Chiang-MaiThai: Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. ~Theodore Geisel

Phuket Fantasea

Fantasea. The main entrance

Where everyone gets a traditional welcome

Nothing causes shutters to click like the Koi pond at the entrance, where a writhing mass of orange, yellow, and white fish battle for food and an even larger writhing mass of tourists jockey for a good photo position.

At the Koi pond near the entrance

Performers roam the streets of Fantasea and are happy to pose for a photo

There’s no shortage of ways to pass the time before the show starts. Jump aboard an elephant for a trip around the Songbird Luminarie. Head to Similan Adventure Center, a sea-themed arcade full of games. Watch the bartender spin, flip, and toss bottles while dancing a techno-jig at the open-air bar. Shop for that perfect memento; there’s a store (or stall) for every taste and budget.

Russell tries his hand at the pistol shooting gallery

And, wins a prize for Lidy

Outside the Palace of the Elephants, We are given a lift Thai style

The Golden Kinnaree Restaurant

The 4,000 seat Golden Kinnaree Restaurant is described as the largest buffet restaurant in the world. The building is of a classical Thai design and is situated in the middle of a pond filled with lotus flowers and teeming with fish, it is a very beautiful sight.

The entrance to the Golden Kinnaree Restaurant

The buffet dinner includes international and Thai dishes, something for everyone’s taste serving a mix of Thai and international food, while a selection of feature dishes gets their own kiosks at the front of the room.

Inside the Golden Kinnaree Restaurant

Lidy enjoys a Pina' before dinner

Russell samples the Fantasea Mai Tai

Are you sure you want another Mai Tai?

The Palace of the Elephants, where the show is performed

The Palace of the Elephants is a huge theatre which is capable of seating 3,000 people. It is rigged for illusion and can accommodate a cast of hundreds on stage with elephants and all manner of trained animals.

Lidy hopes for a dose of good luck beneath an elephant statue

After dinner and time to look around, it is time to enter the Palace of the Elephants. This is not as straight forward as you might think. Cameras aren’t allowed inside, and they take it very seriously with tighter security than at most airports. Video cameras, digital cameras, camera phones and anything short of a pen and paper that can create an image must be checked in. The process is quick and almost painless, and two minutes later you enter a large hall full of costumed staff, baby elephants, and young tigers, all of which will pose for a photograph with you for a price.

The audience entrance in the Palace of the Elephants - No cameras at Kamala!

Sukhothai-era facade of the Palace of the Elephants

Fronted by a glorious reconstruction of a Sukhothai-era stone palace and guarded by intriguing elephant statues, the theatre puts on a spell-binding show combining culture and illusion that is almost beyond belief.

The stage is huge, but the performance space is even bigger. Aisles, ceiling, audience – every part of the theatre is used. While the eye is treated to modern effects like smoke, explosions, lasers, rain, soaring performers, the show gives an insight into Thai culture in the form of traditional dances from different regions of the country, shadow puppets, and a fascinating wardrobe. It’s not tough to believe elephants can become accomplished actors, but this show also employs goats, roosters, water buffalo, and doves in supporting roles.

The show ended, Lidy relaxes while waiting for our car

All too soon, the show is over and we are left wondering about the storyline with it's amazing costumes, dance scenes and trained animals. Perhaps to dream of Kamala, until next we visit.