The Bone Shaker to Phuket

We survived our long journey to Phuket! Thanks to Gravol, it was relatively painless.

The bus was actually quite comfortable with air and reclining seats. But like Tom Cruise, it was way past it's prime. Thus, every time we hit the numerous rough patches on the Thai highways, the bus would bounce and shake and rattle with the intensity of a downhill mogul skiier, jolting us passengers in the process. As if that weren't bad enough, the bouncing bus had a soundtrack; with every bounce and shake, there were accompanying squeaks and squawks. It was quite amusing, really. The trek through Thailand was beautiful- from palm trees to mountains, it is a beautiful country.

Phuket has a different feel from Bangkok, which is good because we want to experience as much of the country as possible. We were warned it was very touristy, so we were thrilled to see that with the exception of some excursions and scooter rentals (which we are going to do today- explore the area on scooters), it is actually very authentic here.

As to be suspected, we were very tired after the bus ride yesterday. We went to a charming Thai restaurant and ate, of course, Pad Thai and freshly squeezed mango juice. Then we went to the beach. Spectacular! After swimming in the frigid Pacific this summer, the Indian ocean felt like a bath. I kept sighing as I was lying on the beach and Lynae was like, "what?" To which I replied, "I am just so content right now!"

The hostel for our first night here was dorm style, meaning we got bunk beds in a large room with other people. This was fine with us, because it's really down and dirty backpack travelling which we love, but due to our sleepless and jet lagged plight, we were a little nervous, because we knew that we had pushed ourselves far enough, and we needed a good night's sleep.

Pop Gravol, insert ear plugs. Stumble into bed from sheer exhaustion at 8:00pm (such lightweights we are!)...

11 hours later we woke up, feeling refreshed for the first time since we set foot on the first plane from Canada. We are now going to another hostel closer to the beach and plan to rent scooters, bum around the beach, and take it all in. We have some other adventures planned while we are here, but I'll tell you about them after the fact!

What an amazing place. Don't be surprised if I don't make it back home!