Phuket, Thailand

Ben and I stayed at the Marriott Kao Lak Resort in Phuket, Thailand and absolutely loved it. The hotel sat right on the beach and had swimming pool canals that connected most of the resort. We would often swim to breakfast or back to our room after playing on the beach.

I love all of the unique detalining on the buildings...

One of our favorite activities in Phuket was renting a scooter. It provided so much flexibility, allowed us to get out and see the countryside and only set us back about $30.00 USD, which included 5 days of scooterific fun, helmets, gas, and even covered the hefty price to replace the tire. Too bad scooters in Singapore are so expensive; require license auctioning, hefty taxation, etc.

Ben couldn’t handle the constant penetration of mosquitoes and dirt to his eyes, so he decided to buy the nicest and most protective pair of sunglasses Kao Lak had to offer….I offered my sunglasses, but he refused because they were “too girlie”. I think he may have been better off with my sunglasses.

A few of the beautiful places we were able to get too on our trusty scooter.

Another favorite activity and coincidentally typical mode of transportation in Thailand was riding on this guy. We had the best guide, who is the care taker of the Elephant. It was incredible to see how such a large animal can be so gentle.

We were able to travel off the beaten path, through a rubber plantation (yes Rubber comes from trees), into the jungle and up to a beautiful waterfall. We ended the day by feeding our Elephant lots of bananas, sugar cane, and pineapple.

Appartently the older the elephant, the more freckles they have....that imakes too things grandparents have in common with elephants...right kristen :)

Another excursion we were able to go on was a boat and snorkeling tour of the Pipi (pee-pee) Islands. The water was warm, incredibly clear and chalk full of thousands of beautiful reef fish.  

Ben couldn’t leave Thailand without doing something a little dangerous and found a white water rafting, zipline and ATV tour. We started off early and took a long ride up into the mountains of Phuket and eventually made our way down the mountain almost entirely by raft, zip line and ATV.  

The rafting was really fun, but I am not so sure the European couple who jumped in our raft appreciated their energetic and thrills seeking companions; apparently Ben and I were trying to get the guides to go down rapids that were beyond their comfort.

We had a great guide and were the only people in his group so he threw in a lot of extras including this tour of a Buddhist temple.

These are small tombs where families bring their loved one’s ashes to be sealed in the religious garden.