Room For Four, Please!

Our room in Phuket was a little tight, but as you can see Dave at the mini-bar--he didn’t mind.

When we got to Bangkok, we knew that we had a very cheap room--right downtown for about $40 a night so we weren’t sure what we were going to get. I don’t know how they got these four beds to fit in this small room but we had a good night sleep even with such close proximity to each other. To make things even better, the air conditioner actually worked!

Crocodiles and Elephants at the Zoo

We went to the Phuket Zoo. It was pretty interesting but they were not too kind to the animals. We’ve been privileged to visit the Vancouver Zoo and the animals looked much better there. The crocodile show was pretty interesting but I think the best part was feeding the elephants bananas. Cody wanted nothing to do with that and then later he changed his mind and asked for some bananas. But he didn’t want to feed them to the elephants; he wanted them for himself, so we bought some for him--probably the only human there that ate them. They were just about free in Thailand--right now in Kazakhstan they are about a dollar a piece--this weekend in the market we got some for .60 cents a piece and that was a real deal!

Too many Bhuddas?!?!

We saw a lot of buddhas in Thailand. Everytime we took a taxi the drivers wanted to take us to see a Buddha. The one with the four of us in front--that was a “Lucky Buddha,” the one on the hilltop--”The largest Buddha” and then this tall one was the “40 metre Buddha.” Someone asked Cody what he did in Thailand and they suggested that maybe he swam or played in the sand--he answered them with, “We saw too many Buddhas!

Roller Coaster at Kok-Tobe

No snow in Almaty on December 13 so we went out to do some tobogganing at Kok Tobe. This roller coaster with a toboggan was pretty fun. You can control the speed and when you see some of the safety nets and how steep the drop off is, we were pretty happy to have brakes. Cody and I had a great time but Kyla got a little motion sick so there was no “Full Speed Ahead!” The end of the ride was the most threatening -- we were pulled back up on one cable and it was straight up. Needless to say--we had a great time and promised Kyla and Cody we would go again--Stupid or What?!?!

With every Bhudda comes a temple

These temples were very ornate. Some were a little over the top but the detail and carving was unreal. The kids enjoyed going through them as long as we kept it brief and most of the time people were there to practise their religion so we had to be respectful of that--our dressing habits of shorts and tank tops was not always appropriate so they would give me a shawl to wear. At the Grand Palace we had to rent clothing--along with most of the other tourists. I had to get a long skirt and a blouse and Dave rented a pair of long pants.

A little footnote--if you are reading this and wondering why we write so much (and maybe it‘s not that interesting) this is our photo album and diary of our trip to Kazakhstan, so this is for ourselves too--hope that we don‘t bore you--too much.

The Grand Palace

Getting to the Grand Palace might have been more exciting than the palace. We did go past the anti-government protesters but it was so peaceful that we would not have noticed them if they weren’t wearing red t-shirts. But then Dave had a mini-protest of his own.

When we pulled up to the palace in a taxi there was a lady standing on the curb and she reached into the taxi and handed me some little bags of popcorn seeds and said “Happy New Year!” Dave was paying the driver and I was trying to get the kids out as fast as I could so I took the bags and tried to get the kids not to step on the pigeons that were swarming us. Kyla and Cody were not too impressed with the birds and when they started landing on my shoulders I was even less impressed. At that point I threw the bags of popcorn seeds on the ground in order to get rid of them--total chaos. Meanwhile, Dave’s on the other side of the pigeons watching this and the little lady is telling him that he owes her 400 baht, which is about $12 U.S. He kind of laughed at her but she wouldn’t let up so he payed her and we walked away. We talked about it and figured out that we have really been taken for popcorn seeds--in total about 48 seeds--12 to a bag. But not a lot we can do about it because she already has the money. While this is happening the other taxi drivers are watching and are scowling at the little lady but they realize they can’t do much either.

