Last Day in Phuket

Asia
October 25th 2008

Published: October 25th 2008

Day ??? - I think it’s irrelevant by now but its Monsoon Saturday for me!

I’m sitting here inside my room with the sliding doors wide open and I’m listening to the rain which has been non-stop for hours. I woke up at 5 a.m. again because the downpour was so loud and my stupid cellphone kept vibrating on the nightstand next to me. So I was up before the Sun….again. But it was nice to hear the rainfall and the birds sing so early in the morning. The view from my room is very beautiful - though it doesn’t overlook the beach - I have this view of the mountain and the misty fog that sits on top of it every morning. The hillside is completely dark green and all I see are palm trees and a few houses scattered on the hillside. I love this resort because there are so many bougainvillea trees everywhere. I’m not talking vines….I mean trees. They’ve trained these vines to grow into trees and all I see are purple and red trees with their papery flowers drifting everywhere. They also have this nice big pond with lotus blossoms in it.

Yesterday was my last day with Mim. I was really sad to see her go but I know I’ve made a true friend and we had a great time yesterday. We went to the James Bond Island in the Phang Nga region which I believe is north of Phuket. This island was made popular by the Bond movie: Man with The Golden Gun. It really is small but very scenic and there are stalls of local vendors there selling their wares. I ended up buying Amy another pretty seashell… let’s hope I can bring this back to her! What is really pretty about this region is the limestone rocks that come up out of the water! You’re surrounded by them as pass you by. We started our voyage from a Muslim village where there was a very old pier that kinda (and I say “kinda” lightly) made me nervous! The steps were made of old wood and were very rickety as you walked on them. Then we got onto a longboat which is pretty cool and pretty damn loud! I learned that the motors they use on these badboys are old car engines. So they are very loud but the boat itself is strong and it was surreal motoring out onto the narrow channels to this famous Island. There were a few Muslim villages with houses on stilts right on the waterfront. I saw an iguana on one of the shores crawling along and probably looking for crabs to eat! We sailed towards our destination in the drizzly rain.

After a 30 minute stop at Bond Island, we headed for a floating boathouse where some of us would be kayaking for a short while. I sat it out because I wasn’t up to getting drenched even more in the rain, and Mim wasn’t up to it either! So we sat had coffee and chatted with a nice couple from Australia while we waited for our group to come back from their sea kayaking.

We later boated to a restaurant where we had lunch which was made up of rice, vegetables, chicken with garlic sauce, fried chicken…..and a very good chicken soup. It was really good. I walked around afterwards and got suckered into buying 2 strands of pearls and now that I’m sitting here looking at them, I wished I had bought more! They are so heavy and so pretty! I have pearls at home but these pearls are very heavy and they are just gorgeous to look at and touch! I paid about 20 dollars for both! What a find!

Our final stop was an Elephant camp where we watched a show and rode the elephants. I ended up feeding two of them, and they were so fun! Can you imagine feeding these beautiful creatures every day? You would have to invest in a forest to be able to sustain these “babies”! I laughed so hard as I was trying to keep up with their demanding trunks…..these 2 elephants were grabbing my bananas and just shoving them into their mouths! It was so fun to feed them…but I can only imagine how much food one of these needs a day and not to mention the amount of water they have to consume! I loved touching them though…..their trunks would sniff out my basket of bananas and the moment it would curl its trunk around a banana…it would quickly disappear into it’s mouth and her trunk would be searching for more! Priceless! You gotta feed the Elephants when in Thailand! Haha! I would come back just to see these Elephants again and again!  As a kid, I have always loved Elephants - but now I love them even more!
They are so smart and for being huge animals - they are also gentle.

I said my “goodbye” to Mim yesterday and I was really sad! I really enjoyed my time with her and I told her that we were “same same” in so many ways! She really made my time in Phuket memorable and the next time I come here….we’ll see more sights together because there’s so much more to see in this part of Thailand. Thanks again, Mim!

So today is Saturday and it’s my last day here in Patong Beach. It’s gloomy and the rain keeps falling. I got an email from my friend Sandra who I wasn’t able to meet up with last night. She’ll be staying in Phuket for another day and then she too heads back to California. Originally, she and I planned on going to Khai Island today to snorkel for half a day but the weather isn’t cooperating. I emailed her to say I would be staying in to read and update my blog. She also is staying in. Oh well!

My flight isn’t until 5:30 tonight so I have time to rest and catnap! I booked a room at the Pinnacles Lumphini in Bangkok which is near another famous night market. You know, I really have just realized that I really do love to shop! It’s like a freakin’ drug! Can I just stop? I kept telling myself that I was “doing good”….I wasn’t “going overboard with buying stuff”….but why is it that when tried repacking my luggage, I can barely get the zipper done? Holy cow! I’m now realizing that I need to buy another luggage tomorrow because I’m still not done buying stuff! I have never in all the years of vacationing had ever had to buy additional luggage just to get myself back home! But this vacation has done me in! Thailand is a shopper’s paradise! You can buy a ton of stuff you don’t really need! I’m talking beautiful silky things….wood cravings….purses…elephants and buddhas….did I say purses?...let’s not forget the wood bowls I collect or the cheap cosmetic products that cost and arm and leg in the U.S. Hello! Where can you buy beauty products that are costly back home for under $5 dollars? I need to stop.

I’m in trouble and I really should see a therapist about this!

So tomorrow my plan of attak is not another Temple or maybe the Grand Palace….oh no! I’m going to be super superficial and opt for the Chatuchak Market which is the weekend market near Chinatown! It is the Mother of all Markets! It is the Grand Dame! It’s the coveted Red Rose of all Markets and I am going! Yes, I am!
I plan to get up at 5 or 6…eat a good breakfast and down a ton of water….and make my way to this market. The heat will knock me on my arse - no doubt! But I’m going to do this! Bahts and map in hand…. I’m going to conquer this market if it’s the last thing I do in Bangkok!

So I stood on my balcony an hour ago watching this beautiful rainfall in Phuket. The birds chirping in the background and the misty hillside so close I can almost reach out and touch it….its beautiful there! It really is paradise whether its sunny or at the end of the monsoon season. Plumeria and jasmine blossoms scent the humid air and while I close my eyes to inhale this ….. I hear footsteps approaching. I open my eyes and in the far distance, I see someone running towards me. It’s a jogger and he’s coming closer and closer towards my balcony. Suddenly it hits me, he’s near 100 years old, probably European (because American men don’t do speedos), very hairy, and he’s wearing a tight black speedo! Not cute. Not cute at all.

And then it dawns on me that there will be some things in Phuket I will not be missing.

Till I clickety-clack again….Sawasdee!

Liza

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