Lobsters in paradise

[Turboguy]

VWRW & TURBOGUY IN THAILAND

I am not sure how interesting this TR will be.   There is not a lot to say other than we had a wonderful time.    Thailand is a long journey.   I traveled about 23 hours actually in the air, and 48 or so with layovers.   I arrived in Bangkok at 11:30 PM and stayed in the airport for VWRW’s 7:10 AM arrival.      US Citizens do not need a passport to Thailand.   Russians do, but it can be applied for at the airport, paid for in Baht (Thai Currency) and they need to bring a passport photo with them.   The lines can be bad sometimes but she went through quickly and we killed some time waiting for an early afternoon flight for Phuket

We stayed at the Marina Hotel in Karon Beach section of Phuket.  The hotel consists of double bungalow units scattered over 35 acres of tropical gardens.  To get to our bungalow you walked down windy brick paths through lush and flowery settings.   The grounds were beautiful.  Each bungalow was a double unit with a wall so you never saw your neighbor, actually you rarely saw anyone.  It was like a private cottage in a jungle paradise.   The bungalow itself was newer, modern and very comfortable, our favorite part was the porch where we could sit and talk, and watch the flora and fauna, and of course each other.   The hotel property fronted on the beach, was in the shopping district and had a great choice of restaurants and a beautiful multi level pool.

FLASHBACK

In the time between Cairo and Thailand we talked about engagement rings.   Actually the conversations were just before our trip.   She had emailed me a page from a Samuel’s Jewelers catalog and showed me a ring she liked which was very unique but not expensive.    I checked their online store and the ring was not there.   I had a business trip to Columbus Ohio and there was a Samuel’s Jewelers in Springfield about 40 miles away.  I drove over and was told the ring she liked was discontinued in May but they had a similar one with a larger diamond and gave me a good deal on it.  They could also get it sized for me in time to pick up before I left Columbus.    I went to Thailand with the ring in my bag.

OUR FIRST FIGHT (well sort of)

We loved sitting on our porch drinking coffee and talking about all kinds of things.   The day we arrived we sat there and VWRW asked me what I had done to kill time during my all night stay at the Bangkok airport.   I told her I slept on a bench, had some snacks, read RWD on my Blackberry and even made a couple of posts.   She asked to read the posts.  I suddenly realized that the funny taste in my mouth was my foot.   I had mentioned in the posts that I had the engagement ring with me but had not yet find the proper moment to give it to her.  I could not let her read the posts.   I started off with a suggestion of later As she persisted had to go to a “NO”    She almost needed to refer to a Russian-English dictionary because NO was not a word she was used to hearing from me.   She elevated to an “If you want to have a nice vacation you had better let me read the posts”  In all honesty she was smiling as she said it.  I decided I had better defuse the situation and said “Just trust me!”  “I have a reason I don’t want you to read those posts now and you will understand later.   Just don’t worry about it now” and the situation came back under control.

The next morning I gave her the ring.  Let me tell you guys, it can be really dangerous to give a RW an engagement ring.   I was smothered with so many kisses that I could easily have suffocated but at least I would have gone with a smile on my face.  

We decided that day to make our first beach excursion.   I had some good sun blocker lotion with me but we just decided to stay out of the sun as much as we could.  The temperature there was between 92 & 94 and there was virtually never a cloud in the sky.   We found a shady place for our towels and made a few short plunges into the sea, limiting our time to 10-15 minutes.   It took only a few minutes after our return to our bungalow to discover we had underestimated the Thai sun.   We both had bad sunburns.  VWRW”s was a little worse than mine.   The next few days were planned around ways to stay out of the sun totally.  There we were as red as lobsters but having a wonderful time.

Later in our trip to Phuket we made a sightseeing tour.   The bus went first to a place called the monkey cave.   It was a large cavern with Buddhist statues and monkeys running around.  You could feed them.  It was rather neat.   From there we left on the bus and they began showing the James Bond movie “Man with the Golden Gun”  We drove for 45 minutes then got into a long, narrow boat powered by a truck engine connected to a 20 foot long shaft hanging way out the back and a big prop on the end of the shaft.   The boat virtually flew through the water.  After riding through some of the most amazing scenery you could imagine we arrived at our first stop, James Bond Island.   This was where parts of “Man with the Golden Gun” were filmed.   I will attach one photo.  In the movie this rock had a large solar collector mounted on it to capture the sun’s rays and focus them for evil purposes.    From there we boated to an isolated fishing village in the middle of the water.   Life in that fishing village to me seemed like the worst life anyone could want.  

NEIGHBORS FROM HELL

I am sure most of us have traveled, stayed in a hotel and had neighbors that made the trip miserable.   I mentioned that the bungalows were actually double units.   VWRW and I were sort of the early to bed, early to rise type.   We would get up early and sit on our porch drinking coffee and talking about everything.  For our neighbors who were the stay up late and sleep in type we became the neighbors from hell who were gabbing non stop and keeping them from sleeping in.    I am sure they went home and told everyone about their terrible neighbors.

