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Published: January 10th 2006
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A day at the beach
Kata Beach on Phuket It's Tuesday afternoon and after spending a few hours in the sun, I better hide in doors for a bit. My white bod would not be happy with a sun overdose on the first full day on the island. Perfect time to give an update.
Yesterday morning I flew out of Bangkok to arrive in Phuket, the largest island in Thailand (and also the most touristed). The domestic terminal in Bangkok is fairly easy to navigate but that didn't mean I didn't leave really early to account for any obstacles along my way - the first of which was the hour of traffic in Bangkok during rush hour. I had been warned that the ticket counter for Air Asia opens 2 hours prior to departure and if you don't arrive at least 45 minutes prior to departure, you supposedly don't make the flight! So I was standing in that line 2 hours before the flight.
The second obstacle came when I reached the front of the ticket counter. Air Asia has major restrictions on the size & weight of carry-ons. My backpack didn't even come close to passing. So back out I had to go to the security screening
Kata Village
A picture of one of the main streets of Kata Village, near Kata Beach. to have my backpack x-rayed. One thing I like about my backpack though is that a section of it separates from the main part and can be used as a backpack on it's own. That's where my valuables go so I can just zip it off and bring it with me in case I have to check the rest of it. That's what I did in this situation.
Another thing about Air Asia is that they do not give seat assignments. It's first come, first serve. So a line forms early at the gate but it literally took only 10 minutes to get everyone on board and leave the gate.
Ok, enough about my flight already, my $20 flight I might add. 😊 Once I arrived in Phuket, I grabbed a taxi ($15 - almost as much as my flight!) to get to Kata Beach which is about an hour from the airport. The first thing that struck me about Phuket was how different it looked from Koh Samui, the island in Thailand I went to last year. Koh Samui was filled with palm trees. Phuket is much more diverse in its vegetation. The second thing that struck
Fantasy Hill Bungalow
A picture of the building that I'm staying in. me about Phuket is how big it is. Yes, it took an hour to get from the airport to Kata Beach, and there are beaches that are even farther away.
My hotel in Kata Beach is called Fantasy Hill Bungalows. The beachfront hotels in this area (and probably all areas) of Phuket are expensive. Thus, I'm on the hill. However, it's only a 5 minute walk to either Kata Beach or Karon Beach.
I checked in and then just wandered around for a couple of hours to see what was around. Kata is pretty spread out. Now, normally walking around for a couple of hours is fine, but this isn't normal. It's hot out here! I have a water bottle in my hand almost constantly and I still feel like I'm totally dehydrated (and yes, I'm drinking from that water bottle, not just carrying it!). 80's and humid, all day, every day. It's the tropics.
The layout of Fantasy Hill Bungalow isn't as conducive for meeting people. But, I do have my own bathroom, hot water, and a TV (all of which I didn't have in Bangkok). The tourists in this town are a lot different than
Khao San Road too. Not as many backpackers and most of the foreigners are German or Scandinavian. Seen quite a few families around too. I haven't met many people that have English as their first language, which makes hanging out and communicating a bit more challenging. As an example, I had breakfast with this lady from Vienna, Austria this morning. I don't know how long it has been since she's had a full conversation in English but she actually did pretty well. You got to give these Europeans credit for knowing English at all. I know a bit of Spanish but Americans aren't known generally for speaking a 2nd language fluently.
I did play a little volleyball at the beach today. One of the guys was a decent player(Austrailian). But it's a whole new deal playing volleyball in this weather. After 3 games, I was done and jumping in the ocean. Then again, jumping into this warm, clear water is a pleasure. Great sand too.
As for my schedule, I'm staying here until Friday. I'll probably do a little day trip to Phang Nga to see James Bond island and a few other sites in the area. It's only $20 or something for a full day package deal. I will get to Phi Phi island at some point too but maybe not until after I do my diving certification course in Khao Lak. The course starts Friday.
That's it for now! Look, there goes Dave!
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Rob
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Love the updates
Hey Dave, Keep 'em coming. We love following along and (for me anyway) wishing I was there! Take care, Rob.