Mum’s here! Well, not quite. But I’ve arrived in Phuket ready to meet her tomorrow night and I’m so excited! I arrived late on Sunday from from Surat Thani after a pretty lengthy journey so was just chilling out. I ended up getting the local bus all the way own (six hours) and boy was it an experience. I was very glad to make it to Phuket. I checked in at my hostel (my last hostel for a whole week!) and then found somewhere to grab some dinner and hung out at my hostel and just put a movie on. The town was aboslutely mental and I wasn’t ready to face it just yet so I was more than happy to just have a chilled one.

Monday I hung out at a bar for a few hours whilst I was temporarily homeless. I had only booked my first night in Phuket as I was staying with mum once she got here, but the hours inbetween checking out and checking in feel like eternity. As soon as 2pm came I walked to the hotel that mum had booked to see if I could check-in and luckily I could, so I wandered back to my old hostel, grabbed my bad and headed back. I just hung out in the room for a few hours, had a shower all to myself, a room to myself, I could spread my clothes out, it felt bliss! I was getting itchy feet knowing mum was arriving later but before I knew it I was off to the airport. After my experience of the local bus the day before, I decided against getting it to the airport even though it was just me with no luggage but I have no regrets. Being in a Grab with aircon and space to stretch out was lovely.

I got to the airport slightly early as mum’s flight was a bit delayed so grabbed a coffee and sat down and before I knew it, she was through arrivals! It was sooo nice seeing a friendly face and was so excited to spend the week together, I did have lots planned as just wanted to take each day as it came really, and the weather has been alll over the place lately, so just a few bits sorted ahead and the rest we could decide as we went. We headed back to the hotel quite late (her flight didn’t arrive until around 10pm) and just spent the eve chatting before getting some zzz’s ready for the week ahead.

Tuesday we just had a chill day by the pool which was really nice, the sun had made an appearance for a little bit which was great too! The weather for the last week or so hasn’t been brilliant, so I was hoping that the sun was going to be coming out more regularly as I was so bored of the rain now. After some much needed downtime and time to catchup we headed back to the room to get ready for the evening.

In the evening we went out for some dinner, we found a really nice restaurant just near central Patong and had some incredible pad thai and penang chicken, of course. It tasted so good. We then headed to Bangla Road for a wander around some of the night markets and grabbed a banana roti, yumsss. Bangla Road was absolutely wild and somewhere that someone mum knows told her she needed to visit and wow it was an experience. The only way I can describe it is basically the Khao San Road of the South, those who have been to Bangkok will understand.

Wednesday we headed out for brunch which was sooo nice. We found a restaurant on the beachfront which looked really cool, and I was so excited to have a decent breakfast! I got eggs benedict with a chilli twist and mum got a crossaint with smash avo, eggs and bacon, which also looked super yummy. I also got a peng coffee which tasted so divine. Everything out here is always so sweet and Thai people put condensed milk in their coffee too which makes it even sweeter! So I was glad to be able to get one where I could actually taste the coffee. We then headed back to the hotel for some more chill out time by the pool.

In the evening we went to Carnival Magic Phuket which I genuinely have no words for. It was insane. I’m going to start at the start and genuinely, when I say this experience is as crazy I mean it, it was just jaw dropping from the minute we arrived. All of the staff and characters were smiling and welcoming and as soon as we got our tickets and got inside, we couldn’t believe our eyes. There were lights everywhere, carnival games, the world’s largest popcorn machine (which we obviously got popcorn from), shops, and so much more. I now understood why everyone got there right at the start time.

We opted for the tickets that included a buffet dinner and we wasn’t disappointed, the food was incredible and there were so many different options to choose from; noodles, pasta, pad thai, indian, european cuisine, and even a chip station with every different type of chip you could imagine! I absolutely made the most of being here and proper tucked in, but it was so good. Sometimes you think with these places is the food going to be all that but honestly it stood out as exceptional.

