Phuket

Now on to Phuket. Our stay here was wonderful. Mom's friend Theera at the JW Marriott made sure that we were taken care of. The hotel is pretty isolated from the rest of the island but we made several day trips and also took advantage of things we could do at the hotel. One day we went sailing and got to see the insides of several caves which led to private lagoons and had interesting rock formations. We also went swimming in the Gulf of Phuket which is full of little islands. Among those islands is James Bond Island where they filmed one of the Bond flicks (ask my dad, he'll know which one.)

On another day we took a tour of the island and saw a Buddhist temple, Promthep Cape, and took in the nightlife of Patong. I preferred our part of the island best.

While in Phuket Rick and I got a babysitter a few nights for Piper and enjoyed dinner at the hotel's great restaurants. One day I took a Thai cooking class at the hotel, as well as a luxuriant massage and facial.

The rain didn't affect our plans all that much. The first day we arrived in Phuket it rained so we couldn't go swimming. However, the hotel is very family-friendly and so we took Piper to the Children's Pavilion to play with other kids and toys.

Our last day in Phuket we went snorkeling at Khai Island which is where all of the sea turtles go to lay their eggs. They try to keep most of the islands protected for the wildlife. The Marriott is located on Mai Khao (pronounced "my cow") beach which is a shelter for sea turtles.

As for all of you who are interested in how the island has recovered from the tsunami, Rick and I both agree that if you hadn't known that there had been a tsunami three years ago, you wouldn't be able to tell. Maybe that's just because we'd never been there before but from what locals tell us, things have gotten back to normal pretty quickly.

On a side note: Thai drivers are crazy. They drive in the shoulder lane, don't yield, and go too fast. I'm glad that we weren't the ones driving. Oh, and car seats for babies are not de rigeur.

Piper smelling a flower from our welcome leis at the hotel

View of our hotel room from the bathroom

Another view of our room


JW Marriott at sunset

This is the market I visited with my cooking class. In the forefront are bags of quail eggs for sale.

This is Khun Theera (Mom's friend) and me at my cooking class.


Anyone for Thai food?


Out to dinner at the hotel's awesome beach-side steakhouse


Out sailing in the Gulf of Phuket


Check out those amazing watermarks on these cave walls.

The rocks and foliage were so beautiful around all of the little islands.

Piper facing off with Captain Mark

My favorite picture of the whole trip. Piper decided that she wanted to steer and just took ahold of the helm. She looks like she knows what she's doing and is very determined.

Rick and Piper at Wat Chalong

Sunset at Promthep Cape

Grabbing a snack at Promthep Cape

This shot would have been beautiful but the clouds hid most of the sunset.

Taking a tuk-tuk taxi after a long day

This is a gigantic millipede I found on the garden path to our hotel room.

Rick and Piper swimming with friends in the kid's pool

Rick and Piper on the waterslide

Piper playing in the sand while Rick got a foot massage

Piper is ready for a sunset swim on Mai Khao beach. The waves were very strong here; it was all I could do to keep her from running in head first.

We could see elephants every day on Mai Khao, offering rides to the kids.

This is Rick and Piper on the day we went snorkeling. Notice the fishing boat in the background. We all got a little sunburn this last day.

The whole family at the hotel after a light dinner