If You Like Piña Coladas (Part I)

And getting caught in the rain - go to Thailand during off-season (aka monsoon season). You'll get more of the piña coladas and less rain than you think, and the best part is that the beaches won't be inundated with tourists. Crowded maybe, but not inundated. Last week, Daniel and I went on another visa run and visited this gorgeous country. I picked Phuket as our destination because I've read that the beaches are to die for. I was a little wary of visiting Thailand because of its current state of martial law, but Phuket has no military presence on the streets and honestly, if it weren't all over the news, you would never know that they are under martial law from visiting this beautiful country.

During the first days of our stay, we visited Nai Thon in the north of Phuket, just fifteen minutes from the airport. The only things we really did in Nai Thon were hang out at the beach, relax at the pool and visit a waterfall in Bang Pae. It was nice, but quiet. A little too quiet for my taste, which is actually saying something because I prefer quiet. Although we were unimpressed by the hotel where we stayed, the beach of Nai Thon was pleasant and the restaurants along the sand were a great place to have food and enjoy a cocktail. Since it's monsoon season, you really can't swim in any beaches in Phuket except for off the islands, so we just hung out on the beach chairs and absorbed some much-missed vitamin D.

Visiting the Bang Pae waterfall was good exercise. We had to trek through extremely humid jungle teeming with mosquitoes who, of course, attacked me and not Daniel (every time!). It was a great nature date.

After spending a few really low-key days in Nai Thon, we moved on to Rawai, in the south of Phuket and I must say - this is where the beauty of Thailand lies. From the southern part of the island, you can catch boats to the nearby islands, which are simply gorgeous. The south of Phuket is also where most of the touristy areas are, so there is much more to do.

The first night we spent in Rawai, the hotel informed us of a weekend night market that takes place in Phuket Town.There was no shortage of things to buy at this market! It was divided into two sections: clothing and food. The clothing stalls were great for buying souvenirs. The food section was jam-packed with all sorts of Thai treats. There was sushi, pad thai, ice cream and my personal favorite: mango with sticky rice. Mango with sticky rice is a very popular Thai dessert that is just as it sounds: fresh, sweet mangoes atop sticky rice all coated with a sweet coconut sauce. Yum! The night market was a great experience, albeit a very hot and humid one.

So this was Thailand for the first three days. Slow, but incredibly relaxing. The last two days of our vacation were chock full of fun - but I'll chronicle those in my next blog post! And I promise I won't take two months to write it, either.