As hard as it was to say good-bye to
Ari and Andy, I left that same day to meet
Brittany and Sara in Thailand (!). Back in April when I had bought my ticket, I figured 5 days on the beach would be just the thing after 2 weeks of traversing Japan. This was to be a shamelessly touristic girl's getaway. We did know going in that it would be rainy season in Thailand but we thought that would just mean cheap hotel rates. What we didn't realize is how it would affect our plans of sunbathing...
Brittany and Sara had the week off due to a Korean holiday and had already spent a few days in Bangkok. The plan was to meet in the Phuket airport. My plane was to arrive at 8am and then I would wait for Brittany and Sara to arrive at 10am. Since I had been busy the 2 weeks prior to the trip, I really had not done much research about Thailand or where our hotel was or how to get there from the airport or anything. I was entirely depending on Brittany and Sara knowing everything on how to get us to the hotel.
As it turns out, we should have spent a bit more time coordinating and planning the beginning of the trip because we were soon off to a rough start.
Because I missed my connecting flight out of Malaysia.
And had no direct way to contact either of them about my current situation.
You see, I was flying on a budget airline (Air Asia) and so my layover was in the budget terminal where the overhead speakers were not exactly crystal clear nor was the Malaysian accent as it was new to my ears. Furthermore, the gate I thought my plane was leaving from was in use up until the time my plane was scheduled to leave. As it turned out, that gate was just where we were meeting and then we were supposed to have gone to another gate to board the plane(???). By the time I asked about the plane being possibly delayed, it was already too late. And the computer screens had never said anything about the gate situation.
So, yes, it was my fault. I should have asked more questions. Which just made the whole situation more embarrassing and devastating.
From there, I had to go through customs and enter Malayasia just in order to get to the ticket office where I could book my next flight- which didn't leave for 5 hours. I then had to buy an AC adapter to charge my phone to connect to the internet so I could message Sara and Brittany and hope that they would get it when they landed in Phuket to know why I wasn't there yet.
My new flight wouldn't arrive in Phuket until 1 pm. Like I said, I was horribly unprepared for the country that lay ahead of me so I desperately hoped there was wifi at the Phuket airport so they would get my message and wait for me there.
Needless to say it was the longest 5 hour layover and 1 hour flight of my life, all of which I spent my desperately hoping and praying that they would still be at the airport waiting for me.
The moment of truth arrived. Our pre-arranged meeting point turned out to not exist but the airport and arrivals gate seemed small so my last shred of hope hung on being able to spot 2 blondes among the sea of people.
Several desperate minutes passed as I searched through the arrivals gate and tried to keep my cool.
I was running out of space to look for them... and then, thank the Lord!, they were there! I found them!! They were waiting for me!!!
Ah such sweet tears of joy and relief I had never shed.
It had all worked out. They were there. We were together at last and we could get this vacation started. Phew!
As it turned out, their flight had been delayed a while so they hadn't had to wait as long as I thought they would have. There was no free wifi so they hadn't been able to check for a message until they got really desperate. They first checked with the customs officers to see if I had come through, asked the airport staff announce my name over the intercom, and even borrowed an airport empolyee's cell phone to call the hotel to see if I was there for some reason.
We were so thankful to be together and have that ordeal over with that when we found a cab to take us to the hotel an hour away, we all squeezed into the back seat, even though it was quite hot and humid outside and the car's A/C wasn't that cool. We were just all so relieved.
Anyways, we were now in Phuket and "Gopher Girls' Getaway 2013" (as we were calling it, since we all hailed from the U of M) was underway!
I had been too distraught during the flight (and had an aisle seat) to take any photos but Sara took this one (and most of the others in this blog post) as they flew in:
Paradise!
It was a little over an hour cab ride from the airport to the hotel. We were staying at Avista Hotel and Spa in Kata Beach.
After the stressful start, we were greeted by this view; cold pineapple-orange juice; cool, wet cloths; and flower bracelets as well as very friendly staff at the hotel.