The rest of our stay in Phuket was great.  We spent a lot of time just being together and talking.  I gave VWRW her first exposure to any kind of golf on the miniature golf course.  We both got a Thai massage once our sunburns improved enough.  We did some shopping and we relaxed.

BANGKOK

We had planned to have a day and a half in Bangkok but our airline changed our flight time and then the plane was late also so our time there was cut short.   We had a nice tour of the Royal palace which was really beautiful and is one of the top tourist destinations in Bangkok.

I am attaching some photos.   If you look closely at the photo taken on the porch of our bungalow you will see something shiny on her finger now.  There is one photo from James Bond Island showing the rock that was a focal point in the movie.  Two are from the Royal Palace.  

Thailand is a great place to visit.  It has amazing scenery, great weather and beautiful beaches.  Unlike Egypt, it is very clean, there are lots of things to do.   It does get very hot and there are a lot of mosquitoes.  All, in all, the trip was wonderful.  Every second with VWRW is enjoyable.   Our next plans to share time together are to make a trip to Sochi in a few months.


 

   

[catzenmouse]

TG and VWRW,

 I guess congratulations are in order.

 So, Congratulations!!! I hope that you two have the best and brightest future possible!

 Ken

[TexasBoar]

Now, THAT'S romantic! Congrats!

~Boar

[BillyB]

Fantastic pics TG and VWRW!!! Best wishes to both of you.

[viking]

I like the orange, uh..ummmm.. well.. ahhh.. scarf around her waist near the James Bond Island. Sounds like one heck of a romantic time. Congratulations to both of you.

[alarm_man]

Congratulations to both of you!  T/G you are one lucky man she is very lovely, and if you also click emotionally the skys the limit!

Andy

[jinx13]

Turbo and vwrw,

 Thanks for the pics, looks really beautiful there. How is the Tsunami recovery going? I don't remember if Phucket was affected, but how is tourism in general in Thailand, is it coming back in a strong way in your opinion? Looks like a great place for a holiday with your Russian girl. Nice ring vwrw 

 

[Turboguy]

Thanks everyone for the nice comments.   Jinx, yes, I think they were hit by the Tsunami there but the recovery seems to be 100% now and the toursit traffic is quite busy.  Yes, it was a great spot for a vacation and I really liked both the area and our hotel.

Alarm_man,  yes, we seem to click wonderfully on the emotional level as well as the intellectual, lifestyle, life tempo and most any level you could want.   About the only major difference is diet where we are exact opposites, but that is more me than her.   She is pretty normal for a RW in her eating habits.   For instance McDonald's has come up in a few of my posts.   She has never been in a McDonald's although we came close on our last night in Bangkok.   Our hotel in Phuket gave us a complimentary Thai dinner for two during our stay.   She thought it was one of the most wonderful meals and the only things I could eat were the steamed rice and the bread.  She kept suggesting I add one of the sauces to the rice to give it more flavor which would have taken it out of the eatable stage for me.   

It was her first time to see anything resembling a sea or ocean and she loved that.   The wrap or scarf as you called it was one of her first purchases in Thailand.   It is quite nice.   Clothes there are very inexpensive.   She bought a couple of very beautiful tops in Bangkok that were about $ 9.00 each.   She is a really good shopper who is very wise and has great taste in her shopping.   Thailand is actually a fairly inexpensive place to visit.

[Son of Clyde]

Turbo,
I wish you all the best and congratulations.
You look very happy together.
Keep in touch.

[Muj]

Congratulations TG and VWRW!  Great pictures.  We reminisce of our trip to Phuket last year.  I agree, wonderful place.  Sorry you prefer McD's over seafood Turbo  .  We look forward to returning to Phuket.

[El Rock]

I was there  back in 1991  , I recognize the last photo.
Very cheap there .
I had a import business  back then , it took me to there twice .
Stayed at the Pang Toon .
And the  Malaysia hotel ,   real  dump ,  run by thieves


Have fun

Rock

[El Rock]

I did not like the food there .
Mostly soup  , if I remember

[vwrw]

Guys, thank you very much for congratulations and kind wishes!!!

Phuket is miracle place… blue sky and sea, white sand, a lot of various and beautiful flowers and trees, friendly and smiling people …and there was no TV set in our room… wonderful!!!

Jinx, you are absolutely right Thailand is a great place for a romantic holiday with woman. You would need to cover each other with cream EACH DAY at the morning to avoid sunburns and at the evening to help your skin to recover…it is so much enjoyable procedure…and that is why I would not advise you to plan sightseeing for first some days.      

