We had plans to get an oil massage today, though we didn’t know where!
We got up pretty late and went out for some breakfast. We tried to go to where we had previously been, but it was closed, so we went to our usual coffee place to grab some breakfast. Curtis got 2 fried eggs, sausage, ham, bacon, toast, apple juice & an Americano. Kim got 2 fried eggs with toast, orange juice and a hot chocolate.
We left breakfast and found a massage place we wanted to go to and luckily it was right near where we wanted to get our laundry done. We went for our lovely oil massage which lasted 1 hour and it was excellent!
After feeling very relaxed, we got a McParfait from McDonald’s and devoured that before coming back to relax. We got back and hung out laundry, relaxed and then did facemasks!
After completing our goal of getting incredibly sexy, we left to get dinner.
We went to a very highly rated place and we were not disappointed! Kim had a red curry and Curtis had fried rice with pork. Yes, the rice looks boring, but it was very tasty!
Now, we need to pack and sort a few things out for our flight tomorrow as we leave Thailand! We have a flight at 08:00 so leaving nice and early at 04:00!
We started the day nice and early at 06:30. We had nice freezing cold showers and then sat down and ate our pain au chocolate and drank some ice coffee!
The taxi driver arrived a bit late as he got lost, but eventually he did arrive and we were on our way.
We arrived at Soi Dog Foundation at 08:50.
The Soi Dog Foundation is a non-profit organisation that looks after dogs that are either homeless, abandoned, hurt or were part of dog meat trading. Dog meat trading was killing a lot of dogs, so to save them from that, Soi Dog rescue them with the sole purpose of rehoming them. Most of the dogs get rehomed abroad and not within Thailand.
There are over 700 dogs there and it is a large area! There is a state of the art dog hospital with everything that could ever be needed, including x-ray machines and a maternity ward!
As mentioned, we arrived early and were met by a Welsh lady. We were offered free tea and coffee and were able to go and see the cats! There is currently a small cat hospital with adoption rooms, but as they are getting a lot of cats, they are currently building another building!
We finished with the cats and got back to the reception where we were met by Ian who was our guide. We were informed about what they do here and how it has helped the population of dogs around Phuket and Thailand in general. After this, we went for a walk around and were shown all of the areas as well as which dogs we can go and see, why certain dogs are in certain areas and all of the interesting information regarding some of the specific dogs.
Once the tour was over, we were allowed to walk around and see whichever dogs we wanted (providing they were enterable). We started by going to see the puppies…We got very muddy! These puppies were full of life and jumping all over us, which was great fun! We spent some time with these puppies and got very dirty, before we headed to see OAP dogs!
Puppies
The OAP dogs are exactly what they sound like…They’re old dogs! Soi Dog doesn’t euthanize a dog if it isn’t required, so they keep older dogs and sometimes they got adopted!
We went into one of the areas and a lot of the dogs were blind. The rule in these areas is that you let the dogs come to you rather than going to them as they are older and some are blind, so they may feel threatened. Unfortunately, we spent most of our time in this area trying to get a blind dog and 2 others back into the proper area as we accidentally let them into the area between the two gates…This was stressful!
We left this one and went to another OAP area, which was a little more interesting. There were some older dogs with a little more life that wanted some stroking.
We went nextdoor to another area with some small dogs in. Most of these dogs were not interested, but one was very interested.
‘Small dogs’
We left this area and went to see the big dogs. We couldn’t go into this one but we were able to see them.
We had a bit of a chat with Ian again who was very knowledgeable and a kind person. The Soi Dog Foundation are always looking for volunteers, adoptees & donations, so take a look at their website for more information! Visiting is free, too!
Our taxi arrived and picked us up (which was good they let us as we were covered in mud!) And took us to Phuket Elephant Sanctuary.
This elephant sanctuary is the first and only ethical elephant sanctuary in Phuket. We got some lunch and then were taken up into the jungle in a 4×4 to get to where the elephants were. This sanctuary has 6 elephants, all of which were rescued from the circus or from elephant trekking companies who use them to carry tourists. One of the elephants is even blind!
