Phantastic Phuket

I was a bit sad to leave the charm of Chiang Mai, but heading to Phuket was so exciting as it's a place I've never been but have always wanted to go. I have grown to really love Thailand - the land is beautiful, the cuisine is one of my favorites and the people are the friendliest on Earth. It's incredible to think that this lovely place was so negatively impacted by what recorded history has rated as the one of the worst natural disasters of our time. The statistics are actually mind-numbing -- a 9.1 magnitude earthquake that triggered other earthquakes around the world (as far away as Alaska), a shift of the Earth on its axis by 1 cm and 228,000 (!) people killed. Admittedly, I knew little about Thailand (and Phuket specifically) prior to that disasterous tsunami on 24 December 2004. 


I was expecting to see destruction and despair amidst the tropical beauty. But strangely, there was very little damage, at least that I could see. (That said, Phuket was not as damaged as other areas; most of the damage was a bit north of Phuket in Khao Lak with the next worst hit being Phi Phi Island, where we spent one day.) The 4 days spent in and around Phuket were a dream.

Day One had us arriving in the evening to the Westin Siray Bay. Typical of Christian and me, we avoided the hotel restaurant and went straight into town to have dinner at the Blue Elephant Phuket. I had the pleasure of dining with friends at the Bangkok Blue Elephant in August, but Christian had never been. The dinner was a delightful adventure in Thai cuisine (I had duck red curry), despite our utter exhaustion while there.  

Me at the resort at sunset

Day Two (Valentine's Day) was spent lounging by the pool all day, soaking up sun and reading. (By the way, I am reading the newest Jennifer Egan book called "Look At Me". It's quite good.) When traveling with an Italian, it goes without saying that you will eat Italian food if there's good Italian food to be had. This was something I fully supported after 5 straight days and nights of Thai, so we headed to Salvatore's in old town Phuket. I had a classic spaghetti & meatballs dish that was divine.

Day Three was ushered in with a glorious thai "luk pra kob" massage that combines heated balls of thai herbs wrapped in muslin with deep Thai tissue massage. HEAVEN! More time at the pool then led us to an early departure to Christian's evening of wondrous fun at FantaSea, Thailand's version of Disneyland. It's hard to describe the sheer Asian cheesiness of it, but rest assured it fully delivered on anything you can imagine. The highlight was feeding a baby tiger with a bottle!

Me at FantaSea!

Day Four was the highlight of the Phuket trip, though it admittedly started off rocky. We planned a day trip to explore the islands off Phuket - Phi Phi Island, Monkey Island, Maya Beach, etc. I was looking forward to this as much as Christian wanted to go to FantaSea, which is ALOT. After arriving at the marina, we learned that our boat was inoperable. After waiting 2 hours, the manager cancelled the trip. After declaring that this was a total letdown given it was our last full day, he whispered that he had arranged a smaller boat to leave in one hour. Salvation!!

The manager of the marina decided to come with us (it ended up being 8 of us) and gave us a private guided tour. We stopped first at Mosquito Island to snorkle, then found our way to Phi Phi Don (the larger of the two Phi Phi Islands) for a seaside lunch. After lunch I put my toes in the water and collected shells (see photo below). We then made a quick stop at Monkey Beach, so named because of the monkeys that live there. We, unlike most others, were respectful of the fact that the monkeys are wild animals and this beach is their home. (To that end, we were not unhappy when a man set his towel right in their spot of rocks and was quickly bombarded with aggressive monkeys! He wasn't hurt...) More snorkeling followed at Phi Phi Lae, where "The Beach" was filmed. It was easily the best snorkeling of my life - sea anemones, crazy colored fish, sea cucumbers, beautiful coral, crystal clear waters - surrounded by jutting limestone cliffs. I had a banana and the fish fed right from my hands! Our last stop was Maya Beach, which featured my favorite part of the day - a temple built to offer food and drinks to the lost souls of those who perished in the tsunami but were not from the island. Simple and touching.

Searching for shells 

A monkey from Monkey Beach 

Limestone stalagmites

A temple providing food and drink for the lost souls from the tsunami @ Maya Beach 

Me and longboats on Maya Beach 

Beautiful

The ride back to the marina was during sunset. I sat on the back of the boat while it bumped atop the waves with the wind in my hair, salt on my skin and a Chang beer in my hands. Peaceful and perfect.

