Visiting new friends

This morning we did more washing. As Nadim scrubbed my jeans on the washing stone, we laughed about “stone-washed jeans”. I guess I now own a pair!

We were invited to Vanajaksha’s house today. He and his family live just outside the Mysore city limits. Our girls played with their 2-year-old nephew. He was a bit of a “naughty boy” as they said. He wouldn’t share his toys, he hits and bites, and he gets whatever he cries for. A little maharaja in the making it would seem! His nose was out of joint when, Nadim did not share our camera with him no matter what tantrums he threw!

We went out for lunch with them to the Rock Garden restaurant. The tables were outside near a play park for the kids. We ate under some palm trees where the shade kept us cool. The food was very good as well, but it was a little on the spicy side for Yasmin and Roya.
In the afternoon our host had an appointment to go to but he asked us to stay for the afternoon with his family and then when he returned we would go to Chamundi Hill. They invited us to use their upstairs bedroom for a rest. It felt a little strange to go have a nap in someone’s house, but it seems like it’s common for them. After our nap and a cup of chai, we took the kids to a nearby park.

Vanajaksha returned home around eight in the evening and then we drove to the top of Chamundi Hill, the highest point in Mysore. From there we could see the lights of the city and the well-lit Maharaja’s Palace. We admired the view and did a quick tour of the temple, where we put dots on the girls’ foreheads. We ended our day with take-out Masala Dosa and Puri, which we brought back to the Baha’i Centre to eat. It was around ten o’clock by then, but they seem to eat dinner quite late here. The kids were totally exhausted and fell asleep right afterwards.

CM & NM

Laundry and Chores

Today was a day for chores. We hadn’t done laundry since we were in Bangkok and we were down to the last pairs of fresh bloomers so we broke down and did some laundry. We didn’t have a washing machine, but we did have a nice washing stone slab. It was a family event with Nadim washing and the girls and I rinsing, wringing, and hanging.
Yasmin and Roya swept the tile floors and I wiped them. I cleaned and scrubbed in the washroom. Let’s just say it really, really needed it. As a side note, the bathroom doesn't have hot water, but what we do is fill a large bucket with water and use this big heating wand to heat up the water. Then you take a small pitcher and scoop the water over yourself. Not ideal, but much better than a cold shower!

We also met with a couple who will help us find some accommodations. The Baha’i house is okay, but it would be better to have our own kitchen and be close to some restaurants and other services. Hopefully we’ll have something arranged in the next day or two and we’ll no longer be in this limbo. We want to do some volunteer work while we are here, but we want to find something that is close to our accommodations. All in good time, I guess.

CM

Arrival in Mysore

Another early morning for us, we left Delhi on a 6:30 flight to Bangalore. We arrived in Bangalore, on schedule, at just past 9:00. After gathering our bags and seeking some information, we rushed off to the train station. The station is about an hour’s drive from the airport and our train was due to leave at 11:00.

We made a mad rush through the city and made it to the train station with 10 minutes to spare. It was a bit of a gamble because we had read on the Internet that you must purchase tickets for the train that we wanted at least four hours in advance. We didn’t want to do that because if our plane had been at all delayed we never would have made it. So we had just enough time to purchase our tickets and board the express train to Mysore. The ticket also includes lunch and a big bottle of water, so that was good too.

Sadly, Mysore’s Baha’i community is not what it once was. We met a Baha’i couple who have come to Mysore to help revive it. They had spent two years at the Baha’i world centre in Haifa, Israel. They had lots of stories to tell. We were invited to have dinner with them and we really enjoyed ourselves. The power went out before supper so we were sitting by candle light for an hour and a half or so. It just added to the ambiance. Apparently power outages happen on a daily basis in Mysore so we’ll have to stock up on candles.

The Baha’i centre has a large room for us to stay in. It has mattresses that spread on the floor, much the same as they did in Iran many years ago (says Nadim, who once fell and broke his arm while playing on a stack of them). The building is relatively new. We aren’t sure how long we will stay here. We would prefer to have a furnished apartment if we could find one. There is a Baha’i who will meet us tomorrow morning to see if he can help us in that area. Hopefully we can find a place with good Internet access. I’ve been hanging off some wireless networks in the area, but the signal is pretty weak and sometimes it’s not there altogether.

