Exploring the area on a sunny day…Humidity…Plans for Bali…

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Motorbikes parked at the beach.

It rains a lot in the tropics and there are plenty of cloudy days. Since our arrival in Phuket over two weeks ago, at least 75% of the days have been cloudy with rain no less than 40% of the days and nights.

Many years ago (around 30) BT (before Tom) I vacationed in Thailand, staying in Phuket at two different resorts, one week each and if I recall, it was cloudy and rainy many of those days as well.  When the sun is shining, its a scorcher. 

Its so hot, people often walk with umbrellas to protect themselves from the heat of the sun as opposed to using umbrellas in the rain. Yesterday, we compared weather conditions for both Phuket and Bali which overall are quite similar. 

Tourists dining under thatched roofs drinking cocktails with umbrellas and pineapple slices.

We don’t remember feeling this hot in Bali although it was hot each day with high humidity similar to Phuket.  Islands typically have high levels of humidity but after a little research we discovered many inland countries/cities have levels of humidity in excess of what may be the case on a tropical island.

Our old fashioned thinking seems to more readily relate to the readings for humidity and actual temperature (than for dew point )which this morning at 9:45 am is a paltry 85F, 29C with the humidity is 92%.  Needless to say it will be another uncomfortable day with a 70% likelihood of thunderstorms.
In Bali, we were situated directly on the ocean with nearly constant breezes to cool the moisture on our skin. Here, living in a residential neighborhood, a kilometer to the beach, we feel nary a breeze except when storms seem to come from nowhere and wild winds waft through the air.
Fruit and fruit drink stands are popular in Phuket.
As much as we find this house to fulfill our needs and certainly having the most amazing customer service from its owner and support staff, in an odd way, we’re both looking forward to returning to Bali. 
Perhaps, we miss the sea or the two Katuks cooking our meals or chatting with Gede or as mentioned over the past several days, the lack of English speaking news channels, avoiding the constant barrage of bad news unless we search for it online. 
We can’t help but look forward to dining at the big square table for eight staring out at the sea as the buffalo walk along the beach on their way to or from the neighboring river.
There are many restaurants located near the beaches.

The only apprehension we’ve had, particularly Tom, has been the prospect of the required three days of four hour round trip drives to Lovina, Bali to renew our visas toward the end of the first of our two-month stay. 

These three separate visits are a requirement of the Indonesian government and there’s no way around it when staying in the country over 30 days. The fact that we’re so far away from the immigration office in Lovina while living in Sumbersari only adds to the difficulty.
Many tourists use money exchange facilities such as this. We’ve found it’s more economical to use ATMs for local currency.
As many of our regular readers are aware we never had ample time to apply for the Indonesian visa extensions while in Singapore or Vietnam last month. We’d considered breaking our own rule and mailing in our passports to VisaHQ or CIBT in the US by overnight mail while they process it for us in Washington, DC at the Indonesian embassy. 
Conceivably, we could have the visa extensions back by overnight mail within seven to ten days.  But, with my recent injury, we decided that in the event of an emergency situation that required us leave the country in a hurry, we couldn’t take the risk. Not that we expect this to happen as I continue to improve a little each day.
Many hostels and “rooms for rent” are seen along the highway. Many young tourists come to Phuket for water activities and stay in lower cost facilities.
So, we were back to “square one,” the three days of driving to Lovina with the required one day  required by the immigration department. This results in starting on a Monday, returning on Wednesday and returning the third time on a Friday to collect the passports and visa extensions.
Yesterday, I had a thought that I ran by Tom. Why don’t we go to Lovina and stay in a hotel both Monday and Tuesday nights, going to the immigration office on both Monday and Wednesday? We’ll have Gede drop us off on Monday and pick us up on Wednesday after the second trip to immigration and then have Gede return to Lovina on Friday on our behalf to pick up our passports and visa extensions.

Last time we had to get the visa extensions, Gede made the third trip without us when we’d authorized him in writing to do this on our behalf.  his avoided us making the third four hour round trip drive. By staying in a hotel, we’ll have only two hours to get to Lovina and another two hours to return to Sumbersari on Wednesday afternoon having completed the second trip to the immigration office.  Tom liked this idea.

Taking photos through the car’s windows and windscreen in tricky with some sort of worn film is covering the glass.

In checking prices on hotels in Lovina, Bali, rated at least four star we can easily stay at a very nice location for an outrageously low price under US $75, IDR 984,225, THB  2,631 per night plus the cost of a few meals and low cost taxi. 

It’s a plan!  We’re relieved to have made this logical decision which ultimately turns what may have been a stressful situation into a fun “holiday” within the framework of our time in Bali.  The extra transportation cost by avoiding the one day’s drive will cover at least one night’s hotel bill.  Hope this all makes sense.
Yesterday, when the sun made an appearance for a few hours, we took off on another drive in the area.  We can’t go too far for two reasons; one, I can’t sit for too long in the low seats in the less-than-stellar rental car, especially on bumpy roads; and two, the less-than-stellar rental car is old and could easily break down. 
Road construction is prevalent in most countries, slowing down the flow of traffic.
The car’s windows have some type of darkening film on the windows that is severely distorted, making driving difficult in busy traffic. Tom, an excellent driver, who never complains about conditions, hesitates to do much driving for all these reasons. I concur. 
And yet, considering these obstacles we were still able to take some photos we happily share here each day while we continue to explore as we can during our remaining 26 days on the island. 

It can’t always be perfect. We don’t expect it to be. We accept the limitations we currently have in our midst while continuing to make the very best of each and every day. We laugh, we smile, we find ways to entertain ourselves and each other. What more could we ask for?  Not a thing. Not a single thing.

Enjoy your weekend!

Photo from one year ago today, August 6, 2015:

Amazing sunrise over Trinity Beach, Australia, where we lived one year ago today. For more photos, please click here.

Creating our own good news…Planning for the future…

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A fishing boat tied to tree at the beach.

In yesterday’s post our heads read, “Bad news keeps coming and coming… How do we handle the risks?”

After rethinking this negative heading and after watching more bad news on TV, we turned off the news and started thinking positive thoughts as to how we can reframe our thinking during this difficult period in our country, in our world’s history?

It’s easy to get caught up in all the negative press much of which is often over reported, over dramatized and over exaggerated to enhance viewership. How easily we can become entrapped into this cycle!

The way out? Don’t let it get inside our heads! This is not easy, but it’s doable, just like everything else we choose in our lives. We can find joy within the framework of our lives or we can allow ourselves to let outside influences have a profound effect on our daily lives.

The ocean is extremely shallow in this area.

I suppose in part, I’ve become engrossed in the negative news since our arrival in Phuket two weeks ago when we discovered we had English speaking news the TV which we’ve had on all day while we’ve stayed indoors as I continue to recover. That’s easy to do when one is housebound after an illness, injury or surgery.

Although I remain somewhat housebound, in an attempt to avoid the outrageously bumpy roads we must travel to get to the highway, yesterday we had no choice but to get out when our food supply had dwindled down to a completely empty refrigerator.

Tom could probably grocery shop without me, but it’s important for me to get out and besides getting out is uplifting. I’d brought along the camera hoping to take a few photos, but again it was cloudy and rainy. I never took a single shot.

A fisherman looking for a possible catch.