Onto the main part of the evening, the River Carnival. You aren’t allowed to take any recording devices (including phones!) into the main show and now that I’ve seen it, I completely understand why. It’s breathtaking and full of surprises at every turn and you definitely don’t want spoilers before you go! But trust me when I say it was truly amazing. From here we got to visit the Kingdom of Lights which again and as just sensational. Lights for days in a range of different fashions, different displays and rooms and ways of them appearing. We must have walked around for about half an hour without getting bored of what we were seeing, and I would definitely recommend for everyone to add it to their list of things to do whilst in Phuket! We left on a real high and the biggest grins on our faces.

Thursday was the turn of elephants. I’d already visited an Elephant Sanctuary whilst in the north of Thailand but mum wanted to go whilst she was here, which was completely understandable as who wouldn’t want to?! So we went again whilst together in Phuket. We visited Bukit Elephant Park which was a dream. We did the afternoon walk and feed session and had the bestest time. The elephants were so looked after and we got to feed them their snacks throughout the afternoon, the first being bananas, and the second rice balls filled with fruit that we got to make ourselves!

Walking alongside the elephants was such a lovely experience and this sanctuary provided a slightly different experience to my one in Chiang Mai. Our guide was incredible and we got to know about each of the seven different elephants we met, each of which had their own personal caretaker, who told us about if they could be touched or not, if so where, and if not, how far away we had to be from them. They spoke about their stories of where they had been rescued from and some of them were heartbreaking to hear, but also it was so incredible to see them now they are safe in their sanctuary.

We found a restaurant that looked really nice, with great reviews, so headed there in the evening and it did not dissapoint. It was a Turkish restaurant (sorry Thailand) but honestly I’m getting to the stage where I’m missing certain foods so much and this filled a little gap that I’d missed. We got a cheese pide to start and then I got the lamb beyti and it tasted absolutely divine. It melted in my mouth and I definitely didn’t want it to end. Mum got shish which also looked great and looking back as I write this, I’m drooling because I could definitely eat it over again, and wishing I took pictures so I could savour the moment again!

Next day we just had some downtime and chilled out before heading to dinner and to check out some more of the night markets. We were really enjoying just hanging out by the pool each day with nothing to worry about and just chilling out as much as possible. I’d obviously been on the go for almost three months now without a private room or a base for anymore than about 4 days at a time so I was really grateful to slow down for a little bit and enjoy some time with mumsy.

Saturday had arrived and I was already getting sad that tomorrow was my last day with my mum. We’d had the best week together and I wasn’t ready for it to end. The sun had appeared in full fashion today so we spent the day lapping it up by the pool and my tan significantly improved which made me super happy. After a day chilled by the pool we went out to grab some dinner and the night before, we spotted the Hard Rock Cafe so it seemed like a really nice idea to go there. They had live music playing and it felt so good to have a dinner like that! We were absolutely stuffed when we got back through so we just put a film on and chilled out.

Sunday the sun was *booming* so absolutely made the most of it and I might have got a tad burnt in the process. We chilled out and got some fresh orange juice and strawberry soda (my absolute fave out here!) and just soaked up the sun on mum’s final day here. We managed to extend our room so when we were done baking we headed back and had some chilled out downtime in the aircon before grabbing some dinner which was exceptional, taking one final wander down Bangla Road and watching the sunset over the beach one last time before taking mum back to the airport.

I was staying in Phuket until Monday so had to check into my hostel, I picked one right by the airport as I was flying to my next country the following day, and after being in a resort for the last week I was not looking forward to being back in a bunk bed. We jumped in a Grab to the airport and I dumped my bags off and then headed over to the terminal with mumsy to check her in and say a final goodbye for a little while longer. I have no real time frame on how long I’m travelling for so goodbyes don’t really get easier, but knowing I’m jetting to a new country tomorrow is quite cool! I’ll see ya there, Mads x