Phuket Adventure!

A little intro video of our Phuket trip..


On March 9th I headed off at 5:30 am to the airport to meet Nate in Phuket, Thailand.  Nate was already in Bangkok for work so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to take a trip to Phuket.  The one hour and twenty minute flight quickly passed and I could see the beautiful island as we flew into the airport.



Once I arrived the airport was a buzz with people everywhere trying to get you to buy travel packages and taxis.  Unable to find the "restaurant" that Nate and I had decided to meet I assumed the restaurant was actually a mini mart so I sat down and waited for Nate to arrive.  Nate was able to find me as the airport was tiny and we headed on our way to the hotel after a slight negotiation to get a good price on a taxi.  The "taxis" are actually just peoples car no real taxis exist.  We were slightly fearful our taxi driver had no clue where we wanted to go so Nate tracked our movement on his phone.  Thankfully our driver took us to the right spot and we pulled up to the Courtyard Marriott at Surin Beach.

Courtyard Marriott Surin Beach

    We were greeted with a beverage that I still have no idea what it was but it was tasty.   We were both quite tired from our early wake up call so we opted to relax for a bit and I took some time to lay by the pool, which was shortened by an influx of mosquitos that made it impossible to lay there without making myself a buffet.  On my way back to the room I stopped by the front desk to grab excursion pamphlets.  I got so immersed in the pamphlets that I neglected to see a little step and took quite a tumble.  My poor foot took the brunt of my fall and I ended up with a nice little bruise on my foot.   After going through all the pamphlets in the room and making sure my foot was okay it was time to find the beach.  The beach was a short walk away and after a brief interruption from a trades salesman our feet were in the sand.  Surprisingly the beaches on Phuket were not as I had imaged.  We were surprised to see that everyone laid on lounge chairs that you purchase when you walk onto the beach, and no one just lays out like they do in the US.  We took a stroll down the beach and got a surprise from an unexpected wave that got us both wet.  It was high tide so the beach was tiny and on quite a slope.  The way back we stuck to the little street outside of the beach.  The street was lined with little vendors all trying to lure you into their shop.  After a short walk we decided to play it safe and just eat dinner at the hotel.. which we pretty much did for the remainder of our trip.  We finished off the night by booking our excursions which included an ATV/Elephant adventure and a Phi Phi Island Speed boat trip.  As we were finishing up the bookings we noticed a newspaper that had the title "Four tourists die in excursion bus crash" with pictures to go along. Not exactly something you want to see as you are signing up for excursions.

Temple at Surin Beach

Street next to the beach

Surin Beach

      Day 2 we wake up and prepare for our ATV/Elephant excursion by indulging in a breakfast buffet.  The breakfast buffet at the Marriott was delicious and the meal I looked forward to the most each day :)  Once our bellies were sufficiently full we boarded the tour van.  I was very nervous driving around in Thailand as there aren't really standard rules of the road.  There are motor bikes everywhere that just go as they please and then all the other vehicles weave in and out to get around all the motor bikes.  After a 30 minute drive we arrive at the ATV tour.  We were greeted with fruits and instructions for our adventure.  We quickly changed into our crocks, helmets, and gloves and then got on the bikes for our 2 lap test run.  Successfully passing our "test" it was time to get muddy.  Initially we took it easy just getting a feel for the bikes hitting a few big puddles then we really got into the fun stuff going through the jungle, dodging trees, and plunging into puddles.  We stopped to give our legs a break when the girl behind Nate neglected to stop and ran right into the back of him.  Thankfully it didn't do any damage and Nate was okay.  After a little break we were off again coming to a stop by the rubber trees.  We each got to try out digging in the trees for some rubber, which was interesting.  At our next stop we were at a little beach where we were able to go out in the water and get some of the mud off.  It was amazingly gorgeous and felt so hidden from the rest of Phuket.  At the end of the ATV adventure we were once again greeted with fruits and beverages.  They also had some pictures made of us on the ATVs, which were entertaining.  It was an awesome experience.

