Around The World 2011 Day 8: Phuket, Thailand

Today marks our final day in Phuket, and since we have visited many properties already and gone on the key tours, today we plan to take it easy, have lunch in Turtle Village again, and see the little bit of the J.W. Marriott that we have not yet seen.

I would say this is going to be the last shot of the central reflecting pool, but tomorrow on the way to the car we are going to walk past it and odds are...

You have seen this very breakfast selection several times, but not from this angle.


After breakfast was laptop time.  I spent too much time on the Waste while Barbie worked, but I got some work done, too.  Then came time to walk over to Turtle Village.  Barbie has been craving the Pad Thai at the Irish Pub.

Beneath Turrle Village is a market.  I cannot explain it, but I felt a need to take a picture of this near perfect aisle of beverages.

This was pointed out to me by a rather nice Australian man on yesterday's speedboat tour.  The cigarettes here have extremely graphic pictures of what smoking can do to a person's body, including tumor close-ups and such.  Very harsh stuff.  And, of course, many people still smoke.

I got the Pad See Ew.

As planned, Barbie got the Pad Thai.

I might as well confess that on our walk back we discovered the sidewalk that would safely take us from the J.W. to Turtle Village.  We had risked our lives on the street on the way there.  And by risk our lives, I mean we walked along a road that serves four resorts and does not have much traffic on it.

J.W. Marriott Phuket geography lesson.  Our room is on the North end, featuring the North Pool you have seen a half dozen times.  The center is where the restaurants and reflecting pools are found, and then the South end features another wing of rooms and the South Pool.  Since we had never checked it out, Barbie thought we should take a look at the only pool on the property we had not yet seen.

As Keanu Reeves would say, "Whoa."  This South Pool is definitely newer than our pool, and features that waterfall effect over a swim-up bar.  This side of the resort is pretty snazzy.

 

Snazzy.  And classy.  And newer.  Everything over here is definitely a season or two newer than on our side.

There is even another bar next to the pool that features this waterfall wall.  You know, we have been seriously impressed with the J.W. Marriott Resort.  It is basically one of the nicest resorts we have ever seen.  No exaggeration.  And now, after seeing everything that they have done on the south side of the property... Barbie wants to come back with a crew of key friends and stay in a villa.

Time for... nature photography.

Is it a bird?  Nope.  It is a butterfly.  I saw this sucker going around and around, and I took a few shots hoping to catch him.

You know how I said that Barbie wants to come back and get a villa?  This is said villa.

And now... Colossal Waste Presents: Something You Don't See Every Day.

Back to our scheduled programming.  The above video was shot later in the day, but placed here to maintain the element of surprise.

Walking towards our side of the property after seeing all that J.W. niceness, we saw a group of people gathering around near the beach.

What the... an elephant?  Here?

The funny thing is that the company that is taking us on the fam trip in a few days is going to take us to an elephant sanctuary, but just because you are seeing elephants next week does not mean you ignore the elephant in front of you. 

The children adored this elephant.

Barbie presents to you the J.W. Marriott Phuket...

And here we are with our backs to the Andaman Sea.

We had our pool gear with us this whole time, and decided to set up shop at the center pool's kiddie area for slides and fun.

When I say fun, I mean fun.

Yours truly, one with the turtle gods.

Barbie, one with the waterslide gods.

Modeling the latest fashions...

Soon enough, the sounds of children (actually, the sounds of crabby mothers unhappy that they had children and taking it out on their children with passive-aggressive shouting while the fathers sit there reading a newspaper and ignoring the situation -- yeah, that) sent us back to the pool by our room where things are quieter and more peaceful.

We saw an old friend on the way to our pool.

The man in the pool, like me, could not take his eyes off the little elephant.  I walked up to it and took out my camera, and it walked towards me.  I started backing away, because I have no reason to trust this beast.  Well, when it got close to me it curled up its trunk and bent a leg, posing.  Yes, the elephant recognize me as a person taking pictures and responded by coming towards me and posing for the camera.  Clearly his trainer lives well off the tips.

When meeting people and discussing resorts, Barbie often refers to us as Pool people, not beach people.  See that smile?  That is the smile of a pool person in the pool.

Every time we walk the hallway at night, we see multiple lizards on the walls and ceiling.  And they dash away every time I reach for my iPhone.  So tonight I had my finger on the trigger.

Got one!  (Actually, I got several but this perky little lizard on the ceiling is my favorite.  Bonus points to anyone who gets that reference.)

And what is our dinner plan for our last night in Phuket?  We decided long ago to hit the casual Deli.

We shared the Fish & Chips.  And it was good.

An amusing sandwich name is right THERE.

And for our final night shot in Phuket, you get the reflection pool with the flames mysteriously turned off, but without the light of the flames you can see the crescent moon above.  Perfect.

Until tomorrow.