Thelma and Louise Take on the World

Saturday, May 19, 2012

The Last Scene

Sunday, May 19th is the last day of our Thailand vacation and nearly the end of our entire 3 month adventure. We fly out at 4:25PM and arrive in Los Angeles after 7PM Pacific time in the same day. It is going to be crazy. We fly into Kansas City on the 20th. We are going to Thelma's house in Wichita to prepare for graduation on Saturday the 26th. We still can't believe that we are going to be doctors.

We hope that everyone has enjoyed our blog and with it been able to join us on our travels. We have had the experience of a lifetime and we are glad that you have been there with us the whole way. With that said, we sadly must let the curtain close on this spectacular show. No worries, we are not going out like Thelma and Louise in a car off a cliff. :-)

USA here we come!!!

The Final Days

Thursday and Friday we spent on the beach, in the pool, in the sun, and dodging rain clouds. The rainy season had unfortunately come. We were very displeased to discover that we were not going to be a to go to Phi Phi Island due to the weather. Not only did the sky look bad from time to time, the sea was by far the mostly beastly that I had ever seen. The waves were huge and the under toe was insane. Despite the disappointment, we still had an amazing time.

Saturday marked the last day of our Phuket experience. We spent a little time at the pool. packed our bags, said our goodbyes to Megan, and flew back to Bangkok.

Once in Bangkok, we were taken to our hotel for the night. It was an interesting place. Totally off the beaten path and very oddly decorated, actually devoid of any ornamentation at all. In their defense, the bed was comfortable and that is what really matters. In addition to the days events, we still had to make a trip downtown to retrieve some bags that we had left 3 weeks prior. It turned out to be over a 2 hour journey through the winding streets of Bangkok because once again and not to our surprise, the driver had no idea where he was going. We were just glad to get our bags and get back to the hotel. I was well passed midnight by the time we were back and settled.

The pool

The trees

I'm gonna miss the ocean

Pictures can't describe the power
of those waves.

Beautifully dangerous.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Drinks, Drag, and Dancing

Wednesday was a lame day at first. It rained on and off the entire day. We spent our time in the room, reading. surfing the web, and napping. However, that night was our big night out for the Simon Cabaret.

We left the resort a little early so that we could catch a dinner before the show. It was about an hour drive to Patong Beach, the home of the Simon Cabaret. We picked up our tickets and headed for bar/restaurant/party scene to see about some food and drinks before the show. We ended up at Bangkok Burger Company. It was delicious of course. The food here always is. When we finished, the rain had stopped so we could walk down the busy street. We ended up running into some ladyboys that took pictures with us. We eventually made our way to a taxi and back in time for our show.

We had long awaited the Simon Cabaret. I had found it mentioned in a guide book a couple months before and it sounded like a spectacular sight to see...and it was. The show is basically just a giant Las Vegas style drag show. The ladyboys as they are called are gay men and various stages of transgender individuals dressed in over the top women's performance costumes. It was an incredible sight to see. After the show, we posed as the British Royal Family with the performers. They went nuts over it! It was quite hilarious.

After the show, we went back to the party scene and hit a few places. We wound up at another drag show that was very spectacular because the performers looked incredible. The Thai physique lends itself well to drag performers because their bodies are so petite and feminine overall. It makes for a really great show.

We ended the night at just after 2AM and headed back to our hotel. It was a full night of drinks, drag, and dancing.

The ladyboys in the street.

They were a hoot!

The Royal Family went to the show!

This ladyboy was a real Queen.

Simon Cabaret.

The front of the theater.

One of the bars. Note the pole dancing
Thai women. It was an interesting place.

One of the ladyboys at the drag show.
This one performed Celine Dion.

Another ladyboy.
I think she performed Rihanna.

Another ladyboy.

The prettiest one.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Baby Elephant Walk

Tuesday, May 15th was a pool day. We woke up, had a little breakfast, and were on our way to the pool by noon. Okay...so it was a late morning. :-) Anyways, we spent the afternoon lazing around at the pool. Its a salt water pool, so when you go swimming you are a little more buoyant which makes floating around just that much more relaxing.

While at the pool, we had 2 really nice additions to the day. First, we found the pool side bar. What could be better than swimming up to a the poolside and enjoying a pina colada while relaxing in the water? Nothing of course. Second amazing item of the day, Ya Ya the 18 month old baby elephant. That's right, everyday they bring her out and about to play with the kids and adults alike. She was the cutest thing ever. She would walk up to us, wrap her trunk around our necks and give us elephant kisses on our face. It was amazing. Then, she got really excited about shower time. The second the handler mentioned it, she turned and as if on a mission headed for the pool shower. Once there, she turned on the water by herself, which at first didn't work, but then when the water came, she was in her own little paradise. When it was time to leave, she waved goodbye with her little trunk and proudly headed home. It was the best part of our entire day.

We went to the pub for dinner that night, enjoyed some half priced pastries from the hotel market, and made our nightly journey to Downton Abbey.

The girls.

Thelma gettin' an elephant kiss.

Harriet has a new pet.

Megan gettin' a kiss.

