Just a quick 45 minute flight south of Bangkok, Thailand is the island of Phuket.
Craig and I spent part of our honeymoon on the island in 2007 and opted to forgo the common hostel-on-Patong-beach-scene and instead stayed at a bungalow hotel on Kamala Beach on the west coast.
We had an incredible honeymoon bungalow right across the street from the beach.
It was pretty horrible.
Much of Phuket was devastated by the tsunami in 2004. Most tourist areas are now rebuilt (and amazingly were in 2007, just three years after the disaster) and evacuation route markers stand as a constant reminder.
We were surprised with how varied the island was…Patong – crazy busy and conjested, yet just south is a stunning beach, nearly deserted.
We rented a motorbike one day and set out to explore the whole of the island (which turned out to be a bit bigger than we estimated, so we didn’t actually get around the whole thing).
After riding the bike up a steep, winding, dirt road we came to the top of a mountain in the center of the island. This is home to a giant marble Buddha.
He was getting a facelift the day we were there and his hair was lined up and waiting to be mounted.
Buddha’s view
In Phuket City we mailed our wedding thank you cards (after about 30 minutes of hilarious miscommunication) and found the most amazing coconut gelato.
We spent a day snorkeling around some small nearby islands.
And discovered that the fish LOVE bananas. Who knew? I never thought that I would have schools of fish nibbling pieces of bananas out of my hands.
Its not difficult to understand why Phuket has become such a popular destination.
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what fun you had – love the different photos, including buddha’s hair!