around Bangkok in a large ten-seater van. We hired a chauffeur who spoke some English and headed off at noon with great plans of touring around some of the local sights.


Our guide was extremely calm as he zig zagged through hours of traffic to take us to the Grand Palace to see the Emerald Buddha and later to the Reclining Buddha. We were dropped off at our destination for a period of time and the chauffeur met us at a pre-determined location when we called for pickup. The weather was very hot and humid and everyone experienced motion sickness from the constant accelleration and breaking and weaving in the traffic. After a good dose of gravol most of us managed to cope with the rollercoaster-like car ride. Erik, however, didn't fare too well and he ended up spending the day with his head in a bag, slouched wherever he could rest his aching body.


We skipped the elephant ride today and opted for an earlier return to our hotel. Our plan is to visit the floating market, snake farm (do we really want to see that?), the Tiger Temple, the Bridge on the river Kwai, and take an elephant ride tomorrow. This will be a full day of touring with our chauffeur so we're all hoping everyone is feeling better.



The Grand Palace complex was established in 1782. It houses not only the royal residence and throne halls, but also a nuber of government offices as well as the renowned Temple of the Emerald Buddha. It covers an area of 218,000 square meters and is surrounded by four wlls, 1900 meters in length.



We were given an escorted tour which included a visit to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Ladies and gentlemen were required to cover our legs, but the two younger children were permitted to enter wearing shorts. Every buddhist is required to visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha at least once in their life to pray.



The Emerald Buddha was carved from a block of green jade and was first discovered in 1434 in Chiang Rai. At that time the image was covered with plaster and was thought to be an ordinary Buddha image. However, the abbot who found the image later noticed that the plaster on the nose had flaked off, revealing the green stone underneath. It is believed it was covered to conceal it from would-be theives during wartime years. Nobody knows who created the image or when it was made. Photos are not permitted in the Temple. At this time of year the Buddha is covered with a shawl. Each season, the clothing of gold and jewellery is changed on the image, to reflect the season. The changing ceremony occurs three times in the year in the presence of the king. Note: We were not permitted to take photos of the Emerald Buddha.


The Reclining Buddha is almost too big for its shelter: 45 meters long an 15 meters high. It is supposed to illustrate the passing of the Buddha nirvana. The figure is modelled out of plaster around a brick core and finished in gold leaf. Mother-of-pearl inlay ornaments the feet.


Note: With the traffic comes pollution. Traffic police stationed at busy intersections have "respite booths" with oxygen tanks and they wear face masks to protect them from the fumes. A study in the mid 1990's revealed that 34% of police officers suffered from loss of hearing, 23% had lung disease and one million of the capital's population are said to be suffering from respiratory ailments of one kind or another. The city has recently converted to lead-free gas.

Bangkok Thailand

Bangkok is known to the Thai as "Krungthep" which means the City of Angels. It was established in 1782 by King Rama I as capital of Siam. Over the past two centuries it has developed into a great metropolis with a population of over 8 million. Like other modern cities in the world, Bangkok boasts lots of massive buildings, numerous luxurious hotels, shopping centers, and a modern international airport.

View of our pools from 26th floor


View from our room


Our chauffeur told us Bangkok is a city of 15 million (we think they're all on the road on either a bike, moped, motorcycle, car, truck, bus, train or Tuk Tuk).




The temperature is hot and humid and our friends from Winnipeg are adjusting to the change quite nicely. They left -40 and arrived here to +40!

Due to a missed flight, Sue and Dion had a one day layover in Tokyo. They were supposed to arrive here an hour before us on February 2nd but only arrived on the 3rd. It took us quite awhile to determine all this.

When we arrived we asked about McDonalds and were told "on the way to hotel." When the chauffeur pulled over to let us see "McDonalds" we finally clued in that we had a communication problem. Even the concierge was pleased to tell us that he would take us to "McDonalds" right away. We weren't hungry and McDonalds isn't our favorite restaurant, but we have been given explicit directions on how to get there. We've concluded that next time we travel with friends we'll ask them to change their name to anything but McDonald.

The currency here is the baht and the conversion is .32 to one. This is a bit confusing at first so we've been carrying calculators and scratching our heads a lot.

Yesterday we visited a huge market and Georg either lost or had his credit card/debit card stolen. It does handicap us slightly as we shared the same card and have had to cancel the card.




Boys at the Market Mall (7 stories of shops, food and entertainment!)



Fast food in Thailand

Things I'll NEVER forget by Dieter Heuck

Owning my own board and learning to surf has been great! But I'll never ever forget.....

Cruising the Caribbean...



The Pyramids (Sakkara, Egypt)
The Pyramids were in the ancient times. They were tombs for the Egyptian Kings called Pharaohs. The great architect Imhotep came up with the way to build the Pyramids.


The Sphinx (Sakkara, Egypt):
The Sphinx was built by the ancient Egyptians some seven thousand years ago. It was created to guard the Pyramids.


The Zigguraat:
The Ziggurat is one of the first step pyramids that led to all others. It housed the Pharaoh's tombs.


Big Ben (London, England):
Big Ben is actually the BELL in the clocktower in London. It was made by the same people who made the Liberty Bell and Guess What? They're BOTH cracked!


Pompeii (Italy):
This ancient city was covered in volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. Many people died and were covered in the volcanic ash.




L'Arc de Triomphe (Paris, France)"
The Arc de Triomphe is a man made structure. It was a monument built after their victory in the French revolution.


The Painting of the Mona Lisa (Louvre, Paris, France):
The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci. They say that she looked sad because her daughter had just died so she was not in a good mood. If you look at the Mona Lisa long enough she seems to smile.



The Colusseum (Rome, Italy):
The Colusseum was a gladiator arena. In the intermission they would let people juggle and after that they would throw the entertainers in with the wild animals. The animals would tear them apart and the people cheered. They also would throw animals in with the gladiators.


Leaning Tower of Pisa (Pisa, Italy):
The Leaning Tower of Pisa was supposed to be the Tower of Pisa. It was built on unstable ground so when it was almost finished, it started to lean. After they braced it, the architect completed the tower and the last three floors are actually straight!




The Library of Ephesus (Ephesus, Turkey):
The Library of Ephesus was where lots of ancient books (scrolls) were stored. They were all lost after a fire.


Venice (Venice, Italy):
There are no roads, only canals and waterways in Venice. The ancient Venicians used the canals as a defence mechanism against their enemies.


The Eiffel Tower (Paris, France):
One of the greatest landmarks in the world. It was built for the 1889 World Expo.


Seeing My Favorite Pirate and The "Dutchmen"


Jet Skiing in the Bahamas


AND Spending Time with my little cousin Emellin (Willem):




I can't WAIT for my next adventure!