Slices of Life in Paradise: May

May in Thailand is hot. Seriously, sweat-drenching, energy-sapping hot. It's hot when you wake up, it's hot when you go to bed, it's hot at midnight, and it's excruciating in the sun. Thank goodness for air conditioning!  Still, we managed to do a few things. Here are the highlights.

The first Saturday in May, My Man and I went to the Chiang Mai Saturday Walking Street Market. On the way there, we walked past a great little park where there were several games going on that we'd never seen before. This one was pretty cool, with a circle of guys playing something kind of like hacky sac but they kept shooting the ball through the high hoop. They were really good.

The market was great (though even at 7:30pm, it was so hot--I think it was still 99 degrees and very humid, and that was after the sun went down!) and we can't wait to take the kids back. There were lots of street foods, crafts, arts, and other local goods.

Many of the venders were busy creating their wares right there at the booth!  By 8:30 it was so crowded we could barely walk down the street, so we left to get massages.

Monday night My Man proposed a trip to the nearby soccer field at Payap University to take advantage of the rare breeze for some kiting, which he hadn't had a chance to do yet since we moved here. Conditions weren't ideal, but it was great to get a chance to check out his wing and practice some ground handling. 

The next evening had a bit of a breeze again, so we headed out to the local paragliding launch to see if it would work out. There wasn't much of a breeze, but the views were great and My Man got two short flights in. They were his first in about a year, so it was good that everything went well.  There was a Thai couple up at the launch, enjoying the afternoon, so they were very excited to see his flights.

Afterward, we went out to dinner at one of the nicest places in town, the Dhara Dhevi Resort. While we were there, a fantastic storm swept through, with dramatic lightning and thunder, wind, and torrential down pours. The restaurant lost electricity so it turned into a romantic candle-lit dinner.

We moved in from the patio to the covered area just before the rain but it was still an open air seating area, swirling with wind and energy. We loved it. And the food was incredible. I got the pineapple fried rice and it was delicious, served in an actual grilled pineapple. Amazing. Unfortunately, the electricity in our neighborhood wasn't so quick about turning back on and most of the night it was off. Our house quickly heated to almost a hundred degrees. Try sleeping in that!  Made us very grateful for the AC we normally enjoy!

 

Even with the heat, we still do try to get out and enjoy this beautiful place we live. There is a fish pond in the middle of our neighborhood with gigantic fish and we love to go feed them. 



One day we took a family drive to a lake not far away and were completely blown away by how beautiful it was.

 The view from the dam was stunning, with the lake on one side and forest on the other.

Unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of time to spend there (we had company coming over for dinner that evening), but just getting out and drinking in the view was enough. We all agreed we would definitely need to plan a return trip soon!

On our way home we stopped to check out the lake, 4-wheeling a bit to get down to the water. We have heard of boats that take people from here further up the lake to some houseboats where you can rent a floating bamboo house for a day or even stay over night. We can't wait to plan it.

During May I also got to attend two of Young Man's end-of-year performances.  One was a dance show where he and his classmates danced to "Oh Cecelia" with a routine they choreographed themselves.

It was great. I absolutely loved it and was so glad to be able to see it and watch everyone perform with varrying degrees of enthusiasm.

For the next show, "Act Naturally," put on by his drama class, Young Man performed a monologue (that he wrote himself) and a skit where he was a News Broadcaster. They were both great, but I don't think I've ever seen Young Man happier than when that show was over!

During May, My Man had two work trips up to Chiang Rai and Mai Sai. Although we got to accompany him on the first trip, he went back up without us the next week and hit a few attractions we hadn't had time for, including the White Temple (an art exhibit that is an interesting mix of art forms and modern sculpture and not really a temple).

He made friends with some interesting characters there.

But it wasn't all fun and sight seeing. My Man went as the U.S. Consulate representative from Chiang Mai to participate in a joint U.S.-Thai fraud training at the Mai Sai border, which included instruction and meetings with the border guards.

