The morning seemed to start out well. We were all to meet for breakfast at 8:30. Josh and I had apparently gone home a lot earlier than some and there were questions about who would make it up for breakfast. Eventually, everyone was accounted for except Lucas. He had apparently never made it home last night. People had expected to find him asleep in front of the hotel or on th beach. No signs. Seemed strange but no one was overly worried. He is a big guy and had left the bar last night to go see the moy tai fights in Patong. He probably got a cheap room there.

There are surprisingly few restaurants open for breakfast at this time. We went down the street a but and found a place that was open and had pictures of eggs. This should work. We had just ordered when Michael joined us and started talking quietly to Bobby. Bobby swiftly excused himself and we were all left looking at Michael. The hotel had just told him Lucas was in the hospital.

The mood turned somber. Some girls started crying. Some people started guessing what had happened. I figured it couldn't have been too horrible if he was coherent enough to tell them where he was staying and with whom. I'm pretty sure that sober and uninsured Josh couldn't have done that. Turns out he was on his way home and was the passenger on a scooter. He thankfully had a helmet on but there was a crash. He doesn't remember what happened but he came to on the side of h road and then later in the hospital. He was quite lucky with a black eye and scrapes.

So that's a depressing start to the day! We at least know he's okay now. Our group gatherers and beads over to the Phuket Cobra Show. I'm not thrilled about being anywhere near these things. Before the show we get to take a snake farm tour. See some pregnant boa constrictors and lord know what other kinds. I just want to get through this as quickly as possible.

I somehow ended up in the back of the group and by the time I turned the corner to the show stands the whole group was seated on the front row. Everyone except Josh that is. I joined him up higher. I figured if the King Cobra got out of the ring it would attack all the people down low first. The music soon started thumping and the Announcer welcomed us. Lots of jokes about ladyboys and missing fingers were made. I'm not entirely sure what wasa joke and what wasn't.

For Round 1, Jim (who was missing a finger and I'm pretty sure was drunk) risked his life and I'm sure mine by taunting three cobras. Although it felt rather constrained, I was still scared out of my mind. For some reason Josh decided to get up and walk over by the open cages to take pictures from the bak of the ring. That is a horrible idea for someone who can't understand broken English spoken with a Thai accent. I finally told him to sit is butt back down and stop moving. The memory that will stick in my head is when the handler brought one of the snakes around for people to see the fangs up close. Josh and Josh scurried up those bleachers so fast you would think there was a fire. I wish I had taped it.

Round 2 was three mangrove snakes. Much smaller but quicker. This was the round where audience participation was welcomed. What? Of course only people from our group were crazy enough to partake in this. Luckily we didn't have any more trips to the hospital that day.

Round 3 was a king cobra. They are the largest venomous snake at up to 18 feet. My stomach was completely ready to hurl by this point. I made it through the final round and was happy to return to the van. I'm not sure I'd say I enjoyed it but I survived.

Now that I was hungry, kidding, we headed back to Elephant for lunch. We had some creative service where half of the drinks came after the first half of our table had already eaten. Of course I got the late drinks. I continued my creative ordering with a noodle soup. Super yummy.

After lunch we caught a van down to Patong Beach where we were catching our long tails. It was amazing how less crazy that beach street was when the cruise ship was gone. The tourist folks were still there but they weren't jumping on us like before. We boarded two long tails and headed out to Freedom Beach, an island about 20 minutes out.

Hank had been talking up this mad volleyball playing all trip so we had to stop and get a rock hard ball on the way to Patong. Just in case. The beach was beautiful. Perfect sand. Tall palm trees and tons of umbrellas in the shade. Apparently this was the first year you had to pay $3 (or $4 depending on the minute you asked) for chairs. Oh well. I was petrified to get in the water be ause I saw several little jellyfish on the beach. Instead we explored the black boulders along the shore and climbed the stairs up the side of the hill to get a view of the beach from up top. Finally, my extreme heat exhaustion gave way to my fear and we got. It was pure peace. The rest of the afternoon was spent with me under an umbrella and josh on a volleyball court.

