We started day 5 with the included breakfast (of course – Omnomnom eggs) and then some pool relaxation time again. Just before 1pm we headed off for another Burasari signature Thai massage – no cocktail happy hour today due to what came after the massage! This massage is a 2hr treatment that costs around 4x nearby street massages but we both agree it is the best massage we have EVER had. They also accomodate my injuries extremely well so I feel totally comfortable and not anxious at all. Each massage starts with a 30 min purification ritual which is very relaxing.

After the massage, I had a short work call to attend to (a lecture actually – my students were not impressed I was in Thailand while they prepare for teaching placements next week lol) before we headed off to watch the sunset and have dinner at the markets again. Then we drank in the bar at the hotel for….about 4hrs. Oops.

Day 6 started with epic hangovers haha. We basically spent the whole day in bed watching TV. I was able to make it out of bed at 5pm to wander up to the otop markets and have the best Panang Curry ever and a pineapple smoothie for dinner….just.

On Day 7 (our last day) we went to the beach and spent 5hrs relaxing on the sun lounges, swimming in the ocean and eating pad Thai for lunch. The lounges cost 200 baht for 2 and you can stay as long as you want – they serve you food and drinks too. You do have to deal with the street sellers approaching you but we worked out ignoring them meant they stopped coming back.

For dinner today, I had booked “La Gritta” at Amari Phuket Resort. It’s about a 15 min walk from us (including going up a small hill) and has a view out over the Patong Bay. Beautiful!! Not the cheapest dinner option (especially compared to 100 baht satay or 150 baht curry at the markets) but well worth the booking ahead for the view and amazing Italian food options. It’s not often we find a 5 course degustation for under $100 AUD!

Home tomorrow. I’m going to do a separate travel home post about our trip home as we are going to try out the paid lounge at Phuket international and explore Changi air port a bit more.

Today we visited the Phuket Elephant Sanctuary. Last time we came to Phuket we went to what is referred to as an elephant retirement village in search of ethical animal tourism. Those places absolutely do rescue them and look after them and give them freedom…but there are also usually a lot of human interactions expected from the elephants. They aren’t hit or forced to do it but they also aren’t exactly free to roam. Which brings us to PES!

This rescue have a 600-metre-long and 6-meter-tall canopy walkway which is the only one of its kind in Phuket. It provides the elephants with maximum freedom to naturally roam, forage, bathe and socialize in the jungle below. Visitors observe them from above as well as from a safe and respectful distance whilst hiking through the 30-acre sanctuary as part of our guided tours. The elephants are free to move around wherever they like and there is no pressure for them to approach or interact with people in anyway.

We paid for the private half day tour which meant individual transport, private jungle walk and feeding for the elephants (if they felt like it) and then private vegetarian lunch. Well worth it for people like us who….don’t like other people haha.

After our walk and visits with the elephants, we went up into their canopy walk and watched them from above for awhile. Then it was lunch time! Such an amazing vegetarian feast….we were stuffed. Over lunch we were able to see the “not social” elephant in the background who has her own poolside villa. She has been at the sanctuary for 3 years but doesn’t like to leave the sleeping pen at all, she’s very scared. So they built her a big pen with her own pool.

After lunch we went back to the resort and I had some poolside reading during happy hour again.

For dinner we went up Bangla Road to the food markets there and then I finally got to go into Tiger Night club and drink! We also saw beach fireworks. Bangla Street Eats is very pushy – much more pushy than other markers we have been to for food – so I think this is a one time visit for this trip.

Day 3 started with a small sleep in and then we skipped the provided breakfast and walked up to No 6 Restaurant just past Bangla Road – so about 15 mins away. We opted to go early as people happily queue up here and I was hoping to avoid that! Lucky me, 10:30am seemed to be a good arrival time as it was busy but not full.

We ordered massaman curry, pad Thai, stir fried corn and two drinks which came to about $15 AUD (370 baht). It was all delicious! The flavours were so good, service was fast and although you were at communal tables you could still just ignore people and focus on your food.

On the way back to the hotel I got my beach swing photo and then we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing by the pool with books and cocktails. We also enjoyed some snacks and drinks from our minibar which gets refilled daily – 2 beers, soft drinks and Oreos!

For our early dinner, we walked about 10 mins up the road to the Malin Plaza where the markets were delicious and VERY cheap. We had skewers for 50 baht each (B had crocodile – eek) and cocktails for 100 baht! B also got to try his favourite icy snack.

We walked back to the hotel via Dragon Night markets which looked super colourful and interesting but was basically empty….and then again through the street eats Patong section full of very empty bars. Not sure if it is the time of year or just lack of tourism returning to the country yet? Very quiet though.

We had dinner number two around the corner at Chino Yard – I finally found some chicken satay!

Day 2 started quite early after way too many cocktails the night before and a solid 12hrs sleep. We had complimentary breakfast at the hotel (always so many food choices here!) and then went for a wander around the area to see what’s changed since 2018.

We walked down to the beach which is only 50m away and still has the awesome lounges and beautiful water – 200 baht is about $9 AUD. The area is a lot more “pretty” than it used to be with more small shops, markets and even fancy apartments.

After some poolside lounging at the Burasari (it’s hard to get a lounge here as they only have 12 so we got lucky today) we had a Thai massage in the afternoon before heading to the “street eats Patong” just up the road for dinner and drinks.

We then walked up the street next to our hotel (Prachanukhro Rd) and discovered a strip of small bars including the 24hr “dolphin bar”. From there we explored further and just a 5 min walk away we came across Patong Otop Shopping Paradise – including an open air food market “street eats patong” with many small bars included! Ooooh that’s going to be a good dinner spot.

So many food options! B was absolutely torn on what to have. We ended up going with pad Thai and beer.

We then did some people watching and bar hopping before joining lots of other people for a beautiful sunset on the beach.

After sunset we headed to another night market (Chino Yard) which is just across the road from Kamala Beach for more people watching and cocktails. It was quiet but the drinks were an awesome price.

We did an overnight flight to Singapore (1:10am departure – yuck) on Singapore Airlines. At perth airport we accessed the aspire lounge which is a pay for use lounge charging $66 a person if you prebook. We enjoyed free food and drink as well as some quiet seating with a plane view. They also have a human sized quokka statue for selfies haha. It was very busy at the airport so this was a good choice for comfortable seating, free snacks and access to phone chargers.

We arrived in Singapore at 6:30am local time for a 3.5hr stop over. We were both exhausted – and had slept about an hour each – so we paid to use an ambassador lounge in terminal 2 which was very similar to the aspire pay for use one. Free snacks. Comfy chairs. This one had a GORGEOUS sunflower garden though! And a robot table waiter.

We arrived in Phuket at 11:40am and headed straight to the hotel. We are staying at Burasari Phuket again as we find it a great mix of close to the beach, quiet but also easy enough to walk around Patong (including to Bangla road) for drinks, amazing Thai street food and people watching. On check in, the manager came and met us to introduce himself. We then checked in, drank 4 cocktails in 2hrs and went to bed at 5pm haha….peaked a bit early.