Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Fun with Mom and Dad - Part 4


The big event of my parent's stay was a weekend trip to Phuket, Thailand. Taking a budget airline, the flight was $100 and took less than two hours. SE Asia is a great place to travel!

Our very first day we woke up bright and early and headed out for a boat tour of the PhiPhi Islands. Ever see The Beach with Leonardo DiCaprio and Scarlett Johanssen? Don't worry, not many people did, but if you happened to catch it, this is where is was filmed. It's spectacular.

The water was a brilliant green, made so from the calcium from the rock formations.

Lunch was homemade chicken salad, bread and Pringles on the beach. Yum.

We went snorkeling at almost every stop, there are fantastic coral reefs all around. At the last stop our guide told us "If you want to see reef sharks, go toward the shore, if you want to see turtles, go the other way." Hmmm, let's see, turtles or sharks? I pick turtles. After about 45 minutes of fruitless searching, I spotted something huge below me, and gestured frantically to David. He came up to the surface and said, "What the heck was that besides bigger than me?" Turns out it it was a leopard shark. "Don't worry, it's not interested in us..." assured the guide.

I was not comforted, the thing had to be 6 feet long.

Being completely snorkeled-out, we slept in the next day, wandering out around lunch time to check out the beach and pool. Bars and shopping right on the beach, I love it!

My favorite part of the whole trip was definitely Mina, the baby Indian elephant who hangs out at the resort. She had just been rolling in the sand:

And then went for a swim:

She was adorable, trying to dive down in the shallow water, her back legs sticking up. If you gave her a tip, she would grab it and put it in her trainer's pocket.

Wow, sharks yesterday, elephants today, what's next? Turns out it was wildlife on a smaller scale, but no less fascinating...

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