Mystery Vacation Location Revealed and Trip Post #1

So, are you wanting to know where the Mystery Vacation location was? Maybe I should just prolong it a bit more, just to keep you hanging onto my every word! Here's some hints:

• We crossed the International Date Line
• The country is mostly Buddhist
• The country borders the Indian Ocean
• There are long tail boats everywhere

Any guesses?

Greeted with a pina colada when we arrived at the Phi Phi Island Village

Okay, okay....I"ll tell you!  We were in Phuket, Thailand!  As soon as we got on light rail and were on the way I said, "Is it time yet?" Jon didn't make me wait long, and he had me open the backpack to find a manila envelope that said "Top Secret" on it in a red ink stamp. I felt like such a spy on Alias. :)  Inside there were packets of currency (US, Thai, and South Korean), our itinerary, and a travel book on Phuket. The entire rest of the way I pestered him with questions, and I spent a fair amount of time on the flight over scouring the travel booklet Jon got me (when not sleeping or watching movies, of course!). 

Sign says "Watch out for falling coconuts." Taken from our hotel on Phi Phi

Phuket is in the southern part of Thailand and is actually an island connected to mainland Thailand by a bridge.  Our first few days would be spent on a different island off the coast of Phuket called Phi Phi Island at the Phi Phi Island Village.  This would end up being my favorite part of the trip. The resort was in this little cove with crystal clear blue-green water. The sand was a fine white powder, and the room and restaurant was wonderful. The entire place was just simply beautiful, and we had so much fun here. One day we took a tour from the hotel and snorkeled around Phi Phi Island as well as headed south to Phi Phi Leh Island. The water was so warm (think bathtub warm!) and it was so clear. At times we were surrounded by schools of fish, and some of the fish were fantastically bright and colorful.  On this tour we visited Monkey Island, which you can imagine contains...wild monkeys, as well as Maya Beach where the film "The Beach" with Leo was filmed about 10 years ago.  The entire time here was wonderful. 

Monkey Island (look at that clear water!)

Crystal clear water at Kata Beach

After I reluctantly left Phi Phi Island and headed back to Phuket, we found ourselves at our home for the next six nights, the Boomerang Village hotel on a hill with views of Kata Beach.  Our first day in the Phuket area we became beach bums. We started on Kata Beach and were blessed with more warm, clear water. Kata Beach is busy, but not as busy as some of the local beaches like Karon or the mega beach, Patong. After hanging out in the water we walked a bit through the town area by the beach and decided to walk south to Kata Noi, a smaller beach which was, again, just as lovely.

Our Thai lunch

After more fun in the water, we stopped for lunch and ate Thai food (Jon had Thai curry with a Thai beer, and I had a fried noodles dish with a Thai iced tea) on our way to Karon Beach.  Although these three beaches are right next to each other geographically, the distance became more obvious when we were walking the entire way. Plus, the heat was a bit of a factor at 90F plus humidity. When we finally got to Karon Beach I was exhausted and a bit sun burnt.  However, we knew the water would cool us off, but unfortunately the water at Karon Beach wasn't as clear and it got deep pretty quickly.  Also, Jon and I both felt like something was stinging us under the water the entire time, so we didn't end up staying as long as we had hoped.

We returned to the hotel to discover I had developed a heat rash on my foot. Ugh! And the cure is to stay in cool, air conditioned places, which is hard to do in Thailand where nothing is air conditioned but our hotel room. In addition, my foot was swelling up due to the rash, so we called it a night and ordered room service at our room.

Drinking from a coconut at the beach side bar at our hotel on Phi Phi Island

Check back soon for part two.  Highlights will include:
*One of the scariest experiences of my life (and Jon's favorite part of the trip)
*Riding on a huge beast

Can you say relaxed? At the private beach on Phi Phi Island