Trip to Thailand

On our third day aboard Virgo, our cruise liner finally made a stop at amazing Thailand.  It was a mad rush from start to finish.  We only had one day to tour the city and enjoy the warm powdery sands of Phuket. (*sighs*)  Our first stop was at a cashew nut factory, Sri Bhurapha Orchid.  Hmm, maybe we should have opted out of the tour. Hee. Strangely enough, I find myself getting hooked on the whole thing and even made some purchases on their souviner shop.  The poor women's hands were getting all green and purple-y from accidentally jamming them into the nut cracker machines.  Next time I go munching on those cashew I'll make sure to appreciate how difficult it is to make them.

the finished product. Yum

Sri Bhurapha Orchid
Address:62/2-4 Moo 1, Ko Kaeo, Muang Phuket, Phuket, 83000

Temple hopping.  I really need to stop going to temples in these trips.  
You've seen one big buddha, you've seen them all.  

After touring the temples, we were taken to another shopping area.  This time to one of Phuket's largest gem station.  We didn't really buy anything.  And I'm not a fan of being brought to such places.  I think it's such a tourist trap.  But what the heck , they served us free tea while we waited.

We were off to lunch at some local Chinese place.

What trip to Thailand would be complete without paying homage to their most revered animal, the elephants.   Lunch was followed with a trip to Bukit Safari. Bukit Safari is located along Chaofa Road, Musang.  It offers a multitude of eco adventure activities, the most popular of which is elephant trekking.
    

 

The mahouts (elephant care takers) rides with you throughout the elephant trek.  And you sometimes have to remind them not to hit the poor animals when they start to slow down (animal cruelty anyone?) The trek takes about 30 minutes for adults and costs around 300 baht.  Not bad for such an amazingly exotic experience.  And in between the bumpy ride, your mahout willingly obliges for photo ops.  

After the trek, there's plenty of opportunity to meet the other elephants in the area.  There's a short elephant show where the mahout shows off his impeccable teaching skills as the rather artistic and athletic elephants start to paint, draw *cuteness* and throw a dart.  

There's also a 15 minute monkey show inside the park.

Meeting Diamond

Diamond doing push ups. Hee 

Diamond riding a bike

Diamond the coconut collector

Bukit Safari Adventures
52/52 Soi 2, Chaofa Road, Muang, Phuket 83000 Thailand
Email: bukitsafari@hotmail.com
Tel. 076 - 264378-80  Fax. 076 218428
 

And then we headed over to Patong beach along Phuket.  
White sands all around.  

Sneaking a shower at the Holiday Inn  

This side trip to Thailand costs us about $40-50 only.  That includes the lunch, coaster ride, tour to the nut factory, temples, gem's gallery, eco-safari (excluding riding fee) and finally Patong beach.