In Love

... with Thailand! If you don’t have it on your travel list, ADD IT NOW. Such an amazing, beautiful place. Despite the fact that it's half-way across the world from the U.S., it makes for a perfect vacation spot to rest, relax, and recharge the ol' batteries. A weekend was far too short - I think all of us that went would have loved to stay the whole week, at minimum. It didn't help that our hotel was absolutely incredible. I'm talking paradise. The pictures will not do it justice – not even close. I'll post some below though. It's called the Indigo Pearl. You can view the website here. It was a huge resort off Nai Yang beach which is on the North Western side of Phuket, Thailand. Every part of the hotel was pristinely decorated with careful attention to detail. Also - Thailand is super cheap. Hotel was only $150 per night... Did I mention that I had my own VILLA? And where else can you get massages for 300 baht an hour all over the place ($10 USD)? What's more, all the people are sooo nice. They do this bow thing everytime you pay for something or if you leave or even if you're walking by. Anyway, I can't begin to explain it all so here are some pics:
Pool #1:

Pool #2 w/ Swim-up bar:

Pool #3:

Landscaping:

View outside my Villa

Beach:

Brief overview of what we did -
oh so first off, 5 of us ended up going from the project, both client and Deloitte side. We got in on Friday around 8pm Thailand time, checked into the hotel, and grabbed drinks on the beach at one of the cute little huts. Saturday, the 5 of us relaxed by the pool, then got a boat and a guide to take us out on the water and snorkeling on the Adamaran Sea, then got a massage late afternoon, then went to Patong Beach for dinner and an evening out. Sunday, got a pedicure (for $5 USD... yeah.), did some shopping, relaxed at the beach, left the resort at 6pm for flight. We didn't get to the Phi Phi Islands which I would have liked to do, but it required a full day commitment and waking up at 7am, and with only 2 days, it just wasn't feasible.
More pictures...
Strip of shops along the beach:

Boat trip on Saturday - snorkeling on Adamaran Sea:



Patong (Saturday night) - this was an eye opening experience for me. I have NEVER seen anything like it. So wild and crazy; I think I was bug-eyed with my mouth hanging wide open in awe the entire evening. Lady Boys every which way I looked. (Lady Boys = trannys) The 5 of us had so much fun, but it was a dirty dirty town (read: morally shocking). I'm so glad we decided to stay up the island (45 min away) where the beaches and town are nicer/cleaner. The food in Thailand - amazing. We ate authentic Thai - so delish. I could eat chicken satay for every meal. Group pic of dinner in Patong:

Patong...

Need to go to bed now - will post more pictures/details/stories tomorrow! xoxo