Once inside the huge market, Tom pushes the trolley as we both become engrossed in the shopping mode ending up having a good time selecting from the array of fresh, organic, non GMO foods, free range eggs, grass fed meats and wild caught fish.

During this outing, I started thinking of the last place we lived where we grocery shopped on a regular basis which was the three months we spent in New Zealand living on the alpaca farm from January 19 to April 15, 2016.

We arrived in Bali on April 30th after a cruise.  One month later I was injured, somewhere around June 1st.  Here we are over two months later, while I’m still focusing on recovering. 

How we ever managed all the tours on the Mekong River cruise baffles me when now I gingerly maneuver through each day desperately avoiding bending, twisting and sitting too long. I continue to feel confident that my limited level of activity is contributing toward my attaining a full recovery in months to come.

Close to the shore, this fisherman may be looking for squid.  Fried calamari is a popular dish in Thailand, especially for tourists. These circles are fishing pools.

In time, light exercise and more walking will be appropriate but for now, easy movement combined with rest seems to be most effective. I suppose all the activity on the river cruise may have been detrimental to my condition when there were days that my Fitbit showed over 10,000 steps. 

For now, I stay under 3000 steps a day frequently getting up and down engaging in light household activities that don’t include any bending or lifting. It would be great to get outside to walk the neighborhood, but the ruts in the road are so many and so deep, even the most surefooted of walkers is taking a risk.  Falling would not be good.

Back to yesterday, when we returned from shopping Tom put all the refrigerator items away while I sat at the dining table cutting veggies for our salad and side dishes. 

Island across the bay where numerous boats stop to enjoy the sandy beach.

We purchased two roasted chickens, deliciously seasoned with cinnamon and lemon grass (a Thai thing), one for each of two nights. Adding a huge salad and two side vegetables, fresh green beans and asparagus, rounds out the meal. 

As I chopped, I was thinking about getting my thoughts outside of this news related state of mind.It was time to turn off the TV and start planning again.  Tom loaded his favorite radio podcast on his computer, Garage Logic (from KSTP 1500, Minneapolis, Minnesota), that often has us howling with laughter.

We were able to tune out the limited discussions of negative news to make a point of listening to the endless chatter that easily elicits rounds of hearty laughter from both of us. 

A short time later, sitting at my computer, (the day’s post was uploaded hours earlier) the research began and the first thing I tackled was booking tickets for the Sydney Opera House for March 19, 2017. It’s a good thing we’d booked tickets now. Based on leftover available dates there wouldn’t have been tickets remaining if we waited any longer.

The water is barely ankle deep at low tide.

The tickets and great seats we chose are for a Sunday at 5:00 pm. The day of the week was irrelevant to us. Us retirees find days of the week for activities less significant as when we were working when Fridays or Saturday nights were preferred for most social events. It doesn’t matter now.

Let’s face it, opera is not Tom’s first choice of entertainment although I’ve always been a  huge fan. However, the idea of spending a few hours at the famous opera house is an experience neither of us wanted to miss during the 40 days we’ll spend in Sydney from March 13 to April 22, 2017, while awaiting the 24-night cruise from Sydney to Seattle.

Its this very cruise on April 22, 2017, in exactly 8 months 17 days, that will take us back toward the US. After an Alaskan cruise ending on May 26, 2017 we” fly to Minnesota where we’ll stay seeing family and friends for six weeks. Later we’ll be heading to Nevada to see more family for another three weeks. Then, we’ll be off “for the world” once again!

Phuket consists of hundreds of smaller islands.  For more information, please click here.

The simple process of booking the tickets for the Sydney Opera House reminded me of how much the future holds, especially seeing family and friends for a total of nine weeks and then, the journey continues on.

We can choose to create positive news in our lives, news that can take us away if only for awhile to live life to the fullest in the best way we can.  

Now, we’re back to researching for the future! May you find ways to incorporate good news into your daily lives!

Photo from one year ago today, August 5, 2015:

Boats docked at the marina in Port Douglas, Australia. For more photos, please click here.

Bad news keeps coming and coming…How do we handle the risks?

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Overall, the neighborhood in which we’re living has newer single family homes.  However, the area contains a number of modest living and working environments such as this we pass on the way to our villa.

It’s hard not to watch the news on TV when we have English speaking news here in Phuket. From terrorism to plane crashes to political hoopla, the negative keeps coming and coming.

One might think it’s easy to isolate ourselves from world affairs while living outside of our home country. But, even without TVs in many countries, we can’t get away from it when we have several news apps on our laptops that keep popping up the latest “horror of the day, week or month.”

One might also think, “shut it off” and live our lives of travel embracing our new surroundings from location to location. However, we weren’t oblivious back “then” (while living in the US) and we aren’t oblivious “now.”

Over the past few years, we’ve lived in close proximity to chickens and crowing roosters. Now, as we prepare today’s post, we can hear roosters crowing, a sound we’ve come to ignore, even while sleeping. The breed of chickens in Thailand is different than we’ve seen in the past.

In other words, one can “run but can’t hide” from the realities facing our world from one corner of the world to another. We won’t get into all the issues here and now. Most of our readers are savvy, not only reading our daily drivel, but also paying close attention to what’s happening in their homeland and throughout the world.  They know. We all know.

Over these past years we’ve raved about Emirates Airlines safety record and yet yesterday they had a frightening crash luckily handled by competent pilots saving the lives of 300 passengers but sadly with the loss of life of one firefighter. Nothing ever stays the same. Do we think twice about traveling on Emirates in the future?

Driving down the dirt road from our villa toward the highway.

Before we lock in any flights we check airline safety records at sites such as this and others.  No matter how often we check and how safe a record may be for any given airline, it only takes one disaster to end the lives of hundreds of passengers.  \There’s no guarantee.

It’s the same with terrorism. No place is exempt from an a devastating occurrence. Sure, many parts of the world aren’t safe at any time. But, those countries, cities, and small towns which may seem safe become just as vulnerable after a single incident. 

Once on the main highway, the roads are good with relatively light traffic during most times of the day.

One cannot predict where that may be although some locations are glaringly obvious at this time, those that we see on the news over and over again as more and more lives are lost. 

Can we avoid visiting those vulnerable locations? We try. Then again, we hear of natural disasters over which no one can predict the devastation often destroying hundreds of lives, families and homes. We have no means of determining where those locations may be.

Many old Thai style buildings line the highway.

Now, living on the island of Phuket, we’re remain aware of the 2004 tsunami, where hundreds of thousands of lives were lost in 14 countries as indicated below from this site:

“The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on 26 December with the epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The shock had a moment magnitude of 9.1–9.3 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). The undersea megathrust earthquake was caused when the Indian Plate was subducted by the Burma Plate and triggered a series of devastating tsunamis along the coasts of most landmasses bordering the Indian Ocean, killing 230,000 people in 14 countries, and inundating coastal communities with waves up to 30 metres (100 ft) high. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. Indonesia was the hardest-hit country, followed by Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand.”

Its been a full week since we grocery shopped. As soon as we upload today’s post, we’ll be heading back to this Costco-like store for the next week’s groceries. 

At the time on US and world news, we heard more about the loss of life in Phuket, Thailand which remained in our minds all these years, than we did about the other 13 countries. And yet, in four weeks from today, we head back to Indonesia to live directly on the ocean, a matter of meters from the sea to the veranda, a country that also fell prey to loss of thousands of lives. Do we worry?

