An evening with friends

Wednesday in Phuket and the sun is shining.  Pretty much a rinse and repeat of the previous three days at the beach.  Breakfast and then early to the beach for Ken and I.  Everyday there are a few less people at the beach; not sure if they are all on tours or sunburnt but the beach is quiet.  A bit windy today so it was a big test for the cheapo umbrellas folks are using to avoid the sun; many failed.

There are schools of little fish in the water here.  When they are headed wherever they are going and "run into" somebody, they split and pretty soon you're surrounded but they continue on and soon enough they're gone.   Once in a while, something must be chasing them and they will jump en masse to escape.  It's a beautiful phenomenon that I wish I could photograph for you but it's random and God knows I don't have patience for waiting.  

The sun is hot midday and five hours of sun is plenty for me so back to the pool to lounge and read.  Leftover breakfast yoghurt for lunch while waiting for the room to be cleaned so I can have a nap!!   Naps are addictive ...

Beer at our favourite beach bar to enjoy the sunset was the first stop on this week's pub crawl, followed by six more restaurants/bars.  

We shared an app at the second (3 shrimp wrapped in rice noodles and fried with a sweet sauce) and were surprised to,see a young elephant walk by.  

Next stop Dino's Bar where we found the elephant holding court.   For 20 Baht, you got a bag of cukes and bananas to feed the very impatient elephant who thanked all comers with a kiss.  Very cute so Ken and I gave it a try.  I actually did it twice as Ken's photos were out of focus so I had a young Finnish girl take photos the second go round.  Lol.  

Smooch

A leisurely beer and some people watching before we left Dino's for stop 4; a little bar down an alley with a few chairs and a gracious host Graig (I think).  We chatted with another Finnish girl there who was leaving the next day for the airport at 5:00 am.  Yikes, leaving paradise is bad.  Leaving that early is masochistic.  

Off to Two Chefs (stop #6), where mojitos are the drink special so I have two (yum). We ran into the Finnish couple from Dino's there.  They are off to James Bond Island with a 6:00 am pickup. Ken and I discussed heading to Phi Phi but decided not to as we've had enough early mornings.  We bid the young folks adieu and headed to stop #7.  

Chicken and pineapple (yum)

We waited too long to eat anything substantial so we are a bit blitzed when we realize it's almost midnight and that's the deadline to get our room keys which we leave at the hotel when we are out.  We finish "dinner" and scare the bejesus out of the hotel restaurant staff when we climb into the restaurant (using stairs of course),just two minutes shy of midnight. 

Another lazy day on a beautiful beach followed by drinks with friends. What could be better?

Good night from Paradise.  Hic ...