We were in love. So calming and beautiful!
We were soon shown up to our room where we fell further in love with the place.
The wall between the bathroom and the bed area was glass...so you could enjoy the view? But there was also a shade which we pulled down.
The view from the balcony off our room.
The washcloths were folded into bunnies!
We spent a few minutes settling in to the hotel and charging our electronics before we decided it was time to check out the swimming pools. It had been sprinkling when we left the airport but the sun was out now and it was definitely humid enough for a dip.
This is the Upper Pool, which has a bar at the far side there. The bar stools were in the pool!
This was the Lower Pool. The Upper Pool is located at the top of the fountain part.
After swimming a bit, the sun was starting to set so we got dressed again and set out to explore the town around us. Our hotel was up a steep hill, much like the one on which I live.
We found many shops to check out with great souvenirs and clothes to buy and a tasty place to get Pad Thai for dinner. Every single souvenir item I bought ended-up having elephants on it. I didn't even try for it but it was easy to do without realizing it.
Also, at this point I realized I had 5 different currencies in my wallet: US dollars, Japanese yen, Malaysian dollars (from buying the AC adapter at the airport), Thai bhat and some leftover Korean Won still from the
4th of July. I felt so international!!
After dinner, we went for our first round of massage. We thought we'd give Thai massage a try.
What a funny experience! Thai massage is much more active and painful than I realized although afterwards I felt great! It was funny because we were all three laying on beds next to each other- no curtains between us or anything- and the masseuse gets you in to all these interesting positions which were funny to see each other in. Plus, Brittany's masseuse kept scolding her for laughing before she even started laughing- which of course made her and the rest of us start giggling. Too funny.
We then did more shopping and then stumbled upon a Dr. Fish pedicure tank. Of course we wanted to try!
Well, it was just about the weirdest experiences of my life. The sensation of having hundreds of minnow sized fish 'vacuuming' your feet took a 5+ minutes of the 15 minute soak to get used to. As you can see in the picture. Sara got used to it right away but it took Brittany and I a while longer.
Eventually we got used to it and let the fish clean off our dead skin. Did it work? Well I thought my feet felt softer afterwards but it is possible that was wishful thinking. It was worth it for the experience though!
Then we did some more shopping before walking down to the beach area. So lovely.
Fun(?) Fact: This area was one of the main areas hit by the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.
Fun Fact #2: I've been to the Indian Ocean! 3 out of 4 oceans, baby!
The hotel at night.
After the beach, we headed back to the hotel. It had been an exhaustively stressful morning (for me) and we had a big day of lounging on the beach ahead of us!
Breakfast was at the hotel buffet. So delicious! Such variety!
And then it was off to the beach!
Rainy season? What rainy season? This was lovely! The riptide was really strong though.
Oh, that rainy season.
We were able to enjoy the sun for a few hours before the rain came. It was about lunch time anyways so we sought shelter at a nearby restaurant to wait out the rain.
Lunch was tasty and we met some interesting French and Russians. There were several times when the rain looked as though it was about to stop but then it would just start raining harder again. As we sat we realized we had at least been in the sun long enough to start tanning! And in some instances, burning.
The rain wasn't giving up so we returned to the hotel where we soon discovered that Sara had tanned nicely while Brittany and I had burnt to a crisp! Perhaps the rain had come at the right time.
The rain didn't let up until after sunset so we showered up and headed back into town for further exploring (aka shopping).
We found this beautiful restaurant on top of a hill- which meant there were a million steps to get up to it.
To Gopher Girls Getaway 2013!
My drink had a naked lady in it- scandalous! I also didn't want Sara to capture how burnt my chest was which is why I'm holding up the napkin.
The food was pretty good and we met a jolly bunch of Aussies. I love meeting Aussies while traveling- they are always so jolly!
