Elephants and Buddha

On our second full day in Phuket we decided to try elephant trekking. We weren't sure how Elyse would do, but we thought we would give it a shot anyway. When we arrived at the place, Elyse was NOT happy and didn't want to go anywhere near the elephants, so I decided to stay behind with her while Toby rode on the elephant.

While we waited for Toby to return, Elyse and I took a little walk and looked at all the animals around the area. There were a lot of chickens and baby chicks. When a group of people were done with their ride, they fed their elephants. When Elyse saw this, she decided that she wanted to feed the elephants too.

One of the women working there was nice enough to give us some pineapples to feed the elephants. It was crazy. The elephant ate the whole pineapple minus the top spiky part. I am glad Elyse got over her fear long enough to enjoy the elephants a little bit. ( I was unable to get pictures since Toby had the camera, but that's ok)

It sounded like Toby had a great time. He went on a 30 minute trek to an overlook.
View from the overlook.

The Elephant trek took less time then we thought so we asked our taxi driver for suggestions on what to do next. He suggested seeing the Big Buddha. It is on the top of a mountain and is going to be the biggest Buddha in Thailand.

We walked up the steps to the Buddha there were all of these bells hang from the trees. I am not sure, but my guess would be that they were some sort of prayer bells. Whenever the bells ring, a prayer would be said, like a prayer wheel, but that's just a guess.

Here is the Big Buddha. It is covered in white marble and it really is big. It's fingernail is about the size of Elyse.

An interesting sign:

My attempt at being artsy

After the Big Buddha, we went out to lunch. Our driver stopped at a place just passed Patong Beach. We had a great view.

Elyse enjoying MY fresh coconut drink.

The afternoon consisted of naps, swimming and dining on the beach.