It sounded interesting.

When it was too hot to enjoy going out, we tried to find other family activities. We finished another Harry Potter book (Goblet of Fire) and watched the movie.

We went out and saw Tomorrowland and loved it. The first showing we turned up for turned out to be Thai only, but a quick Internet search saved the day as we found another showing at another theater across town.

Another time we went out to icecream and bowling with friends. 

We did a few more pool parties. Young Man had his end-of-year scouting advancement ceremony where he received a ton of badges he'd earned this year. 

Funny Guy decided he needed a beanbag toss game, so he made the target and then proceeded to make five colorful beanbags (with a little help from mom). 

My Man and I celebrated our anniversary with a wonderful weekend in Railay. And I received my formal offer to start work at the U.S. Consulate in mid-June! And we adopted a dog for the summer (The kids are overjoyed about petsitting Mochi all summer).

The last night of May, we decided to check out the big celebration for Buddha's birthday, Visakah Bucha. Traditionally, people gather at a temple on the edge of Chiang Mai and then walk up the mountain to another temple where they await the dawn and walk around the temple holding candles.

I knew we wouldn't be able to do the full pilgrimage since My Man had to work the next morning (although the kids got the day off school) and since 22 kilometers is way too many for Funny Guy. Still, we thought we could join in for a few kilometers at least.

Traffic was amazing and we ended up having to park several kilometers from the gathering point. We weren't the only ones, so we joined the throngs of people and walked up, not really knowing what to expect.

As we neared the gathering spot, the crowds swelled and fireworks started exploding all around us.

It was hot and past Funny Guy's bedtime and we decided this might be a good destination, so we found a good vantage point and stopped to watch.

We listened to some of the ceremony, saw more fireworks, and then headed back down.

Even though we only made it to the starting point, it was fun and I'm glad we went. Maybe next year, we will get a babysitter and join in the actual pilgrimage instead of just going up to the starting point!  As it was, Funny Guy barely made it back to the car before collapsing.

Looking back on it, we crammed in quite a lot of fun into the month of May and can't wait for all we will do this summer.

Beaches in Paradise

As our anniversary approached earlier this year, My Man and I decided to celebrate with a trip to the beach.

Although Thailand is famous for its beaches, Chiang Mai is decidedly not beachy, surrounded by mountains and jungles and cut off from the ocean by Burma on one side and Laos and Vietnam on the other. To get to the beach, you need to go south. To get to the best beaches, you need to hop on a plane down to Phuket or Krabi. We opted for Krabi, a getaway with stunning rocks, good reviews, and excellent low season prices.

My Man waiting for the longtail boat shuttle in Ao Nang

For under a hundred bucks each, roundtrip, we flew down to Krabi airport, where we hopped on a shuttle to Ao Nang beach.

There we caught a trip on a 15-minute longtail boat to our hotel on West Railay, a small but beautiful beach on a peninsula completely isolated from the mainland except by boat, giving the area an island-feel (no cars or vehicles).

 

When we got there, we got off the boat several meters from the beach, into thigh-deep water and waded to shore. It was hot enough that we didn't mind getting wet. I was surprised by how small the beach was, but since we were here during low season (May to October) it was surprisingly relaxed and uncrowded, framed by beautiful rocks and jungle.

As an added bonus, hotel rooms were 50-80% off and we scored a very nice deal on Agoda at the Sand & Sea Resort, right on the beach! We checked into our hotel (very beautiful, large room with beautiful views), left our bags, then headed out to explore.

We rented sea kayaks for a couple hundred baht (about $6) and set off.

It was so incredibly beautiful! There are lots of little islands and outcroppings offshore and we kayaked around several. The sun was shining and the water was warm and there was a nice breeze.