Until next time...xoxo

The Street Market to End All Street Markets

After a full day of elephant riding, I was exhausted. Really exhausted. Riding on the back of a 2-ton creature through the mountainous jungle and then frolicking in the mud and river water is no easy feat. BUT, Chiang Mai is known for its Sunday walking street market. AND, nothing really ever holds me back from some serious shopping. 


So, Christian and I quickly freshened up upon our return to the hotel and hit the markets - big time. I really do love a local market. It gives an interesting and authentic perspective on how locals live - and this did not disappoint. A solid three hours of exploration took us easily past 1000 stalls (with very few repeats). There were arts & crafts, shoes, clothing, trinkets, street performers and more. What I loved the most were three things: 1) the food stalls which offered a very wide variety of local flavor, 2) the 30-minute foot massage that cost only 100 baht (US$3) and 3) the large percentage of locals vs. tourists. It was quite clear that this was the place to be in Chiang Mai.


The markets were a wonderful way to end our day in this charming little city. And the pho (for 35 bhat or US$1) to finish the evening didn't hurt either. The best way to convey how delightful the markets were is to share pictures from the evening. Here are a few of my favorite snaps:

Beautiful.

My delicious pho. 

Pop of colors!

Bells from the temple.

I love the colors and how old-fashioned the shoes look.

Me overlooking the markets

These lighted globes were quite popular!

While I appreciate the local flavors, I did not partake in the cricket eating. 

Fresh pork or beef balls. Hard to tell which! 

Lovely little street performer

This little dude was talented! Guitar playing and hula-hooping simultaneously. He had the best smile.

Until next time....
xoxo

The Day of Pukboom!

I knew before I moved home from the Asia-Pacific region that I wanted to revisit Thailand. It's relatively close to Australia (only a 9-hour flight!) and is such a beautiful country with the kindest people in the world. I visited briefly in August 2011, and saw Bangkok and Ko Samui. This time, when I decided to return (luckily with my BFF Christian), I set my sights on two new places - Chiang Mai and the Phuket/Ko Phi Phi areas.


Chiang Mai was our first stop. After the 9-hour flight from Sydney to Bangkok, I made my way across the airport (which seemed to be 1 million kilometers wide) and stood in line for hours to pass through a chaotic immigration area to greet Christian for the first time in 6 months and then quickly board our flight to Chiang Mai (only 70 min from Bangkok). Chiang Mai is located in Northern Thailand and was founded in 1296. It was surrounded by a moat and large fortress-like wall (parts of which still remain today) to protect it from Burma. To me, Chiang Mai felt like a very small version of Bangkok with none of the tourist traps and more of an authentic local feel.


We arrived on Saturday night. After a walk around to get our bearings and a dinner across the street, we settled into the charming Tamarind Village boutique hotel for a good night sleep as we had a BIG day ahead the next day.  The next day was truly one of the most memorable of my life. 


Sunday began with a 7am wake-up call and a jaunt across the road for a quick iced latte before hitting the road to head an hour north of Chiang Mai to the Thai Elephant Home. The Home is an "eco-sanctuary" which rescues elephants from poor treatment and raises them in a small area of the jungle and along the river - an area which resembles their natural habitat. I loved this sanctuary as it is rather small compared to the others in the area - only 9 elephants, two of whom are never ridden. All proceeds go into caring for the elephants and improving the jungle surroundings within which they live. We did a lot of research before embarking on the experience to ensure we chose a sanctuary that truly is just that for the animals.

Making friends through banana bribes

We started the day by being welcomed by the friendly faces of Joe and the local mahouts (elephant keepers) and learning about the sanctuary itself. We changed into a sweet baggy denim outfit reminiscent of the....I don't even know what actually....and then met the elephants by feeding them bananas in one of their play areas. (while we were there, a group of volunteers was finishing a new fence to enclose the area and allow for the elephants to roam more freely when at the camp itself.) The cutest part of feeding the elephants was how picky some were. Lulu, who would end up being Christian's elephant, only liked the ripest yellow bananas. She would discard any that weren't to her liking! Once the elephants were comfortable with us, we did a practice ride around the play area so we could get used to sitting on top of them. Let me tell you - it takes some getting used to. They are huge and majestic and peaceful. And huge. Did I say huge?

Our test run

I think I've got the hang of it!