After dinner we went for our second round of massages. We had all planned to get a Vitamin E rub down to help our skin tan the next day but since Brittany and I were so burnt, they would only let Sara get the VitE and had me and Brittany get the Aloe rub.
It was a good choice. The cool aloe was exactly what I needed. I was so burnt, my masseuse went through 3 jars of aloe and also laughed at me for being so burnt. Oh what can you do but laugh along with them?
They sent us off with instructions for "no barbecue tomorrow!" Meaning our skin.
Then we popped into a 7/11 and found some interesting Pringles! They also had plain nori (seaweed paper) for snacking on...
After some more exploring, we went back to the hotel. When we had checked in, we had told the staff that it was Sara's birthday on the 18th (which it was) and even though we were only staying until the 5th, they had a cake waiting for us in our room. So nice!
We had changed into our PJs already but which is why we are hiding our sunburnt faces as we sang "Happy Birthday" to Sara.
More tasty tropical fruit for breakfast!
The next day started out very rainy. We had signed up for a phytoplankton snorkeling tour for that afternoon and evening and we all had our fingers crossed that it wouldn't be canceled due to weather. Phytoplankton are the glow-in-the-dark plankton and we hoped to go on an evening snorkeling expedition to experience it for ourselves.
Since it was rainy, we went back to the room to relax and wait and see if the tour would be canceled or not.
We got the bad news: neither the weather or the ocean (too choppy) were cooperating and so the tour was canceled. I was really bummed!
And it was still raining so we couldn't even sunbathe :( I made this:
Since we had nothing planned for the afternoon, we rented a movie from the front desk (Harry Potter, of course!) a just relaxed. After the movie, we went mini golfing at a course we had found the other day.
Dino themed! Pretty great!
Then we wandered down to the Karon beach area (we think).
And then lunch time! This time we opted for Thai-Italian fusion.
There was a random, junky hut out back that I know Nick would have liked.
Yay for more fruity, tropical drinks!
That night we all got manicures...of varying professional quality. We went back to the shop we had been to for the Dr. Fish and for the aloe rub down since we liked them so far. The past 2 days we had been the only ones in the small shop- 3 pedicure/manicure 'stations,' 4 massage beds, and 3 workers. When we returned the 3rd evening, there were already 2 people getting massages. The lady not giving a massage got us set up in the manicure chairs and then ducked out of the shop. When she returned she had 2 more women with her. (I am fairly certain she fetched them from the neighboring, not-busy, massage parlors.) Then they all got to work. On just smoothing our cuticles, shaping the nail, and applying the color. The stuff I know how to do at home. And I'm pretty sure this was my lady's first time giving a manicure because of the way she smiled and admired her sloppy work afterwards. I'll stop there with the details but my hands ended up being 2 different colors and Sara straight up had hers redone by a more experienced lady. Oh, what can you do when it cost about 3 USD?
The next morning was rainy again. Ugh! This rainy season business was really putting a damper on our beach plans! But at least mine and Brittany's skin were given time to heal some. Luckily, the plans we had for Day 4 were weather independent: that afternoon, we were scheduled for an elephant safari.
We had booked out tickets online 2 days ago. Due to "local taxi politics" the company running the safari couldn't pick us up from our hotel. It was a simple fix- we just put in the name of a nearby hotel from which to be picked up. We had all received confirmation emails and so after a relaxing morning and purchasing rain ponchos, we headed to the other hotel- Phuket Spa Resort for pick up.
As our pick up time drew nearer and nearer and there was no sign of a tour bus we started to get nervous. I rechecked my email and noticed the confirmation email said pick up at Phuket Resort and Spa. That was just a mistake, right? What were the chances that there was another hotel actually named that?
Apparently 100% and the Phuket Resort and Spa was a 15 minute walk away from our current location. It was now 5 minutes until our scheduled pick up time and we all knew we were in the wrong spot. The only thing to do was to find the Phuket Resort and Spa and hope the bus was still waiting for us.
