The second part of the trip was in the company of Carol & Chris who had been holidaying on the western side of the mainland. We met up at an elephant sanctuary...
one word - awesome!
We got to wash & feed the elephants. The washing involved a hard scrub with coconut husks, lots of water, mud and hilarity.
Each elephant has its own mahout who were constantly on hand to make sure no one walked where they shouldn’t or otherwise put themselves in a position of getting accidentally injured. Even a swinging tail can pack a punch.
We chopped up food at an open air pavilion that had big steel bars... it turned out the bars were to stop elephants, over excited at getting pineapple for afternoon tea, from tramping us in the rush. 
I loved those elephants, ours was called Numpta, and she was an absolute sweetie.
Her mahout had taught her to say thank you on command which sounded a bit like a dog barking, quite bizarre.

It's somewhat ironic that you spent the least time on the very thing you want to spend the most time on. And that is be with the elephants. But it's all about generating eco tourism funds while caring for the animals and at the same time avoiding tourist fatigue. These  animals have all been rescued from tourist outfits and logging camps.

We spent 4 days and 3 nights at the elephant camp. Each day was filled with activity,  kayaking (well actually we just sat and someone else did the work), speed boating, cruising through a mangrove swamp, a jungle trek (that I couldn't do) and visiting the rain forest camp on a lake/dam. You can stay at the rain forest camp which is a series of tents floating on the dam, each complete with it's own shower/toilet, kayaks & deck chairs.  
All are joined at the back by a jetty.  It was rather surreal to be swimming in a dam over 70 metres deep, in water as warm as a bath.  It took 5 years to fill it apparently.

The rainy season was just beginning and we had several downpours each day.  While the camp was great; the tents beautifully kitted out, endless hot water and wonderful food, everything felt a bit damp.  Your clothes didn’t dry after being soaked during the day and even the bed felt slightly damp.  So an earlier time of year is recommended.

On the way down to Phuket we stopped at Phang Nga Bay. Unfortunately it was a very windy day which meant all the tourist boats congregated in the same areas to avoid the wind.  We kayaked (again with someone else doing the work) and as you can see below were required to lie flat to be able to access some of the caves. I found that rather claustrophobic & sitting in the kayak hurt my back so I stayed on the boat for the next 2 kayaks.  We were given a light lunch but the on board dinner was amazing both in volume & variety especially given the limited kitchen facilities.

Our next major stop was south Phuket at a child free resort. Oh yeah, that’s the way to go, if you can.  We ate, we drank, we relaxed in loungers by the pool as an anecdote to the activity filled days at the elephant camp.
Carol & I succumbed to the lure of a fish spa & stuck our feet into big fish tanks positioned on the pavement to capture tourist traffic.  It was not a big success.
It tickled and I am ticklish.  Shrieks of laughter do not work well with tiny little fish that are easily spooked.  End of story.

And then it was on to Singapore for some retail therapy. The only trouble was I had no interest in shopping (strange but true), no energy (explained further on) and my inability to walk any distance was a problem. Thank goodness taxis are dirt cheap in Singapore.   On arrival were told that we'd had our rooms upgraded. Ok, thank you, that's nice.  But on entry to the room I'm thinking cripes the other room must have been a dive. So at a suitable opportunity the question about the upgrade was ventured... turns out the rooms were the same size… the upgrade was having the view. Oh. Okay. 
Yes it IS a great view you can't argue with that.

We visited the Gardens by the Bay complex.  An amazing project that Singapore is justifiably proud of.  The Flower Dome has gardens with different themes and the most fantastic carved sculptures. The Cloud Forest dome features a 35m high rain forest mountain complete with waterfall.  I had to swallow my pride and take a wheelchair otherwise there was no way I would have been able to see even a quarter of the complex. It was a very interesting experience to suddenly become invisible. People barged into whoever was pushing me, frequently pushed in front of me & blocking my limited view, so I gained a very real appreciation how tough it can be for the mobility challenged.
You have probably heard about the super trees. They are spectacular. Each is coated with live plants sort of like a hanging garden. They generate solar energy and collect rain water to help with the maintenance of the gardens.  Every evening there is a laser light show.

One evening a storm started as we walked down the beach to dinner. It was quite magical sitting outside under a huge tree right at the edge of the beach watching the lightening across the bay. It didn’t actually rain - just spat.  I got the camera out when we got back but by the time I was organised the lightening had moved off over the horizon. Typical.
Being there for 10 days I got to know the village rhythms and the 3 dogs that frequented the beach. One was clearly owned with a collar and a bell; another belonged to the people who ran the dive school and every day he would wade out to the boat in the hope that someone would take pity and allow him to go as well. The third was a puppy approx 8 months old. Well socialised, friendly and surprisingly obedient considering I didn't know the Thai word for "no".  She was obviously fed but not homed as such.  "Puppy" kept me company for a bit on most days.  I was very careful knowing puppies tend to 'mouth', but one day I was walking along the beach  with her jumping around grinning beside me and she collided with my arm. Her sharp teeth scratched deeply enough to draw quite a bit of blood. Oh hell. I had been vaccinated for rabies but I also knew that I would now need a booster shot. The village didn't rate a Doctor or nurse but we were going to Thong Sala in 2 days time so I'd sort it then.  Long drama short; I got dropped off at a hospital and 15 min later was sorted. Yeah try doing that at a Kiwi ED unit. 

The yoga group went on a couple of day trips to other beaches / properties with yoga facilities. 
Both were fabulous but completely different. The Sanctuary was a 40 min boat ride from our village. It had a restaurant full of healthy offerings, various types of accommodation and 4 yoga shalas. The place was crawling with lithe, young, trendy/bendy types plus a much smaller quota of older yogi, hippy type men.  You could also make the short sharp climb over the ridge to the next beach. Totally beyond my capabilities but I was reliably informed that it was the party beach and everyone was stoned out of their trees.  This tiny bay was fabulous to swim in & had a pontoon with a hammock that we enjoyed swimming out to.

The other big day trip ended at a resort on the western side of Koh Phangan and was sited on the side of the hill above a cliff. It had fairly steep access but once you were at the reception level it was manageable.  It  was way too hot for everyone to do yoga in the sun so they all jumped in the pool and did their afternoon yoga session in the water amid great hilarity.  At the top was reception, restaurant and the pool. As you descended through the complex the next level was the accommodation, keep going and you came to the bar/party area with another restaurant.  I loved this place, it was such a surprise… all normal resort type arrangement up the top and at the bottom it was all "Pirates of the Caribbean".  You came out onto a rope gangway to a bar area at the top of a cliff. You could jump off or climb down steps to the sea.  There were driftwood trees holding lanterns and loads hammocks to chill out in and also swings and climbing ropes. I don't mean swings for kids - these were for adults. By this time the rain was looming but it was still waaay hot.

It felt strange to leave after being here for so long. We spent a night on Koh Samui in luxury and then caught a ferry to the mainland to meet up with my sister & her partner.