Somehow Bobby, like always, managed to work it out so that we were the very last two boats to leave the island. We watched a spectacular sunset and were very entertained by the couple doing their own x-rated photo shoot. If only they knew who we all were. I don't think our boats were supposed to wait so late to come in to get us. The surf was pretty high and I was convinced a few times the boat would tumble. Half our group had to change boats out in the water, with camera gear, because one captain went home early. There were huge swells in our little rickety wooden boat but we did make it back. The lady in charge yelled at Bobby for our late return for a while but changed her tune when she realized what happened.

Dinner in Patong was the least appetizing and most expensive. Pizza and $8 Haagen Daaz. I was craving it so I didn't care. At 8:30 we were all wiped out and headed back to the hotel to shower, pack and load the vans. After a few people managed to convince the hotel to sell them pillows, we were on the road in three vans for an overnight 12 hour ride. Yep. You read that right. Thank goodness I brought that camping pillow and Ambien.

Today's beach day can only be described as ultimate. I'm thankful that we have visited some of the most beautiful beaches in the world in Hawaii, Greece and other places, so that we could fully appreciate this.

It was an early morning. We had to meet our cams at 6am. That sounds early until you realize most of us were still waking up at 3:30 in the morning. At 5:45 in the morning the options were breakfast are limited. After some debate at the 7-11 with Brett about the authenticity of the orange juice I grabbed a bottle. I couldn't bring myself to try any of the pastries. My later findings were that the liquid substance was Tang with a pulp mixture added. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

The short van ride deposited us at an elegant resort marina. A Robin Leach doppelgänger and his business partner showed us to our charter boat. The crew of three local Thai men were honestly the most professional crew we have ever had. No messing around, no gimmicks, no making me throw up. I was highly impressed with our charter. Good job Bobby. I spent the ride out to the islands talking to Bobby and just enjoying being on the water. About 45 minutes in I noticed everyone started to stand up with their cameras so I took note.

The Phi Phi Islands are one of those places you see on tv or in photos and just can't believe it's real. It is. And it's spectacular in person. I'll have to add all the island names later but I love how the day was planned out. We had just enough time everywhere but you never got bored.

The first island must be the busiest. It is the one I always see pictured. We arrived by 7:30 and it was already getting busy. The beach is flanked by these massive green cliffs and black rock overhangs. We explored the beach for a bit and then hiked into the island where there were some paths leading through to the other side. You could climb up some old rickety stairs and get a view through to where we would snorkel next. Once we made our way back down we found our group mulling around and then started to make our way back to the boat. Fishie time!

For Christmas, Josh surprised me with snorkel masks and snorkels. We keep going to these amazing spots around the world and he thought it was time to invest. Wow. What a difference that makes. There weren't a huge variety of fish but boy were there a lot. Bobby kept throwing bread at me so that the fish were literally swimming on me. It was crazy. There was apparently a bright blue starfish but I missed it.

We then headed to another cove to snorkel but there didn't seem to be any fish. I enjoyed the view from the boat and finally picked up the camera. This is a photography trip! After a lot of tries the first picture below (with a but of Josh editing) is my result. It was pretty cool back there with all the long tail boats.

Next stop Phi Phi Don Island . I think that is the name. If you have seen the videos from the tsunami you were probably watching video from here. That in itself was intense. This island has a narrow path down the beach barely wide enough for the carts to get through pulling guests luggage to their beachside hotels. Restaurants and tourist shops line both sides. After checking out a few spots (sometimes finding seating for 15 can be tough) we settled on the very Thai Italiano Restaurant. We had a swank setup with couches under some fans. Only in Thailand. Love it. I gave in and finally got a fruit shake and Khao Pad. I'm all about eating local here. No spices please. Josh loved his Pad Thai and his mojito that appeared to have an entire mint garden in it. Good lunch.

Now full, we reboarded. On the way out we pulled by an island with monkeys all over the beach. Apparently we will have monkeys galore in Cambodia so we just quickly looked.

The last stop was a beach that appeared to be just for day trippers. The bottom of the water was covered in coral so it made it difficult to stand, but the beach around the island had some cool rocks and tide pools. We spent a bit of time relaxing before getting on the boat one last time and heading back,

After cleaning up, our group headed out for dinner. We ended up next to a fish foot station. These are the grossest thing I've seen. Tanks of tiny fish, on the street, where people let fish eat the dead skin off their feet. Yuck. How appetizing next to a restaurant? Dinner was pretty typical. I was adventurous and ordered a Signapore Sling even though the waiter couldn't tell me what it was. It came in a glass with boobs on it and only one took me a bit askew.

