the next morning we got up to go on a jungle flight zip line adventure. the jungle was about a 45-minute drive from where we stayed and once we got there we got all strapped in and ready to go! we were in a group of about 10 and we got to zip line from over 20 platforms and propel down from 40-meter drops. it was insane. the views were breath-taking. we were literally in the jungle and it was so green and lush and beautiful. after hours of zipping through the jungle and over waterfalls we were served a nice thai lunch at the place of noodles, fried rice, eggs and soup. after we ate they took us back to our hotel. my friend dandi went on to visit a jade factory and my mom, mirelle, dekel and i went back to the hotel to pass out. we were so tired! i think it was all the action-packed into so few days and also the jet lag kinda caught up to us. we took about a 2.5 hour nap and woke up around 5:30 to get ready to get dinner and walk around some more. we went to a different area than the night market this night as we felt we had already kinda seen it all over there. we went to a street that had a strip of different pubs, restaurants and cafes. we ate at an “americanized” place called johns. i got spring rolls, dek got pad thai, my mom got a thai salad, mirelle got some soup (cause she wasnt feeling good at this point still) & dandi got a grilled cheese. after dinner we walked around and mirelle got to feeling a little bit better so we did some light shopping and we just poked around the little shops down the narrow side streets.
the next morning we got up & face timed with ben, my brother, & my grandparents. after that we had to pack cause we were flying to phuket that day. we went out for breakfast at a cafe we had seen the night before & we all got “american breakfast” which consisted of eggs, toast, bacon, ham, sausage, coffee and juice. after breakfast we picked our things up from the hotel and got a cab to the airport. when we got there we found out our flight had been cancelled but we didnt know cause the airline had sent an e-mail to my mom and she hadn’t checked her e-mail before she came so we were all kinda in shock. we acted quick and found another ($200 more) flight leaving the same time but with a different airline. we just didnt want to lug our luggage all the way back to the hotel for another night when we felt we had seen and done what we came to do in chiang mai and we just really wanted to continue on with our trip. so we caught the flight at 1pm and ended up sitting in the place on the runway for about 2 hours due to some maintenance check. we were so over it! but we finally got up in the air around 3:30 pm or so and we got to phuket around 5:00. from the airport in phuket it took about 45 minutes to get to our hostel. we finally made it and realized that they had messed up our reservation and broke us up into 2 & 3. like 2 of us (dekel & i) were going to be in a room with 2 guys and my mom, mirelle and dandi were going to be in a room with a girl from austrailia, clarisse. it was not such a huge deal, but we just thought they would have put us together, so we were bummed. we talked to the manager and he spoke to the 1 girl that was in my mom, mirelle and dandi’s room and she agreed to move rooms so we could all be together (dekel & i shared a bed because it was wider than twin size). so after checking in we set out to eat because mirelle got sick again and she we all needed some food. we found a pizza place and got 2 to share. even after dinner she felt sick so my mom took her back to the hostel so they could both just rest up. dekel, dandi & i wanted to walk around and explore a little bit. we are staying at a pretty happenen’ area so we didnt have to walk too far to find action. there is this major street that is closed off at night to cars and the people and tourists just take over the road. there are bars everywhere, there is chaos all around. people handing out fliers for ping pong shows, strip clubs and they are trying to set you up with hookers that are standing on the sidewalks in the highest of heels. after we walked down that strip of sex we got to the beach! it was nighttime so it was dark and we couldnt really see the water but you better believe we got our toes in the sand and walked along the shore. we were pounced on by people wanting to sell lanterns that you light & let into the sky as you make a wish. it was only 100 baht (~$3.50) to do it so dek, dandi and i did it. it was so pretty. there were other people doing it as well so the sky was lit up with little yellow fire dots, along with fireworks as people “buy” fireworks for them to set off. it was a really special sight. after that dek sniffed his way to find a chocolate/banana crepe, called banana loti. i didnt think i would like it, but between the thin, hot crepe, the buzz from the beer we had been drinking and the oozing hot nutella chocolate, i was sold and had one too many bites. after that we just made our way back to the hotel, it was around 11 pm and we were kinda tired. we also had planned on going to railay beach for 2 nights before going on to koh phi phi, but when we got here and understood that the boat ride would be a few hours or that by car it would be at least 5, we decided to cancel that lef of our trip because we knew mirelle wouldnt be able to deal with all that motion. so we ended up booking another 2 nights here in phuket and on sunday, the 24th, we will travel to koh phi phi by boat, which is like a little over 1 hour ride. hopefully it wont be bumpy or choppy.
anyways, so the next morning after arriving in phuket we got up, slipped our bikinis on, ate breakfast at the hostel (i had a blt and a strawberry, banana, raspberry smoothie, dek had “english breakfast” of eggs, beans, bacon, toast, coffee and juice, dandi had eggs on toast, mirelle had french toast & my mom had mussili) and headed to the beach. after laying out and dipping into the water we had the chair-lady on the beach “watch” our towels and we went to eat at a mexican restaurant called cayote. dek & i shared fajitas and we each had a kiwi margarita. after lunch we headed back to the beach to swim a little bit more before coming back to shower.
