Sixth Day in Phuket

Spent the day at the beach side pool. We both got a little red today, because we were out during the hottest time of the day. The only day we bothered to find out how hot it is here, was yesterday, when it was 102F! Pretty hot! We were a little bit inland then so probably a few degrees cooler here by the water. So - there is not much to report today, but tomorow we are out on new adventures.

In the afternoon we went for a presentation here at the resort and also visited the new Marriott Mai Kao resort nextdoors and joined the Marriott Asia Pacific Club. After that we had a drink at the "Out of the Blue" bar and then dinner at the Deli.

Here are a few more pictures from our day yesterday.

Fifth Day in Phuket

On our itinerary today was a full day of touring Phuket Island. Our first stop was at an elephant camp where we had a short ride on an elephant. While at this camp we found out that another camp up the road had a brand new elephant baby! He was born on Valentine's Day and appropriately named Valentine; he was thus only 8 days old. It was quite special because normally the mother will not let you touch the baby, but this mother was very generous and let us pet him. He was sooo cute! From here we took a scenic road to Karon View Point. We then carried on up the mountain to see the new Big Buddha. He is 45 meters tall and made of white jade from Burma, his eyes are black jade from Burma and the white if the eyes are made of Mother of Pearl from Phuket. He is seated on a marble lotus and is supported by 76 pillars representing the 76 provinces of Thailand. He is still under construction because he went over budget! Quite impressive nevertheless, not to mention the views from the site are outstanding. A bronze model is situated next to the jade one (but smaller) and will remain there even after the big one is completed.

Having visited the Big Buddha and the temple up there, we continued to Chalong Temple, the largest and most famous temple in Phuket. One of the differences between a Chinese and a Thai Buddhist temple is that the Thai construction uses real 24 Carat gold leaf in its decorations. After the temple we went to a state controlled jewelry and hand craft place. There was a nice sapphire ring that I liked, but did not buy. Next stop was a cashew factory. Here we were shown how they harvest the nuts one by one. They actually crack open each nut by hand! Amazing. The fruit looks a little like a pear and the nut sits at the end of it. Only one nut per fruit. No wonder they are expensive in the US. We were given numerous samples and also bought some. Our last stop before lunch was a Chinese mansion over 100 years old. It contained items from many parts of the world and scenes from several movies, such as The Killing Fields, The Young Indiana Jones and Good Morning Vietnam were filmed there. Surprisingly a family still lives there on the upper levels, but have kindly opened portions of the mansion as a museum.

We were supposed to have lunch inside a waterfall, but unfortunately due to climate changes it has dried up and they moved the restaurant to a different location. The ambiance was less than spectacular but the food was good, except the beef was tough as shoe leather. Our last stop was at a farm cooperative - it was run by the entire village. Here they grow vegetables, herbs, and flowers such as orchids and Birds of Paradise. They also have water buffalos and they had a white one. Quite rare - only one in a thousand born. In addition they grow and harvest rubber trees. We saw how they tap the trees and process the natural latex. One of the highlights was the coconut picking monkeys. Our demonstration was given by an 11 year old, female pigtailed macaque, named Linda. After our demonstration she was rewarded with fruit. We were told that she also likes candy and I had some toffees from the cashew factory that she loved. She took the paper off herself and was really happy with the fruity and milk variety, but she dissected the peanuts out of the coconut/peanut one because she only likes cashews! Very funny! It was quite a day!


Back at the hotel we had a swim in the pool and later went to the Owners' Party here at the resort.

Fourth Day In Phuket

Today we were picked up by a mini van from the hotel and drove across the island to the north east coast to Ao Po Pier. We were going sea kayaking with Andaman Sea Kayak Company. I have done this trip with them twice before and it is spectacular! This time there were 15 Australians, 2 South Africans and the two of us from the US. The hour long boat trip on the "escort boat" brought us to Phang Nga Bay National Park. This is a natural art gallery full of majestic limestone formations.

We were split up with 2 persons + a paddler (local) for each kayak and started to explore these wonderful islands with its caves and hongs (Thai for "room"). To enter the sea caves or tunnels, it is almost like a dream and you feel pretty small. You have to enter when the tide is low as the tunnels fill with water at high tide. The caves (tunnels) are 20 - 150 meters long and at several points you have to lie flat in the kayak or you cannot get through! In one cave, the skirt of my bathing suite got stuck and my boobs touched the roof! Mind you, inside these caves there are bats hanging above you! Not for the faint of heart! Parts of the tunnels are of course pitch black and you have to navigate with a flash light. We visited 3 different islands with caves and hongs. Inside these hongs some of the walls are covered with vegetation, others sparkle like diamonds. We also saw some monkeys and walking fish. They look like a mix between a frog and a fish. While on the big boat we saw a lot of eagles, rather small and reddish and they were diving in the water for chicken bits thrown from our boat.