We got to a little restaurant area which we got free tea/coffee and soft drinks, as well as snacks! We got to sit around for 30 minutes to take in the jungle feel and see an elephant which was roaming around.
The view during our snack time!
Once we finished our snacks, we were taken to the main table in the restaurant where we were told about what the sanctuary does, how it was formed and then shown an informative video about the elephants that they have and their stories as well as how they treat them in comparison to how they used to be treated. This video also shows how to deal with the elephant when it approaches you.
We were then given wellies and taken down to the elephants. We were stood very close to them and got to see them just having fun and eating!
Kim & the elephant that decided to join us!
Blind elephant
We saw the blind elephant as well as a herd of elephants which we walked back to their feeding area! One elephant interupted a talk we were having and just came into the shelter we were sat in!
Once we finished watching the elephants and walked them to their feeding area, it was our chance to feed them! They love banana, watermelon & cucumber, so that’s what they got!
Dinner time!
This was the end of our time with the elephants, but the day didn’t stop there! We then got a dinner which was a vegetarian Thai buffet! We had curry, stir fry, spring rolls and all kinds of incredibly tasty food! We sat and ate for an hour before jumping back in the car and heading back to the office.
The Phuket Elephant Sanctuary is also looking for volunteers & donations so ensure you look at their website for these opportunities and for pricing for visits!
Our dinner time!
We got our taxi back to the hotel and we were covered in mud and very tired as we were out and about from 06:30 to 18:10!
We noticed how bad our clothes smelled and we had some laundry to do, so we thought that doing that was a good idea, so we walked towards the beach and got that sorted, so we get that back tomorrow!
We have some plans for tomorrow still, but nothing too taxing!
We have something awesome planned for tomorrow and due to the rain, we thought that we would just have a chilled, relaxed day.
We planned to wake up late today, but we were woken by the cleaner wanting to clean the room, which was a little irritating!
We watched some TV and ate our pain au chocolate for breakfast.
We relaxed and watched some more TV before we went out to get more money out and then have a coffee again…This is what happens when a coffee shop is so close!
Curtis had a cappuccino and Kim had a blueberry Italian soda.
The rain was fairly consistent, so when we eventually went out for dinner, we got rather wet, though we did remember to take rain coats, so that helped a little! We got to the restaurant and we were given a towel to dry off, which was a lovely touch!
Kim finally got the salad she had been wanting (ceasar) and Curtis had pepper & ginger fried chicken with rice.
We were actually pretty hungry! We washed this down with a lovely Heineken.
We waited for the rain to stop and then we walked to a supermarket to get breakfast for tomorrow as we are up early!
We have a busy & exciting day planned for tomorrow, so ensure you give the blog a read!
We still had some plans, but we are unable to do them due to the weather and therefore not being able to rent a scooter!
We had breakfast in bed, just some croissants and orange juice, then we went out to find somewhere to get money out without getting charged crazy money! The average charge is about £5.50!
We were not successful in finding one, so we went to a coffee shop and grabbed a coffee. Kim had a chocolate & mint frappe and Curtis had a cappuccino.
We left this place and went to a spa where we used their fish spa! We sat and had fish suck off the dead skin from our feet. We did this for 20 minutes and it was a very off sensation! Kim couldn’t stop laughing at the beginning as it tickled!
We walked to the place we have been a couple of times for dinner as Kim really wanted a salad. Unfortunately, when we got there it was closed, with no reasoning why! Very odd!
Instead, we walked around and found somewhere we had seen the views for. This place was not too bad and was very cheap, which is a big plus!
Curtis had a Pad Thai and Kim had a chicken stuffed Thai omelette. The pad Thai was nice but the omelette was just average and not quite enough, so Kim got a cheeseburger from McDonald’s!
We went to a supermarket after this to get some snacks and breakfast!
We have plans for Monday, so be sure you check in then!
We woke up, boiling hot and the Aircon wouldn’t turn on! We then noticed that all of the electricity had gone! We went to ask and were told that there was a planned power outage which was communicated with guests…All that they did was put a tiny sign up at reception, which we couldn’t see!
Due to this, we couldn’t plan anything to do, so we went out for breakfast instead! We went back to the first place we went and had the same food. They still have good food and great coffee!
