Honeymoon wraps up

We are now on our last full day here in Phuket (and in Thailand), before heading out on our long trip home tomorrow (Saturday). It's been an absolutely amazing 2 weeks here in Thailand, but we'd be lying if we said that we weren't ready to get back home. We both feel that we've been away for a very long time and have fully taken advantage of our time here getting to know Thailand.

We've decided to spend our last full day here in Phuket relaxing at the beach and pool, to fully enjoy our final moments of relaxation before the "real" world hits us soon enough again! We had considered taking a final excursion out to Pha Nga Island (like Phi Phi, also a remote island in the Andaman Sea) to do some canoeing in the caves. However, after enjoying a great excursion day yesterday to the Phi Phi islands for some snorkeling, we decided that we'd prefer to spend our final day in a state of relaxation and laziness, instead!

Yesterday's excursion was really fabulous! We took a speedboat about an hour into the Andaman Sea where we spent the day hopping from one beautiful location to the next to swim and snorkel in various areas. The water was crystal clear (you could easily see all the way to the bottom!) and the range of colorful fish and other sealife that we were able to see was amazing. The boat we were on even drove by the spot where the movie "The Beach" (with DeCaprio) was filmed a number of years back. Thaliand, we've found, is a huge vacation destination for Australians, and on our boat of 20 yesterday, we were the only Americans, and the only non-Australians! It was interesting (and somewhat humbling to learn just how much they know about our country - they all know the candidates in our upcoming election, our current political issues, goings-on in the US, etc.) We were embarrassed to not be able to similarly share with them our knowledge of their Australian happenings or political situation...

Tonight is the much-touted weekly hotel BBQ, with a huge buffet, live music, and hopefully lots of fun! We're excited for a fun evening for our last night here in Phuket and in Thailand. It should be a good way to finish off this wonderful trip!

P.S. We've taken hundreds of photos on our trip and look forward to posting some of our favorites here upon our return!