New Year's Eve in Phuket, Thailand

******************************************************
>Click on photos to enlarge!
*****************************

On New Year's Eve afternoon, we headed to the airport to catch our flight to Phuket, Thailand. We had heard of the beautiful beaches there, and decided it would be fun to spend New Year's eve on the beach this year.






When we arrived at the airport, we found out that our flight had been cancelled and they had not informed us. Needless to say, we were more than a little disappointed!







We were, however, finally able to rebook a flight for later that night, but we spent the next 7 hours waiting at the airport.








We finally arrived at our hotel, Club Bamboo, just before midnight and the Gala Dinner was already coming to an end.






Lucky for us, the hotel staff were very accommodating and they prepared some food especially for us.





Following the midnight fireworks, everyone was given a balloon-like paper lantern with a container of oil fastened beneath.







When the oil was lit, the heat filled the interior of the lantern and it started to rise. We then made our New Year's eve wish and let the lantern go.













Soon the night sky over Phuket was filled with thousands of lanterns carrying special wishes for 2007. Our New Year's eve turned out to be a happy one after all.











The next morning we headed to the Patong beach.










Here we saw wall to wall bodies of every imaginable size, description, and degree of coverage.



















Judie was quite content to spend her time relaxing here with a book and her iPod.












Wayne and Travis found other ways to relax.










Although elephant trekking is not the most relaxing thing to do, it was a fun way to spend one afternoon!

















And when it was over, Travis crashed on the beach!













We had a quiet hotel about 20 minutes walk from the beach.























With a lovely pool which we never used.













But we did use the hotel shuttle bus to and from the beach and downtown.



















A few candid shots around Phuket...


































































































We had a fun 5 days at the beach.












And enough sun for all, especially Wayne and Travis!








Time to head back to Singapore!










******************************************