Thailand!

Luke and I could not have asked for a more perfect two weeks.  We both LOVE to travel, and having the opportunity to travel to Thailand (thanks to Luke's sister and brother-in-law) was just incredible.  I have always loved Thailand.  Having lived in Europe, I had so many friends who went there on family vacations.  Thailand is the Hawaii of Europe, and boy did I get my dose of Europeans while I was there. So many! We honestly only met one (one!) American couple. The first week was our actual honeymoon where we spent time alone on the BEAUTIFUL island of Phuket, Thailand.  The following week we then went to the city of Bangkok where Luke's sister and her family lives. We had such a wonderful time with them. So the first week we consider our honeymoon and the second week our family week.

Phuket

The view from our suite

Phuket is just breathtaking.  An island located on the very south end of Thailand, Phuket is the picturesque vacation island that is full of tourism, yet rich with culture and the amazing way of life that the Thai breathe. Luke and I stayed at a resort that rests right on the beach. And I mean right on the beach.Our room was literally ten steps away from the sand and the waves were only a few steps further than that.  The whole length of our room faced the crystal blue water with one-way floor to ceiling windows.  Both of us were so so pleased with the suite. The rest of the resort was beautiful! The tropical air allowed for everything to be in the open air, even the lobby.  We had truly found a little piece of heaven in Phuket.  Next to the resort was a little restaurant owned by a very sweet little Thai man with just enough English to get by.  Every night we ate there with our feet in the sand with the waves crashing in only about 15 feet away from us.  And the food? To die for.  Made fresh and the best sea food I've ever had.  And the Pad Thai? Makes me never want to get it at an American-Thai restaurant again. We will forever miss that restaurant.

Our patio

Ready for the beach!

As for adventures, we had two main ones.  Our first was on our second day in Phuket.  The tour included rain forest hiking, elephant riding, river canoeing and another incredible Thai meal (there is nothing that they make that is not incredible).  It was a blast! The rain forest hike reminded me a lot of the Northwest, but even lusher.  My grandpa always told me about the thick jungle when he served in Vietnam (just near Thailand), and now I was seeing it myself.  You seriously could not see 10 feet into the jungle.  The humidity was like nothing I've ever felt.  I will never complain about humidity again.  We always had to wipe the camera lens before taking a picture due to the humidity.  They brought us to a water fall which I thought was just an adorable little waterfall, considering I'm us to tall and gorgeous Multnohma Falls in Portland, but apparently it was a big deal and we were happy to see it. And there was an area to swim which is always nice.

The cute little Thai waterful

A little snack for our elephant

And then it was finally time to ride ELEPHANTS! Real live elephants.  Luke and I had a great guide.  He even let us sit on the neck of the elephant without a seat (which we learned is better for them because they have more strength in their neck then their back).  It was an amazing experience. Their skin is so thick and their hair feels like little tooth brushes! Everyone on the trip was from either Brazil, Slovakia, Germany or France.  I talked to the Germans, and we made friends with the Brazilians.  All of us were young couples, but they couldn't believe that Luke and I were married (there's the rest of the world for you). We took a wonderful canoes ride through the rivers of the jungle.  The roots of the trees went right into the water and it looked like something I'd never seen before as they braided into each other while going into the water.  That whole day was just so wonderful!!

On our way to the Phi Phi Islands!

The next day was even more full of adventure. We were picked up from our hotel at 8 am and brought to the marina.  By 9:30 we were on a speed boat that held nearly 50 people.  We were off to the Phi Phi Islands! it took about an hour through the Indian Ocean to get to the islands.  As we were approaching them, my jaw dropped.  A beautiful island was before me with cascading cliffs that were covered in greenery.  No one lives on these islands, they are almost impossible to land on.

Maya Bay was the most beautiful beach I will ever see.  Probably only 600 ft wide, the bay had cystal clear blue, blue water with white sand, followed by a lush jungle that went back about 800 ft.  The beach was the beach used to film "The Beaches" with Leonardo DiCaprio.  Yes, we have laid on a beach where Leo once laid. It was absolutely beautiful.  Picture just couldn't do the place justice, but we tried. The boat continued to take us around the islands.  We went to more crystal clear coves that had no beaches, and stopped at a couple of places to get out and swim.  The water was SO warm, something I'm not use to on the beaches of the west coast.

Maya Bay!