CM

Humayun’s Tomb

We took the six o’clock train from Agra to Delhi this morning. The train schedules are to be taken as guidelines only it seems. The train seems to leave on time, but on both the trip to and from Agra the train was late arriving by well over an hour. My Canadian sense of time and schedules is offended, especially since it’s only supposed to be a two or three hour train ride. Ah well, this is India and you shrug and take it as it comes.

After arrival and lunch, we headed off to Humayun’s Tomb. It was a tomb that was built in the sixteenth century, just before the Taj Mahal was built and you can see some similarities between the two structures.

Inside Humayun’s Tomb were several graves, but of course Humayun’s was in the centre. The interior had a lot of stone “lace” work so that the light could pass into the building. It was beautiful to see the sunlight streaming in.

There were actually several ancient tombs and mosques on the site. The grounds were quite quiet so it was nice to stroll about and enjoy exploring.

There was a very large green space surrounding the main tomb and quiet pathways shaded by large trees with gnarled trunks. Nadim and I had a seat at a park bench while Yasmin and Roya chased chipmunks and climbed one of the trees. They climbed the tree for about 20 minutes before a security guard noticed and said for the girls not to climb the tree.... Oops.

We had chai outside the wall surrounding the tomb. Yasmin and Roya have really taken a liking to it. We can no longer satisfy them with a couple of sips from our cups. They have graduated to having their own.

We’re off on an early flight to Bangalore tomorrow morning, and from there we’ll catch a train to Mysore. We’ve got some contacts there so that should be helpful in getting ourselves settled. We plan to be in the Mysore area for almost two months so we’re hoping to find a furnished apartment or something of the like, preferably with internet access.

CM

Fatehpur-Sikri

The fortress at Fatehpur was built by Akbar the Great when he moved his capital there to honour the holy man who had blessed him in order to have a son. We hired a car and driver to go out and see the fortress, which was abandoned shortly after it was built, due to water shortages (oops!).

The town is about 40 km from Agra, but it took an hour and a half to drive there, because we had to share the roads with: donkeys, cars, trucks, buses overloaded with people hanging off the doors and sitting on the roof, camels, buffalo, horses and carts, push carts, rickshaws, motorcycles, bicycles, etc. etc. I don’t think anyone used to driving on Canadian roads would make it here!

We started with a visit to the mosque complex. Akbar had built a shrine for the remains of the holy man, and had promised that all the holy man’s descendants would be buried close to him. There was a cemetery outside the building for the men and one inside for the women. The walls of the women’s cemetery were made of sandstone with small intricately-designed lattice work all through them. This is symbolic of the burkah that muslim women wear – you could see out from the cemetery, but you could not look in from the outside. Even today, the descendants of the holy man are buried here. Akbar had also built an underground tunnel all the way to Agra, so he could take safe passage there as he had enemies who would make the journey unsafe.

Next we went to the palace compound. Akbar believed that all religions were the same and, to make peace with the three main religions of India, he had 3 wives - a Hindu from Rajasthan, a Christian from Portugal and a Muslim from Turkey, not to mention the numerous concubines. He built separate palaces for each of his 3 wives according to their own desires, and included symbols of various religions in the carvings on the walls, doors, and windows. Akbar’s own resting area had a huge elevated stone bed (which would have been covered with thick carpets, blankets, and pillows) and the chamber was connected through a hallway to the harem. The floor of the rest area would have a pool of rose water so the concubine(s) would walk through the rose water on their way to visit the emperor.

Akbar also held public court, where he would make announcements and pass judgement on the guilty. Those guilty of particularly bad crimes would be brought before an elephant that was tied to a rock in the public garden, and the elephant would stomp them to death! Guess there wasn’t much capital crime during Akbar’s reign!

Parts of the palace compound were not open to tourists, but they looked very interesting from a distance. We even saw some people taking loads on donkeys through one of the gates. It made us appreciate a glimpse of what life may have been like here back in the 1600’s.

We returned to the hotel around 4 and got some home schooling in too. Now we have to get ready for our return to Delhi tomorrow and the trip to Mysore the next day.

NM

Taj Mahal & Agra Fort

Early this morning we made our way to the Taj Mahal before most tourists arrived. We entered through the east gate (which is a 3-minute walk from our hotel!) and admired the main gate of the Taj Mahal complex before entering. The gates are constructed from red sandstone and marble and are inlaid with semi-precious stones from Europe, Africa, India, and other parts of Asia.