After the cave exploring we once again got onboard the big boat and lunch was served. The goal this time was Naka Yai Island where there was a beach with a bar and Kim had a Pina Colada served in a coconut. We spent about an hour on this beach and then we went back to Ao Po Pier and then returned to the hotel in the minivan.

Back at the hotel we once again witnessed the sunset dance and then went back to our apartment to shower and change for dinner. Tonight we managed to get a table at the Thai restaurant. Delish!

Third Day in Phuket

We started the day with breakfast on our balcony. It was an unadventurous day spent mostly by the pool. The complex has 3 large pools. Today we first went to the main pool with its waterspouting elephants. We stayed there for lunch as well, took a stroll on the beach and I actually got into the sea with its strong currents, but managed to get both in and out without any incidents.

Later in the afternoon we moved over to the Blue Pool. Kim went for her daily massage and then we went to watch the traditional Thai sunset ceremony at the Mirror Pool by the lobby. It looks like the dancers are dancing on the water. It is very slow and controlled movements and quite beatiful. There are also men dancing with fire and a drummer. This ceremony is repeated daily shortly before sunset. After this we went for Happy Hour - 2 drinks for the price of one. We had 2 each :-)

Back to the room to change and get ready for dinner. First we planned to go to the Japanese restaurant, but found out that a steak dinner was US$150!!! No steak is THAT good. Then we tried the Marriott Cafe, but they did not have any vegetarian dishes so we walked to the other end of the compound to visit the Thai restaurant, just to find out that they had a wine tasting thing going on and that it was sold out! So we ended up at the Siam Deli again. Definitely the least expensive place here and decent stuff to eat.

Second Day in Phuket

This morning we finally moved into our apartment. It is a lovely 2 bedroom with 2 baths, living room and kitchen. We also have a large balcony.

We had breakfast at Siam Deli and then we were picked up for our ATV drive. It took about 40 minutes to get to the site. There were a bunch of young Japanese tourists, a strange family and us, plus a couple of hotshots who were going a bit faster than the rest of us. We cruised through the rainforest, a rubber plantation, mud and sand. The only wildlife we saw was 2 roosters, 1 hen and a couple of chicks, although we were almost promised  monkeys! We stopped by the beach for refreshments. The ride lasted for about 1 hour and was quite wild!
 

After the ride we returned to the hotel, changed into swim suits and went to the pool. Kim also exercised in the ocean (strong currents and rough surf) and had another massage. What a life! We had dinner at the cafe.

Tomorrow we are going to have a relaxing day and stay home.

First Day in Phuket

We left the hotel quite early for the airport. The Hong Kong airport is really huge! We didn't realize how huge when we arrived a week ago, but this time we saw quite a bit of it. We had our breakfast at Starbucks and boarded our Dragon Air flight on time. Flying time was about 3.5 hours. The plane was nice but the food was terrible! Nevertheless, it was great to land in Phuket even though immigration is painfully slow. It was only +8C with light rain when we left Hong Kong - arriving in Phuket we found clear blue skies and around +30C! Almost too warm, but we are NOT going to complain!

After checking in and having received out leis and welcome drinks, we had to wait to actually get into the room. So to kill time we booked all our excursions. The girl we booked with is called Oy and she was here 3 years ago when Roger and I were here last (in 2007). We got upgraded to a first floor room quite close to one of the pools. Great! Kim wanted to have a swim so as soon as we could get into our room we changed and went to the pool.


We also took a little walk along the beach so that Kim could get an idea of where things are at the resort. We found the massage ladies on the beach and Kim went for her first massage here! She loved it! After the massage she took her first swim in the ocean, walked the beach, and found 4 dogs to pet (she misses Sulu very much), then it was time for Happy Hour. We sat at the bar "Out of the Blue" with our drinks until the sun settled in the sea. Once the sun had set and we finished our drinks, we went back to our room and got ready for dinner. Tonight it was BBQ on the beach with a live band that was really good!

Now we are back in our room and are getting ready to go to bed. Tomorrow our adventures will start with ATV ride. We are also going to move from the hotel to the timeshare apartment.

Sixth and Last Day in Hong Kong

We had nothing planned for the day so after a slow start we took the MTR to the Jade market. It was raining so we were happy to find that the market was actually covered. Here they sell tons of jade in every shape, form and color as well as some other chinese trinkets. There was a lot of the same stuff in the different stalls so you could take your time and also bargain with the merchants. We made out pretty well. After a couple of hours at the Jade market we walked to Nathan Road and found ourselves a Starbucks where we had bagels and latte.

Feeling refreshed we turned our steps toward Temple Street and the night market there. More shopping of course. Talk about "Shop till you drop". That's us. Exhausted we returned to our hotel to have some dinner and pack.

We are off to Phuket tomorrow morning very early. Can't wait for the sun and warmer temperatures!