The Phillips Family: December 2007

Hello! Here I am, sitting at an internet cafe in Koh Chang, Thailand! Crazy! I dont have tons of time, but wanted to get a quick blog started to tell what we have been doing so far on our travels! It has been simply amazing, every day is new and exciting, the people are the nicest you will ever meet! The land, culture, food, everything is wonderful - here is a quick breakdown of what we've done so far....

Day 1/2 - Flew from Edmonton to Vancouver 1 hr 45 min, flew from Vancouver to Hong Kong 14 hr, flew from Hong Kong to Bangkok, 2 hr 30 min, drove by van from Bangkok to Pattaya 4 hrs.

Day 3 - Swimming and drinks in pinapples! Lunch and markets, supper at a pizza joint ;) (these first few days were really messed up as we were all suffering from severe jetlag - 14 hr time difference!)

Day 4 - Chris's aunt Wendy and her 3 daughter (all in their 20s) Shannon, Ashley and Candace arrived. We visited Pattaya Waterpark most all day, then went to supper at this restaurant that had traditional Thai dancers and music playing. Very cool.

Day 5 - We visited Pattayas botanical gardens, and saw a Thai boxing match, a dance show, and the coolest thing ever - an elephant show! I got lifted up by an elephant, right into its nouth basically! the pics will come later... zac got lifted by 2 elephants who tied their trunks together. dani fed them bananas! the show consisted of the most amazing tricks, and you could tell the elephants were having a blast - they played soccer, basketball, darts, rode bikes, walked over people, making tricks like pausing over their stomachs (cara was one of those people!) the painted tshirts, and i bought one - its of a bunch of flowers, very cool again! That night we ate supper on the water, at a seefood place. freshest and best seafood i have ever had - white prawns with black pepper and garlic, YUM! :o)

Day 6 - Christmas Eve - Drove about 4 hrs from Pattaya to Trat, then took the ferry across to the island of Koh Chang. It means "Elephant Island". Its awesome here, very laid back, less touristy, such nice friendly kind people! Check out our hotel at penny-thailand.com. Its great!

Day 7 - Christmas Day - Kids got a few gifts (the trip being the biggest!) but Zac man got a cool set of Thai boxing gloves and shorts, & a silk kimono, Dani got an elephant purse, and silk pjs. We spent the day at the beach, eating and swimming and tanning and getting Thai massages on the beach. It was great! I barely had time to miss the snow... :)

Day 8 - Another beach day, hanging with the kids in the ocean.

Day 9 - Day of shopping the markets, and spent the aft at the beach.

Day 10 - Down day, hung out at the hotel, swimming in the pool, and napping and munching.

Day 11 - TODAY! we went on an elephant trek - 2 hours through a rubber tree plantation, the jungle, rainforest, along the river where we stopped and swam with the elephants! Zac and Chris did it, while Dani and I watched from a platform in the trees. it was so cool - the elephant rolled on its side, and dunked them, zac did awesome, held his breath and went under like a champ! our driver called him 'his hero'. :) so cute!!

I better run, spent 40 mins & 80 baht on the internet now - thats about $3, hahaha! will get on later and post up the pics asap!!!

This is too funny - such a Dani-face! Shes busting a gut over her new trick - standing up backwards on her rocking chair (mine, from when I was a baby) and rocking out...