Prayers and offerings to Ganesh

After praying to Ganesh and making an offering of incense and more bananas, we set off on our 5-hour trek through the mountainous jungle and across the river. My elephant's name is Pakboom. (As an aside, that was pretty remarkable given my catchphrase at work is "boom". It was truly a match made in heaven.) There were only 6 of us in the group, and we each had the privilege of riding (bareback) our own elephant all day. As we crossed the river and trekked up the mountain on the back of these wonderful creatures, I was taken by how nimble they were. The trails were tiny, and they certainly knew their way around them and responded instantaneously to their mahout's commands. ("How!" means stop, "Hue!" means go.)


We stopped at the top of the mountain to allow the elephants (and us) to rest. We enjoyed a lunch of pad thai prepared in banana leaves while the elephants cooled off, drank water, rolled in mud and sprayed us with water from their trunks. They really loved it....it was easy to tell how happy they were. It was then our turn to join them in the mud, which is a very rich, dark grey clay that is healthy for their skin. We jumped in the mud pools with them, massaged them with mud and sprayed them with water. I have never been dirtier in my life. Or happier. (It is worth noting that when you are deep in mud, it is impossible to distinguish between mud, clay and elephant poo....if Christian and I walked away without some rare, animal-based communicable disease, we are damn lucky.)

Well, hello there!

Can you spot the massive elephant in the mud!?

Mud is fun!

Full of mud, we climbed back on the elephants and trekked back down the mountain to the river. On the backs of the elephants, we washed and rolled and played in the river together. Lulu lifted me by her trunk on to her back, where I stood and rejoiced! It was amazing. At one point, Pukboom swam (with me on her back) a bit away from the pack. It was just far enough for me to feel completely alone. I took that moment to reflect and feel grateful. Grateful to have this experience in a foreign charming land with one of my best friends in a year full of change and risk and discovery for me. I shouted to Christian "This is pure joy! I am happy." I felt so at peace and happy. 

Feeding Pukboom sugar cane stalks 

An elephant kiss...and it wasn't that gross

Christian and Lulu

On the way back to the sanctuary, we were all quietly enjoying the ride while feeding sugar cane to our new friends. I think all 6 of us knew that the day we'd just had was one we would never forget. I know I won't.


Until next time (and stories of the Chiang Mai Sunday night street markets),
xoxo

The Town of the Queens

I was pretty excited for the second leg of the grand family tour of ANZ. While we were so sad to see my sister Hilary leave, Dad and I were damn excited to head across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand. As you may know, New Zealand is comprised of two islands - The North Island and the South Island.  I've been to the North Island (Auckland, specifically) on business but never to the South Island. Many many friends have told me that it is truly spectacular. Every one of them was spot on.


Let me tell you a bit about New Zealand and it's South Island. New Zealand is thought to have been founded by the Dutch in 1642, who beat the French by only 2-3 days in discovering this far away land.  But to be accurate, NZ was actually founded by people from the South Pacific (exact original homeland unknown) who are now known as the Maori. Though the South Island is the larger of the two, only about 25% of NZ's population of 4.2M people live there. In the southwest area of the island, you will find Queenstown, which is built on Lake Wakatipu, a long thin Z-shaped lake formed by glacial processes which has magnificent views of nearby mountains.


Dad and I flew in to Christchurch from Sydney, but stayed for only one night. Christchurch was struck by an immensely powerful earthquake just over one year ago, and unfortunately was devastated by the disaster. Many people were killed and the charming city center is now still in ruins. Dad and I drove around but could see nothing but ruins and construction, so we called it an early night and hit the road early the next day to drive to Queenstown. Q'town is about 6 hours southwest of Christchurch and the drive is one of the most beautiful in the world.


A highlight was passing by Lake Tekapo (which the charming, tiny Church of the Good Shepherd) and Lake Pukaki. The turquoise hue of the lakes was truly awe-inspiring. The color is due to the "rock flour", created as the glaciers strip away fine particles from the mountains and grind them into a fine dust. I will never forget the absolute beauty. It was quite windy, as you can see from the photo of Dad below!

