Thang picked us up at the hotel for our trip to the Vietnam International Airport. It was built two years ago and is very modern. In the car, we realized that we have been listening to English being spoken without any word endings. Boy would I like to work professionally with the guides here! This is how the conversation went after Thang handed his personal business card and email so we could send him any pictures that we had taken with him in it. You velee welco to cu to our country and we hoe tha you wi cu ba velee soo. We hoe tha you lie yaw tree very mu wee u. We hoe you ter (tell)yer fre(your friends to cu see our Vietnamee peeper(people) . You hab a say trabel today. My pleasure to serb you age sometie. Thang was unable to accompany us into this airport so we said our goodbyes and we were off.
We easily found the Vietnamese Air counter, gave them our passports, got our seats confirmed and our luggage checked all the way through to Phuket though we had a flight switch in Bangkok. Then we easily passed through security and followed the signs to immigration. We presented our passports and we were asked for our immigrations forms but we did not have them. We tried to ask the officer a question but all he said was "you go" and pointed back to where we came from. We followed our way back out through security and back to the ticket counter where the woman who checked us in had forgotten to give us the forms. We then filled them out, went back through security and found another line at immigration to avoid the original "you go" officer and our visas were stamped and voila, we were through and on our way to the gate. I must admit, that with all of our travels, including Russia, I have never experienced such anxiety in these types of situations in these communist countries.
Arriving in Phuket airport, we were totally on our own for the first time in over two weeks - no guide waiting with a "Mr. and Mrs. Drexler" sign but we are old pros now so we asked at the information booth for a "safe taxi" to the Marriott Beach Resort and we were told where to go and how much to expect to pay. The Marriott wanted $37.00 to send a limo for us but the cab was only $12.00 US for the twenty minute ride to the resort.
This is a very luxurious resort and we have a suite overlooking the ocean with a huge king size bed, seating area, flat screened tv, enormous bathroom with separate sinks for each of us, a walk in closet and an ironing board and iron which we have not had before. Thank goodness for our Marriott points that we are using for this stay. There are police type guards everywhere and they salute you as you drive or walk past them. We also see that this is a completely self contained resort and is far from the center of the city. They have about 10 restaurants - all with very high end prices but I think that we are going to suck it in and stay put. We showered and dressed (yes, long pants and button down silk shirt for Lenny and a nice outfit for me). I even changed my shoes. Since leaving the States, we literally have been wearing shorts,tee shirts and our wonderful walking sandals. Makeup - who needed it but here, at the Marriott, for sure.
We had a very terrific Japanese buffet with the freshest sushi, perfectly grilled rare tuna and steaks, skewers of grilled chicken and vegetables, drinks and fresh fruit.
Now, here is the first major glitch in our trip for us! We are traveling with a new very small computer that runs on Linux and I, at least, am not very familiar with it. We have been writing our blog every night as a word document off line on the computer and then saving it to our diary in the diary section of my documents. When I went to open the diary to copy it to the blog it didn't open right away and asked what program I wanted to open it with. Then the whole computer went crazy and we now cannot open any of our files on the computer, including the work documents that I took with me. Fortunately, all of our pictures are fine and we can write the blog online but it will be more of a hassle to do it. We purchased a full week internet package at the hotel (no free WIFI here ) so it will be ok but it has been very frustrating. The IT guy at the hotel came up to try to help but he really didn't have any idea what to do except to completely wipe out the files and start all over again with a new download of the software. We have passed on that idea, at least until we get to Beijing where perhaps Phil can direct us to reliable computer tech support.
Fortunately, breakfast is included in our room; otherwise, the breakfast buffet is $35.00 pp. We decided that we would do a big breakfast and dinner. This morning, we had bagels and fabulous smoked salmon with cream cheese and chives - yum, as well as all of the asian dishes, eggs, waffles, french toast, salads, mimosas and bloody marys. We could probably pass on dinner as well. There are four edgeless pools on the complex and I just left Lenny sleeping by the pool with his kindle in his hand. It is difficult for me to stay put all day. Len says that I have to learn to do it. Tonight we will take a walk on the beach and go to the Italian restaurant.
Met an American couple who live in Hong Kong and they have been here for a week. They said that Phuket Town was basically the same type of tourist stalls we have seen all over and they didn't think it was worth the 45 minute taxi ride to get there. We'll see.
Pictures to follow we hope.
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