Early yesterday morning, we packed and left Kata on our continuing journey towards enlightenment. We packed ourselves into one of the small tour vans and joined a long line of tourists and locals carrying kids and cargo en route to the island of Phi Phi. The ferry is fast and spacious. We were given a cup of strong coffee and a croissant. Again, the mix of languages is a symphony of sound.

Phi Phi (pronounced P.P.) is a long bow-tie shaped island. The flat center has a white, sandy beach on either side and it's an easy walk from beach to beach. At either end, the land juts up out of the sea, forming vast cliffs which are all but impossible to scale- one would think! The "poker chip" shapes I said could be seen from the air are now massive walls and if I had to build this in miniature, I'd take dominoes, poker chips and cubes of wood, stand them on end and then push clay around them to keep them stable. I'd then cover the tops with a fine, crushed sphagnum moss and paint it a rich tropical green.

This is a party place. Few people over 50 inhabit Phi Phi unless they work here. The rest are scuba guys, rock climbers, vacationing kids and young, global wanderers. Alleyways of clothing vendors, travel agents, massage shops and food stalls form a colorful grid as you make your way to your hotel. Ours is the "Palms" and it's new. Everything here is new. When the big wave hit, everything here was washed away. There was nothing here to stop it. The loss of life was significant and if you think about it, this is something of a shrine! The locals will tell you it's better here, now.

It's an attractive, funky place to hang your hat and to do some underwater exploring. Still looking for the Thailand we've seen in the photos, we hired a young man to take us to the neighboring island of Koh Phi Phi where the movie "The Beach" was filmed. This again is a massively high piece of land- a marvel of twisting limestone formations, outcroppings, tiny bays and caves. Our "long tail" boat was old, wooden and interesting. The long, curved bow was ringed with colorful plastic wreaths, a plastic purple canopy kept us from the direct sun and the motor was a Chevrolet engine to which a long shaft was attached. The propeller at the end was able to skim above the coral and plunge into the channels, making it a very useful craft. Our driver," Ed," was a beautiful young man with the most amazing smile.

High up in the cliffs we could see what looked like sticks, just propped here and there. What they are is climbing poles and they are used by men who gather birds nests for birds nest soup! People risk life and limb, scaling these impossible cliff sides to collect nests- and on the mainland, we marvel at North Americans in safety gear who make it to the top of a hill! Ahh, cultural differences!

Speaking of cultural differences, the Thai people tell us that Canadians are among their favorite visitors, which makes us feel great. Kate and Lane have gone to check out of our hotel so we can prepare for the next adventure. In search of even more natural phenomenon... and air conditioning, we'll write again, tomorrow!

LJ

Kate and Lane have gone to the beach and I'm staying out of the sun and out of trouble. With so many shoe and handbag shops out there and no space for STUFF in my luggage, I'm banned from bargaining unless it's for stuff that's edible!

I've noticed there are no more mysterious, veiled women here in Phuket province. In Kata, anyway, everyone is in western beach wear and on the beach...the flesh hangs out in copious folds, flaps and formations. Lovely young things in tiny thong bikinis and handsome young men with tight stomachs blend in with red, rotund gents and large gelatinous women, none of whom seem to care about dress or decorum. I sat on the seawall for awhile and wished I'd brought a sketch book. No camera could capture this richness of imagery.

The streets teem with food vendors. Tasty looking cubes of fish, meat and chicken, veggies and fruits of all kinds whet your appetite and then it hits you. Like a blast from a hidden jet of evil, a powerful whiff of sewer gas knocks you into closing your wallet and moving on. Where does this come from? There seems to be no obvious source. The streets appear to be clean and there are no privvies in proximity and yet, the pervasive and pungent scent of poo is there.

There are no timeshare people here. This obnoxious and exasperating animal is somehow absent from Thailand, but it's likely a matter of time before they, like other invading species find a way to thrive on this turf.

Tsunami sirens tower high above the entrance to the beach. This area was hard hit and people will tell you how the devastation affected them and their families. Nobody was exempt from suffering. Still, the resilience of the human spirit abounds and the local advertising is peppered with slogans reminding tourists that it's "better now it's rebuilt" and "we're STILL cleaning up!" (clearance sale)

Vendors are MULTI lingual. They call to you in every language and it's a game for some of them to see how many they can use. "Are you from Holland?" and they offer you their wares in Dutch. "Are you from France?" And they will bargain in French. Kate has already started to memorize some phrases in Thai. She knows the numbers up to 10, the names for a lot of foods and the very useful "Don't shoot! The drugs aren't mine!!!" I'm still working on "hello and goodbye"

Well, I've held onto this machine for too long and have to give it up to others, so will sign off for today. Tonight it's my turn to choose the cuisine and I think I'd like to hit the shop that offers "shark and fried". This must be the equivalent to Thai fish and chips. Maybe they serve it in newspapers! Cheers for now.

LJ

Farley Follows His Nose, Lynn's first children's book (co-authored with Beth Cruikshank) has been nominated for a Shining Willow award!

Saskatchewan Young Readers' Choice - The Willow Awards, Inc. (SYRCA) is a volunteer-run non-profit, registered charity begun in 2001.

The mission of The Willow Awards is to promote reading by granting a "Willow Award" to the Canadian and/or Saskatchewan book(s) voted by Saskatchewan students to be the best of those nominated in designated categories for a specific year.

Well, actually, it's the heat, too.

At first, the temperature is a welcome change from freezing your fanny in North Bay...but without the invention of air conditioning, I think most northerners would take a long time to adjust. If ever!!

The Kata Palms hotel is about 5 blocks from the beach and is a small temple in the midst of a concrete maze of vendors' booths, massage parlors and tailor shops. There are innumerable tailors here, all offering the finest hand made duds at bargain prices and ready in less than 24 hours. I've just come back from a long walk and am now sitting at the one working keyboard in the lobby and enjoying the breeze coming from the fans in the ceiling. It's like a movie set. I'm surrounded by deep red walls. Tall open windows with thin, embroidered curtains strung from tiny brass rods open onto a small palm-lined terrace. There is an abundance of ornate, gold decoration on teak furnishings, around doorways and over the reception desk. A high ceiling with lovely pastoral paintings along the upper edge arches over 4 white canopied sofas which face each other in a most gracious lounge.

The rooms are spacious and the bathroom alone is worth the price. When you sit on the loo, you face a stone bathtub, set like an outdoor basin on a bed of white stones. To the right is the shower and the water comes out of a huge flat spout on the ceiling- like a shower of rain. Above the tub is a large shuttered window which opens into the bedroom. The view from the window is a tropical mural of amazing flowering trees. In the courtyard below the room, a long, winding pool takes you through a jungle of greenery, past rooms which open directly into the pool. These could be dangerous if under the influence of the local beer which is light in flavor but carries a punch!

Most of the visitors here are European. We rarely hear English spoken, but if it is, it's with a British, European or Australian accent. Actually, other that the decor of the hotel, there is little here to suggest that we are in Asia at all..so I am still looking for the feel of the orient- that sense that I am in the mysterious east.

I shall send this before it's gone in the ether of the internet and will write again. LJ