Big Buddha, Big Buddha, Big Buddha - Phuket, Thailand

So, one of our favorite people we met in Thailand was our taxi driver, Pong (and he might have told us it is easy to remember his name because all we needed to think of was ping pong). He picked us up from the ferry terminal and drove us to our hotel in Karon. He used to be a Thai Boxer but retired after too many head injuries (and he has plenty of scars to prove it). We hired him to take us around the next morning for a couple of hours.

We went to the top of the hill to see "Big Buddha". It's supposedly the largest Buddha in Thailand. After that we headed down the hill to ride an elephant. Sara and I have ridden elephants before but this definitely surpassed our ride in India. Matt and Sara shared an elephant and I got my own (btw her name was Sara too--must have been fate). They are very cool animals. Their skin is tough and they have a little hair on their heads. We started out on a metal seat but halfway through the ride they let us sit on the elephant and ride for a little. They rock a lot when they walk so I held onto the metal seat for dear life. I did manage to take a few "hands free pictures". After our ride we jumped into the car and headed to the airport to fly to Cambodia. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in beautiful Thailand. You better believe we will be returning in the future!