At one point we saw the outlines of what looked like three little sharks! But I haven't been able to ID them yet, so maybe that's just wishful thinking, but whatever they were, they were cool. We also fished out a large plastic parking cone and put it in the kayak to take back with us. After paddling around all the little rock islands near Phra Nong, we turned back and headed across the bay toward Tonsai. On the way we stopped on a little secluded beach.

After a bit of swimming and some pictures, we got back in the kayak and headed to Tonsai, a very remote beach that is popular with rock climbers and travelers on a tight budget. We had hoped to grab a smoothie but could only find a sparsely stocked shop where we got some warm bottled water.

There wasn't much there but My Man and I were delighted to find it was the best shell beach we've ever seen. There were thousands of beautiful, unique, perfect shells! We spent several minutes searching, trying to narrow it down to one shell as a souvenir for each kid back home (yes, this was a kid-free trip!!!). By then, the wind was picking up and a storm was on the way so we headed back to our beach.

By the time we got back it was raining, but we didn't mind. The beach cleared out and we had the ocean to ourselves, so we went swimming. It was amazing. The water was so warm and comfortable and the waves were just big enough to be fun. After swimming for awhile (and getting a few jelly fish stings), we moved to our pool, which was almost as nice (and had the added benefit of cooler water and no jelly fish!). When we finally got out to go find some dinner, we both agreed that even if we'd had to head back that night or the next morning, the trip would still have been absolutely worth it. It was a perfect day.



The next day we got up early to go diving with the Railay Dive Center at some local islands. It was great to dive again, but visibility was mediocre and our dive master was a sprint swimmer (not a good combination!). On our first dive, My Man and I got separated and there was a slight moment of panic when I debated chasing after the dive master disappearing in the distance or going back for my buddy, whom I already couldn't see. I opted for the dive master and felt like a traitor, even though it was the right decision. We spent the rest of the dive chasing the dive master looking for My Man, even though he'd followed protocol and waited a few minutes, then surfaced and found the boat. We begged our dive master to slow down for the next dive and he promised to do so (then didn't--we found out later it was his first day, and it showed). The other guy in our group, a diver from Brazil, had his heart set on seeing a sea snake (and was very upset with the quality of the first dive and poor visibility, about which he was very vocal). He said it was the only thing that would salvage the trip for him. The highlight of my trip, then, was when I spotted my first ever sea snake! Our dive master was still on a mission to sprint through the dive, so I had to swim hard to catch up to the Brazilian and get his attention. (His startled look when I tugged hard on his fin to get his attention was absolutely priceless.) Luckily the snake was still there when we got back to it, and we got to watch it for a few minutes. Ironically, his battery had just died, but Mr. Brazil was still very happy and dubbed me the "American snake girl" for the rest of the trip.

(Picture from Tmoj)

I forgot to pack our GoPro dive housing, so we didn't get any dive pictures, but we saw lots and lots of fish, some good coral (not as good as Bali), and some nudibranchs. Overall, we wouldn't recommend the diving, but we enjoyed it. We hadn't been diving since our Bali trip almost 2 years ago and it's always a magical experience for me. Possibly the visibility problems were due to the season (rainy).

That afternoon, we spent a couple hours swimming in the ocean at Phra Nong beach, then headed out for some relaxation on the East side of the peninsula. The West side is picture perfect, with just a few resorts set back from the beach, beautiful sandy beaches, and dramatic cliffs on both sides.

The East side is nice at high tide but low tide exposes stinky mudflats in the mangroves (and also beaches all the longboats). It's also the side with most of the restaurants, shops, bars (which also have smoothies and fruit), and a lot more resorts. The two sides are connected by several paths and are only a 5-10 minute walk apart.

My very favorite place on the East side was the Tay Lew bar. Past the misleadingly named "Last Bar," which most people think really is the last bar on the trail, it is wonderfully quiet and secluded and has a quirky, laid-back style. We were usually the only ones there.

There are several random bamboo pads, one even built out on a tree limb over the water, with soft mats to lie down on and just take in the view, the breeze, the perfection.

