Phuket and Phi Phi

A couple of weeks for the Summer we missed. A chance to get back into the water and get the masks on. A time to relax in the sun...and of course the food!
We didn't dally in Bangkok, just a night at the Pantip Court - our favourite - ate a red curry and larb gai - heaven - and then off the Phuket (missed our Zurich connection prior so had a night in Switzerland first - fun fun)
Phuket seemed a bit more together than Ko Samui initially but soon we found it a lot more expensive and structured. Cheap taxis and real tuk tuks were non existent and the streetside food vendors were much rarer than elsewhere we had been. So no sitting in the gutters devouring noodle soups - major disappointment - however the pancake vendors were superb. Having said that we stayed in a fantastic place in Karon, the Marina which was next to the beach in lush jungle and some really nice restaurants.

It didn't take long for the 'Harry Potter' stuff to start and Angus was fired up by day 2.

We persuaded him to try to talk his way out rather than kick peoples shins in. So the standard retort became 'stupid Harry Potter' with a rather bad Thai accent. What can you do? 'I will never read Harry Potter, I hate him, NEVER' - we felt for him. It's not easy being 5 sometimes.

Next we ducked over to Phi Phi for a few days. Loved Phi Phi. Heaps more laid back and not so up market. Different mix of people too. The long island iced teas were stupendous...and the view from the bar was tough.

Longtails on the beach

Interesting shops, no cars, nice swimwear - said Amber ahem - and some fantastic food. Best of all was hiring a longtail to ourselves and going snorkelling along the limestone cliffs. A couple of slices of bread and you were surrounded by thousands of fish in a coral world in a warm ocean. It doesn't get much better.

Archie and I had a great sea canoe adventure to the Monkey Beach.

We didn't get to 'Jame Bond Island' - but got a good laugh. We didn't get to eat maggoroni chi either...but the frozen Mango shakes at 60c were to die for.

I found myself up a big cliff less the bravado I'd had at the bottom!

Back to Phuket on Ambers birthday, one necklace heavier than when we left. We stayed at Kamala this time, different again - better with the kids and a nice row of cheap restaurants on the beach. Same scene, veeery relaxing. Angus got his first taste of boogy boarding and Archie got out into the waves. Bades well for our return to the coast and dad time down at the beach.
I think we had just about done Phuket when we had to return. The last night in Bangkok and the last night of our long journey was upgraded to a 2 bedroom luxury apartment 25 floors up overlooking the city. Superb.

Excited, sad, reflective, relieved, nervous, happy...the last day was a discordant mix of emotion - it seemed a lifetime since we had left - each day had been different and each had its challenges. I looked across the row of seats at my family and saw a completely different view from the one I had seen eight months before.



One post to go.

Farewell España

The last four days in Spain were spent back in Barcelona. We got a nice apartment just behind Plaza Real. It was nice to be back when our Spanish was better and also nice to be back when the kids had grown up so much. We still love it.

We did lots of wandering, Gaudi's Park Guell, a few laps of Las Rambas pet shops and the science park for the boys.

There was a certain sense of finality, even from the kids...we were going to miss Spain and this incredible experience together. Most importantly we all felt the difference within ourselves as distinct from our first visit where we were tired and a little anxious about where all this was going to take us. We had been lucky - there were a million experiences we could have had - a different street, a different person, a different time, a different decision - all could have led us down a different path. Would it have been better? Worse? I think that's the beauty of travelling without agenda.

You just never know.

Essaouira

We needed to see some water. Back over the Altas and east of Marrakesh is Essaouira, a fortess city and ancient port on the Altantic. Lots of tourists and a nice walled town albeit a little malodorous - there is an omnipresent aroma of cat's piss which detracted from the ambience somewhat.

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Hendrix allegedly stayed here in the sixties and there are still hippies hanging about with rastos untrimmed waiting for his return. The Hendrix hotel is not one I would recommend to mum.

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We got a little apartment on the wall with a view of the Atlantic breaking on the coastine. It was nice to smell the sea again.

Essaouira is a artsy place and has developed a reputation for being an enclave for Moroccan and European artists. There also some exceptional furniture designers and cabinetmakers and we saw many beautiful pieces of furniture in the little workshops that dot the fortress wall. We ended up buying a painting that we both liked a lot just so have something to bring home.

We wandered about the port, drank coffee and ate croissants, visited the beach, looked at some of the art galleries, got pulled up by the police... twice...

There was a lot of bakery-gazing by Amber and Angus. Archie and I had a fresh seafood barbeque by the port. We spend lots of time playing on the beach with the boys, they were very happy to be in the water again. There were the usual guys trying to flog camel rides or food. 'No thanks, we don't want a hash brownie at the moment we are watching our kids in the surf' !!