It was a bit foggy this morning, so some of our pictures didn’t turn out as well as we would have liked, but in others the fog seemed to add to the mystery and magic of the Taj Mahal.

The Taj itself is beautiful, but the grounds surrounding it enhance its beauty. It is framed on either side by matching buildings. To the left it is a mosque (pictured below) and to the right was the main guest house.

By mid-morning we had finished our tour and came back to do home schooling. We did this from the roof top restaurant that has a great view of the Taj Mahal, and also of the surrounding chaos of city life in Agra. You see clothes drying, monkeys climbing, rickshaws rattling down the road, cows being herded, bicycles rushing by, old men drinking chai, and general business that is Agra.

After lunch and our lessons we headed off to Agra Fort. About 75% of the fort is being used by the army and is closed to tourists, but the more interesting 25% is a combination of palaces, gardens, courts, and mosques. We hired a guide to take us through and we learned of the 5000 women in the king’s harem, the confines where the king was kept when he was arrested by his son who did not want to spend money on a black Taj Mahal as his father wished. We saw a court yard that was now a large grassed-in area, but before it had been filled in, it had been the fishing pond of the king and queen. We learned that there had not been doors, but the entry ways had once been covered with heavy silk curtains and tapestries. The weather has been warm, but not too hot, so it was perfect for strolling through the large fort.

Imagine the fort surrounded by a wet moat that was filled with crocodiles, and a dry moat that was filled with lions and tigers and an interior that had rose water fountains that were kept going by eight servants that pumped the water by hand until they were shifted off by eight more. This enabled the king to smell the rose water all day. What decadence!

CM

Train to Agra

This morning we got back to home schooling. Then for lunch we headed to a restaurant called Saravana Bhavan for lunch. It has become a favourite. On the placemat they advertise a branch in Scarborough. We’ll have to check it out when we’re back in Canada.

We packed our bags for the train to Agra where the Taj Mahal is. The train left at four o’clock, and was only supposed to take two hours, but it was about an hour late arriving. The train was fine, but the scenery was at times appalling. The people are unimaginably poor. You see huts made from tarps, or corrugated metal. You see garbage everywhere. The strip of land next to the train was always littered with garbage, even as we went through more serene country and farm land. The poverty here is such a shock at times.

We arrived in Agra after dark, so it is difficult to say what it will be like. From all accounts we expect to be assaulted by beggars, and touts. They are always there around the tourist locations and the Taj is the most famous of them all. Some of them are organized into gangs. They take a young baby and come up to you asking for money for food. They then give part of their earnings to the leader and hand the baby off to the next person. I feel so sorry for the poor babies. In Cambodia there were children begging, and we were asked by the driver not to give them anything because it encourage them to drop school in favour of begging. I read the same for India. We will need to find some way to give to the community, but through a better means.

The weather is cool in Delhi and Agra. It goes to about ten degrees at night and we were surprised to see our breath a few mornings ago. During the day it is warmer, but only low twenties. I’m wearing jeans and socks again, something that we hadn’t been doing for the past few months.

CM

Sunday in Delhi

We started out planning to visit Humayun’s Tomb, come back for lunch at Baha’i House, and then go do some shopping. Our day didn’t quite turn out as planned! The Tombs were first on our list and we arrived shortly after ten o’clock to find that they were closed until one o’clock due to a VIP visit. We then thought we’d do some shopping, but because it was Sunday and the national holiday is tomorrow nearly all the shops were closed. After getting a bit lost, we eventually found our way back to Baha’i House where we were to have lunch with some Persian Baha’is who have come to Delhi on a tour. They were also a bit lost, and perhaps running a late too, and so our lunch didn’t take place until two o’clock. By the time we finished lunch, it was too late to go to the tombs again. I guess we’ll have to squeeze that in when we return from Agra.

The girls ended up joining a Baha’i children’s class, held in the front gardens, and making some new friends. They played all afternoon with these kids. They threw leaves around, picked baby oranges, played tag, and got filthy dirty. If the state of a child’s clothes tells how much fun they had, then Yasmin and Roya must have had an awful lot of fun!

