Hello! My Spring Break has come and gone (sadly) and it's kinda funny to think of it as Spring Break as everyone is just heading back to school in the U.S. Anyway, I planned to spend the first week of my time off in Phuket, Thailand. Despite it being "wet" season, there were some really nice days of beaching and boating it. The first two days were rainy, but that just meant exploring the surrounding towns and the Buddhist temples that Thailand has to offer. We ( I went with a friend) had booked a few activities prior to leaving, which ended up getting jumbled around during the week based on weather. The first two days were sightseeing and the end of the week was outdoor adventuring ( and ELEPHANTS).
Okay, it is it is now several months in the future, I am writing ( and maybe crying) finishing this post from my travel themed bedding in New York. I know, I promised myself I would keep up with this, but when you're having the time of your life, it's just not as fun to stop and write down every moment. This is going to be a recap based on photos I have from Thailand and things I remember from each photo to break up lengthy text.... so here we go friends!
Okay, so one of the first stops was Big Buddha, although there are several big Buddhas, this is one of the more popular ones. It was under construction, but still allowed visitors to walk through some prayer happenings on the inside and take some photos of the views and pretty decor. Somehow we ended up at Big Buddha twice, but I didn't mind giving this masterpiece a second look.
Wat Chalong Temple: As a self proclaimed barefoot walker, exploring these temples without shoes after a rainy day was marvelous. The gold and red accents and the peaceful atmosphere made exploring the Buddhist temple and it's surrounding area a must do. We stopped at a side street market after and grabbed some coffee and smoothies from the local vendors, which always have interesting combinations of things. Including the popular:
Banana Pancakes! This seemed to be a popular street food, but it was really more like a Crepe with chocolate/nutella and bananas folded in.
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| James Bond Island |
Boats, snorkeling and Island hopping! If I remember correctly, I think we spent about 3 days going on boats/canoes and visiting islands. We visited James Bond Island, where the classic film franchise reigns over this entire area, Phi Phi Islands, Ao Phang Nga National Park, and Coral Island. Canoeing was lead by a local tour guide, and involved ducking down into caves while searching for bats hanging from the ceiling and was one of my favorite moments on the trip. Every boat we went on had more than enough fresh fruit to offer, lunch included and cost maybe $40 for a full day trip. Snorkeling also became a new passion of mine, except for this one time our guide proceeded to throw food into the water to have hundreds of tiny piranhas come out. Beautiful blue waters and colorful fish are worth it though ( in the swimmable areas).
The main attraction of this post of course is the elephants! After some extensive research and an hour drive, we ended up at Phuket Elephant Sanctuary due to the ethical tourism of free roaming big eared animals. Animal abuse for entertainment is a huge part of Thailand's culture, and I really wanted to make sure I was contributing to a less harmful type of tourism. We were considered guests in the elephants territory, so we followed them around from a distance in our high Wellington boots. These elephants are so cute! Majority of them are old and former performance animals, but playful and active all the same. I even fed these lovely guys with sugar cane and watermelon at the end of the day.
These are some random photos from being a tourist in Old Phuket Town, little China town in Old Phuket Town, Kathu waterfall and a look-out spot! I feel like Thailand was one of those vacations where you end up learning more than you thought you would, as I attempted to learn how to "wai" and learned more about Buddhism and squat potties than I ever expected.
See ya later Thailand! I'll be back for you and your sun!
