My first thought of Asia when I got out of the airport was "Hot and humid!" It was like walking into a sauna. This heat managed to carry on throughout our stay in Asia, but it is way better than snowy, cold Alberta! Mom told you about our first stop, Bangkok, so I"ll tell you about beautiful Ha Long Bay, Vietnam and Phuket, Thailand.
Ha Long Bay was one of my favorite places we have visited. The isalnds were so cool and looked like little, green baseballs floating on the water. We stayed overnight in a boat called a junk. We anchored near a cave that we had toured earlier in the day. The cave was huge and had been carved out of the Island by years of water hitting the roof and walls of the cave. Now though, the cave is not filled with water but you can see the scalloped celing where the waves wold have hit. It was huge and had stalagmites and stalactites that the tour guide said looked like monkeys and aligators. It was the biggest cave I've ever been in.
While on the Junk we stopped to go kayaking. Since we had sailed most of the day to get there we arrived at sunset. Mom and I shared a kayak while Dad and Cooper shared one. We paddled through the islands to get an amazing view of the pink and gold sunset; a beautiful day to remember. That night we had a delicious meal. On the Junk they never left us feeling hungry. We had 8 or 9 course meals and all of the plates were heaped to the top! There was a big party on our junk that night, and people from other boats heard the music and got rides over to join us. It was a special celebration and the crew shared their party food and their Vietnamese "wine" with us. Mom and dad said it tasted like moonshine. We weren't so interested in dancing or karaoke, so we fished for squid off the back of the boat. Dad caught one and it squirted black ink everywhere.
The next day our junk dropped us off at the beach hotel. It was a small island that had a few cottage style hotel rooms built right on the beach or, like ours, built on stilts over the water. That afternoon we went kayaking to an island that was just across from us. I found some neat shells and cool pieces of wood. when we came back the people who had been on the Junk with us started a game of volleyball. I sketched while Cooper, Dad and Mom played. I got some good pictures! That night we had a delicious seafood supper. One of the people on our boat had a birthday so we got cake. That night we had a huge bonfire right on the beach and listened to some good music (not Vietnamese music).
Vietnam had beauiful countryside as well. Delicate rice paddies and beautiful people. I loved Vietnam but Thailand was tuff to beat! We went back, to Phuket this time, but Dad was in Canada so he missed out on the beaches there. While we were in Phuket we went on some island tours. We went snorkelling around Phi Phi Island. There were some tiny jellyfish that gave us mild stings but there were lots of pretty fish and coral and we even saw some parrot fish and a puffer fish. We stopped the boat in a calm, pretty bay to go swimming and we went to monkey beach to see the wild monkeys. Guides paddled us into some caves and one led us into the middle of the island where it opened up to a hidden opening where there were mangrove trees. It was a great surprise. We also went to James Bond Isalnd. A scene from "The Man wiith the Golden Gun" was filmed there.
Our next stop in Thailand was Koh Lanta. We found a restaurant that served teh best Tom Kah ever. We ate it three times. The lady who owned the hotel drove us to Long Beach every day. We sat in cabanas and drank green tea smoothies. The warer was so warm. There was no sea glass so we collected tiny shells from the beach. I bought a jingley anklet and bracelet there. The hotel had a really pretty grey and black striped cat that was so relaxed. It just flopped on the floor all day and let you pet it all you wanted.
Asia was great. I hope I can find a good Tom Kah restaurant at home.
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