 

  From the ATVs we were taken to meet up with the elephants.  The elephant spot was not as I imaged it to be.  The place was very small and the elephants were kept in tiny shelters.  None of the people spoke english so it was a bit tough to communicate.  They guided us to a platform where we awaited our elephant as he walked looking not to happy to be taken away from his food.  We got on the elephant and were off.  It's quite amazing to sit on an elephants back and feel it's muscles all moving and how rough their skin is.  I was surprised to find out the guide sits on the elephant's head.  We were on a little trail which the elephant had to hike up this one hill which was quite impressive.  At the end of the trail the guide hopped off and told Nate to sit on his head.  We were both a bit surprised but excited to be able to do some driving of the elephant.  After we both took turns guiding the elephant we returned back to the camp and were given some bananas to feed the elephant.   I assumed I was supposed to put them directly into the elephants mouth, which thankfully Nate quickly corrected and told me to put it in his trunk or I might be missing a hand.  The elephant loved the bananas and ate them like jelly beans.  Our adventures for the day were over so it was back to the Marriott.  Our "taxi" driver on the way back was quite amusing and told us how in Thailand it takes on 1 hour to get your drivers license and that is why everyone wears seat belts.  That night we were exhausted so we ordered room service and watched some sling box.

  Day 3 we were up early to head out on our Phi Phi Island tour.   We arrived at the marina and there were people everywhere.  They divided everyone into groups and we had about a 45 minute wait before our groups boat was ready.  All 35 of us loaded into the speed boat so it was definitely a snug fit.  Nate and I decided to sit up front.  There was an hour drive to the phi phi islands with 1-3m waves.  It didn't seem like anything I hadn't handled before but I was shocked at how rough it was and with the boat being so crowded you were banging into each other and just trying to brace yourself for each bump.  By the time we arrived at the Phi Phi island we had one man down with sea sickness and all rather sore from the bumpy ride.  The views were beyond amazing and we all quickly forgot our sore backs as we pulled up to the Viking Caves.  After doing some sightseeing we were brought to Maya Beach where "The Beach" was filmed.  It is even more gorgeous then it looks in the movie, even with all the crowds.  We were able to spend an hour on the beach relaxing and also going through the jungle on a little trail.  After relaxing we were off to do some more island sight seeing.  We were pulling up to one island when I noticed some monkeys on the rocks and in the trees.  I was trying to take a picture of the monkeys when all of a sudden they start jumping on the boat.  I was so shocked that I started to panic thinking they were going to bite as we had been warned that they are mean.  I then realized that the people behind me had bananas to feed them so I was able to snap some good pics of the monkeys on the boat.  One of the monkeys didn't quite jump off in time and was scared to jump as we were pulling out so we had to bring him back to shore.  After the monkey sighting it was time for snorkeling at  Hin Klang Reef.  There was plenty of fish to see and it wasn't too deep so you could swim down and see the coral.  After some snorkeling we headed off for lunch.  For lunch we had chicken and rice, which we were able to digest by taking some relaxing time on the Khai island before our bumpy hour ride back.

Viking/Bird Cave

Heading into Phi Phi

About to do some snorkeling

Thai Long Boat

On Maya Beach Jungle Trail

Monkeys on the boat

Monkey doing some swimming

Day 4 we decided to take it easy and just lay out on Surin beach, which didn't last long since we were both a bit crispy from our full day in the sun on a boat.  It was also very hot on the beach, which doesn't feel so great when you are sunburned.  Giving up on our beach attempt we headed to Patong to do some shopping.  Patong is known as being crowded and having quite the night life.  It was definitely crowded and I was shocked to find out most of the shopping consisted of imitation items and tailor shops.  We were able to find one store that had some good souvenirs to remember our trip.  Since it was Nate's birthday I had made reservations at Baan Rim Pa a restaurant right on the cliffs of Patong.  We had an amazing dinner with quite the view!  Not a bad way to celebrate Nate's birthday.  Finally we headed back to the room to pack up and be ready for our early flight.

Streets of Patong

 

McDonalds doing the Thai greeting Pose

Sunset by the beach

Bday Dinner at Baan Rim Pa

View from the table

Strawberry Daquori!