The sunsets were spectacular, we just sat on the wall near the fishmarket and watched the hundreds of gulls feeding on the scraps from the fish cleaners.
We just needed to get out of the car and wander for a few days.

It was very relaxing.

A bit more desert - the Dades Valley

We did a lot more driving through south Morocco and below are some more photos showing some tidbits - people and places - of our adventure. I have spieled enough!

Ait Benhaddou

Dades Valley

Young Atlas Shepherd

Dades Gorge

Todra Gorge

The local kids love biscuits

View to high Atlas

Somewhere in the desert

Ait Benhaddou

Lots of driving but it was all worth it.

Sahara Bound

Marrakesh grand taxi depot is not a great place for a picnic. We carved our way through the rank urine laden air and started haggling for a ride up over the high Atlas to Ourzazate (pronounced wuzazarte). The fattest man in Morocco finally secured our custom and we were off with our driver Mohammed for the 200km journey - not the chattiest fellow by any stretch. Within a minute Archie had pooed his nappy. Luckily our pathetic french request was overcome by smell and he knowingly pulled over.

The Altas are big, we hadn't seen them from Marrakesh due to a sandstorm when we arrived but when were driving through the foothills they loomed snowcapped and very large. The road winding up to Tizi n Ticha was spectacular. I only had one camera card for 2 weeks and was going to have to be very selective. The colours of the earth in the mountains are incredible...from deep purples, browns, reds to almost white and these combined with the folding and erosion of the land had us stopping Mohammed so we could just gaze. 'What's the big deal? his eyes said. The fossil and thunder egg (no not box) stalls that litter the roadside display are testament to its richness. A geologists utopia I suspect.

Life on the other side was quiet. The roads were traffic free as here the family car is a donkey. The beast of burden is truly the beast of burden and donkeys seem to do everything from taxis to mowing, from ploughing to pulling huge wagons - it's quite amazing what those little legs can do!

After an overnight in Ourzazate we decided to hire a car to give us more flexibility...and seat belts! Always good when most of the other cars are falling to bits. We set off down the Draa valley, a series of lush palmeraies and villages along the river flanked by stunning mountains - destination Sahara. It was a top 10 drive. Very speccy. Nice fresh dates along the way as well! Nice fresh dates for nice fresh dates.

At Zagora, Hassan the 'blue man' organised a 4WD and guide for us (another labourious haggling session) and we set off early the next day - destination some 100kms away. Most of this trip was over stony desert and small dunes, every now and then we passed tribes of nomads - destination seemingly nowhere.

Unmarked wells were infrequent, just holes in the ground surrounded by a few stones - I guess the nomads just knew where to go in this featureless lanscape. The boys didn't stray too far from the landcruiser as I think they understood the consequence of being left behind. Dessication.

We arrived at a small oasis and met our nomad guide - he was very friendly like most all Moroccans and had a classic sweetened mint tea and no toothbrush smile. 'Why has he got brown teeth mum?' at 200 decibels. 'Shhhhhhhh!' From here we continued to Erg Chegaga (sweet home Chegaga) and the 300m dunes.


After climbing the highest dune, running back down and chasing scarab beetles about we headed for our encampment. The tent was authentic beduin style and the highlight dinner at a table set atop the dunes under the stars - tajine of course.

as clichéd as it may sound it was really a treat...even saw a few falling stars. And of course an after dinner seach for the Fennec fox, just to keep the two naturalists happy. It had been a great day.

Back on the road - Marrakesh, Morocco

With four words of Arabic and the tiny remnants of high school french we landed in the pink city of Marrakesh. Morocco is well touristed and a little expensive but gave us a taste of the sand dunes, nomads, oases, kasbahs, mountains, and coast as well as the arabic culture with minarets rising from every village (and the 4am call to prayer). Anyway we had one night booked in a riad, our lonely planet and no idea.

Djemaa el-Fna or La Place is the central square in the walled medina of Marrakesh and can only be described as a spectacle. The myriad of souqs surrounding the square sell everything...antiques, carpets, silver, lamps, spices and each is affronted by a morrocan very keen to show you his wares. Very keen. "Please just one look, inshallah"

As dusk settled in we primed ourselves with a fresh squeezed orange juice from stall 42 and started to wander. The Djemaa el-Fna ramps up several more notches at nightfall when the smoke starts pouring from the rows of open air foodstalls selling everything from tajine to enormous piles of snails in their own juice.

Elsewhere snake charmers, storytellers, medicine men, acrobats, jugglers, musicians and women doing henna tattoos fill the spare spaces each surrounded by jostling crowds of onlookers. Interestingly though there are lots of tourists the overwhelming majority of people looking on are moroccan. The sound of drums was almost hypnotic and came from every direction, somehow all in rhythm, almost obscuring the whispers of hasssshhhh coming from the dark faces in the crowd . It is a spectacle. Incredible really.

Two days is enough...