Seedy chic

Bangla Road at Night 1 - Phuket, Thailand
Bangla Road at Night (2) - Phuket, Thailand
Giving a monkey some coca cola in Monkey Island, Thailand
Sunset on Kata Beach - Phuket, Thailand We're back in Thailand, which is cool - Thailand is a lot of fun. We decided to make some alterations to our itinerary as we were getting burned out from all the cultural sightseeing and needed some R&R - this is a bit of a vacation after all. So, we've cut out going to Kuching in Malaysia (they also have a bit of a leach issue if you go hiking) and Indonesia all together because it would take a long time to get there and back.

Getting back to Thailand was half the fun. We decided to engage in our first overland border crossing, taking a minibus to the border. The crossing was actually not as chaotic as we had imagined - it just involved a lot of stops through a mile-long strip as we went through passport control and customs. However, we had a bus stop in Hat Yin where we changed busses, got some additional passengers, and the bus driver for the new bus was crazy. We spent the next 6 hours throttling at the bus's highest speed, weaving in and out of motos and other cars which were going the posted speed limit, and seemingly hitting every speedbump and pothole on the road which at the that speed sent us flying in the air every few minutes. The driver seemed to be conducting some sort of "courier" service as he made several stops to pick up or drop off packages - interesting right?

But we finally made it to Phuket, one of Thailand's best known beach destinations. Phuket also has a bit of a reputation for having one of the highest per capita rates of "women of the night", and the reputation we've discovered is well earned. After the sun goes down, they're seriously everywhere - restaurants, bars, the streets - everywhere! They're unavoidable if you want to leave the hotel and walk around. It's not as bad as one would think however. Although they're a bit grabby and surprisingly strong when they try to drag you into a bar, they're actually pretty fun to talk to and I've been learning some Thai through those conversations. We just make sure to relocate when one thinks that they've got a potential customer in us. It also helps to be snappy with a comment if one gets too forward. For example, after a massive pinch to my rump (a common occurrence for men in Phuket after nightfall), I turned around and very seriously told the perpetrator that that pinch just cost her 100 Baht. She got a concerned look and started shuffling through her purse for some bills.

Much more annoying are the tuk tuk and taxi drivers who continuoslly yell at you and try to get in your way so that you'll take a cab ride. They don't seem to understand that if you're walking, and don't approach them, you probably don't need a cab! People will also jump out from the stores that line the streets and try to grab you to drag you in to buy some of their merchandise. They seem to do it indiscriminately to everyone as I don't believe I look like the type that would buy a lady's handbag or bikini, but it's been offered numerous times. When you ignore them, they actually get pretty mad and keep on yelling at you to come in their store as you walk away.

Still, even with these minor annoyances, Phuket is a lot of fun. The Thais are charming, the beaches are absolutely beautiful with white sand and warm water, and there is so much going on at night that it really feels like a carnival from sundown to sunrise(although it's a bit shocking when you look over your shoulder and some guy is trying to put a 2-foot iguana on it). The best comparison to walking here at night is the Reeperbahn in Hamburg, Germany - crazy all the time. Probably the biggest surprise though is again, the 4 to 1 ratio between working girls and regular tourists. Finding a club or bar that is mostly touristy can actually be a challenge. Even in the discos which the tourists go to, Western men seem to be a magnet for the many Thai girls who are interested in a bit more than just a "relationship". Still, it's nice to go to a place where you are seriously the center of attention the moment you walk in - until you realize why... This is a site that's very popular with Austrailians and I think that we may be some of the only American's here, so I guess that makes us exotic. The Aussie's we've met are pretty fun, and a lot of them stay for several days.

Another fun thing about Thailand is the abundance of energy drinks. If I recall correctly, Red Bull was actually invented here. For those Madisonians that know of my penchant for Red Bull, I've started the Energy Drink Challenge with Jason, and hopefully, we'll be able to try each odd concoction that Thailand has to offer before our time here is up. I've put up some pics of the drinks we've tried so far.

Most of our days are spent on the beach, snorkelling, boogie boarding, getting some great tans and just enjoying the water. We've been to a couple of the other beaches on the island - Kata and Lamp Sing, and each one has something different to offer. We had to hike downhill a fair ways to get to the Lamp Sing Beach but it was worth it for the huge waves. We also took a speedboat tour of Phi Phi island, where the movie The Beach was filmed, and Monkey islands, where Macaque monkeys take food from tourists. Check out the video of the monkey trying coke that I posted. Speaking of videos, Youtube is banned in Thailand so I'll be using the Travelblog video uploader for the next few posts - we'll see how that works out.

I got to celebrate my birthday here in Phuket the other day. Man I'm getting old... It was a good time: Jason and I got an amazing lobster dinner (see pictures below) and then danced the night away at a few of the discos here. Interesting fact - the Numa Numa song is still huge here.

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