Phuket, Thailand

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.

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!

Rhode (Island) Trip

Hello everyone! This weekend I took a little road trip with 4 of my best friends to visit one of their sisters. We left on Friday evening and took the 3.5 hour journey. On Saturday, we took the ferry from Providence to Newport area to do the cliff walk. On our way, we stopped to quickly look at the Tennis Hall of Fame and grabbed some of Del's Famous Frozen Lemonade.

The Cliff walk is a pathway that lines the beach and some of Rhode Island's fabulous mansions. It was quite a hot day, which mean sunburn for my pale skin and drips of sweat before even starting to do the walk. On our adventure, we came across a stairs that leads down to some lower rock cliff formations. We climbed down the rocks, as we were near death of the 95 degree day and did something spontaneous. We were told not to bring our swimsuits ( big mistake) so we took off our shoes and took the leap anyway. The water was a beautiful blue water and instantly made us feel 100x better. Although some of my friends got a little scratched on their descent out of the crystal blue, we all agreed it was the best decision we made that day.

Still kinda wet from our jump

They think they look adorable ( Leah, Emma, Kayla, Kara)

Before I took a little swim

After we finished our hike, we went to grab some some grub at Jo's American Bistro. Being that there was 11 ( 5 of us, Kara's sister and some of her friends)  of us total, it did take some time to get all the food and orders. The staff did mess up on 2 of the dishes, and seemed like they didn't want to make a second one without checking to see if the plates were mixed up. After some debating, they finally got the two new orders. It was an okay lunch meal, but definitely not the best burger I've ever had. A+ fries though. We finished off our day with some ice cream from Kilwin's (YUM) before the ferry at 6:15. I really really wanted fudge. But sadly, it wouldn't have made it back safe with the sweltering heat :( 

Waffle cone was so lovely and engulfed the ice cream so yes

Our night finished with showers and Kara's sister trying to make us go out. That ended quickly and we opted for pjs and sleep after a day in the sun and walking 8 miles. The next morning we slept in (a little, like 9:30 ish) and then went to the flea market in Providence. It was cute and a mix of vendors. The usual jewelry and antiques, but also a few independent artists ( shout out to the woman who makes really cool area maps) and clothing vendors. I grabbed coffee from a truck ( I wish I could remember the name of it) and then off to brunch we went. We had reservations at "snuggery"called "The Duck and Bunny." It was really cute, as you can tell by the name. We were seated outside as we were a larger party and the restaurant is rather small. It was whimsical and I liked sitting in a backyard garden. Although, I was a little lobstery from the sun and sitting outside may not have
been the best for me. They had umbrellas, but it didn't cover our two tables mushed together. They warned it would take awhile for food, as it is all made fresh and a large party didn't help that any more. The servicer was super sweet without being pushy and the lemonade was sweet and refreshing. I ordered the "Thomas Henry" which had eggs, bacon ( or ham) and fontina cheese rolled into a sweet crepe. I really enjoyed it, even though the portion was kind of small. Here are some pics from our afternoon brunch. 

Really wish I ordered that fruit plate

Thomas Henry

I really recommend this place, as its dainty and adorbs and the food just looks instagram worthy. I want to go back and munch on one of their signature cupcakes as I didn't get to try one the first time. We ended  our trip with a few hours on the beach ( it was super hot, it was the best option) and some Dairy Queen as we don't have one where we live in NY. Although it was only two days, I feel like we got a lot done for very little money. We are all broke college students, so we managed to make the best of our weekend getaway. 

See you soon! 

Claire