After a two-month-long study abroad program in Argentina, I was tired, but I was ready to travel again. I spent three weeks back in the U.S.A. first, doing research at Hopkins and exploring more of Baltimore. Then, I hopped on three planes with my boyfriend and arrived in Phuket to celebrate our two years together. Here's how my first three days there went, including my two days of flying.
Day 1 of flying - Day 0
I flew out of New York around ten at night and arrived at Abu Dhabi somewhere around 8 p.m. My next flight was almost at midnight, so my boyfriend and I got some dinner and drank some wine. It was a really nice but small airport (Abu Dhabi International Airport), so we didn't really do much.
Day 2 of flying - Day 1 of my trip
I arrived in Bangkok around 8 a.m., but I didn't really sleep much on the plane because of jet lag, so I was super tired. Still, the airport (Suvarnabhumi Airport) we landed in was huge and had so many restaurants, shops, and cafes, so I was pretty excited. I ate some really great (and cheap!) ramen, had some mangoes with sticky rice and ice cream, and caught some Pokémon because there were PokéStops everywhere. We flew out at 1 p.m. and landed in Phuket around 3 p.m., which was one hour later than our planned arrival time. Still, we were pretty psyched to have arrived even though we were late! We were driven to our resort, the Westin Siray Bay Resort and Spa, Phuket, and we arrived after an hour ride. I was exhausted when we got there, but I was also really excited. Upon arriving, we were greeted with fresh juice and cold towels. Then, we checked in and were escorted to our room, which is a villa with a private pool (essentially a suite). We spent the rest of the day relaxing, enjoying the anniversary package they surprised us with, and swimming in our pool. Then, unfortunately, we slept at 7 p.m. and woke up at 3 a.m. because of jet lag.
Day 2
We didn't get any sleep until midnight today because we couldn't go back to sleep after waking up at 3 a.m. So, we ordered room service at 4 a.m., unsuccessfully tried to sleep until 6 a.m., went swimming until 8 a.m., and then ate breakfast. We then met with one of the representatives from a local tour company with whom we booked multiple tours. She told us the basic gist of Phuket, what days we should do certain activities according to the weather, and gave us our tickets for our next upcoming trip: Phuket FantaSea, a cultural theme park with arcades, shops, a huge buffet restaurant, and a show to end the night. We went to FantaSea at around 5 p.m., and we had an amazing time.
Day 3
We had to wake up at 7 a.m. today because we had a tour at Phang Nga Bay that included us being picked up at 8:30 a.m. We ate breakfast and quickly made our way out. We were dropped off at Dolphin Seaway Pier, where boats left for islands like James Bond Island in Phang Nga Bay and the Phi Phi Islands. After an hour speedboat ride, we arrived in a small island where we went on land with helmets and flashlights in hand to explore a cave with rocks shaped like ice cream sandwiches and more. Next, we got back on the speedboat and rode to Talu Island, where we got into a canoe and explored some sea caves and calm lagoons. Then, we rode on the speedboat to James Bond Island, which was featured in a movie with James Bond in it. Afterward, we sped off to Koh Panyee, a Muslim village where we had a great lunch. Then, we were dropped off at Naka Island, where we had piña coladas served in coconuts with plenty of pulp, swam on a beach with turquoise waters, and, of course, got sunburns. After this stop, we sped off to the pier where we were dropped off that morning, and we returned back to the resort. When we were back, we had mojitos and a steak dinner to end the day.
