Monday, December 20, 2010

Middle East to South East Asia

Travel day.  Pack up all our stinky, sandy gear and had a big travel day - three planes overnight trip from Amman 2.5 hrs to Doha, Qatar (on the Persian Gulf, city-state that has won the 2022 World Cup bid, if you follow soccer) quick layover (wow, incredible duty free in that airport!) then 8.5 hours to Bangkok (5 timezones) quick switch to domestic, then an hour flight south to the island of Phuket, our home for the next month or so.... ahhh.
The first six weeks of this trip have been fantastic, so much to learn every day, but experiencing only a taste of each destination and the "top 3" of each location... too fast.  It is our hope that by this positive sampling, the kids will wish to return on their own those places that most intrigued, and that they will have the confidence and spirit to explore further (on their own dime! lol)  We have followed the path of Ancient Civilizations, and now need time to reflect on what we have learned.... so the beach it is!
We arrived at our sweet beachside resort around 1:30pm, on Katie's 7th birthday.  And for that little water-baby, boy was she in for a treat.  The ocean here is 28degrees celcius! and the sand so soft and clean it squeeks when you walk.  Air temp is the warmest we have had since we left Canada too, low 30's and humid, with jungle flowers sweet and birdsong loud - the perfect place for r and r.
We all dug through our smelly clothes for the buried shorts and bikins and hit the waves!  (Laundry can wait til tomorrow!)  After swimming til sunset, we sampled our first Thai food (mmm) and Katie enjoyed a virgin maitai served in her very own pineapple, followed by chocolate ice cream in a coconut (what more could a girl ask?)  Jet lag then settled, and after a quick dip in the pool, off to bed to recoup and adjust to our new clocks (14 hours ahead of Canada, eh)  Happy Birthday Katie (hope you enjoy your elephant ride! coming soon....)

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