Muay Thai, Markets and more!

My best friend Ashley came and spent the first half of our time in Phuket with us!

We landed in the Phuket International Airport within ten minutes of each other. Ashley from JFK and Bryce and I from Vientiane, Laos. It was as perfect timing as we could have gotten. We met at baggage claim, called a Grab and made our way to our condo that would be home for the next month.

On the to-do list for our 14 days with Ashley was seeing the Big Buddha, shopping in the HUGE mall we live next to, watching a muay thai fight, going to the aquarium, enjoying a day on the beach, checking out a nearby temple, showing her around our favorite island (Koh Phi Phi), grabbing some souvenirs in the night markets and of course eating the delicious thai cuisine.

We started off strong with the mall (of course). Ashley and I (Bryce opted to sit this activity out) walked around the crazy four story mall for what must have been three hours and we still hadn’t explored an entire second half of the mall. To help you better understand, this mall was basically two large malls connected by a walking bridge across a main road. We had a blast walking around and looking at all the stores. Exploring the mall took us two days and technically, by the end, we still had left two floors uncharted.

The next day, Ashley and I took a walk to a nearby golden temple that caught out eye from our view off of our seventh story balcony. Luckily it was not too far of a walk. We had a great time admiring the gorgeous architecture and colors of the property.

The arrival of the weekend means one thing, night markets! There is a large night market only a 20 minute walk away that we were eager to check out.You walk in on the side with all of the Thai food then the rest of the property is entirely stalls selling their products. You can find everything from T-shirts, shoes and jewelry to (knock-off) designer bags, Thai silk and souvenirs. The three of us walked around and shopped until we (literally) got lost. We went to the same night market the following weekend and got lost again. I’m not kidding when I say it’s really large and on top of that, set up like a maze.

Not only was my friend Ashley in Thailand but Bryce’s friend Tate was too! For the few days that Tate was in Patong Beach (a quick 20-30 min drive away) the three of us went to visit him. We met at the beach with just enough time to enjoy the sunset before a major rain storm opened up above us. Luckily, Ashley and I brought our umbrellas and the boys huddled under them with us while we quickly found a place to eat dinner. After a delicious meal we walked around Bangla Road trying to decide what to do for the night. As we were about to cross a street, a large billboard attached to a truck drove by while blasting Muay Thai music, advertising a fight not too far away that was about to start. All of a sudden we knew how we were spending our evening.

We googled the venue location, saw it was only 15 minutes away and began the walk to that night’s entertainment. We bought tickets at a shack a few minutes away from the venue where the man working repeatedly tried to get us to buy him a ticket as well. We paid for four tickets, walked the last couple minutes and were in our seats (with our new free shirts) just before they completely filled up. They definitely sold more tickets than there were seats because a lot of people were standing.

Overall though, the fights were entertaining. We saw someone get knocked out with an elbow to the face and another guy take one too many kicks to his shin before dropping.

Next: Ashley and I paid the Big Buddha a visit.

Bryce was planning on coming with us but he had to hang back at the condo while the stove was being replaced.

So Ashley and I got in our Grab and made our way up to the statue. Once up at the Buddha we were immediately taking in the amazing view of Phuket and the ocean below. We walked up the 94 steps to the main attraction, took some pictures and walked around admiring all of the surrounding statues. It really is cool to take a minute and look up at the Big Buddha and the intricacies that went into crafting it. On our way down we walked by a couple monkeys that certainly weren't scared to get close.

After we got back from the Buddha and the new stove was installed, the three of us went across the street to the mall and spent a few hours in the aquarium. They had a pretty impressive collection of aquatic animals there. Some we had never seen before; one had eyes down by its jaws. Others we were familiar with like penguins, starfish and jellyfish but they were still, of course, fun to look at. I would argue that the most memorable were the sharks, turtles (bias), stingrays and the grouper they had.

The tanks were pretty impressive in regards to the fish in them and the design in general. For example, on the opposing wall from the main tank was a huge mirror that allowed for great photos and in addition, made you feel like you were in the tank, completely surrounded. Additionally, there was also a sunken US submarine in the largest tank. I don’t know how they got that in there but it was cool to look at and the fish and sharks definitely loved swimming around in it.

It was really interesting to see the fish that swim in the oceans off of Asia because we definitely don’t have all of the same fish in our oceans.

There was a second level to the aquarium that housed other animals like snakes, bearded dragons, lizards, spiders and rabbits. We checked that out before leaving. We weren't really sure if that was included in the price of our general admission ticket but nobody was manning the door so we figured it was worth peeking at.

Our greatest adventure of them all was going to Phi Phi Island! I decided to separate this four day trip into its own blog so click here to read that.

Once we got back to Phuket from Koh Phi Phi, Ashley had one last full day with us. We ordered a Grab to take us to Nai Han Beach, right by our AirBnb we stayed in last year. We were excited to show Ashley this gorgeous beach. It was perfect weather to really enjoy the ocean. The water was warm but refreshing and we all swam around for over an hour.

After the beach, once we got hungry, we brought Ashley to one of our favorite restaurants from last year, Jen's. Jen offers both Thai and Italian food (a common theme throughout Phuket). We enjoyed a delicious Thai meal (arguably one of the best of the trip) and headed back to our AirBnb for the night.

For Ashley’s last hours in Thailand we did what anyone would do and went to Ikea. None of us had ever been before and there is one about three minutes from our place so we thought why not. We poked around, looked at the furniture and finished off with an 8 baht ice cream cone.

We went back to our condo, played some mario-kart and nintendo sports, ate one last Thai meal with Ashley and sent her on her way to the airport with hugs and wishes of safe travels.

We haven't been up to much since Ashley left. It has been a bit rainy and cloudy so we have been chilling, catching up on work and figuring out what we are going to do come January when we are home again.

A few days ago was Thanksgiving. Bryce made a delicious pesto penne with chicken and a side of veggies and cheesy garlic bread. We ate with our paddy hats on because it just felt right. When in Asia… am I right? For dessert we each enjoyed a slice of Dairy Queen Oreo and Kit Kat ice cream cake we bought from the mall.

As soon as we took our last bite of Thanksgiving dinner, as I was starting the dishes, I had to turn Christmas music on. Afterall, it is officially the best time of the year.

These past two weeks have been amazing! Definitely 14 days for the books. But now we have less than a month left of our trip. Three weeks to be exact. On the 6th we are moving to Patong Beach for a week before heading back to Bangkok for our last week ahead of our journey back to Queensbury. We can’t believe how quickly this trip has gone by.