Kurumba Resort, North Male Atoll, Maldives

All I can say is WOW! Mostly because there isn’t a whole lot to say about it. Its the kind of place where if you take the right pictures they speak for themselves. I know I didn’t do the place justice but I tried and I think you’ll be able to tell that it is really an Ultra-Beach destination.

Just a little obligatory back ground though. I had never heard of the Maldives until I arrived here in India. I was told it was beautiful, hot, close, and expensive. It lived up to its reputation. Stacy had found out that quite a few celebrities hit this place for honeymoons and getaways. I can see why.

The flight was fast. The boat ride from the jetty to the resort took 15 minutes.

People carried our bags and we didn’t have to throw them over the side of the boat into a little fully loaded motorboat to get them to shore. We were greeted with hot sun, blue skies, white sand, and aqua water. The resort was immaculate. The rooms were big and even had a little character. Not to mention they were about 10 yards from the calm blue ocean and shaded by big palms.

I ordered a beer, 6 dollars. Gulp. Stacy reminded me at that point that this was a once in a lifetime trip. Dinner reinforced that fact. But we had a great time. Our travel mates, the Thornes, made great company and we all were very happy with the trip.

One of the highlights was the wild life. Preston and Jess found some crabs the first morning. They washed up on a board and they became the mascots for the day.

The hermit crabs were out and about as well and the kids had a good time catching those. As for snorkeling there were Stingrays, reef sharks, Lion Fish, Parrot Fish, and a plethora of other fish that I had no idea about but they were every where.

Preston was a little upset that he fell a little short for windsurfing lessons but I promised him a lesson on Calhoun when we get home.

It was a great trip overall. I wouldn’t call it value for the dollar but it sure was the easiest beach vacation that we’ve been on yet. We didn’t have to carry bags, walk around the beach to find a restaurant, track down a ferry in a totally non-English speaking country, walk halfway around the island to swim or snorkel, or dicker with the resort owner for a boat ride to an even remoter beach, or put up with surly wait staff that hate their jobs. Although I really like the remoteness of the little islands in Malaysia which require some cabbing, luggage humping, roughing it, and planning there is something to be said for pampering. I’m pretty sure the only reason I broke a sweat was because the sun was so darn hot or I could feel our bank account bleeding from the constant battering it was taking. Once in a lifetime.

Sa wat dii khrap = ‘Hello’ in Thai.

Khawp Khun Khrap = ‘Thank you’ in Thai.

If your a man you finish your sentences with Khrap.  If your a women you finish your sentences with Kha.  Our driver for a day in Chang Mai, Thailand, Mr. A, got a good laugh every time I mixed up my endings.  He would laugh his jolly Santa-like laugh and say in his most mockingly feminine voice ‘Khawp khun Kaaaaaah’  with his pinky finger in the air.  He was quite the character.

Flying into Bangkok was not quite the experience that I anticipated.  After a lot of news coverage of non-violent coups and ousted PM’s and disgruntled party supporters, the walk through the airport to the gate for the domestic flight to Chang Mai was, I hate to say a let down, but it was very uneventful.  Stacy and I had worried quite a bit in the weeks leading up to our vacation that perhaps we were making a mistake heading into what seemed to be a relatively leaderless country.  But after our stay in Chang Mai and Bangkok our thoughts of anarchy and riots proved to be totally unfounded.

Chang Mai is a major city in Northern Thailand and let me tell you its one of the most beautiful major cities I’ve seen in a long time.  The air was cool and fresh and the tree’s were bright green and healthy.  That might sound weird but Bangalore in the dry seasons results in dust… rust colored dust… that lands and stays on everything.  So clean and green is a great site.  The hotel we stayed in was nice.  The staff was extremely friendly. And they had bunnies!  Preston and Elise became instant best friends with the bunnies.  They fed them left overs and even ordered plates of vegetables for them after dinner.  If you ever wanted to find the kids they were always with the bunnies.

Anyways, the room had a bit of an ant problem, which really isn’t that unusual for India and Asia, but we ended up moving to another room.  The view from our first room was nice. We got to watch kids swimming in the river and then these guys showed up to fish with masks and sharp sticks:

Our next room was surrounded on 3 sides by floor to ceiling windows.  Sounds nice and bright until you get out of the shower and walk out to get clothes and realize that all the curtains are open… and your room is on the ground level… and the cleaning ladies are standing out side your room looking in at you.

We got settled in, toured the grounds of the hotel, had dinner, then headed into town for a little night bazaar sight seeing and shopping. This was a fun experience but I’ve never been so hit up to buy trash anywhere else. I guess I should have expected that. It was fun to see though. At the end of the night we found a McDonald’s that had ‘real’ beef cheeseburgers, fries, and ice cream. It was kind of sad that in the middle of Thailand, which I think is the center of Thai cooking, I had to have McDonald’s. Before that I did have thick fried noodles and stir fried veggies accompanied by a Chang Beer from a food stall so I guess I did sample the local cuisine.