We ask ourselves the question, “If we lived in a senior community in seemingly safe Arizona or Florida in the USA where many seniors move to escape cold weather, would we be any safer?” 

Buddhism is the primary religion in Thailand. Many shrines such as this are found at local businesses such as this at a gas station.

The answer is clear. No country, no state, no city and no small town or village in the world is safe. For us, the real question becomes, “Do we allow ourselves to be filled with fear and worry while living amid the most exciting and interesting times of our lives?”

Lots of exposed power lines along the highway in Phuket. We’ve been concerned we’d lose power here and have experienced a few surges but, so far so good.

We can allow the “bad news” orientated media to rule the quality of our lives or, we can chose to find fulfillment and joy within the framework of the lives we’ve chosen for ourselves. We opt for the later.

As we look to the future and the countries we plan to visit, we consider many factors.  Like Life itself, there’s no guarantee. We chose to live in the moment and for now, the moment is looking good. 

May all of your moments look good as well.

Photo from one year ago today, August 4, 2015:

St. Mary’s by the Sea in Port Douglas was originally a Catholic church, is now multi-denominational performing services for a variety religions. For more details, please click here.

Final post on Cambodia and Vietnam Viking Mekong River cruise and tour…Photos of us and more…Why did we choose this particular cruise?

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Camera in my hand while Tom carried our little insulated bag with chilled bottled water as we exited the boat for a tour.

Today is our final post on our recent tour of Cambodia and Vietnam by land and river over a period of 15 days to which we added an extra three days. Certainly, 18 total days in two countries is hardly enough time to gain the perspective we acquire when spending two to three months living in a country.

The first night aboard the river boat for a lecture by our cruise director Enrico, about the upcoming adventure.

With the number of tours we attended, the three cities in which we stayed; Hanoi, Vietnam, Siem Reap, Cambodia and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, we had an opportunity to experience a little understanding of life in these cities and two countries, both in today’s world and in the past.

Why did we choose this particular tour/cruise? During our past 13 ocean-going cruises we had opportunities to ask other cruisers as to their favorites. 

Visit to Ho Chi Minh Memorial in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Many mentioned this cruise as one of their favorites each offering their personal reasons which may have included; (for older citizens) vets having fought in Vietnam during the war; having lost a friend or loved one during the war; or having diligently followed the news of the war during its progression and later, or simply having an interest in war history.

For Tom, having lost his brother-in-law Ernie (brother of his ex-wife) whom was KIA in Vietnam in 1970, always felt visiting Vietnam was some sort of betrayal. 

Not quite clear (not our photo) at dinner aboard the river boat with some of the many new friends we made on the cruise/’tour.

But, after hearing from many US and Aussie vets we met on past cruises, who expressed that visiting Vietnam was cathartic and ultimately healing, he reconsidered with a little prodding from me.

My reasons were less profound. One, I wanted to see Tom find peace in the process and two, an immense curiosity after reading and hearing over a period of many years, of how both Cambodia and Vietnam as they’ve recovered from the war and decades of horror and strife, now welcome citizens of the US and others from around the world with open arms.

This day’s ride through Phnom Penh in a rickshaw proved to be very uncomfortable for me and I was thrilled when it was over. Otherwise, it would have been a fabulous outing in the busy city.

Neither of us were disappointed. From the moment we landed in Hanoi, Vietnam to the flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia, to the full day bus ride through the Cambodian countryside and then back to Saigon, each element of our travels left us with a new awareness and knowledge we’d never experienced had we not visited this part of the world.

Tom’s most meaningful experience of the entire period we spent in Cambodia and Vietnam was the visit to the Cu Chi Tunnel, which left him reeling over acquiring a better understanding of the perils of war and the challenges of life for the soldiers during these many years. Please click here for the first of our several links for Tom’s personal experiences in the Cu Chi Tunnel. Please see our archives for the remaining posts in this series, a few days later.

At the Kampong Cham Temple in Cambodia.

My most powerful experience was the eight hour bus ride (with stops along the way) through Cambodia. Staring out the window of the bus for hours, taking only a few photos along the way, I sat alone in the two seats toward the back of the bus, while Tom sat alone across the aisle. 

Not a big fan of “selfies” I took this one of us as we began the ride through the old French quarter in Hanoi, riding in what was referred to as an “electric car,” comparable to a six person golf cart.

This quiet time to myself was spent in its entirety in imagining life for the people of Cambodia, the Killing Fields, the loss of life of millions, and how since that horrifying period in their history, somehow they’ve managed to rebuild, to regrow and to heal. It had a profound effect on me, a memory I’ll always carry with me.

A beautiful young girl and adorable boy at the orphanage in Kampong Cham.

Traveling the world isn’t always about personal gratification and pleasure. Yes, at times, it is. But, for us, we try to embrace the significance of the power and meaning for others living in lands foreign to us. 

It’s not always about the popular tourist attraction and taking good photos to share. It’s about filling our hearts and minds with humility, awe and wonder of the world around us, its people, their culture and their way of life.

The reflection of Tom’s head in the plastic headliner in a taxi in Hanoi after purchasing his tennis shoes.  Its silly things like this that makes us laugh out loud.

We are eternally grateful for the time we spent in Cambodia and Vietnam and the wonderful people we met along the way; the gracious locals, our never faltering tour directors, Kong and Lee and of course, the many other passengers we met who, like us, had their own special reasons for embarking on this memorable journey.

May your life’s journey bring you joy and purpose.


Photo from one year ago today, August 3, 2015:

We spotted this kilometer distance meter at a scenic overlook in Port Douglas, Australia which illustrates distances to various cities throughout the world.  For more photos, please click here.

More new Phuket photos…Reunification Palace in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam…

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Tuk tuks come in all shapes, sizes and colors in Thailand and are commonly used by tourists and locals as opposed to a more expensive car or van taxis.

Some vacation homes don’t have items we may need for preparing meals. We fully understand this when most tourists stay less than a week seldom preparing meals other than a light breakfast or a sandwich and a bag of chips for lunch.

Colorful water toys with a variety of beach equipment and gear at a shop near the beach.

Today, I wrote to the owner asking if a staff member could deliver a can opener, making it possible for us to make homemade ketchup to use with tonight’s dinner of lettuce wrapped bacon cheeseburgers, salad and veggies. We just received a reply and a can opener will be delivered soon.

We have all the ingredients, but needed the opener for a can of tomato sauce used in making the ketchup. (Store bought brands of ketchup are loaded with sugar and our recipe is not). 

Pillars at entrance to the pier.

If it was affordable to eat out every day it wouldn’t be much fun in this heat and humidity to be getting dressed to head out for dinner each evening. At this point, we shower in the morning, put on our swimsuits which we wear all day through dinner, rinsing them out at night before going to bed. 

Many types of boats are moored in Chalong Bay.

This way, we have almost no laundry other than the sweaty tee shirts, shorts and underwear we’ve worn when heading out. The thought of getting changed into street clothes to go to dinner isn’t particularly appealing right now. 

High speed and luxury boats anchored at the shoreline.

Once a week, using a washer we found in an outdoor closet, we do a small load hanging it indoors to dry on the rack with most items taking a few days to dry in the humidity. The house cleaners replace all the bath towels, hand towels and bedding twice a week, so there’s no need for us to wash anything more than our few personal items.

View of Chalong Bay in Phuket.

