Phuket and Parents

The last stop on my vacation was Patong Beach, Phuket.  My parents were able to come and visit me in Thailand, and they went to Bangkok and Phuket.  I hadn't seen them in six months, so I was pretty stoked for some family time.  We arrived in Phuket in the late afternoon, and then went on the hunt for my parents' hotel.  It was definitely not where we thought it was, but eventually we had to hop in a cab and it was discovered!  We spent the first evening catching up over some good food and then headed for bed to get ready for an afternoon tour the next day.

**My camera broke after Koh Samui, and so I do not have any pictures from my camera of Phuket.  This means that although I have no documentation of myself and my parents together - it did happen.  I swear.**

Busy Patong Beach

The next morning we went on a half day jam packed tour.  We learned all about coconuts, rice products, buffalo, and elephant training.  Although it was pretty busy it was actually really interesting.  We also got to have an elephant ride, and see a pretty awesome training show with some young elephants.  They are so stinking adorable.  My mom was not so enthused about the elephant riding, but she survived.  After a tasty dinner with some sparky old British ladies, we headed home in a jeep.  We thought we had signed up for some sort of jeep off-roading adventure - but they simply drove us back to our hotel in a jeep.

Karst formations

Gypsy Island

The next few days we mostly spent lazing by the pool, reading and swimming.  Phuket is ridiculously hot if you venture too far from the pool during the day time hours.  It was lovely to relax with my family.  In the evenings we went out to explore and shop a little bit.  My dad discovered the fish spa and absolutely loved it.  I figured that once was enough for me though!

One evening we had dinner with Karl and Val (my China parents).  It was pretty awesome to see my two worlds coming together.  Despite the blogging and emailing, it is really difficult to paint a picture of how different my life is in China.  It was just cool to see both sides coming together (and to have some helping voices explain how crazy this country is!).

James Bond!

One day we signed up for James Bond Island tour.  The film "The Man With the Golden Gun" was filmed in the area, and they had quite a business of filling boats of tourists to the island and setting them up for photo ops.  We headed out early to the other side of the island to get on a jet boat.  It was a beautiful ride through small islands and karsts.  We stopped twice for canoe rides through caves.  The first stop was short, but still great.  We went through a small cave into a beautiful hidden bay.  The second canoe ride was the best though.  We were taken through a giant cave filled with bats, and on the other side was a cove full of monkeys!  Exiting the cave you had to duck to make it through.  At higher tide it would not be possible.

A packed Patong street.

After our canoeing we were loaded back into the big boat to go to the famous island.  We took a plethora of photos and then hiked around the rock cliffs.  Well, my dad, Nic and I hiked around the rock cliffs.  After James Bond Island we went to the floating gypsy village.  It was created when the settlers who came from Malaysia could not find enough room to stay.  So they created floating docks off of the land instead.  Over the years it has expanded, and now there is no settlement on the land - only on the water.  It would be a pretty strange live to live on a giant dock your whole life!  They even had a soccer field and a small school!  After lunch we headed to a beach for a few hours of sun and swimming, and then headed home for the evening.

Proof I saw my lovely parents

Another day in Phuket we headed down to the beach to sign up for some watersports. Nic and I wanted to go parasailing, but they only took you out for about a 3 minute ride!  (Plus they wanted Nic to hang off the top with no belt).  We quickly decided that banana boating was the better option, so we made my mom ride on the rickety wooden boat to take pictures and the rest of us climbed on.  It was a ton of fun, and it brought me back to my years of summer camp - riding the waves with a cabin full of kids.  On our last fall I landed on my dads ribs at full speed though, and he was moving pretty slowly for the next few days!

One of the stops on our James Bond tour

Getting driven around

Our time in Phuket passed quickly, but we had long lazy days.  All together we were there about a week and a half.  Nic left one day, my parents left the next, and I was left alone and sad my vacation was coming to an end!  I was alone for about 8 hours in Phuket - and to console myself I bought a bunch of jumpers, about 3 smoothies, and two desserts.  It is a good thing I did not travel by myself because my trip would have been so expensive!

Late in the evening I went to the airport to spend the night curled up on a bench, and then flew to Bangkok and back to China the next morning.  I was home by about midnight on Saturday night, and had to go to work on Monday morning.

A not so hidden cove, piled with canoes

My five week vacation was incredible, and I already can't wait until next year!  Thailand is an amazing place to travel, and I was certainly not tired of it after five weeks (though the Thai government was tired of me, and I had to pay a fine for overstaying my limit!).  I saw everything I wanted to see, relaxed plenty and was active plenty.  I stayed well under my budget, got to catch up with friends, and spend quality time with my family.  It was a fabulous trip and I can't wait to go on another!

One of the monkeys in the cove.