Phi Phi - Day 1

Today we left Phuket to go visit Phi Phi!! We were so happy to get off of Phuket. I'm sure there are cool places on that island, but we weren't crazy about what we found there. 

On the boat to Phi Phi. The little girl was creepin on me hard. hahaha. So I decided to get a photo. 

She actually tapped me on the shoulder at one point to say hi, haha she was sweet.

Views out the boat

View by our hostel. 

It might be hard to tell, but we're out on a sandbar!!! It was so sweet! It was my first time on a sandbar. The view around us was spectacular and the water felt great and was totally clear. 

Lei and I rented a kayak! It was about $6 for the first hour and $3 for the second. We kayaked out to Monkey beach which was pretty nice, and around some amazing cliffs! I love all the cliffs and jungle here, it's amazing. 

They have signs at monkey beach saying to beware of the monkeys, apparently they bite tourists! We didn't see any though, thank goodness. 

Then we went to some rock across the bay where a local man was kayak fishing. It was so fun!

Sunday in Phuket!

We walked to church in the rain, but we got really lucky because a random taxi driver picked us up and gave us a ride for free! It was super awesome. At first he tried to charge us 200 baht, then 100, and then he was like, whatever I'm going that way anyway. 

What a cool guy! His name was Mr. Chai. 

Church was great! The branch is pretty small and they just have sacrament meeting and then Sunday school. For some reason they don't have any speakers during sacrament, but they actually invited the three of us to share our testimonies! It was great to have the opportunity to share a little about what we have come to know through our experiences, prayer, and the Holy Spirit. 

I LOVED CHURCH. What sweet members. 

I love the gospel of Jesus Christ! I love Jesus Christ. I'm really grateful that we were able to partake of the sacrament and be here together with the members in Phuket. 

The Church is true! I felt so much gratitude for the atonement and the chance that we had to take the sacrament, even in a tiny little branch in Southern Thailand. 

Patong Beach

Today we got up and went to Patong beach! We were actually trying to get to another beach but it turns out that Patong Beach was just the easiest one to get to. hahaha. 

Morning selfie.

Terrible photo. Haha

This was weird. People have bird fights here by having their birds yell at each other. 

Beach swing! It was super sketchy though so we didn't stay on it long. Lei was fine but I heard a cracking noise when I got on. 

Ray kept pulling at the branch while I was sitting on the swing, I'm pretty sure he cracked the tree trunk. Haha

The beach was actually really bad, haha, lots of trash and pollution. We're definitely excited to get off of Phuket and on to some of the nicer islands around. 

Some people we met from New York said that Phi Phi is way nicer, so we're pretty excited. 

Awesome graffiti we found! We had to run through a million crabs to get to it though. Yikes. 

Bangkok to Phuket

Today was another travel day. We had a great time visiting Bangkok again but now it was time to fly south to Phuket!

The plane was pretty nice. Anna didn't want to take a photo so she threw up her passport pic. hahaha. 

Anna: "SO STUPID. DELETE." *about the photo*

Passing by random islands on the way down was super cool. They're so beautiful!

Made it!

Anna hates taking photos, haha. 

For dinner we went to a random restaurant nearby. It wasn't that great but we enjoyed eating there and keeping out of the rain for awhile.

This girl was actually the highlight of our dinner. She was totally creepin on us the whole time, it was super funny. 

Super funny, the people in Phuket have no shame hahaha, everyone in that restaurant was so creepy.  She was the best though. 

Back in Bangkok for a day!

Coming back to Bangkok was like coming home. We loved Siem Reap but for some reason it just felt good to be back to spending Thai Baht and hanging out with Art!! 

The bus ride back to Bangkok from Siem Reap.

This is where we waited for Anna to get through immigration.

Later that night we watched Jurassic World with Art, Benz and Yog. I also saw one of the missionaries who served in my home ward a few years ago, Elder Water Cooler. Kidding, his actual name was Elder Watanawongworakula. Jurassic World was AMAZING. Ray got a little scared at some parts, but he survived. Verdict, 9/10. So awesome! I love dinosaurs! 

Siem Reap (Day 2)

Today was a super chill day. We were done with the temples (which were AMAZING, but all the same after awhile), and we realized that going to temples is basically the only thing to do in Siem Reap.

At lunch/breakfast (we slept in, our hostel was like a time warp because there were no windows). This place was cheap and good, delicious fruit shakes for only 75 cents!

Some fruit vendor lady taking a nap.

This lady was seriously the best. We had a really fun time chatting with her and Lei ended up getting a shirt from her for only $2 while we were just chatting. She told us that in Cambodia you have to have money to get a girl. "No money, no honey"

She also gave all kinds of advice to Anna and Lei, but I'll let Lei tell you about that: 

After she figured out that me and Ray were dating, she said "OHHHH if he breaks your heart, KILL HIM. Stab him." Obviously I just laughed, and then she turned to Ray and said "if you hurt my sister she will kill you!" 

In the afternoon we went to the pool to cool off and then that night we ate delicious food at the night market. We really got into the pancake things that had nutella and condensed milk. 

Angkor What?!

Angkor Wat is so cool. We tried to get some cool photos to try and capture it but I definitely think it's just a place that you need to go visit yourself. It was just amazing!!!

Anna taking a sweet photo.

Me trying to get a selfie panorama. (fail)

These kids were so cute, they were trying to sell Anna postcards. They called her Michelle Obama and she struggled hard to resist their cuteness. In the end she bought a pack of postcards for about 60 cents USD. 

Our tuk-tuk driver ($12 for the day)

He hated us. Hahaha. His name was Song, and he had a sweet hammock in his tuk tuk.

Tomb raider status

Anna hangin out. 

Dinner. Haha, it looks tiny but I think this was actually our second dinner so it was okay.