Overall, living in this house in Rawai, Phuket is relatively easy. Surely, if I was fully recovered, it would be considerably easier. Not feeling 100% makes the hot and humid weather more noticeable and the simplest of household tasks more challenging. Also it’s had a huge impact on my desire to get out sightseeing. Hopefully, soon, this will change as I continue to recover.

Back view of the popular lighthouse from Chalong Beach in Phuket.

We’re now at a point where we’ve almost completed posting the photos and stories of the tours we attended during the cruise/tour to Cambodia and Vietnam from July 8, 2016, to July 22, 2016. 

The Reunification Palace in Ho Chi Minh City.

Tomorrow, we’ll include some remaining photos not necessarily related to one another, but worthy of sharing with our readers who’d like one final peek at the amazing cruise/tour that included a total of seven nights in three luxury hotels and seven nights aboard the Viking Mekong. (In addition to the three nights we’d booked on our own in Hanoi before the cruise/tour began).

Meeting room in the palace.

Today, we’ve included photos of one of the final tours we attended in Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City (either name is acceptable to use). On July 21st we boarded the bus for the tour of the former Presidential Palace, now known and the Reunification Palace. 

View from upper level of palace toward the congested street.

Had I been looking for sites to visit in Saigon, this venue may not have been on my radar. But once inside the huge building, we were both fascinated. Tom, of course, as a history buff, always seems to enjoy visiting historical buildings where my interest may lie in the opportunity to take photos when possible.

The ambassador’s/dignitary’s room (pre 1975).

The Reunification Palace provided such an opportunity and thus, we couldn’t resist posting this last round of photos from this historic site. From this site, we gleaned the following information where those of you interested can find more details:

Tourists gathered at each of the room’s entryways.

“The iconic Reunification Palace made its name in global history when in 1975 a tank belonging to the North Vietnamese Army crashed through its main gate – thus signifying the end of the Vietnam War.

View through second story decorative stone pillars to the gardens below.

The palace is like a time capsule frozen in 1975 with two of the original tanks used in the capture of the palace parked in the grounds. Originally the site of the Nordom Palace also known as the Governor’s Palace its first role was as a home and workplace for the then French Governor of Cochinchina.

The Reunification Palace is a landmark not to be missed by any tourist visiting Ho Chi Minh City.Surrounded by lush tropical gardens, the palace hides secret rooms, antique furniture and a command bunker within its eerie corridors. The Reunification Palace is still in use to host occasions including APEC summits and national events of significant importance.

Reunification Palace Highlights                

Desks in the lowest level bunker.

The Reunification Palace is a five-story building with the basement housing a warren of tunnels, a war room and telecommunications centre.The war command room still has maps on its walls and period telecommunications equipment on display, whilst adjoining basement rooms feature war propaganda materials.

 Other areas of interest are the third floor featuring a card playing room, a fourth floor which once had a casino and was used for entertaining guests and a rooftop terrace with a heliport.

Old computer systems in bunker.

The Reunification Palace entered the world history books in 1975 when a Vietnamese Air Force pilot (who was also a communist spy) flew an aircraft over the palace with an attempt to bomb it. Although no real damage was caused this was a significant step towards the fall of Saigon and the ending of the Vietnamese War.

Communication equipment in bunker.

On 30th April in 1975 at 10:45 a North Vietnamese Army Tank rammed the main gates and entered the palace grounds before hanging its flag on the balcony to declare victory for the communist party and thus ending the Vietnam War. 

More radio equipment in bunker.

Meanwhile staff escaped from the rooftop minutes before the palace was overrun, known as Operation Frequent Wind this was part of history’s biggest ever helicopter evacuation and included the departure of General Thieu.”

We’ll be back with more tomorrow. Please stop by! Have a great day!

Photo from one year ago today, August 2, 2015:

In Port Douglas, we visited the Four Mile Beach. For more photos, please click here.

New beach photos of Phuket!…Shopping for shoes in Vietnam…Good deals!…

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We arrived at the pier and main entrance area to Chalong Beach.  Here’s information about this bay from this site: “Chalong’s muddy East Coast shoreline makes it rather unsuitable for swimming, but it’s an ideal and natural spot for yacht mooring. As well as the Boat Lagoon, Yacht Haven and Royal Phuket Marina, Chalong is a center of intense boating activity. Early mornings and late afternoons are the busiest times at Chalong, when diving and day trip groups are bundled on and off boats. The Ao Chalong Yacht Club, which organizes regular sailing races, makes its base here, and its bar is a favorite spot for sailors to swap yarns and party.  Challenge’s most noticeable feature is its 720-metre long, seven-meter wide jetty, which replaced the rickety old wooden pier in 2001. A parking area and a number of restaurants, shops, tourist information kiosks and open-air waiting areas have been built to serve the many visitors passing through. There’s also a one-stop customs, immigration and harbor master service to assist visiting vessels, as well as a new marine rescue centre.”

It’s been hot in Phuket, much more so than it was in Bali.  In an attempt to avoid using air con, by mid afternoon we begin to fade a little, feeling we need an escape from the heat and humidity for a while.

Tour information and sales building surrounded the area, a popular tourist location. Life jackets are ready on the sidewalk for the next tour group.

With the master bedroom’s ceiling lower than the ceilings in the main living areas, it’s more economical to use the AC in the bedroom. By 3:00 pm each day we’ve been turning on the overhead fan and AC in the bedroom to spend 90 minutes watching mindless drivel on my laptop while we cool off before heading to the kitchen to make dinner.

Tourists dining, shopping and staying undercover while awaiting their boat tours.

Not only does this cool us down before we begin preparing dinner in the hot kitchen (too many mozzies to eat outdoors) but it gives me a chance to get into a prone position for a while to straighten my spine. Sitting and standing for extended periods seems to have a negative effect. 

Entrance area for tourists to access the tour boats.

In Bali, we did the same, even prior to the injury, to take a break from being so hot. Having dinner at 5:00 pm is definitely early, but eating only one meal a day makes dining at the early hour more appealing. While on cruise ships, we tend to dine after 7:00 pm since we’ll have had another meal earlier in the day.

Tourists preparing to load the boats.

Each morning when it’s cooler, we do all the meal prep. Now, instead of leaning over the short countertops, I use the cutting board while seated at the dining room table as Tom brings me everything needed for the meal and then putting everything back into the fridge. Bending over, pulling food out of the refrigerator is impossible at this time.

Under usual circumstances we’d have walked this pier.  I wasn’t ready for such a long walk.

Once I’ve washed the veggies in a large bowl of bottled water, I dry and chop them as needed for the upcoming meal. This may include as many as 10 items when each night we have salad with lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, onions and celery plus a cooked vegetable or two on the side, plus whatever veg may be included in the main course.

Another pier in Chalong Bay.

Having everything prepped keeps the actual cooking time down to about 30 minutes preparing the main course, to tossing the salad with homemade dressing, to cooking the side vegetables. By the time we sit down to eat, we’re both hot and sweaty.

No motorized vehicles are allowed on the pier.

Note:  Bali is located 957 km from the equator at 8 degrees south, while Phuket is 872 km from the equator at 8 degrees north, making it hotter in Phuket than Bali.

Photos from Vietnam continue from this point in today’s post

Tom had worn this pair of tennis shoes since we began our journey over 45 months ago. It took them falling apart to this degree to get him to purchase a new pair. It was less about  being frugal and more about his lack of interest in shopping. Thank goodness, he gave these the heave ho at the shoe store. 

