Days 38 and 39: At Sea and then Phuket, Thailand

Our day at sea was undoubtedly our slowest day in weeks. We worked out, we swam, we each started and finished a book, we played chess, we walked around the boat who knows how many times, and we STILL had hours to spare.

Fortunately, Phuket in Thailand brought us back to our go-go-go speed, literally. Today, we traveled a few hours by speedboat and experienced the beach from none other than the James Bond film, "The Man with the Golden Gun" (and yes, we hummed the theme song).

We also visited a 150 year old fishing village before dining on Rang Yai Island. After lunch, we plunged into the crystal clear water. Soft sand, just-cool-enough water, and hills as the backdrop. Lisa and I also had the beach to ourselves, essentially. Being on a cruise with lots of Asians and senior citizens has its advantages. About 90 percent stray from the sun and water. At one point, there were maybe 14 of us in the water... the rest of the 150 were hiding in the shade. From the boat rides to the islands, it was truly a stunning experience.

End note: In case you are unaware, you do not pronounce Phuket in a phonetic fashion. That won't make you any friends. It's pronounced poo-ket. If you've been reading it wrong, tsk tsk.