The vacation portion of our trip has begun.

Our time in Vietnam was an incredible, seemingly nonstop adventure, but we were starting to need a vacation from our vacation! Taking the chance of spending our last week in Thailand was probably the most brilliant idea we ever had. (Of course, I will skip the part here where we arrive in Phuket town at 2:00 in the morning, and stay in a "mansion" that has signs in our room warning against prostitutes and where I wake up the next morning with nearly 30 mosquito bites all over my body- of course Thomas has not one). But many of you reading our blog along the way, hearing of hellish bus ride trips, critter roommates, rainy weather and the such, may not have been all that jealous of our trip so far, but now you definitely should be! ;) I was skeptical of Phuket at first, and there's probably still much to warrant that, but we really lucked out. We are staying in the southeastern part of the island called Cape Phanwa, far away from the infamous Patong beach and the many more popular areas on the western coast. Surprisingly little is said about this part in our guide book- thankfully, as it's blissfully quiet and much less developed than other parts. Well, yes, there's still a Novotel next door and other resorts down the road, but as you approach the Cape, the hustle and bustle dissipates and the buildings turn into lush tropical forest on your left and beautiful ocean on your right.

After being the good spendthrift backpackers that we were in Vietnam we decided to chip in a bit more for our stay in Thailand, and wow, does your money go far here! I don't know if it's because we are in a less popular part, but the hotel is beautiful and we are living like kings! It is right on the beach, and aside from a few other guests, the place feels like it's all to ourselves. The weather has been hot and sunny all day, every day, and we couldn't ask for anything more. All through Vietnam we kept wanting to move on to the next destination, to the next attraction, to the next adventure. This is the first place we've come where I don't think I'll ever want to leave.

Now this is the part where my grandmother and my parents should probably stop reading. As we are in a remote part of the island, the only practical and economical way to get around is by renting ourselves a motorbike(only $5 a day!). After the first day of cursing at the thing, I got adjusted to it and now I'm thinking it would be really useful thing to have back home! In Vietnam, there is no way in hell I would every think to rent a motorbike myself. Eight years ago I rode a bicycle around town and that was enough, and now there are ten times as many cars as well as motorbikes, and the traffic is more insane than ever. But in Thailand, or at least in Phuket, things are much more organized- people actually drive on their side of the street, and there is a side of the street for them to be on! There are also novelties like traffic lights and street signs! So having our own little motorbike to get around has been totally awesome.

I'm writing to you alone this morning, because at 7:00AM Thomas went off to his first session of Muay Thai training at a gym nearby. After three years of studying Thai boxing in New York, he is finally in the motherland!! Well, we don't have too many more days left here, but I'm sure he'll get in a few more sessions to whet his appetite...

Well that's all for now. I have a lot of work to get to today: I have to even out my tan, eat insanely yummy pad thai, and finish my book! ;)

-Ronit