Cats, Sunrises and Pools (March 22, 2026)
This time in Phuket was different from our time here back in November 2025. It started with discovering the Rawai pier and the epic sunrises that paint the sky pink a full 30 minutes before the sun shows up.
Elena holding today’s sunrise in her fingers
Every morning is different in that the clouds range from tiny, almost non-existent to huge sweeping painting-like bright red refracted things (and everything in between). Watching the sunrise means getting up between 5:15 and 5:30am to walk just under a mile to the pier for the “pre-show” which begins at 6am and concludes at 6:30am when the sun shows up for the dramatic finale.
I’ve taken more pictures of these sunrises than I care to admit. I see amature photographers (and semi-professionals) setting up their gear here nearly every morning as they practice their ability to catch the light just right on their high-end DSLR cameras.
We also see lots of joggers and walking groups who enjoy going back and forth on the pier while the sun rises. I completely appreciate the appeal and have fallen into a similar routine since I’ve been here. This morning, however, there was a mini-marathon event happening. I totally missed it as I didn’t know it would be happening while we were here. In truth, I didn’t check and that’s on me.
Cat petting has become part of our morning ritual here in Phuket
On our way back, we stop at the local petting spot where all the local cats gather in the early morning hours. There’s always at least two who somewhat “live” in this spot and this morning there were four (pictured above with Elena). The most we’ve come across is 6 when the neighborhood cats join in the fun.
This cat, like the ones in video games, wants to assign us a quest ;-)
So yes, there’s an official cat cafe (see related post), and there is also a ton of street cats who are happy for your affection. And this isn’t the only spot. Last night, Will and I went out to pick up pizza for the family and found a number of cats nearby seeking affection.
Will (like me) enjoys a pause on our walk for much needed pets
Will and I also so a crocodile on our walk. This is a RARE find as most of them have been captured and placed in less tourist areas, but these sightings do happen. See for yourself:
Will and I spotted a crocodile here in Phuket — a very rare spotting
Will and I are lucky as we were walking on a back woods path, but not exactly down by the river right near the sea. We spotted this crocodile from a safe distance on the bridge crossing the river. It would have been much worse seeing the crocodile here:
This was the forrest path Will and I were hiking on last night
And, when were not watching sunrises or petting cats, we’ve been spending a lot of time in the pool that’s part of the AirBnb we’re renting while here in Phuket. In the morning and evening, the pool is covered in shade. This means we don’t have to wear sunscreen. Yay!
Today we’ll do our laundry and pack up, as tomorrow we check out and fly to Hanoi, Vietnam. Our adventure continues!