The hotel we lived is advertised on Internet as place for honeymoon. We laughed about it a little when we found out that most of the hotel’s visitors are people 60+ y.o. I was delighted with the people when I had opportunity to watch them…cheerful, well – kept (well - groomed), well – mannered men and women with wisdom and peace into their eyes. At the moments I thought… being 60 + y.o. is not awfully at all as it seems to me here in Russia.
By the way a fear in front of coming old age and connected with the old age - being beggar is the most common (and often main) reason why RW who are 45+y.o. are looking for husband abroad. 

[Voyageur]

Congratulations VWRW and Turbo,

My wife and and I send you both our heartfelt congratulations on your formal engagement. We wish you the best and hope for your future happiness and also look forward to meeting you in a less exotic location - like our home state - in the not-too distant future.

P.S. Although I have visited Thailand before, Bangkok never looked as good as Phuket!

[Turboguy]

Thanks SOC, Muj, Rock and Voyager. 

I agree with you Voyager.  I sort of anticipated we would enjoy Phuket more and planed most of our trip there with a short visit to Bangkok and I am glad I planned it the way I did.  We also missed our jungle paradise, missed our little porch where we spent so much time.   We also spent a lot of our time on the porch reading RWD on my Blackberry and talking about some of our mutual friends we have made here.  VWRW really hopes to meet a lot of the people she has made friends with here. 

Voyager,  if all goes as planned and the timing of our visa is as we hope we both should be down in that area in July and would be happy to hook up with you and your wife.  I always seem to have a knack of just missing people.   In Moscow a year and a half ago you were flying in about the time I was flying out.  In Bangkok Gator was flying in about the time I was flying out.   Hopefully in July we can get our timing right.

[Gator]

Congratulations TG!   Best Wishes VWRW!  You both look very happy.

Although the sightseeing and dining parts of your trip did not seem as exciting as you had hoped, the most important part was spending time together. 

Interesting to read a trip report on Thailand while currently in a 4-week journey through the same.  The Cossack is staying up with me.  She has an adventurous spirit; the real test comes when we go to Laos in 5 days.

The Thai cuisine has a most extraordinary palette of flavors.  The spice can bite you, and it requires some adjustment.  We had to eat lunch at a truck stop yesterday - we were the only "round eyes" there. 

No more comments on my trip in your trip report.  Sorry.  Again, I am happy for both of you.   

[Makkin]

  Bravo!!!

   A beautiful coupel.  I wish you both the very best.

Makkin

[Turboguy]

Thanks Gator,   Sightseeing and dining were not high on my list of priorities anyway.   The main thing I wanted was to spend time with VWRW and that part was great.   I agree with you abut the food biting you.  A few bites of the soup and I would have liked to find a fire extinguisher.   Everything I tried had too much bite for my palate.  

I am glad your trip is going well.  I hope you enjoy Laos too.  I don't expect to go back for several years.   There are enough places to see that we haven't been but when I do it would be fun to tour some of the surrounding countries as well.   Looking forward to your TR when you get back.

Thanks Makkin!

[El Rock]

Hey Torboguy , does your wife have a younger sister ??

Thanks Gator,   Sightseeing and dining were not high on my list of priorities anyway.   The main thing I wanted was to spend time with VWRW and that part was great.   I agree with you abut the food biting you.  A few bites of the soup and I would have liked to find a fire extinguisher.   Everything I tried had too much bite for my palate. 

I am glad your trip is going well.  I hope you enjoy Laos too.  I don't expect to go back for several years.   There are enough places to see that we haven't been but when I do it would be fun to tour some of the surrounding countries as well.   Looking forward to your TR when you get back.

Thanks Makkin!

[Mir]

TG/VRVW

Congratulations

EL Rock

Why do you specify if she has a younger sister? What if she had an older sister? Is that no good for you?

[El Rock]

I'll accept anything ----nice

[Turboguy]

Sorry Rock, she only has brothers.

[Kuna]

Brothers???

There ya go Rock... at least you have SOME options! 

(Kidding of course... Where Scottincrimea and the pic of his wife's friend he offered a little while ago?)


Turbo and vwrw,  My congrats to you both. I hope (and am sure) you'll both be very happy!

Kuna 

[vwrw]

Turbo and vwrw,  My congrats to you both. I hope (and am sure you'll both be very happy!)

Kuna 
Kuna, I think your confidence about our happiness may sound as a mockery to Turbo.:-))) You see, I was reading aloud YOUR whole TR for some hours. If you only heard the pronunciation I have you would understand what Turbo was underwent. I guess that is why Turbo still have not thanked you for sharing your experience on RWD. :-))) 
Thanks for your TR and for your congrats.

[Kuna]

hahahaha...  vwrw. If the TR ever turns into a book you can do the Audio version.  The accent would be sensational but you might need to use a very deep voice to sound more like me!