Our little side trip to the island of Phang Nga, an hour's drive north from Phuket Airport ended yesterday, sadly, but it was a relaxing, extremely lazy and most importantly removed from the bustle kind of holiday that we all needed. Our little resort was nestled on the hillside just above Khao Lak beach. Being on hilltop meant a beautiful view of the beach, the ocean but that also meant we really had to work those leg muscles, climbing up and down the stairs to the beach, to the restaurant …. to anywhere! Ha ha. Sera got excited when she saw so many stairs but as the days went by, she too, dreaded the stairs. She'd turned to Johan with outstretched arms and pleaded 'Hug', meaning she wanted to be carried.
We spent our mornings at the beach, parked our belongings behind this huge boulder that also gave us ample shade from the sun. We don't know what happened but Sera didn't mean the sand or the salty water at all? I remember her first encounter with sand in Doha was met with extreme unhappiness at her feet and hands being 'dirtied' with sand. This time round, Sera was clearly the happiest person on the beach. She practically rolled her naked self in the sand, swam happily in the seawater and chased after the little crabs on the beach.
Our meals were, needless to say, excellent. We indulged ourselves in the local Thai fare. I mean, nothing beats authentic Thai food. We would take a local taxi into town and have our dinners at one of the many restaurants that lined the main road. Sera enjoyed mingling with the locals – both adults and the children, and as usual, collected sweets and chocolates along the way.
It was the perfect getaway for us … and we highly recommend it! Many photos of our trip below ...
On the plane to Phuket - it was tricky trying to strap Sera with the seat belt during take off and landing. Pasting price tags unto Johan's face entertained and distracted her for a little while
First day, Sera tackled the many stairs enthusiastically ... 
Relaxing on the balcony
The first of many happy moments on the beach ... 
Taking a dip together. Sera loved the water, despite it's saltiness. She floated very well, courtesy of her arm bands and the salt water
Watching Johan and Sera play together was my favourite past-time this holiday
Getting water from the sea ... and pouring it out before she reached us and then going back again to fill it up again ... typical kids game, I guess.
Snacking on local banana in between play
Trying to build a sandcastle ... 
Unsuccessful, so we decided it was more fun to just bury Johan with the sand
Milk time for Sera
Lunchtime ... yummy ... 
Johan and Sera concentrating on their sand play
In case you're wondering, Johan is digging a hole
Both papa and daughter working hard to dig a hole
And Sera has the honours of jumping in ... 
Sera playing with the waves that came up the shore
She discovered the little crabs on the beach ... she got so excited!
Chasing the poor crabs
Breakfast ... helping herself to mini potato patties and to very sweet watermelon
Her encounter with a chameleon
Our last day but that didn't stop Johan and Sera from going to the beach in the morning. I took this photo from our balcony, way up on the hill, but I could tell they were looking for crabs
Sadly, our holiday came to an end ...
Ok, this meal seriously tastes better than it looks. It's actually lasagne with spinach-tomato sauce, mushrooms and asparagus
She ate everything ... except the asparagus
Sera, on her first morning back to school. As you can tell, it was a wet, cold and pretty dreary morning but she was visibly excited about going to school 
And one more pose before we set off to school
