It took us a little while to decide on what to do in Thailand, just so many lovely places to visit! We ended up going for hiring a car and taking a bit of a road trip, that way we could take in as much of this beautiful country as possible.

So we decided to fly from Kuala Lumpur into Phuket, massively swayed by finding a gorgeous Airbnb in Rawai! A private pool in budget…it just had to be done! 

So arriving late in the evening we drove south for about an hour and were greated by our friendly host at our gorgeous little villa! We were all tempted to dive straight into the lit up pool as it was a hot and sticky evening, but we were tired from a long days travels and decided to climb into our fresh white sheets instead!

But first thing Wednesday before even having breakfast we were all up, and in the pool! All pinching ourselves at how lucky we were! If you fancy a break in Phuket, I can highly recommend this place!

We pretty much spent the whole morning relaxing by the pool, the girls staying in well past their fingers and toes going wrinkled! We popped out briefly to get a few food supplies, but Thai food is so cheap we decided pretty quickly it’s easier to eat out so just got bits for a light lunch and breakfast…oh an ice cream, you always need ice cream!!!

Late afternoon we decided we really should go out and explore the area, so we drove to the southernmost tip of Phuket to see the far reaching views and many beautiful beaches along the way. We stopped for dinner on the cliff top and managed to catch the golden sunset on the beach, on the way home! A lovely welcome to Thailand.

Thursday we thought we’d better do our schooling first thing, geography and facts lessons on Thailand, followed by some learning on Buddhism. We then drove up the winding country road to see The Big Buddha, the 45 metre high white statue can be seen from most of the island. Up close it was so peaceful with its 360 degree views and just the sounds of tinkling bells ringing lightly in the wind. We walked around and I received a Buddhist blessing and bracelet from a monk after making a donation.

In the afternoon we decided to hit the beach, we drove to the charming Nai Harn Beach, a lovely sandy bay with calm waters. It was pretty hot, so we picked up another sun umbrella (third we’ve bought on our travels so far!) and a bucket and spade for some sandcastle building! The sea was so warm we pretty much spent our whole time swimming and searching for colourful fish swimming around us…A good day!

Friday…the big trip! Phi phi islands! We had booked our trip with Phuket Sail Tours, slightly more pricey than others but they ran with less people on the speedboat and came with lots of excellent reviews! So we plumped for it, plus I wanted to know we were in safe hands!

Well what a day, one we’ll all never forget I’m sure! I have never ever seen water so turquoise and so clear!

We raced across the water in our super powered speedboat for a good 45 minutes, waves splashing our faces and wind in our hair, catching glimpses of little emerald islands as we went along.

We arrived first at the stunning Maya beach, where the film ‘The Beach’ was filmed, thankfully beating most of the 10,000 people that visit each day! We had some free time to enjoy the clear waters, soft sands and explore into the forest!

We then jumped back aboard and were off before the big boats began to arrive! Our guide told us how before the film this place was only used by fishermen and was hardly known!

We then spent the rest of the day island hopping from one beautiful island to the next, snorkelling the pretty coral reefs where hundreds of friendly fish swam all around us! We enjoyed a scrummy Thai lunch on the beach, the girls loved hunting for washed up fragments of coral along the shoreline and of course we saw the cheeky monkeys on monkey island who were more than happy to catch our leftover bananas for their tea!

On the way home, back across the bay I think almost everyone aboard the boat dozed, all salty, tired and windswept, but each with a little smile from a great day making beautiful memories!

A perfect end to our few days in Phuket, now the road trip begins and we’re heading north to the jungles and lakes!