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Thailand - Day 18

Travel day.  I had an afternoon flight, so I had time to enjoy breakfast and leisurely pack. 

Beautiful, sunny morning.  It started raining on my way to the airport.  Anantara provided transportation to airport.  Mercedes with cold towel, beverages and snacks provided, approximately a 20 minute ride.  My driver went above and beyond the call of duty.  I only needed him to drop me off at the airport.  He took my bag out of the trunk; escorted me into the airport; waited while my  bag was scanned through security; took my bag to the check-in counter; then escorted me to the security checkpoint.  That will definitely be included in my Tripadvisor review of Anantara.

1 hour and 15 minute flight from Phuket to Bangkok.  From Bangkok to Taipei, a little over 3 hours.  Taipei to SFO, approximately 11 hours.  At SFO, I got to go through Global Entry instead of normal immigration.  Awesome!  In and out in approximately 3 minutes.  My bag came out of baggage claim about 15 minutes later.  Then it was a breeze through customs and a leisurely walk to a waiting BART train.  About an hour ride from SFO to the Richmond Amtrak station.  Amtrak to Sacramento normally takes about an hour and a half, but due to delays with Union Pacific, it took about 2 hours.  I setup a pickup with Lyft on my way from the train to the curb.  The car was there in 2 minutes.  A short ride later, I was home.

Thailand - Day 17

"Do not much of anything" day.  Very nice day.  Mostly sunny.  A tad on the hot side.  (I was sweating from just walking around and taking pictures.)

After breakfast, I walked around more of the resort.  I found the tennis courts and the boxing ring.  From there, I went back to other side.  I walked around the pool, then went down to Mai Khao beach.  There was still some of the resort that I hadn't seen, but I was sweating so much, I decided to return to my villa.  I put my pool and outdoor shower to good use.

Lunch time, I walked down to Mai Khao Plaza. It's a nice place.  There are a few shops and a restaurant.  I stopped by a souvenir shop and bought some stuff.  Then I had lunch at Mai Khao Living Room.  A very nice restaurant with a good menu.  Also, it's much cheaper than the resort.

On my way back from lunch, I stopped by Turtle Village.  More shops, more restaurants, more stuff.  It's conveniently located next door to Anantara.

The rest of the day, I did relatively nothing.  I kicked back in pool for a bit.  From the pool, I moved to my Sala.  A little later, I went to Anantara's Tree House. I finished the day with a 90 minute Thai massage.

Thailand - Day 16

Beautiful day.  I spent all of it on a diving excursion.  I went with Sea Bees Diving.  I did the 1 day/2 dives package to the Similan islands.  They picked me up from the resort around 0640.  Then it was about a 45 minute ride to the pier.  There I, and a lot of other people, boarded a  very large catamaran.  Once everyone was onboard, we began our 3 hour trip to the Similan islands.  On the way there, the crew prepared a very nice breakfast for everyone.  After which, everyone settled in for the ride.

The dive sites were very nice.  Blue skies, calm waters, and about a 20 meter visibility underwater.  I think I got a lot of good pictures.

After the first dive, the crew prepared lunch.  Some time after lunch, dive 2.

Once the dives and snorkeling (there were snorkelers too) were done, everyone was back on the boat for the return trip.  The crew prepared more snacks.  I don't know about others, but after the snacks I found a place to lie down and get some sleep.

Back at the pier, transportation back resorts was waiting.  Funny thing, it started raining on the way back. It was a 45 ride back to the resort.  I got back around 1920.  Once there, I showered and got a drink. I barely finished my update and called it a night.  I was tired....

Elephant Trekking

Thailand - Day 15

It's been raining on and off all day.  What's been nice is it really hasn't affected anything.  What's been really nice is it stops raining during my activities.

Today's activity was elephant trekking.  It took up the entire morning.  It was a nice drive there, during which it rained.  We (me and guests from other resorts) arrived, it stopped raining.  We got a tour of the place.  We were introduced to an elephant and his Mahout.  We went elephant trekking.  Some people bought some souvenirs after.  Then we were all driven back to our respective resorts.  During which it started raining again.

This is the fourth elephant I've been on.  Three times, I've been a passenger.  One time, I was a Mahout.  The other times, it was just a single elephant.  This time it was more of a caravan.  It had a different feel, but it was still good.

I got back to the resort around 2:00.  Lunch was still being served.  I didn't bother stopping by my villa, I just went straight to lunch.  Afterwards I walked around a little bit more of the resort.