Relaxation in Thailand and a Suprise at the End

After going strong for almost three weeks, I was looking forward to some relaxation time and that was exactly what we did this past weekend.  Early Friday afternoon I meet Urs and Rachel at the airport where we checked in for our flight to Phuket, Thailand.  With the flight only being about an hour and a half, it was the perfect opportunity to catch up on some of my own journaling and to take a short nap before landing.  When we arrived in Phuket, we were driven over to a car rental shop where we rented a car for the weekend.  After doing this, we began our relaxing getaway at Urs and Rachel's new home.  It was a beautiful home with plenty of space to just lounge around and hang out.   I was shown around the house, but from the moment we arrived I had my eye on one thing, the swimming pool in their backyard.  It had been a very warm day and I was looking forward to cooling down in the pool.  We all threw on our swimming suits and jumped into the pool.  What a great way to start the weekend!  After spending some time in the pool, it was time to get ready to go out for supper.  We were meeting a couple of Urs and Rachel's friends and their son down by the beach for a nice meal.  We were able to get a great table with a nice view of the sea and the restaurant had delicious food.  While we were talking and the sun had set, we saw people lighting paper lanterns and setting them free in the sky.  It was such a beautiful sight and amazing to see how high they went.  It was almost like they became little stars in the sky.  I can only imagine what it looks like when there are thousands of them being let go at the same time.  Along with the paper lanterns, the restaurant we were eating at had an individual who performed a fire show for the guests of the restaurant.  It was very cool  the way he spun the stick that was lit on both ends high up in the air and he was still able to catch the stick without burning his hands.  After a while, we decided it was time to start heading home since it had already been such a big day.  I knew one thing for sure and that was that I was exhausted.

On Saturday, our second day in Phuket, Urs and Rachel had some people stopping by to finish up a few things on the house.  While they did that, I lounged by the pool and eventually went for a swim.  I know, what a hard life, right?  The water was a perfect temperature for a morning swim and I enjoyed soaking up a few sun rays.  When e everything was finished around the house that had to be done, Urs and Rachel took me to a local beach restaurant where we grabbed some lunch before lounging on the beach.  Again it was a very warm day, so I wondered down by the ocean.  It is low season right now because the waves are so high and violent,so I did not go swimming in the ocean.  I enjoyed looking for a few seashells and reading my book though.  After spending an hour in the sun, which is very strong in Thailand and you have to be care as to not spend too much time in the sun, we decided to head back home and take a quick swim in the pool before going out for supper.  Again for supper we met up with one of Urs and Rachel's friends at a very local restaurant where we were able to try traditional Thai food.  I quickly discovered that the Thai people like their food spice, so I stuck to a more mild fish type soup.  I did try the other things, but I knew I couldn't handle too much of any of the spicy dishes the others were eating.  It was a good experience though and I am glad I had the opportunity to try a few different things.  That night when we went back to the house, we laid out by the pool and admired the peacefulness of the night.  

Again the next morning we went for a quick swim before we had to put away all of the outdoor pool furniture because it was our last day in Phuket.  After grabbing some breakfast we decided to do something a little out of the ordinary.  We decided it was a perfect opportunity for an elephant ride!  I had been hoping for this experience the whole trip.  After riding a camel in Egypt, I thought it would be a great idea to ride an elephant inThailand.  It was quite the experience.  Urs and I climbed the podium where we were able to sit on a bench type thing on top of the elephant.  It was kind of a rough ride, but we had a blast.  The young man that was guiding the elephant jumped down and offered to take our picture.  It was great and he really took some good pictures and so did Rachel.  Look for them in the next couple of weeks.  It was a terrific way to end our stay in Thailand before catching our flight back to Singapore.