Nadim enjoyed the afternoon as well. We met a woman who had grown up with Nadim’s mom in Iran! We continued to chat with Ganesh Shenoy (in photo above), who used to travel with Nadim's dad while they lived in Mysore. He is an amazing person and is always helping someone with something. He has learned Farsi and was practising with us too! We met several people that he knew from the old days in Mysore or Goa. The recurring theme was “I knew your father in Mysore / Goa. He was always active, and your mother was always so happy”. In the evening we went to the Baha’i House of Worship again for a memorial service. There we met more people that we knew. We even met a Baha’i from Ottawa who is volunteering here for three months! It was very nice to see a familiar face from home. We once again enjoyed the peacefulness of the Baha’i Temple and the beautiful chanting.

CM

Arrival in India

We arrived safely in India. The plane was two hours delayed so it felt like the wee hours of the morning for us, but it was midnight here. We got a prepaid taxi to Baha'i House. Stepping out from the airport there were throngs of people waiting, shouting, laughing... We made our way to a taxi. They all look pretty much the same. They look like they stepped out of British India era! The driver wasn't quite sure where to go, but Nadim surprised us all, including himself, and was able to speak some Hindi and get his points across. The roads are bumpy, there are tons of strange little cars, everyone honks, and we all bounce along happily.

The rooms are simple in Baha'i House and we had a decent nights sleep. Then we went off to visit with Nadim's cousin Farida. We had some excellent chai with her and chatted about old times. We went off to lunch at an amazing vegetarian restaurant, little curries, warm bread (puri), everything was delicious. We did a little shopping at a state emporium and then hired an auto-rickshaw to the Baha'i Temple. I've a lovely photo that I'll post later, but we are not posting from our own computer. NOTE: see photo below (edited Jan 26).

The temple was beautiful. We arrived late afternoon and enjoyed the serenity and peacefulness of the grounds and temple. We said some prayers and on our way out met some volunteers from different countries that were helping out at the temple. We chatted with them and then made our way to the information centre. Beautiful displays and pictures. When we came out we were treated to more views of the temple, but this time at sunset and then after dark. Again, I'll post another gorgeous shot. NOTE: see photo below (edited Jan 26)

Farida met us at the temple, and we went to dinner with her and her husband Cyrus, and another distant cousin, Goli. Yes, another Goli! We had so many laughs over dinner and it made for a late night. Lots of stories about Nadim's dad going out to teach the Faith in an old jeep. Apparently it was known as Baha'u'llah's jeep to the villagers!

Today we are off to see a museum and then check out some of the bazaars. I'm not sure if we'll be posting regularly here because it is difficult to find Internet access.

CM & NM

Museum & Bazaars

This morning we walked to the National Museum. Along the way an auto-rickshaw driver stopped and asked where we were going. We said “for a walk”. He then informed us that India Gate was closed. We told him we weren’t headed there. He persisted and asked where we were going. We said just up the street. He told us, “That’s closed too.” We had a good laugh since it was so obvious that he wanted to take us somewhere farther away. Likely somewhere that he could get a commission from the shop owner as well as the fare for the ride.

To be fair, there is a national holiday coming up, so the street leading up to the museum was closed. This was the street where India Gate is at one end and the museum at the other. We did take several pictures before moving on. We had to walk around a large block, but eventually found our way to another entry to the museum, and surprise, surprise, it wasn’t closed.

The museum was quite good and they had an audio tour which we all enjoyed. Yasmin and Roya would go hunting for the next exhibit with the blue headphone sign indicating the number to enter into the audio set so that we could all listen to the descriptions or stories associated with the piece.

After the museum we took the subway to Chawari Bazaar. There were people everywhere! We walked for a bit along a street where all the vendors were selling various hardware and metal works. That wasn’t too exciting so we talked to a couple of elderly shop keepers and asked for directions to the clothing part of the bazaar. It was too far to walk so we took a bicycle rickshaw through the crowded streets.

Along the way we saw book vendors, paper and greeting card vendors, and so much more. We ended in a place where they were selling some western clothes, but mostly Indian clothes and fabrics. The fabrics were so gorgeous. Reds with gold embroidery, oranges, yellows, peacock blue, gold, beadwork, and all in such intricate designs. Too bad it was so busy. I would have liked to stop and browse a bit more, but it was just too congested.

From there we went to Connaught Place. This is another shopping area. We didn’t really go through any shops, we were just looking for a place to have supper by that time. Again lots of touts letting us know that one place or another was closed and that we should go up the street to another place. So many “helpful” young fellows pointing us in the “right” direction! Ahhh!!

We’re quite disappointed that we’ve arrived during this national holiday because many of the tourist attractions are closed or difficult to get to because of road barriers. It also makes me nervous because everyone is on high security alert, and so you are constantly reminded that something could happen.

