Deb has worked really hard for another year with her Stampin Up! business and has earned another holiday of which I am really lucky to join her as her +1.  Or as I tell everyone – the handbag. These are always amazing holidays and this year is no exception as we find ourselves at the Angsana Laguna Resort in Phuket Thailand.
So what has the handbag got up to so far…

Sunday – we arrived in Phuket on Sunday morning after about 12 hours in the air (about 18 hours total time).  An overnight flight to Singapore offers a great opportunity to sleep and arrive as fresh as a daisy. Well it would if I could sleep on a plane.! Instead I arrived shattered with very little sleep since the day before, wandering around like a zombie lost from a movie set.  Offering conversations that may or may not have resembled English. So Sunday was spent scoping out the resort and chilling, and stumbling into bed not long after we watched the sun disappear over the ocean from our balcony.

Monday – with the majority of the worldwide leaders in one place the Stampin Up! team provided a bit of an update on the company and a pre-launch peek at the next catalogue including give away goodies.  Lots of excited people in the tent.  Yes tent – but it was a big tent with approx 750 people there!
As with all these trips there are a range of side activities that you can organise. This afternoon it was a shopping trip into town. As one of my daughters and mother-in-law joined us for this trip I gave up my spot.  So my son-in-law and I got stuck back at the resort, swimming and enjoying a drink at the pool bar and hanging out with other friends from around the world that I have made from previous trips. So we took one for the team.

Tuesday – today’s excursion was to Phi Phi islands (pronounced Pee Pee islands) which was an hours speed boat trip. These were pretty cool boats with three 250hp motors propelling us to over 35 knots (60 – 70km/h). Over the course of the day we visited three of the islands.

The first island was crazy busy with speed boats jostling for positions to let their passengers off so they could briefly experience the smooth sand and warm clear water of the island.  It would be an amazing place to have to yourself, but with over 4,000 visiting a day in low season there was boats and people everywhere.! I couldn’t imagine what it would be like in high season with over twice that number.

It does make you wonder about the sustainability with so many people visiting everyday. Talking to our guide and some islands are closed for periods of the year to allow regeneration.

At the second island we floated around snorkelling and then enjoyed a nice buffet lunch on the island.  With so many boats around there were anchor ropes everywhere. Unfortunately Lyn got tangled up in one and took some skin off shin which certainly put a damper on the day.

​

​

The third island we visited was Bamboo Island which was not as busy and gave us a chance to sit on the beach and/or swim for awhile.

From here we raced back in our 750hp speed boats powering through the one meter swell.  That completes our first couple of days in Phuket. The next few days won’t be much quieter, so we’ll be looking forward to a few quiet days.