Sa-wat-dee from Khao Lak

Once again we are up way too early-make that 5:30 to be exact- in Thailand.  It's pretty hard to adjust to being 11 hours ahead of the norm but we've done a pretty good job thus far.
We were only in Chiang Mai for two days but wow-what a difference to Khao Lak it was!  Being that we stayed at Le Meridien in the city, we wanted to do everything we could in the city itself which included tuk-tuk rides to temples, villages, foot massage places (Dean's was great, mine was terrible- picture a 'pedicure like' massage for 1 whole hour-I couldn't wait to get out of there!), custom tailor for suits and eating the best Thai food I've ever had.  It was very busy!

What's funny is that as we explore Thailand, I am noticing that smell is very much something I am associating every place to.  If I could pick Chiang Mai's smell, it would be a cross between the heavy smoke from the intense burning that's going on all over mixed with exhaust from the thousands of tuk-tuks and motor bikes on the road everywhere.  Odd to post about the smell I'm sure but my sense of smell is intense and I notice them all!  BTW, if you're not sure what a tuk tuk is, here is the one we used:

 It's kind of a cross between a golf cart and a motorcycle.. a tricycle with an engine :)

We flew to Phuket on 3/26 and drove about an hour and 15 min to Khao Lak.. kind of a somber ride due to seeing a pretty bad accident with an SUV and a motor bike and passing multiple tsunami memorials along the way (Khao Lak is exactly where it hit in 2004).  Aside from that, we finally arrived at the hotel and it is absolutely gorgeous, with my favorite scents of jasmine and magnolia everywhere! Here are some photos:

 Pool Oceanfront Villa :-D

Early morning coffee, just taking it all in.

Dean at the 'office'

Yesterday we relaxed on the beach and swam in the sea (the water temp here is like bathwater and the sand is like powdered sugar under your toes), then in the afternoon we had our massages and took a trip into town to book our diving and hit the night market.  Unfortunately we got caught in a downpour so the night market will have to wait until tomorrow, but today we are doing a two tank dive out in the Similian Islands!  I have been reading about this for months so I am super excited but also very apprehensive about spending 9 hours on a boat with no land in sight..!

Have a great day, more pics and posts to come soon.