Tambon Kammala, Thailand

Yesterday, we checked out of the Royal orchid Sheraton to catch a short flight to Phuket. When we arrived Phuket , it was right in the middle of a monsoon. Not quite the picture, All of us were envisioning, but we made the best of it and had dinner at a restaurant overlooking Patong Bay. That was the extend of our day. Today, we get up to the same monsoon type weather, but we decided to take a tour. Our first stop was the tiger reserve. We got to pet and hang out with some tigers. I especially liked hanging out with the Cubs with Luis and his sister Lorenza. I’m sure the big ones were sedated. The best show was observing them interacting freely in the pools. We then continued to a site where they built the largest Buddha statue, there us a beautiful panoramic view of a bay , south of the island. It was quite impressive. Underneath the Buddha statue there was a shrine where the monks come to pray. Chris our travel coordinator recommended a restaurant in old Phuket. I imagine the town being small and quaint. But it was really large and just a hodgepodge of unattractive buildings. The food at Tu Kab Khao was delicious. Our last stop was their local market. Being that it was Sunday, the stores are closed. So the locals shop there as do tourists like us. It’s very much like our swap meet; its quite repetitive. We spent the night at the hotel. All the hotels we stayed at so far were quite nice with decent service. This hotel which is called the Novotel Kamala beach is mediocre at best. But it has a great location on the beach. So I’ll remember not to stay there next time I’m Phuket!