Everyone gets a kiss from Ya Ya.

Just too cute.

Thelma walking with Ya Ya
to the shower. Trunk in hand.

Shower time!!

All done! Water off!

Monday, May 14, 2012

Beach Safari Finale

Saturday, May 12^th was another pool day. We relaxed in our own little piece of paradise for the day. After the hard day’s work, we took the shuttle to the beach to have drinks at an Irish Pub and dinner at an Indian restaurant from the guide book, Ali Baba. The drinks were great, but the dinner…whoa…the dinner was spectacular. The venue was just in a hallway between a video store and a hotel. However, the food was the best Indian food we had ever had. We will never be the same again, neither emotionally or in size. J

Sunday, May 13^th, the day we moved to Phuket. We woke up, had breakfast, and packed our bags for the flight to the next destination on our beach safari.

We arrived at about 3PM in Phuket and then took a taxi to the Marriott Vacation Club in Mai Khao Beach. Turns out…we were in a totally new paradise. The club, the pools, the beaches, everything was like a dream. After checking-in, starting some laundry, and settling ourselves, we went in search of the beach. The waves roared and crashed, but the best part was that as far as the eye could see…it was us and 3 others. 5 people on a huge expanse of beach. Seriously…it was like a movie.

Later that evening, Thelma’s friend from Hope College – Megan – joined in the fun making us an even party of four. We enjoyed a nice dinner at another pub, made some cocktails in the room, and watched some Downton Abbey, the best BBC period drama ever. It was just another day in paradise.

Monday was our first day out an about in our new environment. We went to yoga and Pilates first thing in the morning. It’s always hot here and this was no exception. We were soaked with sweat by the end of our hour of yoga, so don’t get me started on what we looked like after another hour of Pilates. After our healthy start to the day, we were off to the beach.

Our hotel is not directly on the beach, but that is not a big deal because there is a free buggy that takes us to another part of the Marriott Compound by the beach club and J.W. First things first, we went to play in the waves. Swimming was prohibited because of dangerous conditions and they weren’t kidding. The waves were insane and the undertow could have easily taken a car to sea, so we just played at the edge. Then, we went and spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach side pool. It was a beautiful place with a 7.5 foot deep pool. We were served free fresh fruit and ice water while we basked in the ocean side sun.

That night we made pasta in the room, had some more cocktails, and continued our Downton Abbey season 2 adventures.

The entry way into our room.

Bathroom 1

Kitchen and living space

Thelma and Louise's room.

Our Terrace

Master bathroom.

Elephant Towel Animal

We got flower necklaces on our arrival.
Thanks to Harriet, we look tan.

The pools and such

Giant chess set at the pool side

Just a pretty pool of water.

The pools.

More of the pools.

Pretty

Zest Restaurant and Bar

The GORGEOUS Beach.

Beautiful beach...no people. UNBELIEVABLE.

More of the beach.

Sunset with Harriet and Thelma

Sunset with Thelma and Louise

Just too pretty

Pools and beds where were caught some sun.

Beach Safari to Koh Samui

Wednesday, May 9^th we were off to Koh Samui for the next leg of our trip and beach safari. We caught our Bangkok Airlines flight out of Bangkok and arrived on Koh Samui just after noon. Koh Samui is one of many of the beautiful islands in Thailand.

We grabbed our bags, met our car and were off to the Baan Hin Sai Hotel/Resort. It was beautiful. The resort is built into one of the rocky cliffs at the water’s edge. It doesn’t have a sandy beach, but it makes up for with infinity pools and gorgeous views. We spent the afternoon at the pool. That evening we sat for the happy hour where we had the most amazing pina coladas made with fresh pineapple juice and coconut cream. While at happy hour there was a pop up tropical thunderstorm. It was splendidly relaxing. We finished off the night with dinner at the resort in the cliffs.

Thursday, May 10^th was beach day. We woke up, had our breakfast at the hotel buffet, and hoped on the free transport to the beach just down the road. We arrived at the beach and spent the midday under the sun enjoying the crisp sea water. We did a little shopping and caught the shuttle back to our hotel. When we arrived back at the hotel, I fell up the stairs, slid a couple feet on my knees, and hit my shoulder and collar bone on the hand rail. It was really awesome. I made such a commotion that a Thai man doing gardening or something behind our place peeked out around the corner of our room to see if I was okay. In addition to my fall, we all also found out that we trgically managed to get sun burned at the beach. Awesome. We spent the rest of the afternoon reading, enjoying the pool, and nursing our burns and my damaged body. Afterwards, we caught a couple pina coladas again at happy hour and then headed to dinner at Dr. Frogs, a cliff side restaurant. Dr. Frogs turned out to be an excellent restaurant with a menu of classic Italian and traditional Thai. With the exception of the insects attacking our table, the food and the view were spectacular. We concluded the evening watching music videos including our favorite Asian bands 2AM, 2PM, Girls Generation, 4 Minute, and EMBLAQ. Gotta love Thailand!!!

Friday was a nice and relaxing day. We slept in, went to breakfast late, and then spent the day at the pool. The hotel was just so gorgeous that we had no reason to leave.