Phuket seems like somewhat of a blur in my mind, if only because I collapsed into a beach chair for two whole. Upon arrival at the Phuket bus station, we headed over to our Bed and Breakfast for some coffee and banana pancakes. I take this moment to applaud my own booking abilities in terms of the accommodations for this trip. The bed and breakfast we stayed at was a five minute walk from the Kata beach, right on the edge of the Kata/Karon beach town. Phuket is very large, divided into small beach towns. After dropping off our luggage, we headed out to Kata beach, grabbed some chairs, and started our day. At some point we went and grabbed lunch, before heading back to our hotel to put our luggage in the room and collapse for an afternoon catnap before dinner.
Note to all traveling to Phuket: the sun is very strong. I am used to wearing SPF 15 or lower and running around the beach all day. In Thailand, the humidity and bright sunlight caused me to sweat out most of my original (and second) application, leaving me burnt (again.)
Monty and Amy went out for dinner on their own, so James and I went exploring in Kata. We found a restaurant on top of a hill, overlooking the water and the small town of Karon Kata. After yet another fantastic meal of thai food, I discovered my favorite thai food of all: banana street pancakes. These pancakes resemble crepes, only they're a little more crispy and full of thai bananas. Strolling along the small streets with my nutella-banana pancake, I was overtaken with relaxation and a sense of really being on vacation. It was the best.
Next morning, we got up to another breakfast of pancakes and coffee. We walked down the street to Karon beach, which like Kata, consisted of endless white sand and beautiful blue water. Another thai lunch, a few drinks out of pineapples, and six hours later, we all reluctantly headed back to the B&B for some rest and dinner. We decided to head to the Hard Rock Cafe in downtown Patong, the main beach city of Phuket. After a very "American" dinner, we went cruising the streets of Patong, walking on beaches and sampling the local fare. We stayed out pretty late, going to a few beach parties and enjoying the cool night air. It was about this time when we all decided we never wanted to leave Phuket. Yes, we all love Shanghai, but there in the beautiful ocean town of Patong in one of the most interesting countries in the world, NONE of us wanted our vacation to end.
Friday morning, Monty and Amy headed out for a snorkel-boat day to one of the outlying islands around Phuket. James and I opted for motorbiking. Despite my initial reluctance, we rented a motorbike for around 5 USD and headed out for the day. We drove up to Patong and decided to go exploring and shopping. I managed to get a pedicure, as well as a few thai souvenirs in the street markets. James and I spent most of the day just wandering around, looking for dives and reading up on the history of Thailand. On the way back, we ran into some Elephants. Elephants are scared in Thailand, and a popular tourist attraction. I got to take some pictures with a baby elephant (so cute!) before motoring back through Phuket, camera in hand, and the sun began to set.
I had been thinking about my family all through this trip, but at this moment, I thought of my mother. My mom had told me stories years ago about her time abroad, motoring on the back of vespas through Rome with a good friend of hers. Riding on the back of this motorbike, watching the sunset along the beach, I was reminded again how much I truly am my mothers daughter.
After a quick (almost final) dinner, we all got in a cab on the way to the airport. Though we anticipated a long trip back... we really had no idea at this point what was about to begin.
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