Welcome to Travel Adventures Part 4 - Our second day in Phuket visiting Beaches, Temples & Big Buddha
Day 2 of our holiday in Phuket was our first full day in the beautiful country of Thailand so we wasted no time and decided to tick a few things off the typical Phuket tourist bucket list.
Surin Beach & Surrounds
We started off our day with a very fulfilling breakfast at our resort - a full buffet breakfast with a huge range of Western and Eastern breakfast foods, breads, fruits, and drinks. We then explored the whole of our resort and then walked to Surin Beach, which was a short walk away in front of our resort. As we walked toward the beachside, we were greeted with clear, blue skies and a calm, inviting ocean. There were a few locals that have set up businesses where the dirt road meets the beach, offering massages, food and drinks for all the tourists.
Surin Beach
While there were a few tourists (including us) already at the beach, it was by no means crowded and was relatively quiet and enjoyable (compared to other beaches in Phuket). The sand was nice, the beach was clean and there were so many shady and sunny spots to choose from. We had to find a spot that had a bit of both as Ben loves the sun, while I prefer to stay in the shade most of the time.
We stopped to take our tourist photos and selfies and then treated ourselves to some refreshing coconuts while we took our surroundings in. After this, we stopped off at the local 7-11 to pick up some snacks and made our way back to our hotel for our driver to pick us up and take us on our tour of Phuket.
Mandatory tourist selfie at every location
Street Vendors
Refreshing ice cold coconuts
Tourist Time - Feeding a Baby Elephant
I've never fed a baby elephant before so we tried to feed bananas to this baby elephant we came across during the day but he didn't want anything to do with the fruit. Maybe he was sick of being fed bananas. So we fed him a bottle of milk and poured it down a funnel and into his mouth. His eyes just lit up at this point and he knew exactly what to do - he pulled the end of the funnel tube into his mouth and began suckling on it, waiting for me to pour the milk for him. He was so adorable and his little tuft of hair was surprisingly wirey.
Wat Chalong a.k.a Chalong Temple
Wat Chalong is the largest and most popular temple in Phuket, Thailand to both tourists and locals alike. The temple grounds had about 4-5 separate buildings and pergodas but the most prominent building was the 3-storey Grand Pergoda. This temple was decorated with paintings about Buddha and housed many gold statues. Climbing all the stairs to the top level terrace grants you a nice bird's eye view of the entire temple grounds.
Grand Pergoda - Photograph from GoPro
Inside Grand Pergoda - Photograph from GoPro
Statues inside Grand Pergoda
Big Buddha on top of the hill
The best views for the day were seen from the top of Nakkerd Hill, home to one of Phuket's most well-know attractions - the Big Buddha. Many parts of the grounds were still undergoing maintenance and building to improve the area, but still offered amazing 360o views. The statue is 25m across at the base, 45m tall and is covered in beautiful white marble tiles. We stayed here taking many photographs, explored the grounds and found other small statues, and watched in awe as the sun set.
It's amazing that such a significant landmark was built purely through donations and raised money. There were many wishing bells and hearts that you can purchase via donation to write your wishes on and find a place to hang your wish near Big Buddha. You can similarly donate money to receive a marble tile to write your wish or name on it, which they use to continue building the interior of the Big Buddha.
Wish Hearts under Big Buddha. Donation tables on the left under Big Buddha
More Wish Hearts
White Marble Wish/Name Tiles
I always wish for peace, love, prosperity and happiness for myself, my family and friends. I wish this for all my fellow Steemians and thank you for taking your time in reading my travel post. Hope you've enjoyed my Travel Adventures for today with my hubby, Ben. Looking foward to sharing the rest of my trip with you all!
-Frankie
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