We couldn’t find much to do, so we just went for a walk along the beach.
The weather turned at one point and rained, but not too much. We went for a walk along Bangla road, which is the main party road which has all of the bars on it. Curtis managed to fall over a step and hurt his shoulder, but he’ll survive.
We got a quick McDonald’s sundae and then went back to the hotel, with a stop at the shop for a beer!
We sat and had a beer in the lobby and played some card games as the room was far too hot. Speaking of rooms, we moved our room as it was dirty and smelled…This one is much better, though!
The power came back on and we went back upstairs to chill and then looked for somewhere to eat. We found a place which had good reviews and went there.
Kim had a club sandwich and Curtis had a green curry. We also shared a beer!
We finished our food and headed for Bangla road. This road was full of bars with women on poles and people trying to lure you in. Curtis wasn’t a huge fan as people kept trying to get you into their bar and it got frustrating! It was an interesting experience but probably not one for couples! That being said, Kim loved it and wanted to watch all of the women pole dancing! There were also some naughty clubs around which were… interesting.
We came back out of the hustle and bustle and it started to rain heavy again and then stopped shortly after…There is odd weather here!
We weren’t sure what to do today as we woke up to it quite heavily raining outside. We went to the shop to purchase some goods last night, like some croissants for breakfast, so that was breakfast.
We then went out in the pouring rain to a cat hotel, purely because it was something to do. We were expecting to have to pay, but we didn’t! We thought we would spend a little bit of time there with the cats, but, even though neither of us are really cat people, one of the cats was incredibly cute and wouldn’t leave us alone, so we spent a long time there!
We left here and it was, somehow, raining much heavier! By the time we got back to the hotel, we were absolutely drenched and needed to dry off and then shower. Unfortunately, for some reason, housekeeping took our towels and didn’t replace them, so we had to get some and stay soaking for a bit!
We dried off and then went to find a coffee shop. We got to one really close to our hotel and paid a cheap price for a cappuccino for Curtis and a hot chocolate for Kim.
We then had to get some dinner and Kim is still not feeling great, so we went to find some pizza! We couldn’t find the place after trudging around for a bit so we went to find something else. We came to KFC and ordered way too much chicken, but at least we ate!
We will be trying to do more in the next few days, but the rain is a bit of an issue around here as most of the attractions are beaches!
We slept in a little this morning to make sure we got enough sleep. We needed to do laundry, but breakfast was the first plan!
We went to the best rated place around us and got some breakfast. Curtis got a full breakfast with OJ & a cappuccino and Kim got egg with 2 hasbrowns and an OJ & cappuccino.
The weather was warm but not hugely sunny, but we wanted to go to the beach anyway! We gave in our laundry to be done and then went to the beach for a walk. The big was massive and actually pretty populated, considering the weather. We walked up and down it for a while and then made our way back to the hotel.
We relaxed and then, again, went to the same restaurant as we did for breakfast for some good cheap food. Kim had a Spaghetti Bolognese as she was really craving some western food, having not eaten for a day. Curtis had sweet chilli chicken with rice, which was very flavoursome and exactly what was needed!
After this, we went to a HUGE supermarket to get some things like breakfast and drinks as eating out for breakfast isn’t as cheap as it could be!
Today has been a bit of a relaxing day but has been nice to chill after a couple of days which were mostly traveling.
Kim woke up not feeling too great this morning. Curtis was up from 06:00 to watch ice hockey and Kim didn’t wake until around 09:00, which was when our breakfast was brought to our room! We had yogurt with fruit & granola, coffee, orange juice and a bread roll. Pretty nice!
We then checked out and went for a bit of a walk and sit down on the beach. It was about 30°C today, so incredibly hot!
We went back and waited at the hotel for a bit before we got our bags taken to the port and then we jumped on the boat back. Kim slept for most of it and then we arrived back in Phuket!
We paid for a cheap minibus to drop us at our hotel which is in a pretty good location near Patong Beach. We got to the hotel and then went to get some food. Kim wasn’t that hungry so Curtis just got some fast.food.
Kim is going to get some sleep and hopefully be well tomorrow to do some stuff!
Mr & Mrs Hale 