Phuket

Our trip to Phuket was short, but it was definitely worth it.  We have a couple friends who were staying at the Marriott vacation resort, and they had an extra room - so we joined them.  The resort was amazing - absolutely gorgeous, and so many activities.  The only downside was that it's very far from Phuket city and the cabs are quite expensive.  Therefore we simply stayed and enjoyed the resort.  

Below is a picture of Mai Khao beach along the resort.  As you can see, sand was stuck on my lens :(

On Saturday we went on a day trip snorkeling in the Phi Phi islands.  The islands are located about 30 miles from Phuket, and it took about 1 hour on a speed boat to get there.  We visited Koh Mai Phai (Bamboo Island), Koh Phi Phi Leh, and Koh Phi Phi Don.

Below is Koh Mai Phai.  We snorkeled here, but unfortunately there was an abundance of dead coral and not much living.

You can see Koh Yung (Mosquito Island) in the background

The Phi Phi Islands were devastated from the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004, so now they have these signs on the islands.

Below is Koh Phi Phi Don

This was hilarious - the tractor is pulling this family to the boat so they don't have to walk through the water.

Our next stop was monkey beach on Koh Phi Phi Don.  There were dozens of monkeys hanging around waiting for tourists to throw them bananas.  It was an incredible experience seeing wild monkeys on a beach; however, at the same time you know it's probably not the best idea to be feeding them.

This monkey was fighting the other one for the banana

This monkey was very aggressive and kept jumping on the boats.  He jumped from the boat next to us onto our boat and demanded bananas.  The tour guide had to kick him a few times to get him off.

This monkey was about a 2 feet away from me - it was a bit scary!

Below are pictures of the beautiful Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi Leh.  This is where the film 'The Beach' with Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed.  After the film, this island became a huge tourist attraction - and there were hundreds of people on the island while we were there.

I thought this sign was funny...

On the other side of Maya Bay was Lo Sama Bay.  It only took about 5 minutes to walk to the other side, and wow, was it gorgeous!!

On our way to our last snorkeling spot, we stopped by Viking Cave (below) on the island of Phi Phi Leh.  The cave is home to the swallow's nest which is harvested to make bird's nest soup.  The swallows build their nests out of their own saliva instead of twigs, and they take the shape of a shallow cup that sticks to the cave wall.  It's supposedly one of the most expensive animal products consumed by humans.  From what I've read and heard, the saliva from the nest is thought to aid in digestion, raise the libido, and benefit the overall immune system.

Below are pictures from our last snorkel spot (somewhere on Koh Phi Phi Leh).

While snorkeling, we saw lots of coral - both dead and alive. The living coral was definitely the biggest coral I have seen.  I originally thought they were rocks, but as I swam closer I realized it was beautiful orange coral.  We also saw some clownfish living in sea anemones - just like in 'Finding Nemo'.  When I would dive down to get a closer look, one of the clownfish would swim at me, as if he was trying to scare me off to protect his anemone.  I thought it may have been a fluke, so I did it a couple more times, and every time he would swim towards me.  This was the first time a fish has ever swam towards me - it was very interesting!

Elephant towels in our room

On our last day, we visited the pool bar and lazed around the beach.  The pool bar was great - I have never been to a bar inside of a pool!