Phuket Day One

We were only in Bangkok for the night since we weren't sure what to expect in Thailand and especially Bangkok becaus of the coup.   Although I didn't observe any signs of a coup.   Thank goodness!  We had one flight left until we arrived at our first destination,...Phuket .

As any good family, we decided to start the day off right with the most important meal, breakfast.  The girls ordered the traditional Thai breakfast of waffle with ice cream covered in chocolate syrup.  Okay, so maybe traditional is not exactly true, but there it was, giant picture, right on the menu.  Carter went for the breakfast of champions, a Thai pancake.  What made this version a little different is the fact that they do not have syrup, but instead a giant bottle of honey arrived.  Carter decided this is much better than maple syrup anyway.

Our one hour flight to Phuket was uneventful, unless you ask Bill who was surrounded by non wearing deodorant passengers.  Apparently he hasn't mastered the art of breathing through your mouth.  I honestly didn't know if he was going to make it.  Thankfully he did.   We were finally reunited with our luggage which we hadn't seen since SFO and hired a taxi for the 30 minute ride to our hotel.

The hotel is amazing!  They gave us eucalptus scented cool towels upon arrival and fresh tang to drink.  They let us check in early which was great!  We spent the day at the pool which overlooks the ocean.  We weren't able to go into the ocean because there were red flags out on the beach.  When Bill inquired about the red flags he was told that you can swim in the ocean but it is not advised because of the strong undertow and all of the jellyfish.  Undertow,,,,jellyfish, I think well stick to the pool, at least it has a water slide.

The hotel we are staying at has a baby elephant that they bring out twice a day.  The kids were able to feed and pet it.  Ava and Mia were even able to ride it, although Mia was completely petrified.  Then for even more excitement a snake was found slithering right next to the pool.  After a few screams from the women and children near it, the staff  proceeded to quickly catch it and then drape it over my daughter's head for a picture opportunity.

For dinner we took the free shuttle down to the last stop, which is the next hotel and walked into the little town.  I forgot to spray on the mosquito repellant which for Mia was a grave mistake.  We had a very expensive dinner although they did provide a free taxi back to our hotel.  So that was nice.  Plus all through dinner, which was eaten outside overlooking a lagoon, the kids were obsessed with trying to take pictures of all the lizards walking around.  Also Mia was being eaten alive but this was not realized until we returned to the hotel.  Note to self, Mosquitos LOVE Mia.