Church of the Good Shepherd @ Lake Tekapo 

Dad being blown away at Lake Tekapo

Lake Pukaki and it's magnificent turquoise blue color

We then ventured through the mountains, Gibbston Valley vineyards area and into Queenstown. Q'town is truly the most charming city I have ever visited. I did not want to leave and spent the whole time devising ways to stay!! We had amazing food, met nice people, relaxed and took in beautiful scenery.  A few of the highlights of the trip for me are:


- The bumpy flight in a tiny 8-seater airplane over snow-capped mountains to the majestic Milford Sound, and a cruise to take in the calm, serene beauty of the world's highest mountains that jut straight from the sea. It was COLD, but lovely.
- Tours of vineyards and wineries across Gibbston Valley. Discovering the pinot "blondie" at the Wooing Tree Winery and the "Viper" pinot noir at Chard Hill.
- Delicious eggs benedict and flat whites at Vudu Cafe, hearty bolognese at The Cow (a tiny 7-table restaurant with a wood-burning stove in a building that used to the joint where cows were milked for Q'town proper) and a savory lamb shoulder at the Botswana Butchery
- a gondola ride up to the top of "Bob's Mountain" to see all of Queenstown from up top
- watching the Aussie Open every night until toothpicks were holding our eyes open for us
- experiencing a wonderful town for 3 days for the first time with my Dad.


I think Dad and I will both treasure the time and experiences we shared in Queenstown. We both reflected how fortunate we are to have had this time together and to see new parts of this world with each other. I will forever cherish the memories we made.


Please enjoy just a few of our favorite photos!

Milford Sound 

The sun shining through the mountains @ Milford Sound

Dad and me @ Milford Sound

Dad and our trusty (if rickety) steed

Dad and me

Dad @ Chard Hill Winery

Me - a bit windblown - above Lake Wakatipu

Until next time,
xoxo

La Familia!!

I have lived in Australia for almost a year now, and was fortunate to visit home (the States) twice in my first five months here. Given that I am only living away for one year and have had those two visits home, I wasn't sure if any of my family would be able to pay me a visit down under. However, I am so lucky to have had my dad and one of my sisters, Hilary, visit me in January! We were so busy so I am just able to write about their visit now.


It was really great to be able to show Dad and Hilary around my adopted hometown. In "real life", I live in Washington, DC, a city my whole family knows quite well. So, it was awesome to be able to show them around a new place that both had only dreamed of visiting until now. To see my Dad and Hilary's faces when we first walked to Circular Quay and they saw the Sydney Harbour Bridge as well as the Sydney Opera House was incredible. The sight never gets old for me and I remember how magnificent they were the first time I saw them, so it was great to see it in their reactions as well.  There are so many highlights, but some of my top ones are:


- ferry rides to Taronga Zoo and Manly Beach, and of course meeting Lincoln, the koala bear
- the Bronte-to-Bondi Beach walk and a day with our toes in the sand
- two days of driving on the left on the edge of the earth atop crashing waves (aka the Great Ocean Road)
- descending the Gibson Steps and marveling at the Apostles from the sand
- amazing meals at Cafe Sydney, Sailor Thai, Fratelli Paradiso, Rockpool, Gingerboy and Jimmy Liks
- front-row seats at the Australian Open to watch the Federer v. Tomic and Wozniacki v. Jankovic matches (thanks a million to John T. & Patrick O.)
- discovering wild koalas hanging in eucalyptus trees just feet away from us, either munching or sleeping away (they sleep 20 hours a day!)
- delicious ice cream in Apollo Bay, flat whites in Warrnambool at Wyton and the best-burger-in-the-world (so good we had them twice) at Bottle of Milk in Lorne
- my friends here getting to know my Dad and sister (thanks to Dawn, Devin, Tyler, Carly, Bonner, Nipul, James, JD, Jen, Sam, Niraj, TMac, and Manders!)


We packed a LOT into the week+ that Dad and Hilary had in Australia. My mission was for them to arrive back in the States in utter exhaustion; I think I succeeded! The absolute highlight of the trip was the incredible quality family time and new experiences we were able to share together. I only wish my whole family could have been here, too.


Unfortunately, Hilary had to jet back to NYC after a little over a week here, but Dad stayed for another week and we hightailed it across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand. That's the next post, though. :)


Enjoy a few of our favorite snaps (I took over 1000!!).

First time for Dad and Hil at the Opera House!

Dad and me at dinner at Cafe Sydney

Hilary and Dad at the start of the Great Ocean Road!

Dad, Hilary and me at the Twelve Apostles

Hilary & Dad (and Gog) on the beach - Gibson Steps 

One of the wild koalas we happened upon

Our view of the Federer and Tomic match at the Aussie Open 

Hilary and her new best friend, Lincoln

Until next time....xoxo


p.s. I fly home and close off my Aussie adventure (for now) in 20 days. Crazy. It doesn't seem real.