Thailand- some random observations

Matt and I in the cockpit

The long boats came to sell us fresh catch of the day!
Joe Cool
The Japanese are so polite. It's wonderful really. I have gotten used to it and comfortable with it. But the Thai are friendly. They smile easily, they cheerfully invite you in to their shop to look around, they seem more relaxed. That was my general impression of the people. We had some friendly taxi drivers.



As we drove toward the marina the first day, I saw miles and miles of trees planted in neat rows. I later learned that these are rubber trees. Rubber is the main export of Thailand.



We also saw poverty. It was the most devastating in Bangkok, and I'm sure we didn't even see the worst of it. Motorcycles were everywhere. It is not uncommon to see 3 or 4 people, on top of a motorcycle. There were lots of moms toting their kids and pets around on them. If I lived there, I would probably use a motorcycle. It's warm or hot there all year round. Some of the motorcycles had trolleys, side cars and little wagons attached to carry all manner of people and animals. There was a lot of construction in Southern Phuket that looked to be about half finished. Some of it looked abandoned, some of it had only one or two men working on it. Phuket was devastated by the Christmas tsunami a couple of years back. There are signs that they are still rebuilding. Everyone in the area lost someone to the disaster, and as you drive through and around the area, evacuation route signs are everywhere. Somehow the Chameleon managed to ride the wave without being destroyed, but it filled with water. Much of the coral growing around the little islands was damaged or destroyed by the tsunami. We saw a lot of dead coral washed up on the beaches, or sitting on the bottom. Here and there the live coral was fantastic. So colorful and such a variety of life. Snorkeling was ok. The visibility was only fair, due to the silt and sand in the water. Not spectacular by any means, but still very cool. I saw a neat variety of fish. It was fun to see the sea stars, all pink and clinging to the live coral. One morning I fed some little striped "seargent major"fish (that's what Shane called them) some bread. They came roiling to the surface. We passed floating jellyfish. The closest we came to anything dangerous was Nathan accidently getting into some fire ants on the beach Sunday evening.



It became really evident to me on this trip that our species needs to stop producing plastic bags. They are everywhere in Thailand. It was disturbing to see them along the road, in fields, washed up on beaches and floating in the ocean. It's a real problem.

The sun and heat near the equator is intense. I don't think I could ever live in the tropics comfortably. My Northern European ancestry screams loudly as I sweat profusely in the heat. The gorgeous women at the hotel in their long wrapped skits and fitted short sleeve uniform tops with beautiful sashes looked cool as cucumbers, fresh as daisies. Not so I. Last week on the first day, I carefully applied SPF 60 all over my body. (Except I forgot my chest) It worked really well, because I was only red (beet angry red!) on my chest. Last week it burned. Today it is peeling off. I haven't peeled since I was a kid.

Thailand is verdant. Green and lush. The flowers are beautiful and abundant. So abundant that they are on your plate, in your drinks, on top of your towels in the hotel...everywhere. They use the bright dark purple orchids for these decorations.