2010-12-20: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all readers

A week ago we came back to our home in snowy Sweden. It is beautiful, but very cold for us that have been in the tropical heat for so long time. Now we will spend Christmas and New Year with family and friends. Our plans after that are not 100% set yet, but we will continue our quest for a nice catamaran as soon as possible.

We wish all our followers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2010-12-10: Bangtao Beach, Phuket

We have spent a week in Bangtao Beach. Another nice place in Phuket. We love the fantastic beach and the clean water. After an upgrade we are also very happy with our bungalow - it is more or less on the beach and we have wonderful sea view.

The pool area at the hotel is magnificent, and we are almost alone to use it.

During the week there has been some celebrations. It was the king of Thailand, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyade´s birthday. The Kings birthday is celebrated all over the country with a lot of fireworks.

Also the kids in school honour the Kings birthday. Anne was invited to a dance show at Kem´s school. The girls were sooo cute and it was a fantastic show.

















Some more pictures from Bang Tao: BangTao

2010-12-01: Phuket - Nai Yang Beach

We are now in Nai Yang Beach since a couple of days. Nai Yang is a small village in the north west part of Phuket, close to the airport. The atmosphere here is relaxed and friendly - very similar to how we experienced Langkawi. The restaurants are situated right on the beach, and we enjoy the sundown every day. We love the long beach that isn´t crowded, and the crystal clear water. Both north and south of the main beach there are a lot of wonderful old pine trees, only meters from the water. It is magical to take a walk there.

Click this link if you want to see more pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/107331556466319051223/ThailandAndMalaysia?feat=directlink

One of the first evenings we walked the beach after dark. Were we planned to turn back there was some lights, and a restaurant, so we stopped for a beer. We were the only guests, so the owner joined our table for a chat. We had met Mr Poon - the owner of Poon´s restaurant. He promised that he made good food, so we decided to try - we let him decide what he wanted to serve. The result was impressive, and we have been guests to the restaurant every day since that evening - either for lunch or dinner.

At the restaurant we have had the pleasure to meet some lovely locals. It is a privilege to get to know them, and learn a bit about their life. They are all very hard working, and put in 12-15 hours a day, 7 days a week - with no vacation! Jack is a very gentle man. He walks around on the beach and sells corn that he barbecue. The perfect lunch, and fantastic taste!

We also met Kun and her 6 year old daughter Kem, at the restaurant. She is a sweat girl that sells wonderful pearls on the beach, when she isn´t serving at Poon´s restaurant. Kun´s English is very good, so it is very easy to communicate with her. She sometimes helps with translation when we speak to anyone else in the group, but most often we understand each other well with limited English.

Yesterday we rented a longtail boat for 3 hours. We had asked to be taken to a nice place for snorkelling. We asked Kun and Yupin (Poon´s wife) to join us, which they were happy to do. The snorkelling was excellent, and we all enjoyed the trip.



Some more pictures from Nai Yang: Nai Yang