An Autumn Trip to Thailand

Coffees and the Hales on Patong Beach

It's official. I'm the worst blogger ever. This fall has been such a crazy hectic time that I've not had a the time, (or motivation) to write down all that we've been up to. Most of it is just normal every day stuff, not too interesting, but we did have a fantastic vacation to Phuket, and I want to record the details.

We left for Phuket very early in the morning on the first Saturday of our October break, and arrived around 7am and took a cab down to Patong Beach. We had arranged to stay there for two nights, but our flight had changed, so we stayed one night. Patong Beach is a pretty lively tourist area. The beach reminded me of Hanalei, but the boulevards were much less relaxed. It was a bustling area and we soaked it up for the day and evening. We walked along the main beach, swam at the hotel pool, went out for some really delicious Thai food and then walked along the famous Bangla street. Paul insisted we take a tuk-tuk home. Tuk-tuks are cars or trucks with open backs and usually have some sort of cover. In the Philippines, they use motorcycles, but in Phuket, they were trucks. It's a fun way to go a short distance. :)We turned in early, with plans to do a little bit more exploring before we relocated to a more isolated hotel. We didn't do much the next day, but we did manage some shopping and then piled into a taxi to go to a resort north of the airport.

Perfect pool day.

Chasing waves on Patong

Selfies on the big screen!

A ride in a fun tuk-tuk!

Transit in Phuket can be pricey, and really the only way to get around is by taxi. The taxi drivers have the upper hand because we have no other choice, so we paid a hefty sum to be transported up to our next hotel. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Resort Mai Khao. It was gorgeous. A bit isolated, but there was a really nice beach and the pool was amazing. There was even a play room for Paul (which we could have left him there for childcare, but we didn't). It was a really peaceful place, the opposite from being in Patong. We spent our time sleeping, eating, running, swimming and soaking in the sun and beautiful sunsets. After a few days, we geared up and headed south again to catch the ferry to Koh Phi Phi.

A huge stretch of beach, so we had a private beach sunset party. 

Happy Hales

Deep thinking on the beach.

On the way over to Koh Phi Phi

The ride down to the ferry was long, and we almost missed the boat, but we made it! Unfortunately, there were no seats left inside so we hunkered down for the 3 hour ride on the bow of the boat. I did my best to shade Paul, but he fell asleep and it was difficult to keep him in my lap and cover him. We all ended up a little crispy after that ride. Donnie and I chatted and shared some drinks to pass the time, and finally we arrived at Koh Phi Phi. I'd read about this place and it's on all the best beaches list, and it does not disappoint. We were booked to stay at the Holiday Inn Resort on the island, so after making one stop at the town, the ferry dropped us into little long boats to be shuttled to the resort. We had to wait a little bit for our room to be ready, but when it was, it was fun to see. The rooms there are bungalows and really aren't too much nicer than camping cabins. The difference is that they are literally steps from one of the most gorgeous beaches I've ever seen. So we settled in for four days. Making a routine of eating, sleeping and playing on the beach. There were a few restaurants to explore along the beach, but we ate a lot of room service. :) The highlight of our time there was a boat ride we took on one of the days. We left early, right after breakfast and headed out in one of the long boats. The boat took us to the nearby island where the movie The Beach was filmed. That area is called Mya Bay. It was gorgeous, but crowded, so after a few pics and some swimming, we moved on to some other beaches and coves. We had our own boat, so the driver took us to some less crowded spots for swimming and snorkeling. Paul was hesitant at first to get in the water with all the fish, but he put on his goggles and swimmers, and jumped in. He loved watching the fish swim between his toes. :) We also stopped at Monkey Bay. It was cool at first to be so close to these wild monkeys, but they are super aggressive. After one of them charged at Paul, we decided we'd just take pictures of them from the boat. While we watched, another tourist was letting them climb all over her, and one bit her! I was glad we had opted out of close contact with them. :)

The beach a few steps from our door.

My fav view.

Our little bungalow

The only way around the island is on these long boats.

Here we go!

Mya Bay

Fearless snorkellers

The Hales 

Really cool sea caves.

Evil monkeys.

Best viewed from afar.

My snorkeling dudes.

There's only one ferry out of Koh Phi Phi, and it leaves early in the morning, which was good because we had a flight to catch at 11am. The weather wasn't on our side and after a torturous 4 hours on rough seas we made it to Krabi. Our flight left without us and we were left to figure out what to do next. Luckily, there was a room available at the Holiday Inn in Krabi, so we checked in, took naps and played at the super fun water slides. We ventured out in the rain for some really awesome Indian food, and made plans to catch our newly booked flight the next day. :)

The best Indian food ever!

We made our flight to Singapore, but we didn't get to see much of the city once we got there. It's a really nice city, albeit expensive, but Paul was grouchy and we found our happy place at a local brewery, so we just resigned to relaxing. The next day we planned to go on a tour of the city from the airport, but upon arrival at the airport, we found you actually could only do those arranged tour from inside the departure gates. (Transfers only) So we spent the day playing, eating and walking around the Changi Airport. It's one of the best in the world, I would say. Although, I do favor Munich's more. 

We got home late and vegged the next day before getting back into the grind of October. This month has been packed with obligations, work, coaching, playing and also fun. But I'll fill you in on the details in another month or so....

hahaha hopefully sooner than that. Love to all and I miss your faces. :)