I don’t know if we could live long term in such a hot climate only using AC at night. No doubt, the majority of the world’s population that live in hot climates don’t have access to AC and many are without electricity and running water as we’ve seen in our worldwide travels.

Tom’s new tennis shoes, most likely knockoffs. At that point he had no choice but to make a purchase after checking out three stores in Saigon. I negotiated these down to VDN 300,000, US $13.45.  Surprisingly, the quality seemed good, but if they only last a while, no big deal at this price.

None of our vacation home landlords have prohibited us from using the available units located throughout the houses we rent.  That’s why they’re available, for example, in each room of this lovely house in Phuket. 

The shoe stores appeared to have all knock-offs.  Kong advised us to negotiate.

But, due to a sense of responsibility for our energy consumption, we try to use air con as little as possible in the same manner we frugally use other sources of power and utilities as we travel the world. 

On our last day in Saigon, on a bus tour with the cruise passengers, we stopped at the lacquer factory.  Since we have no home there was no point in making a purchase although many passengers did so.  These are popular items travelers often bring or ship home after visiting Southeast Asia.

Yesterday, after we uploaded the post we decided to head to the beach for photos on the sunny day. Also, the idea of being in the AC in the less-than-stellar rental car was somewhat appealing. 

Although reasonably priced and nice looking I had no interest in buying jewelry.

By 12:30 pm we were out the door returning a few hours later in time for our 3:00 pm bedroom cool down. We enjoyed the drive more than we’d anticipated. Once we were off the bumpy road and on the highway, the drive was tolerable for me although there was a fair amount of traffic for a Sunday afternoon. 

The craftsmanship appeared to be of high quality if one could use such décor in their homes.

Tom stayed cheerful amid the wild traffic with tuk-tuks, motorbikes and cars running amok and helpful as always after we parked the car and walked at the beach taking photos as he carefully hung onto me. After many weeks of lessened activity, he’s assuming I’m not as steady on my feet as I’d been before the injury.

Interesting use of color and design.

Tourists were everywhere at the beach, shopping, eating and spending money at a variety of shops, venues and tours. More than once we were approached by boat ride “sellers” asking if we wanted to go out on a boat.  I doubt we’ll be able to do so while in Phuket as I continue to exercise great caution in everything I do. Bouncing on a boat would hardly be suitable at this point. 

We wondered if these pretty plates were suitable for serving food or merely decorative. One never knows when purchasing products such as this, if lead based paints are used in production. 

In any case, we thoroughly enjoyed the time out and about. In a few days, we’ll head out again to explore other beaches and points of interest in the area as we’ll continue to share new photos during our remaining month in Thailand.

Pretty colors.

Continuing on, as we wind down to the final stories from the Cambodia and Vietnam cruise/tour, we have a few fun shopping photos to share.

Have an pleasant last day in July or first day in August depending on which side of the International Dateline you reside!


Photo from one year ago today, August 1, 2015:

This was the first time since we’d arrived Queensland that we saw this many sunbathers at a beach in Australia. The sun was very strong resulting in the use of rental umbrellas and many beach-goers staying in the shade. For more photos, please click here.

Scenes from a rainy day in Phuket…Story and visit to a location of a romantic movie viewed aboard the Viking Mekong River Cruise…

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Kong encouraged kissing in front of the Huynh Thuy Le Ancient House, where the movie, The Lover, was filmed in Sa Dec, Vietnam in 1992. We had no trouble cooperating!

As I continue to improve a little each day after spending more time resting and less time bending and walking, I’m anxious to get out to take photos.  Traveling on the bumpy road from the house in the less-than-stellar rental car is an athletic event in itself, requiring me to hang on for dear life even if my stability weren’t at risk.

There are numerous open air type markets and shops along the highway.  I was having a hard time in the rain taking good photos with the window open.  Thus, the rear view mirror was in the photos.

It has nothing to do with Tom’s driving skills. He’s as careful as he can be driving the old car on the rough roads. Once we reach the main highway the roads improve tremendously although seeing out the scratchy windows is its own challenge. 

We feel badly that we’ve yet to post many local photos hoping that today, after posting, if there’s a little sunshine, we just might give it a try and make an effort to find our way to the beach to take some photos to share.

A church or temple along the highway.

In the interim, we only have a few photos from our last trip, our on a rainy day that hardly meet the standards of what we prefer to post. Surely, our long term readers understand the dilemma and for those of our newer readers, please bear with us…better, is yet to come.

Finally, I’m beginning to feel hopeful that this injury is temporary. Given another month of recovering and I expect to be as good as I was before the occurrence around June 1st in Bali. No words can describe how excited I am to return to my “old self” being able to do the simplest of tasks without Tom’s help. 

Watch out!  There’s a tire in the road!

Oh, don’t get me wrong. He’s been amazing, never once complaining about waiting on me; pouring my coffee, iced tea, setting my computer on my lap atop the stack of pillows I use to keep the screen at eye level and so much more. I’ve appreciated every bit of assistance saying thank you each and every time. 

Not once in these past two months since the injury has he been “overly grumpy” regarding my situation. That’s not to say he doesn’t do a minute or two of “overly grumpy” for some other often peculiar reason, having absolutely nothing to do with me. 

Yikes! The less-than-stellar rental car’s windshield wipes don’t work well.

I must admit I haven’t been my usual “overly bubbly” self during these months of pain and discomfort.  Despite my optimism, it did kick in when Tom was having angst when he was unable to find a gas station while worrying about running out of gas. 

Ms O.B., kicked in with cheerful encouragement and optimism while he fussed while driving in the rain, terrified of running out of gas and barely able to see out the windows of the less-than-stellar rental car. Some things never change. For him, grumpiness seems to revolve around driving, traffic and transportation.

Lots of tuk-tuks and motorbikes were on the highway in the rain.
Hopefully, tomorrow, we’ll be back with new photos of Rawai Beach in Phuket. We’re hoping to head out shortly now that we have a sunny day.
Kong suggested we’d find a “happy room” (restroom) down this passageway between the house and the building next door.

In the interim, as we wind down the final few photos from the Vietnam and Cambodia cruise/tour, we’re particularly excited to share today’s story about a movie we watched during the cruise.

Interesting design in the 121 year old Huynh Thuy Le Ancient House house in Sa Dec. See here for more details.

There was a meeting/video room on the lowest level in the Viking Mekong  where the cruise staff held meetings, cocktail parties on rainy days, evenings and conducted a variety of lectures and seminars, most of which we attended.

Each room contained original furnishings.

The seating was relatively comfortable with rows of similarly heavily padded sofas and chairs grouped together. I was able to sit for extended periods amid a bit of squirming and repositioning once I maneuvered down the steep stairway.

We were offered hot tea and a rest while inside the house.

With no elevators on the boat we had a series of three stairways, some steeper than others, to navigate during the cruise which never kept us from attending any activities on other levels, such as the two levels up to the sundeck where the nightly cocktail party was held. Our cabin was located on the same level as the dining hall and disembarking ramp which proved helpful with my injury.

View of the street and the river from inside the house.

We’d read some online reviews for this cruise/tour where a few passengers complained about the stairs aboard the ship. During the cruise, we came to the conclusion that this cruise/tour may not be ideal for those with mobility issues which was my case due to the injury. 

