We stayed in Patong on Phuket Island for the duration of our trip but did a lot of moving around while we were there. Thanksgiving day was our first day there and we decided to go on a site-seeing cruise to some of the beautiful, smaller, surrounding islands. We got picked up from our hotel and drove to the small harbor where we embarked a small cruise ship. We found seats on the sun deck and made ourselves comfortable. As we made our way out of the harbor we passed many little Thai motorized long boats and fishing boats making their way back to shore. The water in the harbor was more dirty than I envisioned pushing past occasional pieces of plastic trash. Once we got out into more open waters the water turned a more deep greenish-blue and there was less trash, there was however, a whole lot more traffic.After staying a comfortable amount of time on the sundeck we decided to explore the rest of the ship. It was a total of 4 stories tall, including the sundeck. It had a lower deck which was all inside with round windows at about wake level, a main deck that was mostly enclosed but had an open area at both bow and stern with a small walkway on each side between them. The next level was very similar but the inside area on it was much smaller and was for staff. It was also where the helm could be found. then there was the top level, the sundeck.
As the boat pressed on toward Phi Phi Don (pronounced pee pee and Don means island), which was the main attraction of the cruise, we passed by many smaller island that jetted out of the sea in very majestic manner. They all had similar vertical rock faces protruding out of the water extending into the sky with the base of each cut in at the bottom by the incessant pounding of waves. Yet each one was unique in size and in beauty. Some were no bigger around than a city block, others were miles in length; some had caves in the bottom, some had caves part of the way up the rock face. A few islands we saw had small beaches on them. One island we saw had a quaint beach tucked into a little cove and was apparently the filming location of a Hollywood film creatively named, The Beach.
We arrived at Phi Phi Don by noon where we docked and a smaller ship pulled along side us. We boarded this ship and steamed over to the other side of the green bay and set anchor. This is where we would be doing our snorkeling and scuba diving. After an hour of that we headed to shore for some lunch. It was a very tasty buffet of assorted Thai foods with local fresh pineapple and watermelon for dessert. We were given a table number before we disembarked the ship but when we found the assigned table and went to sit at it we redirected by one of the staff to a table all to ourselves with the explanation that the other table was all a specific group and we would be much happier at this other table. We did not argue. Instead of a traditional buffet where all the food is on one table and you have to go to the food, each table had all the buffet options on a Lazy Susan at its center. Convenient!
My favorite part of the meal was probably the soup. It was such a tasty seafood soup. I am not a big fan of octopus but during this trip I discovered that it is Korean octopus that I dislike; it seems there is a big difference from that of Thai octopus . Even though it is the same animal, it appears that the two cultures have very different ways of preparing it; and flavoring it. Koreans don't really flavor it, they just add spice (hot). I could not figure out what it was but the flavor in the Thai soup was amazing. It was a bit spicy (hot) which meant Bee did not enjoy it, but I slurped it down. I also discovered that not everything in my soup bowl was edible. This seemed to be a trend as we experienced more local dishes.
After lunch we did not have much time to explore and wander through the small street market. This was our first chance to see what Thai markets had to offer and Bee fell in love. Good thing we didn't have much Bhat (Thai currency) yet or we probably would have had a whole lot less after wandering through that market. We took a few pictures and then got back on the boat for the return cruise.
On the way back we sat on the side rail with our feet dangling out over the water and continued the Thanksgiving game we had started on the way to Phi Phi Don. The game was that we were to go through the alphabet, alternating between letters, coming up with something we were thankful for that started with the letter we were on. I started with A; I am thankful for the atmosphere! It gives us air to breath, it protects us from the blistering heat of the sun in day and the harsh cold of space at night. In it weather is produced and through it heat, water, sound and many other things are distributed. I am grateful for the Atmosphere. It was Bee's turn with B; books- Bee is grateful for books. C; cameras- I am thankful for cameras to capture pictures and memories with. And so we continued through the alphabet all the way to Z; zippers. When we finished we started over but switched letters, that way we each said something we were grateful for for each letter of the alphabet. It was a fun, insightful game and I am grateful for Bee in coming up with it and inviting us to play.
We did not get a turkey dinner but we had a wonderful Thanksgiving day reflecting on things we are thankful for and enjoying the beauties of God's creation in Thailand. It was a great trip and a wonderful way to spend Thanksgiving.
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