Here I am, in Amorgos Greece - again trying to catch up. It sometimes takes time to digest everything one sees, hears, tastes. smells and experiences in a place before you can write about it - so much different, so much the same.

As I relax and re-group in this beautiful place. it is easier to put perspective into my experiences rather than writing about it straight away. Thailand was interesting, I;m gald I went there...

April 30 - May 13 Phuket, Thailand - Patong Beach

In Darwin, I had my dates for Chengdu, Tibet and Singapore settled but did not know what I was going to do in the meantime for 12 days. I basically walked into a Flight centre which is everywhere in Australia and had the fellow look up a *vacation* for me somewhere between Singapore and Chengdu. He came up with the Graceland hotel in Phuket Thailand for a very good price - and BINGO, it was done.

I came for a rest but had a great taste of the dichotomy of Thai culture and weird tourist attractions - including OLD men with young Thai girls - they are EVERYWHERE. I cannot imagine what it is like in Bangkok - kind of like Hangover 2…eww! There is also a LOT of Russians, then Chinese here - easy Visas.

I spent the first few days stunned out, sleeping and spent time only by the pool - the beach was too complicated. My room was chaos and I had no ability to do anything about it for at least 3 days. This is the upshot of travelling for long periods - exhaustion. The trick is to build some safe and easy downtime into your schedule. Phuket was the answer however; I subsequently realized that this is the place where that horrific Tsunami happened in 2004:

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake.[5][6] The resulting tsunami was given various names, including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, South Asian tsunami, Indonesian tsunami, the Christmas tsunami and the Boxing Day tsunami.[7]

The 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 over 230,000 people in fourteen countries, and inundating coastal communities with waves up to 30 meters (100 ft) high.[8] It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. Indonesia was the hardest-hit country, followed by Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand.

With a magnitude of Mw 9.1-9.3, it is the third largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph. The earthquake had the longest duration of faulting ever observed, between 8.3 and 10 minutes. It caused the entire planet to vibrate as much as 1 centimetre (0.4 inches)[9] and triggered other earthquakes as far away as Alaska.[10] Its epicentre was between Simeulue and mainland Indonesia.

I was too tired to care as I realize when your number is up, it is up. Not for me now, so not worried. I enjoyed the sunshine, worked out every day including taking 2 Muay Thai boxing lessons. It is very hot and very humid here so I did not sweat - I poured! Muay Thai is a combat sport from the muay martial arts of Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This physical and mental discipline which includes combat on foot is known as "the art of eight limbs" because it is characterized by the combined use of fists, elbows, knees, shins and feet, being associated with a good physical preparation that makes a full-contact fighter very efficient. Muay Thai became widespread internationally in the twentieth century, when practitioners defeated notable practitioners of other martial arts. A professional league is governed by the World Muay Thai Council.

The Thai people are very into their version of Buddhism. I say this as I bought a book explaining Buddhism at the GIANT Buddha close to Phuket. There are flags and prayer sayings and incense and statues and mini Buddha houses with food and drinks and offerings everywhere. At the top of the mountain pass from one side of beaches to the other, the drivers all honk 3 times for the Buddha and blessings. The book I purchased is clear that Buddhism is about prayer and meditation and peace and love and calmness and wisdom. I guess if you do nothing else but sit all day contemplating the universe, its beginnings, our role regarding nature and animals and so on - one would come to the same conclusion. The chink in the armour - eating, survival, children, marriage…basically LIFE.

My pictures pretty much say it all - there is a huge difference between the poor everyday person and the rich - including tourists. The other thing one notices is the number of *Thai* massage places and the different number of massages available. I had a *Thai massage* only at the hotel, and it was strange and uncomfortable, they massage 'everywhere' - not necessary! It is a highly religious, hard working, kind but sexually loose society. Again I ask - what have we done here. I am not sure what their culture is and I feel they have lost something here trying to accommodate the outside world.

On the whole, the people are gracious, kind and honest - everyday folks just trying to get by. The beaches are fabulous and it is INEXPENSIVE! Would I go back - YEAH!