The return to Phuket and Phi Phi

3 days in Thailand already and loads of activities performed. We arrived late to our hotel Sunday morning around 2:30 am local time. The plan was for us to have a relaxing day acclimating to the heat and hustle and bustle of Phuket Town. Instead we ended up packing the day with things to do.

We started off the day by walking to the open air fresh market. I enjoyed this place in the past and it's interesting to be the only white people walking around. Fresh smelly fish, raw meat, peppers, spices, and flowers overloaded our senses. We picked up some fried breaded chicken and rice for breakfast and went back to our hotel to eat on the patio. Eventually we walked back to the mall looking for sim cards for the phone and coffee and discovered everything was still closed because it was Sunday. Who doesn't drink coffee because it's Sunday!?

We ended up running into a taxi driver that spoke fairly good English. We decided to start our adventure and ditched the plan to relax. First stop...Good coffee for Carolyn. Second stop...Elephant rides! We came to an elephant safari park that was really more like a tourist activity haven. They had shooting ranges, paintball, go-carts, ATV courses, and elephants. Our peaceful ride on the elephant ended up being great fun but a little weird with gunshots in the background soundtrack. Our elephant was named Watermelon and she was small and stubborn but we loved her the same.

After that we headed to a beautiful Buddhist temple. Many people were actively praying so we tried to be subtle with the picture taking. Other tourists were not quite as respectful unfortunately.

Eventually we ended up at a huge gem/jewelry showcase store. The taxi driver made it very clear to us that we didn't have to buy anything and they give him a 100 baht (3 dollar) kickback for every tourist he brings their way. He also gets 3% of whatever anyone ends up buying. It was on the way to our next destination anyway and Carolyn likes shiny things so it was a win win for everyone except for the market owners.

After that we headed to the Phuket Town viewpoint and saw the panoramic view of the city. Then we returned to the Buddhist temple that vanquished me some 1 and a half years earlier (see post from October 2009). Unfortunately Buddha still didn't like me and apparently Carolyn either because He attempted to burn the bottom of our feet with his scolding hot sun-soaked tiles and sent us running. No blood and no bruises this time so I'd say it was more of a strategic retreat as opposed to an all-out defeat.

The rest of the day we napped away our jetlag which of course was not actually helping us get rid of our jetlag any quicker. We decided that since we didn't have a whole lot to do in Phuket anymore that going to Phi Phi the next day would be the best use of our time. We finished up our busy day (besides the long nap) with some authentic streetside Thai food at the night market and headed home for sleep. I didn't get any sleep though because jetlag didn't want me to...