Exploring Phuket: Kao Khad Views Tower and Chillva Market

On yet another day of exploration, Collin found this really neat spot for us to visit called Kao Khad Views Tower. We stopped at a little nearby cafe to check out the views, and then we walked over to the tall staircase leading up to the Tower. It was in such a beautiful setting, and the view was more amazing with each step up.

After quite the hike, we truly enjoyed seeing the gorgeous countryside of Phuket. We could even see the famous Big Buddha statue as well as the ocean views. Beautiful!

The Thai markets were some of my favorite stops during our trip. We heard of one called the Chillva Market and decided to visit one evening. Our new friend, Bau, drove us there and gave us some time to explore before calling it a night. Chillva was interesting because it offered some of the more exotic foods to try, and there was a lively nightlife with bars and live music. The shops weren't as plentiful as some of the other markets we had visited but it was still a fun place to visit.

Exploring Phuket: A Typical Day on Vacation

We were fortunate enough to spend a full week in Phuket. At first I wondered how we would fill the days, but it didn't take long before we found so many fun things to do and we wanted to make sure to fit it all in. Between the big excursions for the elephant sanctuary and Phi Phi Island tour, we spent several days of relaxation with some random little activities mixed in. A typical day during our week in Phuket looked a little something like this.

First up, our daily walk down the beach to the hotel serving a buffet breakfast. Kaitlynn made sure to enjoy the rope swings during each trip, and she always excused herself from breakfast early to get in more time on the swings.

Our breakfast spot was open to the breeze and had beautiful views of the ocean. Exactly the type of place you envision while enjoying a beach vacation.

When we had a couple of hours to relax, we took advantage of the resort pool shared by the condo guests. The water was perfectly cool in the Thai sun and the view couldn't be beat.

For the several days that we had the motorbike rentals, we enjoyed taking long rides around the area near our condo. We never got tired of the adventurous rides and incredible sights along the way.

We just never knew what we might find on our rides, but we never got tired of the stunning views around every curve.

We ventured out quite a bit and discovered neat places to stop and eat enjoy a meal together. The kids loved that they could order sodas and Connor even enjoyed a steak one day at lunch.

But maybe the best part of all was just the together time as a family. Inevitably the kids would tease each other and end up in some sort of wrestle match with lots of giggles along the way. A big joke from the trip is that Connor and Kaitlynn were always wanting to retreat to their room to "relax" and the older boys gave them such a hard time about it. These are the times when we remember why we go to such great lengths (and expense) to take trips as a family.

Exploring Phuket: Phi Phi Island Tour

Probably my very favorite day in Thailand was our day excursion to the Phi Phi islands, a group of six picture postcard islands with beautiful beaches and stunning rock formations. They are located off the coast of Phuket, about a 45-minute boat ride away. The most popular spot is the world-famous Maya Bay, which was the location of the movie The Beach with Leonardo Di Caprio. For our group excursion, we boarded a boat with a large group and set off to the first stop for some deep water snorkeling. I didn't participate but enjoyed taking photos of the family. They loved it!

From there, we took another short boat ride to Monkey Beach to see some cliffs that are inhabited by tons of monkeys. We stopped briefly for some photos and the monkeys were everywhere! They are hard to see in the pictures because they are camouflaged into the rocks. Look closely! I think they were expecting us to feed them but no such luck this time.

After seeing the monkeys, we continued the boat ride to one of the inhabited islands called Phi Phi Don. Here we went with the group to enjoy a buffet lunch and explore the bay area. The beach was beautiful for swimming, and we also made sure to enjoy some of the local ice cream before getting back on the boat.

Once we were back on the boat, our tour guide took us right to the entrance of the famous Maya Bay, which was the gorgeous beach from the movie The Beach. Apparently tourists have overrun the area, destroying the coral and natural resources, so access to this beach is now strictly controlled. I was happy to see it from afar.

Our last stop on the Phi Phi Island tour was Khai Nai Island, which was probably my favorite stop of the day. The beach was stunning and the water was crystal clear. During this stop, we were able to enjoy some drinks, snorkeling, jet skis, and more. So much fun!

After all that fun in the sun, we then boarded the boat one last time for our ride back to Phuket. The boat ride was an adventure in itself, but we were pooped and the kids fell asleep on the 45-minute journey.

What an incredible day and the perfect way to experience some of Thailand's most gorgeous beaches!