Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Paradise

As I sit here at the computer writing this post I am looking out at the beach in Ton Sai, Thailand. To say that this is paradise would be no lie and we have no intention of leaving anytime soon. Basically, we have loved this country from the moment we stepped off the plane and hopped in our hot pink taxi to our Asian palace (aka the Marriott, courtesy of Mr. Hayden's reward points). The hotel was fully equipt with a pool, exercise room, flat screen TV, shower you can sit in, men who bow down to you every time you walk in the door, and most importantly: air conditioning. Who would ever want to leave? NOT US. That's right, we were in Bangkok for 4 days and left the hotel room for only the essentials: McDonald's, Auntie Annes, and Dairy Queen. Actually, I wouldn't want to exaggerate...we did leave to do our laundry. Any by "do our laundry" I mean put our laundry in a machine in the middle of the sidewalk behind where some lady runs her very successful pad-thai food stall. There was no dryer, so we constructed a clothesline in our room, making it a sure thing that we can turn the nicest suite in all of Bangkok into a pigsty.

A couple days after getting to Thailand we met up with Jess's friends from high school (Hally and Megan) who have been living here teaching English. We managed to adopt a new travel partner for the past week (their friend from study abroad, Eric) who is on spring break. It's nice to have some new people to talk to and Jess seems to be enjoying the familiar faces. We are still with them now in Ton Sai and will probably stay together for a bit as we have similar travel plans. This beach that we have stumbled upon is absolutely gorgeous and probably surpases the beauty of my previously favorite place in Brazil (Floripa). There are tons of activities to do including rock climbing, kayaking, and hiking. Yesterday we took a day trip to Kho Phi Phi, the island where the movie "The Beach" was filmed. We got to go snorkeling and checked out the site, which is preserved by the government. No one is allowed to live there, which is nice because everything around here is getting so built up and touristy. There is not much else to report as we basically have been sitting around doing nothing for the past week, recovering from our tiring trip through India. I know, we lead a difficult life.

OK, that's all for now...I have to go eat sticky rice and watch the sunset. Yes, my life is awesome.

7 comments:

aunt anne said...

I am so glad I can be jealous again. This is now on our list of "Oh yeah, we're going there!" What you haven't mentioned is a problem with the language either in India or Thailand so am I right in thinking English is universal? Your mother did warn me that they don't really speak English in Australia. Going to look at your pictures. Be safe and eat fiber!

Anonymous said...

I can't stand how jealous I feel!

Anonymous said...

this is not your mother, it's your dad. I just read the blog and am looking out this window next to the computer watching all the rain come down. I quess it's better today than on Easter Sunday. We will of course miss you, but we have the other two and our new son, you know who. I am looking forward to seeing both of you this summer. Tomorrow spring begins, so summer is not far off. Don't you feel like your trip is going by too fast? Well enjoy the view, I'm going back out to the garage.
Love, Dad

Jess's Dad said...

3 weeks since the last pictures, Paradise must not have a camera and an up link wire. You must be roughing it, I feel horrible for your about your living conditions and lack of technology. I hope you can get over it.

Mama Dukes said...

wow!I agree with your dad...what are you up to?Heard your voice on the answering machine, but you didn't say much...

Jess's Dad said...

Check out BU Today, yesterday's paper. The girls were feature in an article about their trip around the world.

Unknown said...

dear amanda,

i wanted to let you know that a bunch of my friends from home have started reading your blog. your adventures are ridic and i'm so envious i could cry. i am definitely going to go to all the places you have been, hahaha. i'll call it "marianne re-enacts amanda's adventure around the world." it will be original.

keep living it up!!

PS -- you are an awesome writer!