Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The Next Week In Our Story (Part 1 of 2)


Well, to continue our little series of flashbacks, I should tell the tale of Thailand.
After one week exactly of life in Kigali, we boarded a plane to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We then spent some quality time in this airport before heading off to Bangkok. We then had a great time (no sarcasm, it's a wonderful airport) there before heading off on a small jet for Krabi, Thailand. Then came the van, followed by a boat, then another van, then a ferry. Then another van, and then we arrived at the Pimalai resort.
Then, we really knew we had arrived when the staff nudged us into comfortable couches and gave us cool wet towels for our hands and faces, and tall glasses of lemongrass juice for our throats while we endured the wait of checking-in. We were surprised to discover that -since we were accompanied by a toddler- we had been upgraded to "VIP" status, and placed in a private beach house.

When we were shown through the door of this place, our jaws dropped. It was between 50 - 100 feet from the ocean, depending on the tide. It had remarkable views of nearby cliffs and the sunset. It had several decorative pools and gardens. It a few gorgeous rooms, and a luxurious bathroom. It even had fresh tropical fruit and cookies waiting for our enraged stomachs. We gobbled these down, ordered room service, bathed, and started enjoying our jet-lagged selves by promptly falling asleep.

Waking the next morning meant breakfast first of all. Part of our stay there included a breakfast buffet that I have rarely seen the likes of. It was (by my taste) and excellent offering of things we find traditional for breakfast such as an omelet bar, fresh-baked breads and pastries, bacon, sausages (strange for a part of the world that's 80% Muslim, but business is business), yogurt, cereals, fresh tropical fruits and juices, with really good coffee. We especially loved the fruit selection. But then there were the other foods that reminded you of where you were. Boiled rice porridge with fish and a compliment of 6-8 spicy condiments to add. Roast duck with sesame-pepper sauce over rice. Crispy chicken. Tomatoes steamed with spinach and garlic. Wonderful curry dumplings and steamed buns and shumai. My mouth is watering thinking of it. Don't worry, readers: I won't go into this detail over every meal we ate, but this is the first thing we say our first day here, and the first thing we say every day. I don't miss many meals, but I definitely wouldn't be caught dead missing one of these.

Anyway, then Andrea had to go to work: meetings all day with other like-minded researchers. And Zoe and I went to get serious about playing. Our first action of the day was to take some bread pilfered from the buffet down to the koi pond to get some fish fed. Then we had to decide between morning at the beach or morning at the pool. Zoe did enjoy a few mornings at the beach, but generally found it to be too "messy," and preferred the pool. She defintely did well with both, and we had our fun. Then it was back to the house for a quick bath for Zoe. Most days she would dry off by lying in her underwear on a towel on our bed, watching Cartoon Network, while I took my shower. She was invariably asleep before I stepped out. So I would read or try to read your emails or watch more cartoon network or write notes or just join her in a nap. Not a bad first half of a day at all.

I think I will have to abridge this post as it has already grown longer than our entire stay. I will post the second half of the story soon.

2 comments:

  1. Oh fabulous! It reminds me of our trip there and makes me really miss the place! Sounds like you had just an idyllic time!

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  2. What a great blog -don't abridge too much! Hope you saved us a coconut. Its also sounds just what you all deserved after all the stress and strains of moving (which hasn't really finished yet I know). It does sound idyllic. Edwin also has somewhat mixed opinions on the beach -happy to run around as long as the sea doesn't come near and suddenly there will be a crisis because a grain of sand is on the wrong part of his body.

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