CM

Fancy hospital, etc.

We had taken a vaccination for cholera and E-Coli in September before leaving on this trip. The vaccine is good for 3 months, after which you need a booster. The only place in Bangkok that had the vaccine was Bumrungrad hospital in Sukhumvit area (downtown). So we went down there and it was hard to believe it is a hospital. They had fancy lobbies, reception areas, doormen, comfortable couches and chairs in the waiting areas, a Starbucks, a couple of nice-looking restaurants, and attendants who spoke fluent English. It looked more like a 5-star hotel. Even the kids were amazed and Yasmin asked in her awe-struck voice: "This is a hospital?!!" She has been in a few hospitals during this trip so she knows what they normally look like - poor thing.

We were ushered to the 10th floor to register as new patients before seeing the doctor - fair enough. This area had nice carpeting and comfortable couches and coffee tables, and the attendants helped us fill out the forms and printed cards for us. Then they asked us to go to the 15th floor, where they took our vital signs. We were pronounced healthy, with normal heart rates, blood pressures, heights and weights. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I have lost a few pounds since September! On the way to this area, we walked past a beautiful rock garden and huge flower pots with lotus flowers floating in them.

After this preliminary testing, we waited for all of 5 minutes before seeing the doctor. During this long waiting period, the kids got some complimentary juice boxes, which they enjoyed. The doctor spoke perfect English and we discussed the vaccine we wanted and she made sure everything was okay before writing the prescription. Then we made our way to the cashier, picked up our vaccine bottles from the in-house pharmacy in little paper shopping-bag style packages with string handles, and came home. All in all, a very interesting experience. We hardly felt like we were in a hospital.

We had packed up one of the suitcases with our purchases over the past 3 months, and some other things that we don't need any longer and wanted to send it home to lighten our load. So when we arrived back from the fancy hospital, I asked the taxi to wait, got the suitcase and went to the post office. They packaged it all up in a big box and I sent it by surface mail, so it should get home in a month or two. On the way back, I hired a motorcycle taxi, which was cool too. These guys are registered taxis and are cheaper and faster than regular taxis, especially during rush hour, which can be horrendous in Bangkok. So my guy weaved and bobbed his way through traffic and deposited me safely at the apartment.

Tomorrow we must pack our bags again, this time for India. Our flight is at 6:00 p.m. Thailand time and we arrive in Delhi at 9:00 p.m. India time after a 4.5-hour flight. Can you figure out the time difference?!

NM

Sizzlers

We had enough time to get in our home schooling and go for a swim before we made our way to the airport for our afternoon flight to Bangkok. We flew Air Asia. It's a no frills airline that doesn't even bother with assigned seating. You can't beat the price though, so who cares if you don't get served a beverage on the hour-long flight!

As we got out of the taxi, we heard Vaughan shout the familiar Baha'i greeting "Allah'u'Abha!". It really feels like coming home. We arrived around supper time and so we got together with Vaughan and Sunantha and three guys, Ali, Brian and David from Ireland who are visiting Thailand. Ali is Baha'i and he had dragged a couple of his friends along on a world trip. They had recently spent a month in Om Goi district (near Chiang Mai), where there are hill tribes people and a service project going on there. They were working at a dorm/school singing songs, teaching English, and whatever else they could keep busy with. It sounded like they had a great time.

We really enjoyed our dinner with them. Fun to talk about our travels and theirs and also about various work related things. David had done some engineering courses at school and was interested in Nadim's real life experience. Also lots of fun to talk about the school and Baha'i activities that are going on.

Guess what we had for dinner? Fish, meat, etc. with baked potatoes, salad and fruit buffet! We have not had baked potatoes since we left home 4 months ago! Who would have thought that we would feel so passionate about something that we would normally consider ho hum?

CM + NM

Last beach day

We home schooled in the morning and after lunch we headed off to spend one last afternoon at the beach. We forgot out camera, but I thought I'd post a couple of pictures that didn't make it on the blog earlier in the week.

We went to Ao Nang Beach, which probably wasn't the best choice. There is a lot of boat traffic and more people than some of the other beaches we visited. It is close by though, so that's a bonus. It's also surrounded by gorgeous cliffs that seem to light up with the late afternoon sun.

We had an early supper and headed back to the hotel to catch up on e-mails, and play some Chinese checkers with the kids.

