งาม (Beautiful)

Really, "beautiful" hardly describes the crystal-clear water and white sand beaches we saw on our second day in Phuket. The colors were truly indescribable - it hardly seemed like they could be real!

We signed up for an all-day cruise that would take us to five islands. After we checked in at the port, we were taken on a "bus" ride to our waiting speedboat.

We thought that this spartan form of transportation was unique to our island cruise - to make it feel like an outdoor adventure - but over the next several days we realized that the blue, wooden crate style vehicle is what is used for the public bus system.

After being introduced to our guide, we and our 20 fellow passengers hopped on the boat and were off to enjoy the island paradises! Rather than boring you with commentary, here are some pictures of what we saw (really, they don't do the sights justice!).

As usual, we met some interesting people. One told us his story of leaving his family in Iran in the 1970s (good timing!), going to the US completely broke at age 17, working hard and going to UCLA, and after many years became a small business owner in LA. He loves the USA. He and the group he was with were fun to talk to and were very kind to Lydia. We now have an invitation to visit them in LA and get a tour of the city.

Another fun person we met was Sunny, our local guide. He was terrific with the two kids on the trip and told us that he's a fan of American football (the Patriots is his team) and baseball. His disposition was as cheerful as his name.

It was a very fun, full day!