Ornate ceiling and lighting fixture design.

We had no other place to be during this period and had no choice but to continue on. Had we a permanent residence we may have decided to forego the cruise and stayed “home” to recuperate, perhaps losing the entire cruise fare. But, that’s wasn’t us. The small ship and three hotels were our “home” during that 17 day period.

Over a period of several days, Kong mentioned a movie he suggested we watch that was to be held after dinner on July 18th at 8:45 pm the following day we’d be visiting the location in Sea Dec, Vietnam where the movie had been filmed and was the basis of the story. 

Elaborate Buddhist shrine in the house.

This concept, particularly appealed to us when we usually make an attempt to watch a movie made in a country in which we’re living at a particular time such as when we watched (as an example) such films as “Casablanca” while living in Morocco in 2014 and “The Descendants” while living in Kauai, Hawaii in 2015.  (Please click links as included here).

Watching a highly acclaimed Academy Award nominated movie made in Vietnam was especially appealing when we’d be able to experience the actual location where the movie was made in Sa Dec, Vietnam the following day. Watching the movie which was inspired by a true story at the location of the house, made the tour all the more exciting. 

Bedroom in the house with some updating. The house is used as a B &B for certain events explaining the flat screen TV.

Kong had warned the passengers that the movie, The Lover, was “racy” with explicit sex scenes. None of that phased us a bit. We’ve always enjoyed a well done sexy movie and this would be no exception.

By 8:45 pm, we made our way down the steps to the meeting room on the lowest level of the ship. After yet another big meal, I wondered if we’d be able to stay awake for the two hour movie but as it turned out, neither of us dozed for a moment during the movie. 

Artistic design on dining table.

However, the “packed house” dwindled down throughout the movie to a total of eight of us by the end. As passengers exited as the scenes became racier, we heard some grumbling over the movie being “too explicit,” “too racy for public viewing” as many couples got up to leave during the viewing. We looked at each other giggling as the room almost completed cleared out.  This made for interesting conversation the next day.

Table décor in main living room, most likely a modern day addition.

The movie, beautifully filmed in 1992, included excellent acting by its equally beautiful and exceptional Asian actors, cinematography (for which it won awards), an appealing musical score and an interesting story line. Yes, it was racy which may have been daring for Vietnam at the time but the sexy scenes were done tastefully.

The next day, we embarked on an action packed tour as we’ve described in past posts with photos, a portion of the tour to Sa Dec included the tour of the historical aristocratic home for which the story, The Lover, was inspired.

A popular tourist attraction, Huynh Thuy Le Ancient House  is easily visible from the main road in Sa Dec.

Visiting the historic aristocratic house left us feeling happy we’d watched the movie in it entirety the previous evening. Enjoy today’s photos from that visit.  We’ll be back with more tomorrow!

Have a restful and pleasant weekend!

Photo from one year ago today, July 30, 2015:

Many of the restaurants in Port Douglas, Australia (Queensland) are huge and elaborate attracting the most finicky of diners and tourists. For more details, please click here.

Exploring expenses in Phuket…Only a few more stories from our cruise/tour on the Viking Mekong River Cruise…

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There was enough food here to last a week.  Check out the amazing total cost below!

As we live in many countries throughout the world its impossible not to imagine what it might be like to live permanently in the particular country as a retiree. Are prices reasonable? 

Check out the size of the fish and steak portions. Tom was craving peanuts adding a few packages to the stash.  The brats in the bottom right of the photo are gluten, grain and sugar free.

Is good health care available? How are food prices both at the markets and dining out? Are prices for housing and utilities affordable for those on a fixed income? Fuel prices? Vehicle ownership? Insurance? Satellite or cable TV and Wi-Fi? It goes on and on, the usual expenses for daily living for those who settle in one location must bear on a daily basis.

 Using this app to convert the Thai baht (THB) 3,803.25, we discovered we’d only spent US $109.38.  We were shocked to say the least. (See the photos of everything we purchased).

For many seniors living in an assisted living facility, nursing homes and certain senior complexes, many of these expenses are factored into an often outrageous monthly rate.

Our cost of living observations begins the day we arrive in any new location and continue through the day we depart. Unfortunately, the rent we pay for a vacation home is not necessarily a good barometer for rents one may pay as a permanent resident. 

We purchase so many items, it took several photos to include all of it.

Vacation homes often include all the above expenses, except food and transportation and, may include some form of household help as is the case here in Rawai, Phuket with cleaners coming twice a week to clean and change the bedding and towels.

Free range eggs, beef and celery rounded out our purchases. 

In most locations, our first exposure to the cost of living is when we shop for groceries. However, we aren’t necessarily educated on our first foray to a grocery store when on that first occasion we usually spend as much as 50% more than when we’ll shop in future weeks to replenish our food supply.

The fresh produce department is packed with locally caught treasures at reasonable prices.

That first trip includes staples such as laundry soap, sink soap, bar soap, paper products, insect repellent, cleaning supplies and other household goods we may seldom replace during the one, two or three month stay.

Looks like Sam’s or Costco, doesn’t it?

Its the second grocery shopping trip, usually a week after we’s arrived when we’ve become more familiar with locally available products that we can shop, as you do, for weekly groceries getting a better perspective of what it would be like as an expat or retiree.

Row after row of frozen foods.  We don’t buy much in the way of frozen foods when most contain additives.

When two days ago, we walked into Makro Food Service store, located within minutes of the vacation rental, we knew we were in the right place.  As we perused the aisles, starting with the produce department, we immediately began loading up our cart. 

Little neck clams. 

Typically, Tom pushes the trolley while I select the items. When we’ve found everything on our list in the produce department, he brings all of it to the weighing station to be priced and receive a sticker.  It’s an efficient system we’ve mastered over these past years. 

We weren’t able to determine which type of seafood this might be.

In our old lives he rarely grocery shopped with me. When we were still eating fruit (5 years ago) he thought watermelon was US $.09 if including a page of Holiday gas station stamps. When we started shopping together after leaving the US, he was shocked at what he thought was high prices while I was excited to see how much less groceries are in other countries.

Squid, yet to be cleaned.

Over these past almost four years, he’s become familiar with some prices, but not as I have with my innate fascination with food and its pricing. As we made our way through the Costco-like aisles and with our growing grasp of the Thai baht (THB 1000 equal US $28.75) as opposed to the US dollar, I was pleasantly surprised over the prices.

(Photos from this point are those from the Mekong River cruise/tour, although the Phuket story continues on).

The sign as we approached the brick factory by sampan boat.

We tossed every item from our lengthy weekly grocery list (on an app on my phone) into the trolley after first deciding on our meals for the week based on availability and quality of a variety of protein sources. 

Upon entering the brick factory we had to walk over planks and rough terrain. Once inside it was an easier walk.

Generally, we don’t allow prices to dictate our purchases. Only consuming one meal a day plus an evening cheese plate snack, we find we can choose almost anything that strikes our fancy and stay well within our monthly food budget.

Most of the employees in the brick factory are women.

We’d include the entire receipt from Makro but its written in the Thai language which uses special characters that aren’t easily translated.  Instead, for today’s purposes, we’ve included a photo of the total on the amount charged to our credit card when we checked out.

It was toasty inside the factory especially this close to a kiln.

