The reason we are lucky to have the Hopkins crew for a second year in a row (or one of the reasons), is it is a year of big birthday celebrations. First, Jake turned 21, next week Frankie turns 18 and in October Jen will be 50th. I have tried to organise a vacation worthy of these three big events and ended it last night with the 'surprise birthday' event.
The day started with a drive down South of the island to see the big Buddha.
We had a glorious stop here for a juice and to see the view. I have to say that driving up to the Big Buddha was horrid and showed how crucial the Elephant Sanctuary is for the island. The amount of elephants (three baby ones included) we saw chained up with no room to move in the hot sun made me want to cry. And the amount of tourists stopping to pay to have pictures with these poor creatures or ride the older ones looking terribly sad and broken was enraging. It took all my energy not to stop and lecture.
We made a few more stops before finally landing at our final destination, a villa in Nai Harn (most Southern beach). The Hopkins excitement when we arrived just made it the best night ever.
We had a great Thai meal prepared by our own private chef and a great evening of games and laughter. What a wonderful way to end another holiday!
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