Thailand: Speedboat Tour of Phi Phi Ley, Phi Phi Don, Khai Nok Islands

Thanks to the Rusts for advice on island hopping, they were able to secure for us a day long excision through the driver they had before, and do a speed boat tour around the islands off of Phuket. This was amazing primarily because we had the chance to go on this excursion with all our trip families: The Schwartz, the Rusts, Strommers, Jones, Foster's! We piled up 20 some odd people to make the trek around the islands.

We travelled to our first of three swimming spots: Phi Phi Ley.

Besides being super crowded, this alcove area of the island was incredible with crystal clear blue water and very warm water. Our drivers parked the boat and we all dove in! Everyone got in the water, even little monster.

The best part was Corianne Schwartz overcoming her fear of the open ocean and getting in the water. Only took the taunting of her sisters on this trip to convince her to finally jump in!

From there we went next to just the sight seeing portion: Monkey Island, Pileh Cove, Monkey Beach and the viking cave. After quick stops at each, we went went on our way to Phi Phi Don island.

Prior to hoping onto the island we stopped at the reefs around the island for some snorkeling. Snorkeling for me is probably one of the most enjoyable things I ever do, and this place was no exception. We all jumped in, even little monster for a swim, and enjoyed looking around at what I learned were Parrot Fish (which was a fun fact I learned from my future marine biologist Big Sis).

Phi Phi Don island was super crowded, literally with 100 boats all that had carried people there.

There was a huge buffet restaurant that must make a killing since most of the tour guides take their people there. Nice part was that the food was awesome and there we no wait, since up to this point we had already been on the excursion for a few hours. We ate the restaurant, did some shopping for a moment, and then Tyler Rust came back so excited to introduce us to a Rodie! Basically its a crepe that is flavored certain ways, and pretty much was the most amazing thing ever. We had to go back and get some for the kids, so we bought some cinnamon ones, and a lemon flavored one: DON'T MIND IF I DO. We hoped back on the boat and went to our final destination: Khai Nok Island.

Now Khai Nok Island is a double edged sword, or at least the ground you walk on is as sharp as swords. So due to the 1000's of people who come here everyday, the location is suffering from severe destruction to he coral reefs, which then break off into a million people and wash up on the shore. The shore was like walking on a million shards of glass as a result, and was sad to see.

The only saving grace for this place was that the fish here eat pineapple right of your hand. Little monster and the kids had so much fun getting their fingers nibbled on by the little fishes trying to kill the fruit in our hands.

 The water was still so beautiful and warm, so it made for a good ending to a day of island hopping!

Thailand: Phuket's Wat Chalong, Big Buddha, Beach Time

Wat Chalong 
Our next day trip was day one in Phuket Thailand! Having been to Thailand before, it was a very different experience coming to Phuket this time, as it had its very own flavor, but was way more touristy that Chiang Mai had been.

We started today at Wat Chalong, and went to the Poh Than Jao Wat. It has these two statues of the man called Ta Kheen-lek that evidently won multiple lotteries after consulting with the Poh Than Jao Wat statue.

This temple, like most, is super beautiful, and the day was insanely hot. The grounds were beautiful, but the sad part was that every 10 or so minutes there was a random 1000 firecrackers that would be lit in this huge caldron - most likely a prayer of sorts. However, to us Americans, it made you feel instantly that there was a mass shooting, and freaked us out. So sad that that is what our culture has to fear.

Wat Chalong literally had every kind of Buddha we were used to seeing. Gold ones, green ones, laying ones, and white ones. Little Monster and Rhett loved also going around growling at them in order to intimidate the Buddha. In tradition you take off your shoes before entering this holy ground, however, the ground was so hot, we didn't stay outside on the roof very long.

Even the towers of the temple were mini pagodas with layer after layer of highly decorated and ornate structures. They even had outside in the grand pagoda a splinter of Lord Buddha's bone, and is officially named the Phramahathatchedi-Jomthaibarameepragat (what a name).

Big Buddha 
Next we traveled over to see the Big Buddha, or the great Buddha of Phuket. The best part was that the position of this buddha was so prominent on top of the mountain top that we even saw it from the cruise ship earlier that morning at sunrise when Heather and I snuck out to see the sun come up over Phuket.

The official name for this place is Phra Phutta Ming Mongkol Akenakiri, which sits on top of Naked Hill near Chalong, and was built in 2004. It's basically a 148' tall Buddha on top of a mountain, so who wouldn't want to see it! It is supposed to be a representation of Gautama in sitting position, and covered in Burmese white marble.

The location was beautiful, and overlooks the whole coast. It was full of unique and very buddhist statues, to include the 3 headed elephant. We had a lot of fun, and I was excited because I found the best magnet there, only to then loose it 30 minutes later in the midst of taking Little Monster to the bathroom and subsequent Monster meltdown. So bummed!

Phuket Beach
So at the advice of the Rusts, we decided to finalize the day with some beach time. Phuket beaches, although with very comfortable water, are super super crowded, but luckily we were able to find some shade covered chairs and let everyone play. We spent the day wt the beach with the Rusts and Schwartz.

All the kids, to include the Rusts and Schwartz families engaged in the building of sand castles, and playing in the water.

The sand wasn't as beautiful as the beaches of Langkawi, but it wasn't hot, so the kids enjoyed the sand more here in Phuket.

We couldn't pass up the chance to get some massages on the beach in the Thailand, so the older two plus Heather and I rewarded ourselves with deep tissue massages there, and it was so fun! After some sunsets and delicious fruity drinks we conclude our day of literally going High and Low in order to find some amazing memories here.

-Kevin

Thailand: Doi Suthep

Hello, there, this is Big Sis and I am going to tell you all about our adventure to the top of a mountain to see the highest temple in Thailand. The drive to the top was very harsh and miserable for almost everybody. Dad, Mom, M&M, and Little A all got really car sick on the drive up. The road was really uneven, windy, and bumpy so they started to get really sick. Surprisingly, I didn't get really sick but wasn't feeling that bright either. After about 30 minutes of the miserable drive, we finally arrived at the top where cars had to stop. We took a lunch break to recover and get over the dizziness and then set off to see the temple. 

As we started to set off, we realized that there were two options  to get to the very top of the mountain which is where the temple was. There was the cable car and the stairs. Since Little A still wasn't fully recovered from the car ride, she, dad, and Monster took the cable car to the temple and mom, M&M, and me decided that we wanted to see the extra ancient structure on the way up, so we took the stairs. 

The stairs were just like Korea, uneven, slippery, and VERY steep, but that wasn't going to stop us from seeing the temple. On the way up there were giant gongs, huge gold buddha sculptures, and many other interesting monuments. 

My favorite structures were the seven-headed dragon and the giant gong. The stair railings were super long and very beautiful hand-carved seven-headed dragon sculptures. They were so colorful and they were at least 300 feet long. 

After taking the stairs for about 15 minutes, we made it to the top where dad, Little A, and Monster where waiting for us.  It was very crowded but was super cool. 

What was really interesting was that since we where so high up, we were technically in the clouds. It just so happened to be party cloudy that day, but for the temple grounds, it was very cloudy. 

We decided to walk into the actual temple.  We had to take our shoes off, and it was kind of gross because all the people walking around barefoot or in socks and the floor was wet-ish and sticky.  I felt like I was inside a snow globe. The temple grounds where huge and it was so golden. There were so many people though. They were everywhere.  Everything was covered in a gold color.  

There were golden buddha's everywhere too.  The spears of the pagoda were so tall.  It was so pretty and so neat to see this temple and to walk all around the entire thing.  I am glad we came and saw this.