Welcome to our first Thailand blog!

We arrived in Phuket after 17 hours of flying and a long 13 hour layover in Hong Kong. Unable to afford a hotel on Lantau Island, we spent the night sleeping on the airport chairs. Needless to say we were ready to leave for Phuket!

We arrived around 11:50 and grabbed a taxi for 750 baht (around $22) for a 50km trip to Karon Beach. On the way, the cab driver said he needed to go to the bathroom for two minutes and we stopped at a shop. This lady came out and asked us if we had booked our stay at the Phulin Resort, we said "no, not yet". Mistake! We were brought into the shop and she started to pretend to talk to the resort staff on the phone to get us a deal. The deal was nowhere close to the internet rates we were expecting. Once we figured out what was going on we just got up from our seats and headed back to the taxi without a word. The rest of the cab ride wasn't very social.

The Phulin Resort is more than we expected. We were greeted with refreshing drinks and we managed to get an excellent price for our stay. We are paying $17.50 each (per night) for 3 nights at a hotel including breakfast and one free dinner. The hotel is AMAZING! Our room is enourmous and very Thai. Open the balcony door and we could walk into the pool! Our balcony is a pool, pretty much. No big deal.

We passed out for about 16 hours (yikes) and woke up just in time for the 6:30 breakfast. We woke up to the sounds of tropical birds and a rooster, and when we stepped out onto the balcony there were butterflies flying around the pool. So pretty! Our free breakfast included eggs, cereal, yogurt, fresh fruit juice, fresh fruit, and toast. Best free breakfast yet!

To give you a sense of what the temperature is like here, imagine what it feels like in the "Amazon" section of the Vancouver Aquarium. Just like that. It is sunny on and off today, and we experienced a downpour in the early morning which cooled things off. Could get used to this!

Today we plan to explore the area a bit. See the beach, check out the town centre, and basically get a feel for what it's like to be on Phuket. Phuket is the largest island in Thailand, so there are many sights to see. A good starting point since it acts like a hub for the surrounding islands on the Adaman Coast.

That's all for now folks. We'll keep you updated!