Koh Phi Phi

I think my favorite day in Thailand was the day we spent on the sea and sand. We took a day-long excursion among the Phi Phi islands about an hour by boat from the main port on Phuket. It was a beautiful sunny day and the tour took us snorkeling in deep blue and turquoise waters, bathing on sandy beaches, lunching over the jade-colored sea and giving bananas to beach monkeys. The monkeys were less a hit with the boys since they are a common sight in Delhi, but the sand and water were, of course, their favorites.

These big rocks were amazing and really reminded me of some parts of New Caledonia:

 What I loved most...being in the clear, blue water,

 green trees and blue sky

 and boys playing in the sand.

Bangkok boat tour...

Other than Siam Ocean World, which is an amazing and very fun aquarium, I think my boys' second favorite outing in Bangkok was the 1.5 hour ride on the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok. We motored off the main river through canals passing houses, temples, bathers, swimmers, clothes washers and birds. It's fun to get off the streets and see the city from a different perspective.

Land of smiles...

We recently spent ten days in Thailand. I visited Thailand 1999 with a good friend of mine from college. I flew from NYC and he was coming from Japan with another friend of his, so we agreed to meet at the airport information desk at midnight, shortly after both our flights arrived. He had arranged our hotel and really planned out most, if not all, of our activities. It was a great trip. We visited some sights in Bangkok then took a bus going east to catch a boat to the island of Koh Chang. The island was idyllic--gorgeous beaches, jade-colored water, a small bungalow on the beach, fresh fish around a fire at night, walking through the forest to see the waterfall. It was my first time in Asia, the food was amazing, the people friendly, it was perfect (or at least my memory of it is).

Traveling with two small boys is anything but idyllic. In the thirteen years or so since my last visit, Bangkok seemed much bigger, much more modern and had many, many more tourists. Their were crowds every where we went. But, the food was still amazing, the people still friendly and it was pretty perfect for a family vacation. We spent a few days in Bangkok, visiting the main sights, then we headed to the beach for six days. Here are some photos from our visit to the Grand Palace in Bangkok.

Around the corner from the Grand Palace and on just about every corner, you'll see these tuk-tuks. I love them!

Holi day...

Holi, the festival of colors, is my favorite holiday in India. I wrote about it last year here: Colors and Water and here: More on Holi. And, since today was Holi, the boys and I put on our white clothes, filled buckets of water and broke open the packets of colors. Some friends came by to help spread the colors:

The morning was spent coloring ourselves, but the afternoon was spent painting on paper.

 A great day full of color. Happy Holi!