Tomorrow afternoon we have a flight back to Bangkok. We'll pick up another bag from there and head off to India on the 22nd.

CM

Lazy Sunday

I have a very slight sun burn, but enough of one to make me want to stay off the beach for the day. We have been so busy that it was really nice to just stay around the hotel for the day. The hotel has a big main buiding, at the end of the path below, where Nadim and I spent the morning reading our books, and planning for India, while the kids coloured and played. We all wrote some postcards too.

Our room is behind the flowers to the right of the path in the picture above and the pool is to the left. The afternoon was spent in or near the pool. The kids gave us a fashion show using their beach towels. Some of their creations were very vogue!

This evening we ordered in pizza and watched a movie on the laptop. We watched "Around the World in Eighty Days" with Jackie Chan. The girls love it. I think they particularly like seeing parts where we will be going. Of course they love the stunt scenes with Jackie Chan too.

CM

5 Islands Tour

The 5 Islands Tour is done by long-tail boat. We liked it better than the speed boat in many ways because you were able to see much more along the way. The scenery has truly been amazing here.
Our first stop was snorkeling off the shores of Daeng Island. There was no beach there, but snorkeling was fun. After that we went to Pakbia Island, where the photo above was taken. The kids played in the sand and collected all sorts of huge shells with the help of Angela Savage and her daughter Natasha. We met them on the tour. We enjoyed chatting with them as we went from island to island. Angela has written a book that is set in Chiang Mai, so I'll now have to see if I can track down a copy.

We stopped in Lading Island and had some lunch. We then did a little more snorkeling and fed the fish. Yasmin, our little fisher girl, was still trying to catch them. She had a bit of encouragement from our tour guide who was able to catch a little striped fish in his bare hands while we were snorkeling earlier that morning!

The above picture was taken in Hong Lagoon. "Hong" means "room" in Thai. The lagoon was like a room in that it was completely surrounded by rocky cliff walls, except at the very small entry that is shown in the picture. It can only be reached by boat in high tide. I'm sure this area
was a haven for pirates!

We had a longer stop at Hong Island Beach. Here we did some snorkeling, but you didn't even need goggles to see the fish. They would come and eat the bread from our hands. I'm so glad that we remembered to bring bread for them. The girls were pretty excited to see a multi-coloured fish in this bay.

Nadim and I got tired of swimming and had a chance to read our books and bask in the sun while the kids continued to swim and chase fish. It was a great day.

CM

Phranang Cave Beach

We bought long-tail boat tickets to a nearby beach called Phranang Cave. The boats don't go at any particular time. They go when there are eight people or more ready to leave. Luckily we didn't have to wait because the boat was already full when we arrived.

We swam near one end of the beach where there was a small island just off shore. Then we walked to the other end of the beach, where there was a cave. Of course we had to swim into the cave and explore the little hidden inlet. Yasmin had fun along the shoreline because there were lots of tiny fish. She wanted to catch one, but of course they were too fast!

We walked across a small strip of land to get to Railey Beach East, which faces opposite to the beach with the caves. Along the pathway we saw some caves and the girls had to find different ways to go round, rather than use the boring old walkway.

We didn't stop for long at Railey Beach East because it was quite windy and the water wasn't as clear.

We came back in the late afternoon and the sun was reflecting on the cliffs. We had dinner at a retsaurant with views of the sea and the beautiful sunset. Aaaaahhh! I've never seen such gorgeous beaches. This is really the type of place you imagine when you think tropical paradise!

CM

P.S. Enjoy the -30 degrees celcius that I hear everyone complaining about. Nah, nah, na, nah, na!

Hot Springs

We did a jungle tour today! The first stop was the Emerald Pool. We walked through the jungle to find our way to this crystal clear pool. The water spilled into the pool from many little rivulets. The water was quite warm. Even I was able to get in without the usually flapping of hands and multiple counts to three.

We were the first tourists there, but some Thai kids were already there. They seemed to be having a great time pushing each other in. Some of the young girls "fell" in and there were all sorts of screeching and laughing.

After Emerald Pool, they took us to the hot springs. The water was just like a hot tub. In fact there were many little pools of water and waterfalls between each level. The girls climbed from one level to the next while Nadim and I tried to be a little more restful. We found ourselves getting over heated and had to take a break before too long.

