I’m going to preface that this blog of our vacation to Thailand is a mixture of 120mm and 35mm film. The 35mm film are the more casual pictures of the two us, experiencing the trip, while the 120mm are the more artfully curated images. This blog post is unique in that I have included both in the same post. The first part of the post is all the pretty pictures! We stayed in Phuket, Thailand in three different areas. Once you get through all the beautiful images, there is a second part of this blog where I walk through the things I recommend doing while in Thailand. You can look on Trip Advisor, too. But, if you are a member of the finer things club, or even a fan, you might want to read the second part if you are going on a vacation to Thailand.

Must do things

Things to do in Phuket also have a lot to do with where you are at, so here are my recommendations:

• Stay at Anantara Mai Khao Villas even if it is just for two nights. I think I read an entire book on one of their day beds and it was the most relaxed I have been in my entire life. This is the only place I will recommend!
• Then, visit Kata beach! In fact, stay at Kata beach for a few nights. This is not pictured, but it is one of the most beautiful beaches with a lot of shops and restaurants. And you can pay $10 for an hour long foot massage. The foot massage is actually close to a full body massage. The massage your entire legs, and for the last few minutes your scalp and shoulders. It was honestly incredible. This “foot” massage cured my husband’s back pain!
• Go on the water…. somehow. I wasn’t a huge fan of our trip to see James Bond Island. I am not sure what we could have done differently. I wonder if the Phi Phi Islands would have been a more enjoyable trip. So if you can’t find a private boat to take you around, then maybe just go to the Phi Phi Islands. That said, the views from the water are unmatched. You must get on the water somehow to see the many tiny different islands.
• Walk down Thalang Rd in Downtown! This was probably my favorite place. I just loved all of the colors and the fun coffee shops. There were so many cute shops and we bought a beautiful vase that we somehow fit in our luggage home.
• East coconut water fresh from the coconut. Do this is as soon as possible. You will thank me.
• Try some mango and sticky rice dessert! A new favorite!
• Get a second, third, and then fourth foot massage.
• For ethical reasons, we did not visit any of the animal sanctuaries. If that is something you want to do, I would recommend looking up the ethical elephant sanctuaries. There are only one or two. I don’t think there are any ethical tiger sanctuaries.

What I wish we could have done….

• See the temples. I think this is the only thing to be perfectly honest. My husband wasn’t super interested in visiting them, so we didn’t go. I would have like to!
• You can also take a look at the Big Buddha, but truthfully, you can see Big Buddha from afar driving around… not entirely sure it is worth the trip.

Things not to do

• See James Bond Island by longtail boat. This is undoubtedly the most uncomfortable way to spend your day.
• Visit James Bond Island at all. Do I love the picture I got? Yes. Did I like being on James Bond Island? No. It’s a complete tourist trap. You only spend 20 minutes there, and it is just so everyone can take the pictures. The kayaking beforehand was super special, but the trip should have ended with a swim following kayaking, and then going home. In my opinion.
• Hang out with the tigers. Unfortunately, I just don’t think there is any way to visit tigers without them being incredibly drugged and it really makes me sad.
• Overpay for a massage. We paid $100 for our spa massages from the hotel. They were great. We loved them! They felt incredible. And then we paid $10 for our “foot” massages and it was almost as good. Maybe better? Tough to say.
• Order any kind of Italian food at any point. So, people in Thailand do not know how to make Italian food, and we shouldn’t expect them to know. Just order Thai food. It is delicious.

If you made it all the way to the end, THANK YOU! Please leave me a comment to let me know if this was helpful for you, or if you just enjoyed the pretty pictures. 🙂 You can also view more on my blog here!