Some of our group had Ben raving about mitosis they had early so most of our group moved on to search for that place. After walking almost to Bangkok we found it. Not what I would have pictured as the Home of Thailand's best mojito but ok. These mojitos must have taken a good 45 minutes to make. No amount of deliciousness was going to save Josh from quickly falling into a state of slumber. When the drinks came, we downed ours, paid up and headed back. We passed the bar truck which might be one of the coolet things we've seen. A VW bus turned into a bar and dj booth outside of a bar. We avoided buying any laser pointers or barking dog toys and called it a night. Little did we know what was going to happen.

Let me first start by saying that getting pictures on this iPad for the blog are rough. We have three cameras and my iPhone. Only one camera being able to upload. So what I can post as far as pictures while we travel is limited.

Ok. Back to the trip. So we woke up fairly early to talk to the kids on the Skype. Getting better. They could see us. We could hear them. Like I said, better. Then we packed up and headed to grab a quick breakfast before checking out and catching our taxi.

The taxi ride was easy. He had no clue where we were going so I showed him a map, address and picture on the iPad. I did have to tell him when he drove right by the hotel we were meeting at but we got there safe and sound.

We were two of the last people to arrive and joined our group assembled in the lobby of a hotel we weren't staying at. Supposed to but not, so we were just meeting there before walking to our hotel. It felt a little like the first day of camp. Not sure who these people are you are about to spend two weeks with. We've had a Facebook group for almost a year so we somewhat knew some people. But still. I was definitely a fish out of water. I can't imagine what Josh felt like.

We chatted about our itinerary for awhile and after the last person arrived we walked to our hotel. I lied. One girl had gotten stuck in Bangkok and they had lost her luggage so we were still short one. The hotel was new. And when I say new we think it opened that day. They were working out the Internet and beach towels were arriving in the mail that day. Rooms were pleasant with a queen bed, shower and AC. What more do you need to sleep?

We all freshened up and headed down the street to the Elephant Cafe. I learned a few things here. 1. Some restaurants in Thailand have menus bigger than the Cheesecake Factory. 2. If you want anything a little spicy, say NO SPICES!. Even then it is spicey. I almost lost all my taste buds. 3. Our group is filled with look-a-likes. We have Kevin Costner and Ryan Lochte.

After getting to know everyone a bit we headed back to get ready for the beach. We found Anna 2 (two Anna's and two Josh's are in our group) waiting at the hotel. She had arrived but her luggage had not. We shortly herded our group into a van and a taxi and headed off for Surin Beach.

Surin was on the other side of Patong. My sense of direction is off but it's over there. It had a completely different feel to the other two beaches. The beach itself was lines with hundreds of lounge chairs and umbrellas. The beach was flanked by swanky lounge-type or tree covered restaurants. The best part was the floating dock that rose and fell with the waves meant to be run across. As the waves crashed under it people lined up to launch themselves over the side of the dock. A few of our brave photographers went out on the floating dock to shoot from the water side. I can't wait to see some of the pictures.

The afternoon was spent goofing off on the beach and in the water. At one point our whole group lined up on the dock and took a shot jumping off together. In the midst, Kate dropped her underwater camera in what must have been at least 15 feet ocean water. Vince, aka Kevin Costner, retrieved it in one dive with no mask. Needless to say, we were impressed.

Around six tummies were grumbling and taxis were going to need to return soon. We walked back behind the beach and down the restaurant row. It was a bit enchanting. We found our spot and Josh and I sat down with Kevin Costner and Ryan Lochte (okay Lucas). During our dinner I learned that Lucas is VERY single and doesn't want to hear anything about kids! Ha. And Vince can not only hold his breath but he used to be a firefighter, is a part time police officer and an ordained minister. If he still likes me in a week he offered to renew our vows for us. Did I mention he gets my sense of humor?

Dinner was good pad Thai. It was relaxing to eat on the beach with more fireworks in the background and we even saw some lanterns being let off from in front of us. It is kind of hard to believe we have only known these people ten hours. After dinner we headed back. Vans leave at 6am to catch our boat for Phi Phi Islands. No messing around!