Phuket pt. 2

Friday of our trip in Phuket was spent at Koh Phi Phi (Phi Phi Island). It takes a couple of hours by ferry to get to Phi Phi but it is totally worth it! I really wish I had a waterproof camera that I could have used to take pictures when we went snorkeling, but alas, I am without. I found a pouch thing that I can put my camera in, but a friend of mine knows where I can get one for cheaper, so I decided to wait.

Roberto and I on the way to Koh Phi Phi

I'm jealous, this girl can sleep ANYWHERE!!

Finland and Brazil <3
Isn't this what exchange is about?

The Canadian writing on the Brazilian flag in incorrect Spanish...

We passed this on our way to the main island...

America and South Africa. Sasha and I. I love that exchange students collect bracelets :)

I love Thai spelling, most of the time it is wrong 

BEACH!!! Haha I love these people. 

So sad!! --no farting sign

Shopping, snorkeling, spending more time with exchange students, it's so much fun to be with everyone!!!

Saturday was another great day, but much more emotionally taxing. We started the morning by going to the Vegetarian Festival parade. On Wednesday night, we went to a mini lecture thing about the festival in general, and we got kind of a back story. I say kind of because the woman presenting jumped topics alot and it was really hard for me to follow her, and to focus. Sitting still for two hours on a good day is hard, when I'm with the 14 other exchange students it's near impossible. But we did it. So anyway, Saturday... I'm really glad that I was behind a camera. At least I was until the fireworks started. After about 15 minutes I had to go inside. I now know that I can't handle sharp noises like that though. My left ear hurt SO bad, but hey, now I know.

I actually go to see these people twice,
once early in the morning on my way to the temple,
and again as they walked past the hotel

the Chinese temple where the parade started

I really don't know how to explain these photos... I know that the belief is that they cannot feel any pain. Well, that if they are a good person or whatever that they can't feel the pain. If they aren't good enough, then they can feel pain, and they bleed. I still haven't had time to research the why part of all of this. It is believed that during the festival, nine gods come (or are coming). During the festival people don't eat any meat (the soy-based whatever is super convincing, so I got to spend my weekend breaking out). But anyway, supposedly they can't feel any pain...

Of course, meanwhile on our way to the meeting point.... Roberto, our pyromaniac

Gah I don't know how to turn the photo!!!

sure, lets kick the firework out of the street -- probably better than picking it up though...

This kid was awesome! He followed Roberto when he was gonna light the firework,
and as soon as he so what Roberto was doing, he ran away! 

And back to the more gruesome photos... I still find it hard to process this. I wish I knew the reason behind why they do this. I'll look into it and post a link or something. Eventually. Maybe...

The rhythm was really cool, and it was so nice to see something different

These kids waved at us as we took photos! 

Kids are exposed to this at such a young age... I dunno, it bothers me a bit...

Awesome dragon with a ton of people inside!

And all of this before lunch time... After lunch on Saturday was much more chill. We went to a temple (a Thai temple, not the Chinese one) and we went shopping before going to Phuket FantaSea. I bought a stuffed pink elephant. Her name is Nelly, I love her, she is mine, don't judge me.

Temple!! I was wearing a tank top, so I wasn't allowed inside.
Instead I had a conversation with an elderly Thai woman,
and I bought bracelets and a bag 

Ex-Exchange Student, Rotarian, Chaperon, and father of two ADORABLE kids who went to the temple with us

Group photo at the same lookout Bela and I went to on Wednesday!
I wish there hadn't been clouds on Saturday....

Class: eating pizza with a knife and fork with a napkin in the collar. At Pizza Hut.

"Pick up the goods"

shhhhhh

Dinner here!!!

the stuffed elephant store!!!

Gorgeous white tiger, but I think he's lonely, and I'm not a fan of the cage thing

We had to take a bus to somewhere... I don't remember where exactly, but I do know that several people were very tired...

