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Published: April 9th 2009
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A Short Flight And It's Country Number 2...
We arrived in Phuket after about 2 hours in the air to walk out of the airport and get our first taste of Thailand. Boy was it sour!!! We fought our way through the taxi drivers shouting at us "where you go?" or "you need taxi?", just to clear our head and have a smoke. With Amy having a coronary, I took on the role of barterer and organised a taxi. All I can say about the driving over here is
HECTIC!!! Lanes are a guide only.... the centre of the road is either a slip road to turn or an overtaking lane.... if there's 2 defined lanes marked at the traffic lights then you just make your own lane somewhere.....I think you indicate to go where your not supposed to (opposite side of the road, cross a solid line) but don't indicate if your changing lanes.... oh... and use your horn for everything from get out of my way to hello.
Madness!
Another drama finding the hostel at Kata Beach, but 2 phone calls and a guided tour later we arrived. It's amazing what money can buy in the way
of accomodation in Phuket. For $23 AU per night, it's the lap of luxury!!
Now Phuket can be taken 2 ways.... you can see the beaches, the culture and the bargains, or you can see the sleazy old men, the go-go bars and the constant harassment by the shops. Once you get use to shaking your head or just plain ignoring people it becomes a lot easier though.
The first night was basically find a decent street vendor ($2.50 Pad Thai....mmmm), have a drink and nosey around to get our bearings all while dodging the rain that started at 4pm. Day 2 was another relaxing day filled with booking things and shopping before heading to Patong (the main tourist area) for some drinks and then fighting the rain that started at 4pm up to FantaSea, Thailand's number 1 attraction. Think ballet or opera (in the context that you have to derive what's going on from scenes on stage), crossed with Cirque du Solei, crossed with an animal farm with elephants, tigers and all manner of creature, crossed with the Skyshow. All up an enjoyable show but always in the back of my mind was "did these animals get
trained humanely?"
Day 3 and we were on the go to see the beaches Phuket had to offer. Karon Beach (between us and Patong) offered some respite after breakfast, with cold beers and warm sand. A massage was in order and $10 provided a glorious hour of indulgence. Next was Patong beach with more cold beers and sellers showcasing their wares every 5 minutes. We had managed to book in to a Thai Cooking Class at
Pum's Restaurant at 4pm where,covered from the 4pm rain, we were not just taught to cook a selection of dishes, we were taught all the ingrediants in Thai cooking from Pum herself (who owns 4 restaurants in total, 2 in Thailand and 2 in France), and received a cookbook at the end. That's where the saying "same same but different" comes from.... Thai cooking uses the same ingrediants for nearly every dish but in a different way. To top it all off, we then sat down to a feast of our own creation and savoured every last bit!!!
A short tuk-tuk ride south took us to
Simon's Cabaret, where the girls that perform are "more of a man than you will ever
be and even more of a woman". From Tina Turner impersonaters and the Dream Girls, to Chinese traditional songs and everything inbetween, Amy and myself left very confused, sure that there were at least a few women in the cast (and assured that there were but that they only recently became women).
Scary if they're that convincing!!!! I'll leave off there for now as tomorrow it's off to Koh Phi Phi and the islands for some... you guessed it.... beaches and beer with some snorkling thrown in for good measure.
The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see. ~G.K. Chesterton
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Elaine
non-member comment
Phuket
Glad to see u made it ok to Phuket and got to do the asian cooking. Hope u remember it for when u get home. I believe u are heading for Bangkok tomorrow. Look forward to reading about your experiences