Thailand

Then it was off for a week in Phuket.  We stayed at the Holiday Inn.  It was lovely.  The hotel staff were great.  It seemed every night just before bed, we would have some sort of disaster, and they were great at cleaning it up.  However, since I was not officially a guest of the hotel, I would have to hide (sometimes in a closet) until the coast was clear.



 

We has a great room right at the private pool.  The hotel was across the street from the beach and was right in the heart of the action.

There was a swim-up bar, several restaurants and a kids club.  Down the street was a juice bar which I fell in love with.  There was also a juice bar in Discovery Bay, but it was pretty expensive, about $5 a juice

The beach on our first night.  On our last night we lit paper lanterns and released them into the night sky.

The grounds of the hotel were so beautiful. 

This was THE BEST.  I bought so much fruit!  The pineapple was to die for, the mangos were not.  I had plans of getting a massage on the beach.  Unfortunately I ended up having to laydown on the sidewalk half naked to get my massage.  Not ideal surroundings, but it was cheap.

I tried rambutan, mangosteen, guava and jack fruit.  In Discovery Bay, I ate my weight in papaya.  Delish! A fruity girl's paradise 

Most of the hotel was open air, with our private pool tucked away from most of the hotel guests.  I was very lucky that the restaurant's chef understood gluten-free and made me some wonderful meals.  He warned me that most people would not understand gluten-free.  I was happy to stick to fruit, steamed rice and booze outside of the hotel.

At the Phuket mall

love the statues at the hotel

It was eerie to think that the entire area had been destroyed just 9 years before.  There were no signs of the tsunami now, everything has sine been rebuilt.  The hotel had a memorial plaque to commemorate the tsunami.  I couldn't help but wonder how many of the staff and guests had died that day.

The shrine at the hotel.  The staff lit incense and left fresh fruit, drinks and flowers every day

Amazing gardens

Ron and Linda joined us in Phuket.  Ron is writing on the roof of the bar "The Sutherlands 2013".  At each little bar we went to we got to select the music which was a nice treat.  Gangnam style will forever bring-up memories of this trip

There are these little street-side bars all over the place.  They were the perfect place to cool off.  Each had an assortment of bar games

The goal of this game was to drive a nail in with one big whack.  I was a total failure.  I couldn't drive a nail in with 10 whacks.  I blame the pointy hammer.  Around this time, I decided my deathly cold was going to kill me, so I went to the drug store and bought myself a lovely stockpile of antibiotics. 

Sarah's weakness.  Crepe with nutella for $1.60 Canadian

An afternoon at the girly-bars.  This was really before things got hopping.  I did run into a transgendered performer in the washroom.  She looked much better in that sequined thong than I would!  The girls found their own entertainment with beer cozies

The bar staff were more than willing to play bar games like connect-4, Janga or to play with the girls.  I think the Thai people are the friendliest of people, part of the reason I really love Thailand 

At the end of the night, we hopped on a party... tuktuk?  I'm not sure what it was.  It was like a minivan and a scooter mushed together.  It had lights and loud music, so it was fun!

I can't believe I didn't get video of the Muay Thai promoters.  Ella absolutely loved them  They came down the street in a van with music blaring.  On the loud speaker was a guy yelling "Saturday! Saturday! Muay Thai Boxing!  You See Muay Thai, You See Thailand!!"  They handed out posters promoting the upcoming fight.  Ella was transfixed by them, and always got a poster.  In the picture above, Ella is clutching one of their posters.  We would later lose this poster and it was a major disaster.  And then it was back to Hong Kong for a couple of days.