Phuket, Thailand

Saturday, March 31, found us at Phuket, Thailand’s “Pearl of the South”.  Phuket is located in the Andaman Sea, among several breathtaking islands, known for their snorkeling, diving and photographic areas.  Phuket is also an interesting island full of temples, gardens and fishing villages.

On Phuket there is an off tribe known as sea gypsies because they frequently move their villages, they earn their living by fishing from gaily painted boats.  Freshly-caught fish hang on a stick like washing on a line.  They are also known for their exquisite specimens of seashells.

It was a very hot day, reaching into the mid-90’s with humidity to match and all were glad to sail away at 4PM.  However, our next port, Chennai, India, should exceed the temperatures! 

Laem Chabang, Thailand

Monday,  March 26^th, at approximately 7am we arrived in Laem Chabang, the port of entry for Bangkok and our first stop in Thailand.  Thailand is a world of exotic excitement, a land of golden temples.  It is a nation of smiling, happy people, saffron- color robed monks and so much traffic.

Passengers had varied choices of tours, heading off to Bangkok for the day (a 2 ½ hour drive each way), visiting cultural gardens, doing the Elephant Kraal, or taking the shuttle into the nearby town of Pattaya for shopping and restaurants.  Even this shuttle ride is 45 to 60 minutes each way due to the very heavy traffic!

Still being “wheelchair confined”,  we did not do any tours but did decide to try and go into the cruise terminal.  Curt wanted to use the internet and Cindy wanted to look at the many shops found inside.  Two ship stewards carried the wheelchair off (and on) the ship with Cindy still seated – what an ordeal!!!!  Anyway,  the opportunity for a little retail therapy was good for the soul.   Cindy was able to find a wonderful Thai gentleman to wheel her around all the vendors so she could shop while Curt “played” on his computer.

Sail away was shortly before 8pm heading to Singapore.