I'm sure by now many of you are aware of the bad luck we encountered when we were trying to go to Laos while on vacation. Something I should've mentioned a while back was how much fun we had in Phuket. Before we began our bus ride, we spent 6 days in Phuket and it was amazing.
This trip was in the making for nearly a year! Boarding the plane was a surreal moment that seemed like we spent an eternity waiting for, or 9 months - close enough. We arrived to our hotel, Bodega, super late but that didn't stop us from enjoying our first night in Thailand. (P.S. If you're ever in Phuket, this is the place to stay!) We had too much excitement to simply go to sleep. The nightlife in Phuket was a sight to see. There were lady boys and hookers lined up and down the bar street and it seemed like business was booming! Every way you looked, you would spot guys with hookers attached to their arms ready to go - well, could've been a lady boy, but who knows.
The next day, we hit Phuket in full force. The night before, we met some guys from Spain that offered to show us the beaches, how could we say no? So off we go on our rented motorbikes. The beaches were perfect and not only did we enjoy the sights of the sunset from the viewpoint, but we got to see elephants lounging along the side of the road. This was probably the only relaxing day we had.
The next 3 days was jammed packed with things to do before we took off. We rented vespas and drove around looking for the zoo for hours. I repeat--FOR HOURS. No we were not lost, just you know...exploring! Ha! We were determined to hold a tiger and ride an elephant! We even resorted to knocking onto other people's car windows to ask for directions. Maybe we should've considered staying away from cars with kids in it because the moms weren't happy with us. After wandering around for a while, we found the zoo in the strangest place possible. There was nothing around and no tigers. After all that way, it closed 10 minutes after we got there. So stalking people was for nothing.
Next on the list was a boat tour of the islands. If you ever go to Phuket, definitely a good idea. Not only did they let us hang off the back of the boat while driving, but they let us jump off the top of it for fun. We went snorkeling and we fed some ferocious fishes. We fed them bananas and bread, which who knew they even liked, but they bit! We also got to feed cute monkeys that were apparently dangerous!? Afterwards, we lounged out on various beaches, including the one where they filmed "The Beach" with Leonardo DiCaprio while they fed us fruit and drinks. Needless to say, it was the life I'd like to live. The only downside of the day was sun poisoning. Someone didn't think to where sun block and turned out looking like a lobster. Lesson learned.
One thing I wanted to check off of my list was to learn how to box, Muay Thai style. Yeah about that..totally not for me. In the first 10 minutes of jump roping, I was beat. If only you could see the actual boxing. It's no joke. Also off the list, we finally rode an elephant. Her name was Wanjai, a.k.a. Sweetheart. At one point while trekking through the jungle, we felt like we were going to fall off. So I asked our guide, "do people ever fall off?" He told us nope. Being the worrier I am, (thanks mom), asked, "if we fall, would you catch us?" His response? He laughed and shook his head no. Reassuring. We made it back safe and sound, no thanks to our guide.
Phuket was definitely an awesome vacation, even though no tigers in Thailand for us. Video proof is on it's way! Stay tuned...
Peace & Love,
Elissa Rae
