Sunny Outdoors

10 July 2010 - The mountain was swarmed with blood sucking leeches ! Almost everyone in the group got bitten, myself included. Some even had multiple bites. Legs and ankles were still bleeding at dinner time ...  These suckers came in different lengths and sizes -  there were small thin ones (that can easily squeeze into your shoes) and long fat ones that looked like an earthworm. We constantly had to look at our shoes to check.  Without fail,  every 5 minutes or so, there will be leeches making their way up for a fresh blood meal ! Even when we stopped, we had to scan the ground for leeches.  A lot of us got bitten when we stopped to rest for the first time.  You stop to catch your breath and have a drink of water and the next thing you know, you have leeches making their way up from the ground to your shoes and ankles. Yikes ! Although, I got bitten by one blood sucker who made it up to my ankle and had a good feast, there were at least 10+ leeches t...

24 to 28 Jun 2010 - This was our second time in Phuket. We were there about 6 years ago, before the tsunami happened.  Surprisingly, the beaches and the places look similar to the Phuket we had in our memory.  A lot of rebuilding must have taken place since the 2004 tsunami disaster. When we arrived at the airport, everything was chaotic at the arrival hall. Taxi touts rushed at you with placards showing fares to Patong and other areas of Phuket.  Having read about this from websites, we  quickly made our way out of the arrival hall. We turned right after exiting the door and there it was, a booth with a sign that says "Taxi Meter".  Despite the big "Taxi Meter" signboard, we were still quoted a flat fee to Patong !!! 550 baht from the airport to Patong (including the 100 baht Airport taxi tax).  I caught a glimpse of those prices offered by the touts - one of which indicated 600 baht to Patong. Patong We stayed at the Patong Bay Garden Resort which wa...