Early Friday morning Anita and I took a taxi to Suvarnabumi Airport, where we boarded a plane for Phuket, a major tourist destination, and also now famous because of the tsunami 3 years ago.
Korean friends that I met during language school are missionaries to the Korean community in Phuket, so we were able to stay with them. Bong Woo and Gye Hwa were overly abundantly gracious in hosting us in spite of their busy schedule.
Gye Hwa picked us up at the airport on Friday morning, and on the way to their home, we stopped at the little Korean church where her husband was teaching a group of Korean teenagers. Bong Woo asked Anita and me to introduce ourselves, after which the class told us their names and ages. They all spoke some degree of English.
From the church we headed a short distance to their house, where we settled in and then immediately dressed for the beach. Gye Hwa and her friend decided they would take us to a Patong Beach, a huge tourist attraction. They dropped us off there, leaving a Korean lunch with us--something akin to sushi (we were told if we waited too long, they would go bad), and told us to call when we were ready to be picked up.
So by about 1:00 PM, we were already on the beach! Was it ever CROWDED!! And the sun was very direct; it didn't take me long to rent a parasol/chair to provide some shade. I've been (literally) burnt once too often to want to repeat that scenario.:)
Below are a few views of Patong Beach from where I was sitting.
See the towels in the distance, between the pink and purple rows of umbrellas? That was where Anita decided to set up sunburning.:)
We stayed until about 4:00, then called Gye Hwa to come pick us up. But while we were in the area, we booked a tour for Saturday at Raya Island. This tour included pick-up service at place of residence, so we were happy not to inconvenience Gye Hwa and her husband.
Friday evening the family took us out to a Thai restaurant for supper, and then they took us to a spa, owned by a member of their church. Anita and I splurged (paid about $11 instead of the usual $5) to try an oil massage, as neither of us had ever had one before. It felt really good, but we both came to the conclusion that we will stick to normal Thai massage in the future.:) Now we know!
The next morning, we were picked up by a taxi driver and taken to the meeting point for our excursion to Raya Island. We boarded a speed boat, and 30 minutes later, we arrived at the Raya Beach. It was a much smaller beach with much less people, though it did get fuller as the day went on.
The next three pictures, if you were to put them side by side, give you a picture of the location. Beautiful!
The waves were gentle, the water refreshing, and the sand soft (unless you happened to stumble upon a piece of coral. And we got to go snorkeling! Another first for me. After an hour on the beach, we got back on the boat, which then took us to two different places to do some snorkeling. Not being a strong swimmer, I opted to use a life jacket and was still almost scared to jump into the water.
But once I was in and knew how to use my equipment, I had a great time. Wow, seeing the sea life below the surface is mind-boggling! One place had schools of yellow and black striped fish swimming back and forth. I kept trying--unsuccessfully--to touch one as it passed.:)
At another place were huge fish, some blue and yellow, some black and red; as well as some sort of lizards that blended in with the brown coral on which they rested. Anyway, let's just say I very much enjoyed that time. Anita has a picture of me in the water as proof that I really did it. When I get a copy, I'll post it.:) Until then, the pictures below will have to do.
After snorkeling at two locations, we headed back to the beach to get some lunch at a little restaurant about 15 minutes' walking distance away. It was a cute little place, and we had delicious food--more than enough. Below is the view from where I was sitting. I like the colors.
After lunch we had a couple more hours to spend at the beach. It was a really fun, relaxing day.
When we returned home, we had some time to shower and relax until supper time. Gye Hwa and two of her friends had gone grocery shopping. When they returned, they proceeded to prepare a delicious Vietnamese meal for us. It was actually a new experience for Gye Hwa, too; she had never made this meal before.
One of the ingredients was a can of pineapple; Gye Hwa apparently didn't have a can opener, so she rigged up her own "can opener"--looked a bit dangerous to me!:)
We had rice wraps that needed to soak in hot water for a few seconds, after which we could put a variety of ingredients on before wrapping it up: pineapple, peanuts, ham, crab, apple, carrots, onions, peppers, tomatoes, bean sprouts, avocado, rice noodles, and a spicy vinagrette sauce to add as desired. YUMMMMMM!
So ended our first full day in Phuket. Anita and I were both feeling a bit sore from the sun, so we retired early that evening.