After lunch we stopped at Tiger Cave Temple which is built on the top of a mountain. There were 1237 steps to the top, and Roya and I climbed them all. It was pretty steep going, and I thought I might keel over with a heart attack, but eventually we made it to the top and were rewarded with a very nice view and a very welcome breeze.

Yasmin and Nadim didn't make it to the top, but got a little over half way up. Nadim told some of the other tour members that he got tired and Yasmin decided to keep him company. Yasmin of course gives a sly smile.

CM

Relaxing

The girls and I were not on with home schooling this morning. Roya couldn't think of what to write when asked to use her spelling words in a paragraph about a new invention, Yasmin took forever with her math sums (even though she knows them), and I didn't seem to have as much patience. I think we were all glad when the exercises were complete.

We made it to the beach a little later in the day. It was relaxing to have a swim and then read our books. Both girls are turning into quite the little readers. Yasmin is in love with Harry Potter. This afternoon she finished the third book in the series and has moved on to the fourth! The fourth book is quite thick, so maybe it will last her a while.

We found a restaurant overlooking the beach and had our supper there. The sun was going down and the longtail boats were coming in. It was very peaceful, and the morning's frustration was long forgotten.

CM

Beach Bums

Remember the movie, "The Beach"? It was shot at Maya Bay on Phi Phi Lay (below). Now imagine Nadim, Yasmin, Roya, and I there. Yes it was awesome. It was really beautiful, especially when we first arrived. About 15 minutes later though, all the other tour boats arrived too and the place was crawling with people and no longer quite as nice.

After our swim at the beach our speed boat took us towards the middle of the lagoon and we did some snorkelling. It was the first time that Yasmin and Roya had done it. They loved it. There were lots of fish to see too, so it made for a great first experience.

We saw some caves and other small inlets before stopping in Phi Phi Don for lunch. And in case you were wondering, Phi Phi Island is pronounced pea pea island. Our friend, Mylene was concerned that it would be close to Phoo Phoo island, but I assure you the waters were clear! The above photo was from one of the bays. Phi Phi Don has two bays that are back to back and connected by a thin strip of land. This area was totally destroyed by the tsunami in 2004, but has been completely rebuilt.

After lunch we stopped at Monkey Beach. It's so named because of the number of monkies that call it home. The monkies were pretty fat and not too interested in what all the humans were up to. Still it was fun to watch them munching bananas and corn on the cob.

We had another swim at that beach. All the beaches were great. All had clear water, white powdery sand and beautiful views of rock formations in the background. It was really warm too.

We ended with a stop at Bamboo Island and another swim. There were big waves there which were fun to play in, but the ride home was an adventure! Nadim had chosen the worst seat. The spray from the tossing waves and wind gave him a salty shower all the way back. The girls and I got wet too, but not quite as bad. It was warm so it really didn't bother us too much.

We had planned to do our school work on the boat, but the wind and the tossing and the water meant that we didn't get a lot done. We finished it up this evening. The girls were such troopers about it, despite being so tired.

CM

Ao Nang Beachs

We are so lucky. We are incredibly fortunate. Krabi is one of the most beautiful places we've been. Long sandy beaches, limestone rock formations, palm trees, bright blue sky, warm ocean water, what more could we want?

We started our day with home schooling. I'm not sure how we're going to manage to get our school work in everyday. We have some boat tours and things planned. Hopefully it will all get done, and we won't be making up for it this summer!

This afternoon we headed to Nopparat Thara Beach. It's about 3 or 4 km from our hotel. The water was clear and so warm. We swam a few times and read our books. Yasmin was only supposed to go in for 15 minutes at a time because of her foot injury. It was so difficult to pull her out with everyone having so much fun.

After that beach we walked back towards town and did a bit of shopping and browsing. We then took a late afternoon stroll along Ao Nang Beach. Some guys came up to us and were pointing at our bags. We had bought bread and tea and a few other things. This seemed very strange until we noticed them carrying a bunch of clam-like shells. So we emptied one of our bags into the other and gave them a plastic bag to carry what I expect would later become their dinner.

They didn't speak English, but were still able to tell us that to find the shells, you need to dig in the spot that you see two little air holes in the sand. Yasmin found a couple for them and Roya dug one up too.

We walked to the end of the beach to a restaurant called "The Last Cafe". We didn't realize that they only serve breakfast and lunch! The view was great and the stroll along the beach as the sun was setting was relaxing.

CM