We spent hours crunching juicy, sweet fresh pineapple, sipping smoothies, and relaxing on several different occasions, even sheltering under the cover of one bamboo section that had a roof as we got hit by a fast and furious storm (being in Railay in the rainy season wasn't bad at all--we had rain every day, sometimes a few times, but it was usually an hour or less and had the added bonus of cooling the temperature wonderfully and clearing out all the tourists. We found that we didn't mind swimming in the rain and watching the rain while you eat is delightful! Also, the clouds were fantastic!). 

That first night, though, the sunset was just too good, and I convinced My Man to hurry back to our beach for the last bit of sun. It was worth it.

I took about five million pictures but I'll try to restrain myself and only post a few. I didn't need dessert after this, because it was an evening of pure eye candy.

I had heard that there are bioluminescent plankton here, so that night we went night swimming. It was one of my favorite things, ever. As we swam, it looked like sparks were flying from our fingers and arms. The stars were bright. The water was warm. And we had the beach to ourselves. Heaven. Seriously, this is what I want for my eternal rest. Just send me back to Railay! And then something swam past my legs in the dark, and my imagination burst into scenarios of shark attacks and sea monsters and electric eels, and I gasped and ran as fast as I could back up onto the beach.
 

There is a path that connects East Railay to Phra Nong beach, regularly featured in lists of Asia's top beaches.

The path winds along and under a large cliff and is really beautiful, with a family of monkeys often frequenting it.

There were about 15 of them scampering along the fence, completely ignoring me. They were adorable!  We saw them later on our trip high up on the cliff face.

About halfway down the path there is a sign marking the trail up to the aptly named "Lookout."

It's a good thing there is a sign because otherwise, the trail would be easy to miss, considering it's pretty much straight up and consists of a few strategically placed ropes and a tangle of roots and rocks.

Still, it was surprisingly easy to climb (although I'm glad it didn't rain until I got back down!) and the view was worth the sweat (which was literally pouring off of me by the time I reached the top, making me very happy about the ocean waiting for me back at the bottom!).

One of the nights, we headed back to The Last Bar to watch a Muay Thai boxing match and fire show. There were five or six guys who took turns dancing and juggling the fire sticks, and it was pretty amazing.

(Picture from TripAdviser.com)

Our trip really only had two main negatives. The first was a "snorkeling" trip we signed up for Monday. It turned out to be super crowded on a huge very noisy and exhausty speed boat with only about 45 minutes of mediocre snorkeling out of a 7-hour trip. We saw a few nice beaches and got to spend some time swimming and eating lunch on the Phi Phi Islands. We saw the bay where they filmed "The Beach" and saw where they collect the famous swallows nests to make the delicacy Chinese soup, but it kind of broke my heart that we spent our last full day on that tour when it would have been so much nicer just to rent sea kayaks again and go out on our own. Lesson learned. We signed up for one more tour, a kayaking trip through mangroves in Thalane Bay that would have also doubled as our transfer back to the airport (making it a super great deal), but Monday night My Man got sick, probably from the disappointing lunch buffet on our "snorkeling trip." :-( The poor guy had a rotten end to an otherwise perfect trip (this was the second negative).

I felt a little bad enjoying the wonderful breakfast on the beach, swimming in the ocean, and reading on our balcony soaking up the last bits of wonderful vacation while he was miserable, but he was a good sport, and I gave him a foot rub to help make up for it. :-)

Far too soon, we were on another longtail boat, heading back to the airport.

The only thing that made me happy to leave was the prospect of lots and lots of hugs from our wonderful kids back home. They had stayed with our wonderful Mae Baan (part-time housekeeper/nanny) and according to email updates had a great time and didn't even miss us. But I missed them.

My Man and I played Phase10 on the plane rides and had a few wonderfully close games (I think we each ended up winning a couple). Happy 14th anniversary to us!  This was definitely one to remember!