Roberto

Alica

As well as Hunter, Sally, Chelsie, Sam, and Dorian, however they are not seen here (obviously). I remember talking quite a bit before having a nap myself. Buses are not particularly comfortable, especially when the air conditioner doesn't work particularly well (ok, at all) and the fumes from the "restroom" are filling up the entire seating area. I never want to have to smell that ever again. That's right, we were going to Nakhon Si Thamarat! Oooooh, we went kayaking that day... We camped one night at this little place... not a resort, but not like a campground either... They set up tents for us, but most of us ended up sleeping in hammocks. I missed the opportunity to buy one while on the trip, but P'Boy is going to let me buy one from him (pay him back, I believe). And I'm glad, because the hammocks are so incredibly comfortable!!!

It was too cloudy to see the sunrise...

but we got to see the fog clear out!

contemplating the view, and trying to get a good shot

The awesome view right before we left

My braiding skills remain intact!

I wish I had photos of the day that I braided Bela's hair, but I don't because I really didn't want my camera to get wet. We went caving, and saw bats (hundreds!!!) and climbed a mini waterfall, and "swam" in a underground pool thing that had fish!! I continue to be afraid of the dark, and I dislike heights in the dark especially.

After caving we hiked to a waterfall. Uphill most of the way there, through a jungle. I saw the biggest spider I have ever seen ever, and it's legs were tucked in at its sides. Just it's body was bigger than a doughnut hole. And the ANTS!!! There were the normal tiny red ants, medium red ants (I'd seen before). big red ants (not seen before), and HUGE black and red ants. The red ants bite, but if you leave then alone, you're pretty much good. The black and red ants... not so much. Those buggers attack. They're also fairly solitary, I never saw more than just one at a time. Luckily nobody got attacked, but I saw one as it was preparing to attack P'Boy's foot. Oh, the huge ants are an inch long at the smallest.

The waterfall was absolutely beautiful, even though getting there was kind of traumatizing. I'm not a huge fan of heights, and it had just rained, so the rocks on the path were super slick... On the way down (and on the way back) I had to keep stopping to remind myself to breathe. It was totally worth it though. We swam out to the waterfall. The water was so cold! It was nice.

And that was the Phuket trip. We missed the train, so we had to drive an extra hour to the next stop. I love traveling in the vans with everyone, especially when someone has an ukulele. It's great fun to play with harmonies on long road trips and on the train. I've been back for a week, and I have more to blog about, but I'll do that tomorrow. I love everyone I've met here, and the people back home who are supporting me on my adventure. Quite the adventure it has been! It saddens me that it is already November. The time has gone by way too fast! Is there any way to make it so I have more time, but also speed up time to the next trip when I get to see everyone again? Gah!! Mixed feelings about everything! All I know for sure is that I'll be coming back to Thailand in the future, and that I see myself traveling to Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Finland, and wherever this year's inbounds end up. :)

What's another word for fantabulous?

Last week I went to Phuket. Did we take the train on the way there? No we most certainly did not. We took the bus. Never again will I willingly take a bus in Thailand for 11 hours without speaking the same language as the person in the seat in front of me. About a quarter of the way to Phuket, someone sat in the seat in front of me, and for the first hour it was fine, until they decided to lean the seat back AS FAR AS IT WOULD GO. I couldn't move. Well, I could barely move. I could move just enough to kind of reach the lever to tilt my seat back. Thank God that Bela was sitting behind me and she is a tiny person. That was the situation for about 9 hours on the rattly and stuffy train. At least I got a couple hours of sleep! Scratch that, I got like 20 minutes of sleep over a two hour time period.

This is pre-train, and makes me laugh. 

 But it wasn't all bad, we had a break at about midnight, which was great because the toilet on the bus... the guy that went before me missed by a bit. Well, more than a bit, and it was gross.

Giant grasshopper or something that we saw on our bus break.

