Today (Wednesday 27 March 2013) Pati and Beebee rode the flying Hanuman.
The Flying Hanuman is a zipline adventure in Phuket, Thailand. With 28 platforms, two sky bridges, a sky rail, staircases and rappelling, it criss-crosses a beautiful forest for a one- or two-hour eco-adventure. Costs range from 3490 baht ($104.70 USD) for Journey A (the complete two-hour course plus a meal and seasonal fruit) to 3250 baht ($97.50 USD) for Journey B (like Journey A but without the meal) to 2300 baht ($69 USD) for Journey C (one-hour, 16 platforms only).
The Flying Hanuman is a zipline adventure in Phuket, Thailand. With 28 platforms, two sky bridges, a sky rail, staircases and rappelling, it criss-crosses a beautiful forest for a one- or two-hour eco-adventure. Costs range from 3490 baht ($104.70 USD) for Journey A (the complete two-hour course plus a meal and seasonal fruit) to 3250 baht ($97.50 USD) for Journey B (like Journey A but without the meal) to 2300 baht ($69 USD) for Journey C (one-hour, 16 platforms only).
And who is Hanuman? The ape-like Lord Hanuman is a Hindu god, one of the main characters in the Indian epic Ramayana; he appears also in the Mahabharata. Hanuman is considered an avatar (incarnation) of Shiva.
Pati and Beebee were picked up at their hotel just before noon and driven to the zipline in an air-conditioned van. The pickup, delivery, and return to the hotel were provided by the zipline at no extra cost (that is, the ride cost rhe same whether or not the transportation was used).The trip each way took about a half hour.
There were 10 people in their group and two guides (Joe and another guide). The other persons were a Russian mother and daughter (who both had Dolly Parton hair and spoke extremely limited English) and six young men from Qatar (best guess, since one wore a t-shirt with the word Qatar on it and they were clearly middle-Eastern) who spoke limited English. The safety briefing video (which appeared to be on YouTube) was in English, and instructions were given in English, except that one of the other guides spoke Russian and briefed the mother and daughter separately.
The first thing to be done was to walk up a steep hill to the first station. As it happened, Pati and Beebee started out directly behind the first guide (who was leading up the hill) and were able to keep up with him, followed by the Russians. The macho young men, starting up in the rear, started to pass everyone, sharing the narrow path, even walking ahead of the guide. Five of the young men got to the first platform first and took all the seats as the group waited for an earlier group to leave the platform. The group also had to wait for the 6th young man, who had made a last-minute stop at fhe restroom. After the first three platforms (and ziplines), the 6th young man declared that he was sick and left. At this platform, another zipline employee was waiting with bottles of water for everyone. The young men complained that the water was not cold and one of them made a point of expelling water from the top of the platform (perhaps he was mimicking vomiting). He might have been the same one who left.
The young men did as much horseplay as they could get away with and generally did not interact with the rest of fhe group. But as the "ride" progressed and other people cheered for them also, one or two of them would return smiles.
The guides were competent and joked a lot to put everyone at ease. At some point during the ride, they started calling Pati "Papa" and they called the Russian mother and Beebee both "Mama." (the Cambodian guide also did this; they seem to be terms of respect.)
At the end of the ride, Pati and Beebee ate the provided lunch (which, by then, was an early dinner) of Thai food. It was delicious. After this, they were driven back to their hotel in a different air-conditioned van.
Then then walked down to the beach to watch the sunset. Then they went back to the hotel to be ready for a 7:45 am pickup on Thursday for a speedboat visit to three islands, Phi Phi, Maya, and Khai.
Pati and Beebee were picked up at their hotel just before noon and driven to the zipline in an air-conditioned van. The pickup, delivery, and return to the hotel were provided by the zipline at no extra cost (that is, the ride cost rhe same whether or not the transportation was used).The trip each way took about a half hour.
There were 10 people in their group and two guides (Joe and another guide). The other persons were a Russian mother and daughter (who both had Dolly Parton hair and spoke extremely limited English) and six young men from Qatar (best guess, since one wore a t-shirt with the word Qatar on it and they were clearly middle-Eastern) who spoke limited English. The safety briefing video (which appeared to be on YouTube) was in English, and instructions were given in English, except that one of the other guides spoke Russian and briefed the mother and daughter separately.
The first thing to be done was to walk up a steep hill to the first station. As it happened, Pati and Beebee started out directly behind the first guide (who was leading up the hill) and were able to keep up with him, followed by the Russians. The macho young men, starting up in the rear, started to pass everyone, sharing the narrow path, even walking ahead of the guide. Five of the young men got to the first platform first and took all the seats as the group waited for an earlier group to leave the platform. The group also had to wait for the 6th young man, who had made a last-minute stop at fhe restroom. After the first three platforms (and ziplines), the 6th young man declared that he was sick and left. At this platform, another zipline employee was waiting with bottles of water for everyone. The young men complained that the water was not cold and one of them made a point of expelling water from the top of the platform (perhaps he was mimicking vomiting). He might have been the same one who left.
The young men did as much horseplay as they could get away with and generally did not interact with the rest of fhe group. But as the "ride" progressed and other people cheered for them also, one or two of them would return smiles.
The guides were competent and joked a lot to put everyone at ease. At some point during the ride, they started calling Pati "Papa" and they called the Russian mother and Beebee both "Mama." (the Cambodian guide also did this; they seem to be terms of respect.)
At the end of the ride, Pati and Beebee ate the provided lunch (which, by then, was an early dinner) of Thai food. It was delicious. After this, they were driven back to their hotel in a different air-conditioned van.
Then then walked down to the beach to watch the sunset. Then they went back to the hotel to be ready for a 7:45 am pickup on Thursday for a speedboat visit to three islands, Phi Phi, Maya, and Khai.
Wheeeeee...
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