We also went on a day tour with taxi driver named Mr. A. He brought us to numerous temples and showed us the old town of Chang Mai. We saw reclining Buddhas, sitting Buddha’s, Laughing Buddha’s, and monks. The highlight was donating some Bhat to the temple in exchange for a bottle of water. The water was poured into a brass urn that was attached to a pulley system. The pulley system moved the urn high up on the pagoda. The pagoda contains ancient Buddhist relics and the belief is that during the summer the relics need to be cooled with the water. Preston had fun pulling the rope to get the urn up to the top to dump the water. Ironically there were a few people wrapping the pagoda with large sheets of silk ribbon. Mr A explained that it was winter and that the relics were cold. The silk sheets were wrapped around the pagoda to keep the relics warm. Yet here we were dumping water on them to keep them cool. Mr. A reminded me that we were tourists and donating money to the temple and temple monks to participate in the cooling ritual. So who were pacifist monks to rudely turn away visitors. We also visited an Elephant camp, took an elephant ride, saw a tribe of long necks, saw a monkey show, ate at an awesome local restaurant in the hills, and took a long walk at the night market. The elephant show involved some very talented artists and footballers. I had no idea elephants were so versatile. The long neck tribe was expensive to visit and a bit depressing. There were families lounging on the fronts of their wooden shacks while their women sit next to their handicrafts (same as the night bazaar and night market garbage) with their coiled neck dresses. The girls didn’t look that enthusiastic about being there with their necks being stretched.

Bangkok
Our flight from Chang Mai to Bangkok arrived and we were rushed across town at 180 KM/hr to our hotel. It was actually Baan Chantra guest house near the river and it was very nice. The ladies who run it are awesome.We did sooo much in Bangkok that its hard to even remember all of it. We saw the river and tons of temples. The Grand Palace and Wat Arun (the location of the longest reclining Buddha) we the best. Words can’t describe the intricate tile work and paintings. Hundreds of years of work has gone into the buildings and collections of relics. The pictures don’t do the temples justice. All of them were amazing. We went shopping at some crazy huge malls with Christmas lights set up. Everyone around us was posing and taking pictures like mad. The malls were very busy on Christmas eve. One mall had a Ferrari, Porsche, Audi, and other high end car showrooms… in the mall… on the 4th floor. Crazy.

One day Stacy to a solo day and signed up for a cooking class and did some other shopping. Me and the kids went to feed catfish at the river, then found a small local temple were you could feed turtles and giant catfish. Preston was so excited that he leaned in to a big cat a little to far. The next thing I knew I heard a splash and saw him swimming in the same pond as the turtles and fish. After we hosed him off we headed home to find some dry clothes and soap. Then we went to the Zoo. It was a fun day and Ill never forget the sight of Preston swimming in the turtle pond at a Buddhist Temple in Bangkok Thailand. Neither will he. We went back to the hotel and got Preston washed up. Then headed to the zoo. We met up with Stacy for dinner and called it a night.

The next day we headed back out to the malls. We stopped in to see Madagascar 2 on opening day in one of Bangkok’s big theaters. I ran to a bike shop to get some parts that I couldn’t find in Bangalore. Then we went bowling. Funny that even in a country half way around the world we still manage to do exactly the same things that we do at home with the kids.

We also visited a floating market, which used to be the way people in rural Bangkok made a living and shopped for things. Today it is more of a tourist trap but riding in the huge boat eating mangoes and coconuts and spring rolls was fun for us and the kids. On the way home we stopped and saw a snake show. Let me tell you, those guys are crazy! Our taxi driver proceeded to take us to a “seafood restaurant” which Stacy and I agreed was not the best one we’ve been to. We drove for 120 minutes to get to this place. I think our driver got a little kick back for our business. Again we headed back to the guest house and called it a night. The next morning we had to get to the airport early to head to Koh Phi Phi.

When we got to Koh Phi Phi we checked into our hut and hung out on the beach. The place was beautiful but there was a kind of spring break atmosphere which Stacy and I have long since decided sucks. Later that night the spring break thing proved to be soooo true. The music from a neighboring club was on all night until about 4 or 5 AM. Neither Stacy nor I slept. Its really too bad because the place we stayed and the owner were really quite nice. The Italian food was great (what else can you expect from an Italian run restaurant and beach hut). But we had to get out of there. Not another night. We spent the next morning on the other side of the island looking for a place to stay. We found a nicer place which turned out to be a hit. We could sit up at the dining area and watch the kids play on the beach all day. Nice! …and quiet. It was while we were hanging out that we decided to make our one island trip into a tour of sorts. There is a near by area on the mainland called Railay Beach. We decided to head there the day after next. But tonight was new years eve and we spent it watching fireworks and mini hot air balloons being released on the beach. The next day we went for a snorkel and island tour. It was OK but when the guide book said that December and Jan were the high season they weren’t kidding. It was mad chaos. There were people and huge boats everywhere. Snorkeling was actually dangerous as the boats were packed into every cove. The highlight was going to the beach where “The Beach” was filmed. We saw the beach from a distance and realized that there wasn’t even a space to park our boat it was so busy. Very sad. But we did find a quiet little beach across from “the beach” which was empty. A nice little sliver of white sand and turquoise water surrounded by towering shear cliffs. We sat there and swam a little and had a picnic. Then headed back to our new temporary digs. The next morning we headed off to Railay beach.. without a room booked

Its not easy making the decision to pack up and leave a perfectly good beach side villa to go somewhere you have no idea about with no accommodations booked. But we decided that we would be adventurous. It paid off. It was nice beach area (a little busy again but what can you do when its HIGH SEASON?). We met a nice family with boys Preston’s age and hung out with them. We went to a cave and another beach with some falic symbol cave thing going on. The beach was more scenic then swimable. Lots of dead coral everywhere. But it sure was fun. On the last day We said goodbye to the family from Bangkok and headed back to Bangalore to plan our next getaway.