Thailand: Pictures from Heather

Heather took a lot more pictures of the boys playing at the beach and pool and got a few other shots of us together as a family.  Since I've already written about all that, here are the photos.

Thailand: Phuket, Patong Beach

The second half of our trip was VERY different from the first half.  Gone was the seclusion and quiet of our resort and the ease of finding a spot on the beach and we entered into what I like to think was more authentic Thailand.  Turns out, we were staying in the "party" section of Phuket and we could hear party noises from the beach until well into the night.  I'm sure all of this sounds like we didn't enjoy the second half of our trip but we actually did.  It was nice to feel like we experienced true Thailand and not just tourists at a resort.

Since we had booked a nice resort and paid the price for it in Ko Phi Phi, Heather and I decided to save a little money and went with the Holiday Inn Express.   I have to say, for the price we paid, it was a very nice hotel.  The service was great, the rooms were clean, and the location was fabulous.  We were literally able to walk to the beach with a 2 minute walk.  We were also really close to restaurants, shopping, and the famous "Bangla Road" which I started calling "Bourbon Street".   The first night we just walked around and took in the sights.

Our first day in Phuket we booked a tour of a Buddhist temple, elephant ride, and trip to the Big Buddha.  The temple, Wat Chalong was our first stop.  The driver basically just stopped, told us how much time we had, and off we went on our own.  None of us had read anything about this temple beforehand so we basically walked around kinda lost as to what everything meant.  I didn't care that much, I just wanted to be able to say I'd been to a temple in Thailand.  To be honest, I was a little underwhelmed. As we entered certain areas they gave Heather and I scarves to cover our skin.  Don't worry, that is not my outfit.

After the temple, we were driven to the Elephant Trekking place.  We had to wait a little bit for the elephants to be ready and as we waited Jake decided it would be a good time to fall and bust his lip.  Poor baby was bleeding in his mouth and of course crying.  He still hadn't fully recovered when it was time to get on the elephant.  This, mixed with the unstable feeling of the elephant, led to the first part of the ride not being so much fun.   At one point I really wanted to quit but luckily we went on anyway.  Eventually, Jake chilled out some and I was able to enjoy the ride.  Our elephant guides stopped us about half way and took pictures for us.  Then they surprised us all with letting Micah and Heather get down onto the elephants head and letting them "drive" the elephant.  It was a much smoother ride getting to sit in the middle of the elephant.

 Once our ride was over, we were able to go talk to a baby elephant.  When we took a family picture, the elephant decided Jacob needed a hug.  We thought it was adorable, Jacob did not!  Since Jake refused the hug I decided to go back in and get my own hug.

From the elephant ride, we continued our journey up the mountain to the Big Buddha.  This is essentially just a gigantic statue of Buddha that overlooks Phuket.  It was under slight renovation while we were there so there was some scaffolding.  We basically just walked around, took some pictures, and then headed back.  There was also a pretty great view of Phuket from the top.

Our tour really only lasted half a day so we decided to head back, get some lunch, shop, and relax on the beach.  One of the things I really wanted to do in Thailand was the fish spa.  I'm not really sure why I wanted to, but I did.  So we found a spa and all decided to get a little fish cleaning. Oddly, I was probably the most freaked out by it.  Every time the fish would get going, I would jump and scare them all away.  By the end I was finally doing better at sitting still.  Essentially, at a fish spa, you stick your feet in a tank and let little fish eat the dead skin off your feet.

As I mentioned before, we were staying at Patong Beach which turned out to be one of the busiest beaches I have ever seen.  However, there were guys working the chairs and umbrellas and were really helpful with finding good places to chill.  They took good care of us making sure we always had shade,  food, and drinks.

For our second day in Phuket, Heather and I had booked a private charter out to the Phang-Nga bay which is the straight between Phuket and the southern mainland of Thailand.  Since 1981 this area has been preserved as a national park.  It is made up of limestone cliffs, islands, and caves and is absolutely stunning.   There are many tour groups that operate in this area and the more we researched, the more enticing the private charter became.  This allowed us to begin our day early and beat most the crowds and to not worry about the boys ruining anyone else's day.  I have to say, even though it wasn't the cheapest thing we did, it was a great decision.  We had a nice 35 ft speed boat all to ourselves with 4 crew members!

The first stop on our trip was a hike through a cave in waist deep water.  The boys both had on life jackets and we carried them through.  We had flashlights and helmets incase we hit our heads on the cave.  I knew we were going into a cave to see stalagmite formations and such but I had no idea what we would enter into on the other side.  It was like a beautiful hidden paradise with a little beach, and mangroves.  As we were inside, our guide kept marking how much the tide had risen showing us how quickly the tide comes in.  They did say that if you waited to long you could get stuck inside the area waiting for the tide to move back out.

 When we returned to the boat, the crew had set out an assortment of fruit, breads, and sandwiches.  Once again, reaffirming our decision.  Our second stop was at the famous James Bond Island or Khao Phing Kan.  This island was featured in the 1971 James Bond "The Man with the Golden Gun" which is why it is now so popular and known as "James Bond Island".   It is a popular tourist stop and can be very crowded but we were able to make it there before the crowds and get some good pictures taken.

From James Bond island we drove through some beautiful scenery and then stopped at a floating kayaking business in the middle of the park.  Here we hopped onto a kayak with a guide who paddled us around and into caves.  In order to get into the caves we would all have to lay down in the kayak.  It was really fun except for the fact that once again, Jacob decided to cry through most of it.  Life with a 1.5 year old!  I tried to enjoy the experience anyway and enjoy the adventure of kayaking through caves and around beautiful mangroves.  I was singing whatever songs I could think of to get Jake to calm down.  By the end, he almost fell asleep.

When we finished kayaking, we headed over to Ko Panyi village.  It is the only village in the Phang Nga because it's the only island that had enough land to build anything.  However, most of the buildings are built on stilts over the water.  It is known as the floating village. In order to live in this village, you have to marry into one of the original founding families.  It is also a strictly muslim village. Here we wandered through the "streets" which were like a maze, visited the local school, and had lunch.

This was the last real tour type stop on our trip.  From here we went to a beautiful island that is set up as a park area for school trips, etc.  On the way there both boys fell asleep so we made them a place in the shade on the sand and went out to enjoy the water.  It was a relaxing way to end our day.  Eventually, the boys did wake up and get some play time in on the sand.

Sadly, our day in Phang-Nga was over and it was time to head back to Phuket.  I hadn't posted any of the straight scenery shots so I will do that now.  Let me just say, the area is absolutely beautiful.

 For all the other time and in-between time spent in Phuket we had some great dinners, fun walking and shopping, rode in a tuk-tuk, and just had a great time in general.  I have to admit, I didn't really know what to expect of Thailand but it far preceded my expectations. Plus, I learned that I LOVE Thai food.