We saw monkeys at one point hanging out in the trees.  I have learned there to fear the monkeys.  They know what they can do to humans. But they are still cute to look at :) The whole boat tour was majestic.  Island after island was just breathtaking.  At one spit of land (seriously a tiny tiny island of sand) we docked and snorkeled.  Luke and I saw awesome fish.  So vibrant! One was probably every neon color it could be.  By 4 pm it was time to head home.

Snorkeling!

Notice the monsoon making its way to us.  

As we did, a monsoon storm hit.  May I remind you, it took us an hour to get there, so it was a very long hour back.  15 ft waves that we sped through with rain pounding so hard that is almost hurt.  We had a canopy over our heads, but the rain came in sideways since the boat was going so fast.  At one point Luke and I just burst out laughing.  We couldn't believe this was happening to us.  As miserable as it was, it was hilarious.  Yet another adventure to say that we survived a monsoon storm out on the waters of the Indian Ocean.  When we finally got home, needless to say, we were exhausted!

The rest of our time in Phuket included lounging on the beach, swimming in the pool, and getting wonderful Thai massages.  They have magic hands. After a five day stay on the island, it was time to fly to Bangkok to spend a week with Luke's sister and her family.

Bangkok

Our second week was spent in the city of Bangkok.  Let me just saw, Bangkok is HUGE. 14 million people.  That's bigger than any city in the US.  We flew in from Phuket late at night.  Luke's brother-in-law, Johnny, picked us up from the airport and during the hour it took to get home we saw lots of the city.  Oh, and they live in the city, and the airport is in the city.  That is how bad traffic is there.  Not to mention the whole entire streets that were closed for parties.  Quite the night life there.  

The next day we went to their ward.  It's neat that the LDS church is all around the world. Because they attend the international ward, it was neat worshiping with people from Pakistan, The Philippines, Cambodia, Korea, Japan, Brazil, and lots of other countries.  Just a very sweet group of people.

The next day, Luke and I went with  Nicole and the kids to go to "The Crocodile Farm".  I learned the fun fact that Bangkok is home to the largest Crocodile collection.  And boy were there a lot of them. It was also a full zoo with lions, tigers, bears, exotic birds, lots of monkeys.  We got to hold a baby tiger!!! My childhood dream come true. 

 We watched an elephant show, I can now say that I have watched an elephant tightrope.  Not too many can say that. We also watched a crocodile show where the performer put his head in the crocodile's mouth (I seriously had to turn away each time). We did witness a monkey escape as two tigers held only by a chain link fence 5 feet away from us got a little too excited to go get that monkey for comfort our comfort.  It was a scary moment. And what kind of crocodile experience would be complete without feeding one? Yes we fed one, with a very long stick and string with a skinned chicken on the end.  The first one that went for it made us all jump.

In Bangkok there is a great lake to go fishing.  You rent a little house boat for the night and fish on.  I am not much of a fisher, but this was fun! I caught the biggest one! (with lots of Luke's help reeling it in) Luke caught two.  Poor Nicole's fish had an unfortunate hook (it has something to do with an eyeball...)

Massages were so great in Thailand! Cheap, and they really, really know what they are doing.  Johnny took Luke and I to a "Fish Massage".  You dunk your feet in a tank and the fish come eat the dead skin (ei. calluses) off your feet.  Sound simple right? Wrong.  I screamed, and Luke definitely did.  It is the most ticklish and some weird feeling that I cannot explain.  After 10 minutes we finally calmed down and were able to let the fishies really get to work.  By the time they were done, my feet were heavenly smooth.  I wondered, who ever came up with that?  It was then followed by a heavenly foot massage.

Luke and I went to the beautiful Buddhist temple in Bangkok and the Grand Palace.  On they way, we took a romantic river boat tour through the canals of Bangkok.  It was so neat to go down and see parts of Bangkok that I don't think you'd see otherwise.

On the river boat!

 Both the temple and palace were absolutely beautiful. The architecture was like nothing I'd ever seen before.  After having lived in Europe, I am use to see all Roman and Gothic styled cathedrals.  But this was definitely different, and I liked it!We went to see the reclining Buddha at the palace.  No one told us how big it actually was! It was huge!!

The temple

Fresh pineapple!

See, it's HUGE!

The Grand Palace

We also took a ride on the famous Tuk-Tuk taxis.  They're open air taxis that are much smaller, and can get you around faster (remember, traffic is horrible). It was pretty fun!

Riding in a Tuk-Tuk!

I could write forever and ever. There was so much that we packed into our two weeks! But one of our favorite things was spending so much time with Nicole's family.  We just loved playing with our little nieces and baby nephew!

Uncle Luke, AJ (3) and Maggie (4)