We go to the temple and we have to rent clothes, so while I am waiting in line, Dave tells me he is going to get his money back from the lady. He goes over there and as he approaches the lady, she is doing the same thing to another taxi-load of tourists. So Dave grabs the popcorn seeds from them and gives them back to the lady and tells her to quit stealing money from people--that it’s not right. He then tells her that he would like his money back or he will report her to the police. She refuses and just stares him down so he looks back at her and yells, “Police!” She pulls out her money and hands him 100 baht and he looks at her and tells her that he would like all of it and she refuses him again. He looks back at her and yells, “Police!” and she pulls out her money again and gives him another 100 bat. This happens two more times until he has all his money back. I couldn’t believe it when he came back with all his money. I could hardly stop laughing and I would have paid money to watch him do it. I didn’t know that something like this would make him that upset. While he was having this confrontation with the woman the other taxi drivers were cheering him on!

This was an unbelievable place. It was so big and so many buildings with painting and carving that was very overwhelming. It is the king’s palace but it wasn’t modern enough to live in so they have moved and opened this up to the public. They were holding some services there in one part with the chanting over the loud speakers. There were signs up for tourists to stay out of the temple areas.

The Doctor will see you now.

Almost all of my students call me Mr. Van, Mr. V, or just plain V’. Can’t blame them. But how about Dr. V? I told Edna I might have to go back to school. Good work, if you can get it.

Khao San Road

We were downtown Bangkok one night (city of 16 million), on Khao San Road. It is 24 hours a day of chaos: bartering, eating, drinking, and partying. Probably not the most appropriate place for kids, but it was very safe and exciting. The little kid, below, was sleeping in his mother’s clothing booth, mid-day. My first thought was “How neglectful is that?” He stays up so late selling shirts with his mother that he sleeps during the day. What about school? But then you start to realize and accept that at least he is with mother, not being raised by strangers in a day-care program, and he is probably learning more about the sort of future that lays in store for him than what he would learn at school. I don’t think Cody would object.

Another day at the beach.

Kyla was a big hit with local kids. Her hair turns almost white in the sun so she really stood out in a crowd. One afternoon, a group of visiting East Indians were walking down the beach towards their cruise ship. A few kids stopped and stared at her, murmuring something to their parents. Then their parents started collecting around, trying to look inconspicuous. Yeah, right: women in saris and men in cruise ship attire at the beach when it is 30 Celsius, trying to appear subtle. Finally I gestured “photo?” The way the cameras materialized, you’d think they worked for “National Geographic” or “Aliens Among Us.” The boys actually climbed into her beach chair and posed with her. Everyone started laughing and having fun. But Kyla didn’t think it was funny when I told that I brokered a deal for 3 camels, a dozen goats, and 10,000 rupees for her hand in marriage.

Cody attracted a lot of attention, too. He didn’t enjoy one minute of it, but he would actually answer questions after a while. I credit his teacher and his classmates for prompting him to be more outspoken and interactive. He’s not as shy (OK, he is a bit) as he is dubious and disinterested in most humans. Wonder where he gets that from?

Swimming in December

Patong Beach. We enjoyed a leisurely downhill stroll to the beach almost every morning. The kids would be in the water before we unpacked their towels and secured two deck chairs and an umbrella from a local family that rented them.

The kids spent almost every moment in the water. It was predictably warm and not very deep, so they only came out for Orange Fanta and fresh pineapple. I now have a working understanding of the verb “lolling.” They “lolled” about in the water for hours, pleading for us to come in and join them, which we did. But it only occurred to us a few days later why they enjoyed swimming so much: the temperature. The only times they had spent swimming outdoors was in the lakes around Burns Lake, which are cold even on the hottest days of August. Cody’s lips would turn blue and Kyla would shake involuntarily but they insisted on staying in, as most kids would. But they would eventually have to surrender before slipping into a hypothermic state. Not so in Thailand. And Cody learned how to pee in the ocean.