When Tom placed all the loose items in the trunk of the car, I used my phone’s app to calculate the total bill, shocked by how little we spent for the amount we’d purchased. I even went as far as counting all the items when we got “home” thinking they must have not charged us for half the items. 

Rice as shown here is used in the brick making process.  It was very dusty as we toured the facility.

The receipt was indeed accurate prompting us to take photos of the items we purchased before putting everything away to share with you today. How could we not share this? This isn’t the first time we’ve done this, nor will it be the last. 

We couldn’t imagine the hard work required of these employees in such a heavy duty and hot environment.

Are we going to experience “price shock” when we visit the US in a little over nine months? It’s entirely possible when at that point we’ll have been gone for almost five years.

First the kiln is filled with the clay bricks and the kiln is sealed.  Then the fire is started to maintain the heat.  Depending on the size of the kiln, it can takes weeks for the bricks to cure.

Could a retiree or expat live comfortably in a country like Thailand? It’s too soon for us to make such an assessment but we did see many people from all over the world shopping at the market, hearing a variety of languages and dialects that indicated our presence in this village is not so unique after all.

Our guide let us enter inside a still warm kiln.

It appears the produce is pesticide free based on the insects I’m encountering when washing each item (using the bottled water only). The steak Tom had last night definitely was grass fed (we’ve learned to detect the difference in grain fed as opposed to grass fed beef). My salmon fillet was fresh and moist and couldn’t have tasted better. 

Tom took this photo of the vent at the center top of the kiln.

Tonight, Tom will have freshly cooked steak again and I’ll have yellow fin tuna. Our sides will include a huge salad with homemade dressing, fresh whole sautéed portabella mushrooms, buttered green beans and hard boiled eggs, a perfect meal by our standards. More on cost of living in Phuket as we experience more during the next month…

Neatly stacked tiles ready to be transported.

As we continue to wind down our Mekong River cruise/tour, today we’re including photos (sorry that they’re interspersed with Phuket photos above) from what proved to be an interesting visit to a brick making factory in Sa Dec. Situated on the banks of the river, we arrived by sampan boat and walked up an easy ramp to the property. 

As much as a variety of brick making supplies were littered about the facility, it was very organized.

We still have a few more stories to share over the next several days.  Looking forward to continuing to see our loyal reader/friends here each day. 

Our sampan was waiting for us to finish the tour of the facility and moved the boat close to the shore so we could take off once again.

Enjoy the weekend as we roll into August.

Photo from one year ago today, July 30, 2015:

This enormous Banyan Tree in Port Douglas, Australia reminded us of the tree across the street from our condo in Honolulu. For more photos, please click here.

Finally, we got out with photos coming tomorrow..Tour of the Kampong Cham Temple in Cambodia…Great pics!

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Us at the Kampong Cham Temple in Cambodia.

We hope our readers are still interested in the few remaining stories and photos we’ve continued to share from the Viking Mekong River cruise which ended over a week ago.

In front of the steps leading to the temple.

Each day has included a blurb on our current location in Phuket, Thailand and a second portion on tours and stories we hadn’t been able to share during the cruise/tour due to a poor Wi-Fi signal.

It was one hot day.

This morning we signed up for new more sophisticated Wi-Fi service, VOOM, which is supposedly high speed being offered by Royal Caribbean on most of their ships. 

The ornate designs of temples is fascinating.

With a 33 night (back-to-back) cruise upcoming on October 31st (a mere three months from now) on RC Radiance of the Seas, we didn’t want to experience more horrible WiFi impeding our ability to post in real time, hoping to prevent the necessity of posting stories for events that occurred in the past as we’ve done over this past week.

Scary faces to ward off evil spirits.

Bear with us, we only have a few more of these “past” stories and photos and soon will be all about our current location in Rawai, Phuket, Thailand which in itself encompasses endless opportunities for both stories and photos. Tomorrow, we’ll begin posting Phuket photos.

We entered the temple for more detailed views.

Yesterday, we had a chance to begin the photo taking process when, for the first time since our arrival a week ago, we got out of the house. The rain never stopped all day. 

The details illustrate the joy of the Cambodian people.

By 1 pm, after the rental car had been dropped off, I suggested we go out anyway. Who knew when it would be a sunny day? Besides, we needed photos and groceries. 

Alternate views of shrines.

The older car, a stick shift with somewhat foggy windows wasn’t the ideal vehicle for taking photos on a rainy day but we did our best. However, the day didn’t start out as idealic as we’d have liked.

(Photo out of context with today’s other photos. But, yesterday, we mentioned, we’d post the rental car photo). The rental car’s a little rough, but will serve our purposes over the next 34 days until we leave Thailand.

The address we have for this property or any variation therein, doesn’t show on any map. We had no SIM card in our phones and maps wouldn’t work anyway.  The owner suggested we just get ourselves to the highway and we’d figure it out.  Had it not been raining so hard, we may have been able to do so more easily.

Pagodas and shrines within the temple.

First, we had to find a gas station, next an ATM.  Based on the weather, we decided we’d find a nearby market to get us through a few days since driving across the island to the superstore, Makro didn’t make sense in the downpour.

The detail of the craftsmanshi is astounding.

With the fuel gauge on empty when we started off, Tom was a bit “overly grumpy” when it was impossible to look out the window when the windshield wipers didn’t work well. The only option was for me to open my window, letting in the rain and keep looking along the highway for a fuel station. 

That wasn’t as easy as one may think. Every so often, we’d spot a solitary fuel pump, stop and find it was unattended and/or didn’t work. Tom’s frustration level escalated while my usual “overly bubbly” optimism kept him forging ahead.

We weren’t certain if these flags were temporary or permanent to celebrate a particular holiday.

Finally, after about 20 minutes of “driving on empty” we found a traditional fuel station which accepted credit cards since we’d yet to stop at an ATM.  As we pulled out of the fuel station with a full tank, we spotted a tiny pharmacy around the corner with an ATM machine outside their door. 

These smaller buildings are residences for the monks.

I was desperate to find some type of heating pad and we needed to get the cash to pay for the rental car, TBH 9000, US $258. Mission accomplished!  The pharmacy had a hot-cold pack which easily heats in the microwave and we were able to get the cash we needed from the ATM.

Ornate details.

Feeling hopeful after our success, we continued down the highway with hopes of taking a few photos. Suddenly, through the foggy windows, I spotted a huge sign for a Makro store that supposedly sells beef and more products than the prior market where we shopped. 

Young monks working at the temple.

We wouldn’t have to travel across the island to shop each week and could use this location only minutes from our house for our remaining days on the island. We couldn’t have been more thrilled when we entered the mini-Costco/Sam’s Club type store which had every food product we could possibly use in our way of eating. 

A live monk was sitting inside the temple out of the scorching sun.

I was like a kid-in-a-candy-store. We hadn’t seen such variety since we were in Trinity Beach, Australia a year ago with the abundance at the Woolworth Market (Woolies), farmers market and grass fed meat market.  Even the great markets in New Zealand didn’t have the variety we found at Makro.

We were happy we had a car. Had a driver been waiting for us, it would definitely impeded our ability to scour through the aisles with ease finding everything on our list. 

Mausoleum on the property in varying sizes based on the deceased placement in the family.

Not unlike many superstores in the US, no bags or boxes were provided when checking out. We could only imagine how cumbersome it could have been to load the trunk of a taxi with “loose” foods and produce. Tomorrow, we’ll share the cost of our groceries with photos. We were shocked over the final total.

