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Published: February 27th 2016
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Friday 26 February
We read that shopping is good at Patong beach, popular western resort of Phuket. We decide to flag a Tuk Tuk for 400 Baht, (£8), takes thirty minutes, over Challenging Phuket Hilll, very pleasant ride,which we thoroughly enjoy. On arrival, not nearly as much shopping potential as we thought and the beach, although long, was nothing compared with the Islands, so, shopped out after an hour we decide to return to Phuket Town, again agree upon Tuk Tuk as best option. Big mistake! We have to tell Boss man where and how much , He wants 100 more, we say no way so, after three drivers decline our fare, he procures the last Tuk Tuk driver in the lane, who again tries to ask more - Leo said no way, so he then tries to get other passengers to join us to increase his fare (bearing in mind that we two take about 70% of the available space in the cab. Eventually we start the journey. Our Tuk Tuk looks like a swimming pool inside as the floor and lower sides are covered in closely, fitting, vivid, blue, vinyl pool liner and the cab wall is fitted
with about a dozen different sized music speakers. Our driver may have been miffed at the agreed low fare, as he accidentally (on purpose, turns them on at full volume). When we recover and get back in our seats Paula lets him know, not funny. We return at speeds nearing suicidal, as this fails to gain a reaction the B starts to brake erratically, Paula thinks may be we should just get out but Leo is reluctant to leave in the middle of nowhere so we decide to act nonchalant, agreeing that one more incident and Leo or Paula will thump the idiot and leave. (Paula really wants to land the first thump) Arriving at the out skirts of Phuket Town the driver gets out at a red light and invites us to leave. We strenuously decline and point out we are still several kilometres from our hotel and bloody well get us there. He gets back in and drives sensibly for a while then nearing the Old Town he turns on the music, which he proceeds to turn up in degrees, Leo reaches out of the back and wallops the side of the drivers seat hard and tells the
driver to Shut up. Peace temporarily restored, we arrive at the start of our street , getting out fast. Driver tries to go without 100 Baht change, but Leo demands it back. We turn around and who do we see, the Thai super stars who had been filming in Raili beach two days earlier, yes accompanied by many hangers on and film crews trucks and attendants they had followed us to Phuket. We are not into being stalked so we refused photographs and signatures and left rapidly.After a shower and recovering from the Tuk Tuk Paula decides on a 7 km walk to the coast near the ferry point, bearing in mind we had not eaten since breakfast. As pleasant as the walk was, and witnessing families and couples catching the late afternoon breeze, picnicking and gossiping, we were weary and prayed for a Tuk Tuk to come beeping around the corner. Any corner, in fact. A few hot minutes later we passed a stationary air conned taxi and negotiated a cheap and speedy return to Old Phuket Town, Rommanee district, where we dined on delicious chicken satay, steamed rice, and yep, more platefuls of Morning Glory, with stir-fried chicken
and bacon . Few evening photos of the delightful streets and houses that make his district special,then cocktails before bedtime.
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