Phuket is absolutely beautiful. We were given host families, and for the first 4 nights I was rooming with Bela. Our host family was absolutely amazing! They asked us what we wanted to do on Wednesday (because we were meeting everybody in the evening and we had all day) and we told them we wanted to go to the beach. We went to one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen. Ever. However, that does not make falling asleep on the beach without sunscreen a good idea. But it was such a fun morning, the only thing I would change is the sunscreen thing... the lack of sunscreen has impacted my comfort through today.

The first beach we drove by,
our host dad slowed WAY down so we could get photos!

I've seen pictures online of Phuket and it's beaches, but I didn't believe how blue the water was until I saw it first hand.

More of that first beach we saw,
there were alot of boats there for tours, not seen here.

Bela and I's host took us to a viewpoint. Oh my gosh it was gorgeous. It was a clear morning (about 10am) and you could see clouds in the distance, while overhead it was perfectly clear. And the water was beautiful blue. The only downside was that because it was so perfect, it was HOT out!

That beautiful white sand. That's the beach we went to. :)

Just a little island off the coast 

I think it is safe to say that I really want to go back to Phuket. I miss my host family -- they were awesome! And I miss the beaches and cheap shopping. Well, the shopping is only cheap if you know where to go, but since our hosts showed us, we know where to go. But the beach we spent the morning on... that was a spectacle, as were the tourists. What is it with tourists and horrible swim suits? Seriously, is it in any way necessary for an overweight man in his 60s to wear a Speedo? The answer is NO! But they didn't ruin the photo, so that's ok.

This beach +  great friend = awesome day

I take that back, there is a tourist in a bad swimsuit in this photo. Ok, a tourist and his wife. but they don't make me love the beach any less. The water was surprisingly cold actually, and really refreshing after laying out in the sun.

Wednesday evening, all of the inbounds met at a Chinese temple in Phuket. We went to a 2 hour lecture about the festival, and that it's not really the Vegetarian Festival, but the Nine Gods Festival. I know the woman said something about the North Star, and about a secret society thing, but it was really hard to concentrate, and she kept jumping subjects alot. But it was so great to see everyone again, that it didn't really matter too much that she kept going on and on and on, however it would have been nice to see what what going on outside.

I think the temple looks better during daylight hours
when it's not lit by neon lights, but it's still quite a sight

these guys... gotta love 'em!!

Thursday... we spent the whole day all together as a group!!

Good morning Thailand!

These people are awesome

I have about 100 pictures similar to this one...

This is one of my best friends, and I love this hat

Hunter and Sally, this photo never fails to make me smile

All of their personalities captured in one shot?

took blow-up kayak things to this...
dunno what it's called, but it was awesome
oh, and this is all of the inbounds :)

Are these kayaks? Doesn't really matter. Love these guys
(Sam, Dorian, Hector)

A view of James Bond Island. A scene or two from the Man With The Golden Gun
or something like that) was filmed there

I'm going to have to write about Phuket in two different posts. It's almost 12:30am and I'm tired. I also have to wake up on time tomorrow because my host family is taking me somewhere. Maybe I'll have even more photos to post? And my apologies for not blogging about the trip to the Tiger Temple. I have a feeling I might be going back, so I can write about it then. Breakfast tomorrow at 7am, I really hope there's a good reason... luckily I already know what I'll be wearing tomorrow. This is off topic, but whatever, I fit Thai clothes! Well, I found a shirt-dress that I really like, and it fits me, and the bottoms of my new swim suit are too big now. This calls for shopping and spending birthday money, does it not?

More later about the trip to Phuket, it really was awesome, and I can't wait to see everyone again in December. I have music now! Thanks Mom and Dad for the 1000+ song that you sent me! The Barenaked Ladies just started playing, and I'm realizing that the last time I listened to this song, we were on our way to the airport in Phoenix! " 'Kay I don't make films, but if I did they'd have a samurai..."