Thailand: Mike and I first came to Thailand between March and April 2005. We came here for a few reasons; first of all to visit dad and his lovely wife Nanticha who was due to give birth of our little sister Jessica around the 1st of April 2005, second reason was to see the boat and how it was coming along and lastly to see Thailand. Mike and I caught the same flight from Sydney and touched down in Bangkok. A few hours later we caught a night train from Bangkok to Udon Tahni which was an interesting experience. The next week we read that that very same train crashed a few days later… Udon Tahni is an awesome place. There aren’t really many tourists out that way, so people treat and look at you like you’re a celebrity AND they don’t over charge because you’re “fallang” (big nose and ears, white skin). The only down side about the place was that there was nothing to do except eat food and drink beer. So after a week or so of this it started to become apparent that Jessica was going to be over due, so Mike and I went and hired a car and drove to the Golden Triangle (as you can see on the map). It took five days and we drove 2’500 Km and was a great experience! Shortly after getting back to Udon Tahni, Nanticha gave birth to Jessica in one of the ex Vietnam war hospitals. It was a very nice and modern hospital, but there was still that 1950s influence. For example, only women were aloud to visit Nanticha in the days before and during the birth. Not even Oliver was aloud to see her. It wasn’t until a couple of days after the birth that we where aloud in the same room. And then we where aloud to go into the nursery where all the babies where and wonder around freely. As Mikes time was coming to an end in Thailand due to work, a few days later we flew to Phuket to see the boat. Mike and I roamed Phuket for a week until Oliver arrived after driving the car from Udon Tahni. Among other things Mike and I had the privilege of being in Patong, Phuket during the Thai New Year. It was the craziest party either of us had ever been to. Words cannot describe. A short time after that Mike flew back and I stayed on another few weeks to help work on the boat at Rattanachai Slipway. Our second trip was in December 2006, which was the one when we left Thailand on the boat. To cut long story short though, we flew in to Phuket and worked on the boat for two months in Yacht Haven Marina, where it had at this stage already been moored for the past six months. After that we motored around to Patong where we stayed another week before making our way to Sri Lanka. If you’ve a second, have a look through the pictures. ‘Gallery 1’ is from the first trip to Thailand and galleries 2 and 3 are from our second trip and departure. Thanks for visiting! I hope you enjoy my site.