Squee of a Lifetime...!! (Part 1: Phuket)

View at sunrise from our balcony,
with the Andaman sea in the "distance"
(i.e. across one road from the property)

It was an accident, really.  In Malaysia everyone seems to use WhatsApp as a phone messenger, and it seems to be common practice at work to use it to ping folks who aren't at their desks.  One of my client coworkers and I exchanged WhatsApp numbers.  And I noticed that she had a photo uploaded as her icon, and it seemed to have... her hugging a... tiger?!?!

I immediately confronted her about this.  Yes, it's a photo of her.  Hugging a tiger.  A REAL tiger.

Whaaa???

I got the 411 - Tiger Kingdom in Phuket, Thailand. An easy hour and a half flight from KL.  I squeed about this for a few weeks until Orny came to visit and - we went!

Fun times at the KL airport - note not only the sign, but also that the locked doors lead directly into a solid brick wall.

Also at KUL (KLIA 1) - finally found a restroom, but it alas was a decoy, pointing at some future exciting (presumably not pee-related) experience, currently under construction

I don't think I'd seen these before, but apparently it's not uncommon here - luggage wrapping stations!  To be honest, I'm not sure what exactly this does other than maybe protect the finish of your suitcase?  Don't think it would necessarily hold together if your suitcase opens up, so not sure I see the point - though my initial reaction was that it's super cool, until I thought about it for a minute...

A shrine to the water bottle outside security.  It was super annoying in a very un-American way that at KLIA the security is by the individual gates, so they confiscate your water and you're left with none until your board your plane (and, at least on the airline we took to Singapore, you have to pay for it)...  This is the situation where Orny coined the term of "safety water" for me - I need my water bottle...!

Didn't expect Phuket to be such a massive destination for Russians - lots and lots of signs included Thai, English, Chinese and Russian.  And I was thrown for a loop seeing many Asian-looking people speaking unaccented Russian as well (i.e. the live in Russia in the places where the people have Asian features).  Interestingly, on our way back, the departures board had multiple planes for Moscow, as well as Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Vladivostok.  (Interestingly, there were a few for other Thai locations, a few for KL and Singapore, a few for Korea, and one for Copenhagen and for Helsinki - no other destinations.  That did seem to reflect the mix of tourists). 

Thai is pretty, if unintelligible to the uninitiated.

Made it to Phuket and started the long and windy taxi drive to our hotel.  This guy (apparently a water buffalo?) had wandered out of the field and was hanging out on the road.  We waited for him to get back in his correct lane (in Thailand they drive on the left, like in Malaysia)

We were staying at Karon beach, the next one over after the super touristy and loud Patong beach.

The drive and surroundings I wouldn't say were particularly "nice".  The island is hilly and the roads - though extremely well-paved (lack of icing over must keep them in good condition) - are windy ("wine-dy"), traffic-y, and the lanes are but a remote suggestion to the drivers.  The plethora of not just locals but also tourists riding motos doesn't help either.

The planning for this trip was "agile" - I seem to be living the agile life not just at work but in my personal life as well :)  (meaning - we booked the tickets and hotel 2 days before we left).  But - it turned out super great - stayed at the Movenpick resort at Karon beach.  Really really nicely put together property at a slightly less crazy touristy beach.  Here is the lobby, really nicely decorated.

The rooms were really nice and comfy - with a true king bed (sometimes here I've seen large doubles or queens described as kings), a balcony with an amazing view of the property and the beach beyond.  One odd feature was that the mirror behind the sink in the bathroom was really two doors that could be pulled horizontally open from the room.  Not sure the reason for such a feature, but it was amusing.

Lots of green and pretty well-maintained spaces on the property.

I went to the spa at the resort - knowing it would be pricier than if we went out, but it was quite hot outside and this place looked lovely, and even the pricier prices were roughly half of what you'd expect to pay in the US.  Here's a funny:  when Orny got home a few short days later, my credit card bill had just arrived.  On it, he informed me, was an item from the spa:  "1 Oriental Foot"!!  (as a matter of record, what I got was a foot massage....  please don't send the body snatchers police after me! :)

Really pretty and well-done touches throughout the resort - I love how the foliage of the tree above reflected in the water here.

One of the eateries on the property - a funky coffee shop that served really good ice cream.

There were several additional restaurants there, too.  Here we tried their Brazillian Churrascaria - we even both enjoyed the food, which can sometimes be a challenge for the two of us eating out.

Just don't have enough positive things to say about this place, really - well taken care of, comfy, yummy, and magical light-light walkways at night. :)  Given the hectic last-minute booking of the place, we did real good.

Yea, ok, so I'm a "lamo" traveller - I like the comfy cozy stuff. :)  The weather was super hot and humid (as is typical of Southeast Asia), and for much of our  (super brief!  just 1 full day and 2 travel days) time here I enjoyed hanging close to AC.  But I did venture out a bit with Orny a few times (not counting, you know, the major squee-to-come! :)

In the past, perhaps this would have been me burying the lead - the beach was beautiful, not too crowded when we went (apparently this changed later in the day), and the water was almost like a big bathtub - warmer than perhaps anywhere else I've been.  But to be honest, maybe it's because it was so hot, or maybe because I've been spoiled by some gorgeous beaches in the past, or maybe  because there was little shade, or my tastes are shifting a bit - but I didn't really hang long at the beach.

We got to see the a bunch of parasailers, and even how one was taking off.  The most amazing thing was - the tourist was all buckled in and ready to go, all attached to the chute and the boat by a super long rope;  but then the local guy, just as the boat started moving and making the rope taught, he just clambered on behind the buckled-in guy - no restraints, no safety stuff, just climbing up there, presumably to do the steering.  Really wish we'd gotten a video of that!

We ventured out to the street for a bit, just trying to get a tad of local flavor.  But we quickly decided to turn back - mostly touristy stalls, which didn't even seem to have anything too interesting.  Here, some live seafood and produce.

An uncharacteristically sparse-in-tourists shot, just getting a view of the street and stalls.

On our one full day there, after sleeping in a bit and goofing around with my phone's camera, we were ready to undertake the main purpose of the trip, the big adventure, the SQUEE OF A LIFETIME.....!!