Phuket - February 18, 2018

We did another touristy thing today and went snorkeling! I'm so glad we did. It was an all-day event that began with a hotel pick-up at 7:15 am and finished about 4 pm. Our hotel is in the Kata Noi Beach area on the Andaman Sea near the southern tip of the island on the western coast. The Royal Marina where our snorkeling trip begins in the north and on the east side of the island in the Tha Ruea Bay area.

Today is Sunday so we got to enjoy the scenery across the island at a much more civilized pace than our drive in from the airport two days ago. The island of Phuket has some big divided boulevards with several lanes of traffic going in each way - by the way, they drive on the left here in Thailand. Phuket Town, itself, is very commercial and most of the commercial buildings are not attractive at all. Quite garish colors are used to promote the big electronics stores, the furniture stores, the gold and jewelry megastores and car dealerships. They sit alongside tired little shops that offer massage, car repair or sell motorbike tires, street food, cheap clothing and souvenirs. There's even an outlet mall here and yes, they have the very same stores we find in our so-called outlets. Tesco is the big supermarket here and it is super indeed. It's as big as a Costco and a spot in the big parking lot comes after a long search --- I know this because we stopped at one the other day on our way in from the airport. Like Hong Kong, Phuket has a big Buddha too that sits on a high hill-top. The weather was fairly clear today so we got a glimpse of the tall white sitting Buddha statue.

The very, very cool thing about our excursion today is that we got to travel out into the Gulf of Thailand east of Phuket Island to the Phi Phi Islands. They do not pronounce the "h" in "ph" here in Thailand, so these are called the Pee-Pee Islands. For real. We went by high-speed motorboat - three big outboards 250 hp each. The wind was up and the ride was rough.

Skip back for a moment to 2004 when the tsunami caused by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean hit this area. It killed 200,000 people in its total scope but locally it devastated all the beaches on the southern portion of the western coast - right where our hotel sits today. The tsunami also impacted the islands of Phi Phi. Our guide said there were two waves. It was not the full force of the tsunami that killed so many; it was the draw back. First the ocean sucked the water near the shore far out to sea. Fish were left flopping on the beach. Curiosity seekers came out with cameras to photograph the strange phenomenon. Then the big wave came. Hundreds of locals and tourists were washed out to sea.

As a result of that catastrophic event, new early-warning systems have been put in place, and it is not unusual at all to see Tsunami Evacuation signs posted everywhere along coastal areas.

Phi Phi Islands are made up of Phi Phi Don, the grand island and then Phi Phi Ley, the tiny one and numerous other smaller but beautiful islands risin gsharply out of the sea. This area is spectacular. It's similar to Halong Bay in that there are many islands rising out of the water. There are fewer islands but the water here is just the clearest and prettiest I have ever seen. We swam - with hundreds of other tourists!!! And then we snorkeled. Of course we saw fish! The water was clear, warm and heavenly. And we could see mounds of coral broken off, dead and lying in piles as a result of that masterfully powerful tsunami. We all must give awe to Mother Nature. We are smart and we are powerful but she is smarter and far greater..

One of the most fun things today was chatting with our fellow boat mates. We met couples from Mexico City, from Brooklyn, from San Diego and the best -- a darling newlywed couple from Rotterdam on their honeymoon. They hope to visit Atlanta. We gave them our info and invited them to call. We would love to have them visit us and take them to Chastain for dinner, wine and a concert.