Days 10 - 14 - Ko Phra Thong

What a fabulous trip to Ko Phra Thong!!!  The wifi at the Golden Buddha wasn't very strong, so I couldn't post while we were there, but here are some highlights from the few days on the island:

It was a two and a half hour drive from Phuket to the pier in Kuraburi where we met the long tail boat for the 90 minute ride to the island.  As we boarded the boat, the weather was gorgeous...and then a little squall hit us out of nowhere!

The pier in Kuraburi - there were clouds, but lots of sun, too.  We had no idea what was in store for us...

This just looked like a small shower that would pass us by

Sylvie and Henry being battered by the rain and our luggage covered by a really gross tarp that looked like it was last used to wrap up the day's catch

The storm was so bad that at one point we couldn't see ANY land around us through the sheets of rain. I wish I could have taken a photo, but it was just too wet to risk taking out the camera.

After the squall the sun came out.  The islands on the way to Ko Phra Thong were so lush and untouched.

This is a panorama of the beach we where we were dropped off and picked up

Our room at Golden Buddha

Baan Manam - our villa :)

 After we arrived, it rained again for a little bit, but then cleared up for the rest of the trip.

Rain pouring from the roof of our place

This is our little lounge area in our villa

One of the sunsets

We had this awesome bird's nest chair hanging from the tree outside our place

We also each had outdoor restrooms.  Like totally outdoor.    With no hot water.

The club house on new year's eve

The clubhouse had this awesome globe light with small flowers on it and these huge beetles LOVED it - see on the top left?  The things were huge, like the size of a computer mouse.  They were harmless, though, and we even picked one up!

Kayaking in the mangroves

More mangroves

Crab-eating macaques

The island was full of tiny lizards of all shapes and sizes.  This little guy was just hanging out sunbathing

What an unbelievable place.  It took more than a day to get there, but it was absolutely worth every second (and rain drop).  I could easily bring in every new year on an island like this one.

***We're currently in transit from Phuket to Bangkok to spend our last two days in the big city.  We're hoping to get to see the water monitors, have dinner at an open air seafood grill spot and shop a little more.  This is always the most bittersweet part of the trip - we can't believe this amazing vacation is almost over, but we can't wait to get home and see family and friends.  Just two more days!!!