Hong Kong and Thailand Part 3 - Ko Yao Noi

After our time in and around Bangkok, it was time for us to head out to the ocean for some relaxation. Of course, Thailand is known for its beaches, so off we flew to Phuket!! We chose to travel out to one of the small islands off the coast, as it was supposed to be more secluded and less touristy. We were definitely NOT disappointed. The pictures don't even begin to express the beauty of this place.

The next day we departed on a kayak tour with our incredible local guide, Hed. This was easily and by far, the very best day of our trip! We left early in the morning via long-tail boat, and he said we were "very lucky" because not only was the weather perfect (it rained for about 5 minutes as we left, but cleared up immediately and managed to leave us with a rainbow....seriously?), but the tides were in our favor. We were able to kayak in and out of the hongs (caves) and even swam in a private lagoon. We visited James Bond island, kayaked through a bat cave, and even had lunch on our own private beach. Again, I could not even begin to represent this in pictures!

Hed even worked in a trip to the northernmost point of the island where there is a huge tree that takes 20 men to wrap around it!

As if the day was not wonderful enough, we decided to borrow mopeds from the resort and traveled all over the island (it didn't take long!). We did have one little accident (definitely my fault - apparently running over your husband's leg is part of vacation) but we did safely make it to watch the sunset on the west side of the island, and finished the evening with another amazing thai meal!

Seriously in want of one more day, it was finally time to head back home. After the boat trip back to Phuket, we made a stop off for an elephant ride...because how can you leave Thailand without riding an elephant? Well...I am no PETA member, but I was appalled by the conditions of the elephants and asked Juan Pablo

if we could skip this part. Here we are before I had my equal rights for all God's creatures moment...

As bad as I felt depriving Juan Pablo of an elephant ride, we headed in to Phuket Town to wander around, and at least he got to try on a really cool hat. Juan Pablo, rice paddy master.

In an attempt to milk our last day for all it was worth, we dropped our luggage at the airport, and headed to one of the local beaches. There, we watched our last Thai sunset, and had one last amazing meal on the beach.

Kob kun kaa Thailand!!!

And thanks to one of our souvenirs from Phuket Town, Juan Pablo still got that elephant ride...even if it was back home in Charleston, and the elephant was made of wood. :)