The less than stellar car will serve its purpose for the upcoming month, although we realize driving far is risky. Then again, the bumpy roads and stick shift driving would deter me from being interested in long drives at this juncture in time.

I avoided walking this stairway when the bus drove us to the garden.

On an upcoming sunny day, we’ll take off for the beach which I could see yesterday at a short distance through the fuzzy windows and pouring rain.  There won’t be any lounging in the sand on a towel (or bouncing boat rides) but surely we’ll be able to take photos of the exquisite scenery in this area.  Please stay tuned for updates.

Continuing on with a cruise/tour story….

On Thursday, July 14th, we embarked on a bus tour while still in Kampong Cham, Cambodia. Kong had assured us it would be a relatively easy tour without hours of walking and trekking up steep and rough terrain.

Mom and baby monkey hoping tourists will offer them food.

As it turned out, the tour of the Kampon Cham Temple was manageable for me when we avoided the long steep stairway from the temple. The bus driver drove a small group of us down to the garden area of the temple reachable by road as an alternative to walking the steps.

Off they went, when we had nothing to offer.

There’s a fascinating story about the Kampong Cham Temple at this site which is too long to share here but may be worth reading if you’re interested. For the sake of space and time, we’re winding down today’s post with photos from this excellent experience and tour.

Someone on a tour which later visited the orphanage must have handed off a lollipop to this monkey.  We giggled when taking these photos.

Thanks to all of our readers for bearing with two-topics posts over this past week. We only have a few more cruise/tour photos to share. 

This monkey figured out it would last longer if he licked it instead of chewing.

Be well.  Be happy!

Photo from one year ago today, July 29, 2105:

Every beach along the way on our road trip to Port Douglas, Australia, had it own personality. They may all look like sand, rock and water but we find each one to have it own unique scenery. For more details, please click here.

Car delivery today in Phuket…Continuation of the ox cart rides for Viking Mekong River cruise passengers…Two videos and photos!

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Tom’s video of the oxen along the bank of the river early in the morning.  Second video below.

This morning at 10:00 am an employee of Gregory’s (our Phuket property owner), brought us the rental car. For the excellent price of THB $9000, US $258 for our entire stay we’re pleased with the older car. We’re hoping the pouring rain will stop and we can end our six day stint indoors.

Tomorrow, we’ll include photos of the “used” car and photos we’ve taken while out and about proving the weather improves enough to get out. At the moment, there’s thunder and lightening. 

The second bedroom in the Phuket house which we haven’t used.  The en suite bathroom contain the Jacuzzi tub.

We’re anxious to head across the island to purchase beef and groceries.  Beef is not popular in some parts of the world that hold the “cow” as holy based on religious beliefs and is not fit for human consumption. 

Many religions and cultures throughout the world consume a vegetarian diet. However, many Thai people include beef in their diet, although it may not be readily available in some of the local grocery stores and markets.  

Yesterday, four housecleaners appeared at the electronic gate at 9:00 am to clean the house. Letting them in via a wall switch that slides the electronic security gate open, they all entered, sharing their names as they graciously bowed to greet us. 

The Jacuzzi tub in the second bedroom’s en suite bathroom.

All we remember of their names as they hurriedly entered is that two of the four had the same name, not unlike the two Katuks in Bali, whom we’ll see again soon. 

Only one of the four cleaners spoke a little English, but they had no trouble knowing what to do and required little coaching from us. They maneuvered  efficiently and quickly through each room, obviously with a familiar routine they’ve implemented in the past. 

Today’s pouring rain.  As soon as it stops, we’ll head out. If it continues throughout the day, we’ll wait until tomorrow.

When the Jacuzzi tub’s water supply wasn’t working correctly, they immediately contacted the maintenance guy. I believe his name is Bo. Within minutes he arrived to make the repairs and an hour later he was out the door with the task completed. 

Although using the Jacuzzi may be an excellent idea at this time, it’s been so hot in the past 24 hour I haven’t been motivated to use it. With the amount of water and energy required to use the tub, I may only use it once in a while providing I notice some added improvement from doing so.

The opening in the wide electronic sliding security gate.

We’re still remaining mindful over the excess use of air con and continue to only use it only at night in the master bedroom. During the day we’re doing fine without AC. After becoming accustomed to heat and humidity in Bali and living in hot climates throughout the world over these past years its not different here in Phuket.

We can’t help but giggle over how, in our old lives, we’d never have tolerated this heat and humidity without turning on the whole house AC.  How much we’ve changed over this period of time!

Occasionally during the day, I rest for a few minutes in the bedroom using only the overhead fan to keep me comfortable. We keep the bedroom door shut at all times to keep out the mozzies and flies for better comfort at night.

Now on to our continuing Mekong River cruise posts with today’s story, a continuation of the ox cart rides. We’d yet to share today’s two videos we are now able to post with a strong WiDu signal here in Phuket.

I’d have loved to join in on the ox cart ride under different circumstances.  But after seeing the carts and the sitting positions required of the riders, we both knew there was no way I could have participated.  

I encouraged Tom to join the others but he decided to stay behind with me when the carts were intended for two passengers and he’d have to ride alone. That wouldn’t have been that much fun for him. Its the idle chatter and shared experiences that make such an activity memorable. 

They reminded us of the buffaloes in Bali although oxen are smaller with shorter horns.
Instead, we stayed behind attempting to get online to post the day’s story and photos. As mentioned in an earlier post, the WiFi signal on the boat was extremely poor, worse than we’d experienced on any cruise in the past. 

It was only with the assistance of thoughtful cruise director Enrico who encouraged me to sit at his desk using his computer, connected to a wired network, that made it possible to upload any posts at all while on the ship.  We realized how frustrating this must have been for our worldwide readers who, at times, didn’t see a new post for days.
As the ox cart participants piled into the carts, many seniors older than us, we were thrilled to be able to take today’s included videos. Of course, it would have been more exciting to be able to do a video while in a cart, but we did the best we could under the circumstances.
The staff shoveled this path the prior night to ensure passengers could make it up the river bank.

Later, many passengers explained the bumpy nature of the ride making us feel grateful we’d made the decision to stay behind. Adding the extreme heat and humidity to my already difficult condition, always made the tours more challenging regardless of their general difficulty.

We enjoyed watching the white oxen hanging out on the bank of the river on the prior evening, early in the morning and again when they were hooked to the wagons seemingly content with their occasionally required tourist trek. 

Off they went on a 40 minute ride..

As we watched the oxen for quite awhile, we noticed the gentle interaction between the handlers and the oxen, as they were rubbed and petted as one would lovingly pet a dog or cat. It was comforting to see. With a cart driver for each cart carrying a pair of passengers we didn’t see any rough treatment used to get them moving.

By 11:45 am, the passengers were back on board and by noon, the ship’s anchor was raised and we cast off for Phnom Penh, Cambodia, another historically interesting stop in our journey along the Mekong River which we’ve already included in prior posts.

With more stories to share, we’ll continue along this path with a few more cruise posts as we add more and more on Phuket as soon as we get out.

Have a beautiful day!


Photo from one year ago today, July 28, 2015:

One year ago we spotted this package of crocodile meat in Australia priced at AUD 15, USD $10.91.  ext time we’re in Australia, we need to try this. For more details, please click here.