Paradise!

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Ok, this will definitely be a long one!!
After leaving Hong Kong, we had a quick stay in Bangkok then headed out from Bangkok to Phuket. We landed in Phuket, took a van ride to the place where we would catch a ferry that would take us to our long tail boat which took us to our resort! We landed at the airport at 1:40pm and I think it was close to 5:30pm by the time we got to our hotel. Quite the journey. We were lucky enough to meet a couple from LA (Mark and Kate) while waiting for the ferry who ended up being very cool. We spent most of the time talking to them while we waited for the ferry, then on the boat ride over to the hotel. It's always nice to connect with people from the same country and share experiences with them. Unfortunately they were staying at the resort a ways down from ours, so we exchanged contact info when they were dropped off. We ended up meeting up with them yesterday in town for dinner and drinks. Which is another story in itself that i'll get to later.
Back to arriving at the resort. The Holiday Inn is a fantastic place to stay if you're ever on the Phi Phi Islands. The rooms are great and the hotel has everything you could imagine. The pool is great, though no swim up bar which would have been nice. They offer massages at a very good price, and the food has been incredible. Jonathan and I got a massage yesterday, and he told me that he would be very disappointed if we didn't get them every day...so of course I had to make sure he wasn't disappointed! Jonathan is also taking a diving class that started today and ends sunday. If he passes the test on sunday, he will be certified as a PADI Open Water diver, which is really freaking cool! I was able to watch him today while I laid out by the pool, and it was really awesome to see how quickly he learns. I'm sure after this class he could teach anyone how to dive! Tomorrow they will go out into the ocean to learn more and to apply what they've learned already. I'm really excited for him and can't wait to hear how it goes.
We've been taking it pretty easy since we got to Phi Phi...enjoying the island life. 😊 As I mentioned, we met up with Mark and Kate (From LA) yesterday for dinner and drinks. We had to take a boat into "town", which was about a 40 minute ride. We had a few drinks at Carlito's Bar, and ended up talking to the owner, who is a very interesting guy with lots of stories. After Carlito's we headed to dinner at a fabulous restaurant, whose chef is from the Campaign/Urbana Illinois area. Again, small world! In between the bar and the restaurant, while we were walking around, we saw this tiny little kitten wandering the streets. Now, in this area, there are lots and lots of stray cats walking around. But this little kitty was tinier than tiny, and not in the best shape. I'm pretty sure he was almost if not fully blind, which made things even worse. Mark and Kate happen to be die hard cat lovers, and as soon as Kate saw this tiny, helpless kitty, she was on a mission! I, on the other hand, couldn't watch because it made me too sad! So, we watched from the sidelines as they both tried everything in their power to find out where this kitten belonged. They cleaned it up with the help of our waitress, who happened to have worked in an animal shelter previously. They were trying to get it to drink milk and eat some food, but she wouldn't touch anything. They got her wrapped up in a blanket and the little kitty eventually took a nap while we enjoyed our delicious food. Mark and Kate were deciding if they wanted to adopt the kitten and take her home, or take her to a shelter on another island. How sweet are they!! Well, long story short (too late, I know), they ended up finding what they think was the mama cat, and leaving the kitten with her. It was something else!! They both had such big hearts, it was really nice to see them so concerned about the well being of this little animal.
After dinner and saving the kitty, we took a boat ride back to our resorts and said our goodbyes!
You know you've been very relaxed and stress free when the most exciting part of your week involves the rescue of a cute little kitten. :-)

It's now Friday night and Jonathan and I just finished dinner and are relaxing in our room for the night. He has some studying to do for the PADI certification class, and I am just starting another great book by Harlan Coben. Tomorrow, more lounging by the pool, another massage, and another dive class for Jonathan! Rough life, I know.

We head out of Phi Phi on monday and back into Phuket for one night before heading to India on Tuesday. I will probably be pretty quiet until then, unless there are more exciting adventures on the island of Phi Phi!

Good night everyone!

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Comments

[Alex]

Beautiful story!
How sweet is that! Reuniting a mother and her kitten, what could be better?! Looks like you found some nice friends. It's a small world, isn't it?