Phuket - June 17 05:00

It is still dark outside. I may try to sleep more, but I slept for the better part of 12 hours. Since I did, I am confident I will have the energy to walk around today before the driver comes to get me this evening. From the air Phuket looks like a very bumpy surface - if anyone knows what Karst topography is -- where some areas sank and others stayed up depending upon the rock materials. This makes it look like humps miscellaneously left around, some standing up out of the ocean and inlets, very unique and interesting. I probably can't get a picture of it now, but I am sure I can later when Dave and I come back. By the way, the humps are covered in beautiful green foliage except where it is to steep to stabilize with any soil, then bare rock show through.

It is raining outside now. It would be nice if it gets it out of its system before I go out today! I should probably buy an umbrella, being the green/rainy season. Every day is going to be a bad hair day for me here. The local people have that beautiful thick, coarse, oriental black hair that is much better suited to the humidity. My hair takes on a life of its own and is totally confused which way to go. Ha ha! Small price to pay, so I just won't bother with styling or even blowing dry. Hats and ponytails are the name of the game for me here.

I wish I had taken a Thai language course. Many people speak broken English, but it is certainly a barrier. I have a handbook with important phrases but I do not understand the pronounciation rules, which makes it virtually impossible to learn, speak, and understand. Your typical tourist can by, because the people who cater to tourism have a better grasp of the English language. However, those are not the areas I am going to be in for the next month. I hope I come out with a little, but I will need a small amount of instruction on pronounciation compared to spelling. Spelling, that's another thing, they use characters on their signs - but my handbook has it spelled in western letters. So confusing.

I will take pictures while I am out today, so I will try to blog again later to post them. Oh let me describe where I am. I think I only wrote it in my journal. Approached from the outside, a Californian might describe the place as a flea-bitten, rundown, roach motel. But after you enter into the courtyard, it transforms into a tropical paradise with a pool, lush foliage, and cute little cottages. The room is no frills for Western standards, but for Thai? Wow! I have a Western toilet; running water in the sink; a shower that even has an Insta-hot; air-conditioning; and a stocked refrigerator with water, soda, and beer. Oh, I do have a picture of the inside courtyard - I'll try to post that for practice. Looks like it worked. That is the view from my room. My next pictures will be better and more meaningful, I hope. This was just practice to see how to do it. Now I wait for daylight to start a new adventure I can talk about.