We walked VERY briskly to this other part of the town and sure enough, found the other hotel. We asked if our bus (Siam Safari) had come by yet and yes, it had, 15 minutes ago.
Crap! This was really disappointing!!
But never fear, we had Brittany with us! She asked to use the hotel phone (even though we weren't staying there) and called the company, told them what had happened and demanded they come back to pick us up. And it worked!
Now our only fear was that the other passengers on the tour would be mad at us for making the bus turn around.
As it turned out, the bus was empty save for 1 other couple who turned out to be these really friendly people from Singapore who had just been picked up so they were not mad at all. Neat!
It was a relatively short ride over to the elephant sanctuary. We met our tour guide, Thinh ("chin") who was this really quirky, funny gal!
Have I mentioned yet this was way more than just an elephant ride?
First we were served a sweet coconut snack with Thai tea or Thai coffee. We were taught about which beans make Thai coffee (can't remember) and how to make tea 'Thai' (half sweetened condensed milk).
Then we were taught and shown a demonstration on how to sow a rice field with an ox and were taught all about growing and harvesting rice.
Next we got to ride in the oxcart.
and this is sunburn 2 days later!
After that, we were shown how they 'dehusk' the rice (of course my frame of reference is corn- I'm from the Midwest, don't cha know!) and separate the edible rice from that which they can feed the animals.
And they let us "thai" it (hahaha!). It was hard work!
Separating the edible rice from the animal feed. The finely finely ground stuff can be served to babies.
Then we moved on to coconuts- the ever useful fruit! It started with a coconut de-husking demonstration and Thinh taught us about all the uses for the husk, the pulp, the water, the shell... the list went on and on.
Next was how they harvest the oil from the coconut- and all the further uses for the oil!
After that was the Thai curry demonstration.
There's Thinh, hella cheesin'!
Voila! Tasty curry
Then there was a demonstration on how to tap a rubber tree and collect the sap (rubber) and how to roll the collected sap into sheets to sell to factories.
The final station before the actual elephant safari was the baby elephant show! The 2 elephants performed all sorts of tricks, including painting!
Such beautiful creatures!
We also got to feed the babes!
"No more food, sorry gals!"
And then it was on to the elephant RIDE!!!
Riding an elephant is like nothing else. You are seated on a bench, not a saddle; the ride is not smooth- with each of the elephant's steps you move down then up 2 feet; you are 16 feet in the air; and when the elephant wants to take a break and eat some grass, the elephant takes a break and eats some grass.
Riding an elephant: the verdict? AMAZING!!! Definitely one of the coolest things I've done.
The white patches on the elephant hide shows their age.
And all too soon, that was the end of the safari. We were served dinner before being driven back to our hotel. Which for us meant not our hotel. But this hotel was in a new (to us) area so we spent some time walking through it and exploring it before heading back to our actual hotel.
Which brings me to the end of this tale. I packed up my stuff and left for the airport at 4 the next morning. Brittany and Sara had the rest of the day before they caught their red eye that night. (Luckily, it was sunny for them.)
I had a much less eventful trip home, although I randomly ran in to someone from work in the Kuala Lumpur airport and we were on the same flight home. It really was a Godsend I found her though because they changed the gate again and she knew about it already so we were at the right gate when they called our flight. Not that they put anything on the old gate's computer screen, again. (I was not impressed with the KL airport, if you can't tell, but I nonetheless do hope I can come back someday and get a better impression of the country.)
Safe and on my way back to Japan, I was able to enjoy the beautiful sunset we were flying into from my seat.
Even with all the rain and snags in our plans, I had an AMAZING time in Phuket. This was our shamelessly touristic 'beach' vacation and the shamelessly touristic part is what we got. I also hope I get to come back to this wonderful country tonget off the beaten path and see other cities. I hear Chiang Mai is nice...
Also, on the second to last day, I haggled for this beautiful piece of art which is now hanging in my living room.
