Thailand – Phuket or PUKE- et or Poo- ket…yes either of those last two are fitting.

Posted on February 20, 2018 by Mommy

After a few days in Chang Mai we went on our way to the islands. Our first stop was Phuket since this is where we would be taking the ferry from to get to our other destinations. We decided to stay there for 3 nights because Sophie still had her stitches in and she couldnt go swimming yet.

Phuket seemed like it had the most options for things to do on land since the other islands were all smaller, but really after one night we knew we were staying 2 days too long. It was crowded, dirty, and just plain ole icky but like always we found our fun! Can’t say we will ever go back there but we can say we saw it…so there’s that.

We mini golfed, took some fun tuk tuk rides, went to a night market, found shoelace licorice, got Sophie some cool pants, and Sabi a beautiful dress, climbed rocks to escape the loads of tourists all over the beach, walked around, had my 39th birthday, drank wine on the deck, cooked some dinners, and debated heading back to the mountains thinking the islands might all be this crowded (luckily we didnt, and they weren’t).

Maker:0x4c,Date:2017-11-21,Ver:4,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar01,E-ve

Will’s face below says it all about Phuket. It literally smelled like a toilet bowl and didn’t look much better.

Maker:0x4c,Date:2017-11-21,Ver:4,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar01,E-ve

Thailand – Back to Chang Mai

Posted on February 20, 2018 by Mommy

A set of stitches (6 outside and a few inner to be exact) sent us on a rushed trip back to Chang Mai. Sophie was running around a corner in 7-11 and somehow tripped while simultaneously slicing her inner arm on a sharp corner of a shelf. It was gnarly. Sabi took one look and started freaking out crying. Sophie was surprisingly calm, although maybe she was just in shock.

We quickly dropped our things and walked to closest pharmacy who told us she def needs to go to clinic. We then walked to closest clinic (which was closed so we waited out front with like 10 other people until it opened) who told us they dont do stitches. Then we walked a little further to an emergency room who definitely did stitches but there were wounded people laid out everywhere and it looked like the type of place you probably dont want to have an open wound in. From there we decided to rush back to our airbnb, pack our things and take the 3 + hour ride to a private hospital in Chang Mai. Her cut was deep but luckily not bleeding very much so we had the clinic clean and wrap it and headed off back to Chang Mai.

On the car ride there Will looked up a last minute airbnb for us to stay at from the woman who rented to us before we left. I was on kid duty and keeping both girls calm in the back for the long ride. When we arrived at the hospital in Chang Mai (which Will looked up and also got recommended by the airbnb host) we knew we made the right call. It was modern, super clean, attentive and they spoke english. The dr. was incredibly patient and calm with Sophie which made the experience as good as it possibly could have been under the circumstances. The surgeon made sure she was completely numb before he did the stitches and she was a champ. We finally got done with it all around midnight and headed to a nice comfy airbnb to rest it all off.

The next day we went back to the hospital so they could clean the wound and show us how to take care of it. Sophie had to take an antibiotic just in case of infection and she had a pain med in case it was throbbing which she only needed once, thankfully.

A bit of a detour in our trip but thankful it turned out as good as it could have and that Sophie had great medical care and just a little scar inside her inner arm for memory. I really am so very proud of her and how calm she remained, also proud of our family and how we all took our own roles to get the situation taken care of without panicking (aside from Sabi who completely let out on the outside what we were all feeling on the inside when she screamed and freaked out at first sight of it).

And with that, the next part of our adventure was back in Chang Mai. We mainly chilled out, walked a bit, ate some good food at our favorite restaurant, and played some cards. A few days later we boarded another flight and were off to Phuket.

Maker:0x4c,Date:2017-11-21,Ver:4,Lens:Kan03,Act:Lar01,E-ve

Thailand – Pai adventures

Posted on February 20, 2018 by Mommy

After Chang Mai we took a private van up the windiest mountains to a town called Pai. It was a nauseating 3 1/2 hour journey but thankfully the kids slept through the windiest bits or we for sure would have had a puker. I nearly hurled myself.

The ride was definitely worth it because the foggy mountains led us to what ended up being our favorite town in Thailand. Aside from Sophie having a freak accident in 7-11 which we required an early departure and rushed 3 hour journey back to Chang Mai, we had a blast.

We stayed in a super cool airbnb that we had to walk over a bridge to get to. The bridge was bit terrifying (apparently not for Sabi who was running across it on her own) but so awesome that on the other side it was just our cabin and lots of land.

There was a cat that would come over each day and a dog that lived on the driveway out who we snuggled with each time and named Mama Dog. We did a lot of walking and exploring, went to a bunny cafe, visited a beautiful farm, roamed the night market, made coffee in our outdoor kitchen…and then cut our time short (sadly) for an emergency trip back to Chang Mai to stitch up Pookie’s arm. Oh it was an adventure and Sophie will always have the scar (hopefully tiny) to remember it.