World Adventure

Hi All,

Phuket

Arrived on boat from Ko Phi Phi and then caught a share taxi into Phuket town. The driver was getting very anxious as we didn't have a hotel and didn't care where we went as long as it was in the centre of town. We got off at the central market before he had a heart attack and then were instantly met by the annoying taxi and tuk tuk drivers wanting to take us somewhere. We declined and walked around finding Phuket backpackers and arranged a double room with air conditioning. Turned out to be quite a nice hostel even if the staff seemed to be on breaks quite frequently at the table outside our door. Location was excellent but still about 11km from Patong beach and it's ugly township.

I think we must have become institutionalised during our travels as some days we can happily sit or lay in a room without leaving. Perhaps it is just that it is our little piece of personal space in a foreign land. Well we didn't quite stay indoors all day but certainly did for the afternoon.

One of the taxi drivers took us  down the street to an unremarkable looking local thai food place. It was the type of place that westerners would bypass from first appearances but that would have been a mistake. We didn't see any other westerners in the place during our stay. Bad luck for them as the cook made one of the best chicken  pad thai dishes that we have found in Thailand. The price was ridiculously cheap at 45 baht each.

Next day.

We decided after breakfast that the best way to get around Phuket was on motor scooter despite the warnings that we had read. The hostel could arrange this but only after 9am as they were having breakfast. Strange. So we eventually got our old orange motor scooter and headed off. First challenge was finding the petrol station as the directions given by the staff were complex. One false start and I discovered that the directions should have been ' head to the traffic lights, turn left and follow along to the petrol station on the left had side'. Not so complex. The traffic was reasonably heavy with plenty of scooters going in all directions. Next move was to just clear the city area and get confident and a feel for the scooter. So off we headed with our vague tourist map to explore Phuket (should be Ko Phuket but the island is so big that people think of it as mainland). The road I chose took us towards Patong beach and up a steep hill. I discovered that the rear brakes didn't work well and was very aware that the use of front brakes on the scooter was dangerous with gravel on the roads. Bugger. Especially when the road down to Patong beach was just as steep....

Funny how 60km/h on a scooter feels like 100km/h in a car.

Vanessa and I headed off for a drive up the north coast getting lost along the way. We didn't stop at any beaches and found the ride quite boring. Still it was nice to be out on the road on the scooter with the wind in our faces and bugs hitting our sunglasses.

Gibbon Rehab centre. Vanessa was not sure whether we needed to get into a national park to visit the gibbon rehabilitation centre but it turned out that it was so. It cost us 200 baht each and the centre was not very good and filled, understandably, with caged gibbons who had either been released into the forest and returned too many times or those who through previous treatment or injuries would never be released. Well they certainly loved to swing around their cages on their trapezes and were very active. It was sad to see them caged and not swinging around free in the forest. We were considering volunteer work at the rehabilitation centre but it just didn't feel right.

We went for a walk along a path towards a dry waterfall but there was no way we would find any wildlife or tranquillity at local people were enjoying the area as if it were their homes. They were bathing and washing in the stream water, eating food and throwing their rubbish on the ground,. smoking and making lots of noise. There were pets running around as well. We gave up and returned to the scooter to find it parked in. We felt cheated having paid the entrace fee to a national park in which the rules were not applied; the locals paid nothing to enter.They need education to understand the reason for the park, a sanctuary in suburbia, and the reason that Gibbons, and other monkeys, should not pets.

We headed off exploring some more on the north east coast and found a 7-11 store with a working slurpie machine on the way. It was a cooling break sitting outside on a milk crate in the shade, not far from a local mosque, just enjoying our drinks and watching the local people go past.

Dinner at the usual local food place.

Next day.

Changed motor scooters and got a brand new white and green one. Couldn't start it as it was very low on petrol. One of the moto taxi riders got it going by shaking it back and forth to get the fuel to the motor. We just had enough fuel to get to the petrol station. Poor form motor scooter rental company. It is the strangest system where the scooters are rented empty rather than full and we have encountered it almost every time we have rented a scooter.

The new scooter had very good pickup and Vanessa had to hang on tight and the brake worked well. The pick up is very important at the traffic lights. Imagine a motor bike racing start and you have it. The motor scooters fill the available space at the stop light and stand side by side and then fill up the gaps behind. If the gaps are not filled the scooter riders just ride past to the front! The stop lights count down the seconds before the green light and a couple of seconds before the motor scooters start revving and take off before the cars have had a chance to register the form a single file on the edge of the road before the cars catch up. Works quite well but no place for the inexperienced rider.

Back to Patong beach to find some Vegemite. Found that a medium bottle would cost us AUD$20!!!! You have got to be joking. Declined. Went to a large shopping centre for some supplies and grabbed some good healthy western lunch from the supermarket. A couple of slices of pizza followed by a 6 pack of sugar coated donuts. Needless to say we were feeling sick after finishing the 'meal' on the way to the scooter.

Went to the beach and watched surfing pretenders catching beach dumpers. Vanessa took a dip before we headed south to explore some of the less exploited beaches.  


Next day.

Snorkel at Kata beach. We were going to snorkel out to a nearby island but we found visibility poor and were a little concerned that idiots on jetskis might run us over on the way so gave up and found some reef close to the  beach. It is amazing that anything can live in the area with all the rubbish but we managed to find some fish types that we had not seen in other locations so wasn't a total waste of time.

Ride out to peninsula. Elephants and baby elephant in an enclosure along the way.

Next day.

Snorkel at a small beach. Beautiful. Snorkelling was nice and we found a  small eel along the way. Had to contend with a bit of surging water and current near rocks and coral so had to be careful. There also were jellyfish in one area. It was enjoyable and a picture perfect setting.

We also found a track to samurai beach which led to some superb views but there was an entrace fee and of course we declined.

Found that the power supply for the laptop wasn't working. Traced it to shorted wires just before the plug. Managed minor repair to get it going again but need to repair it properly.

I have been getting bad headaches over the last couple of days which appear to be sinus related so got some antibiotics for sinus infection so lets hope that it provides some relief.

We rode a little too far late in the afternoon and watched the rapidly setting sun deliver a perfect sunset along the beaches but the downside was that we had to return to the hostel in the dark. Got lost. Had enough. It all looked so different at night and I can't read the map in low light without my glasses and Vanessa didn't have her glasses either. A local came to our rescue and pointed us in the right direction. We were only about 200m from the hostel.

The local drivers are even more unpredictable at night than during the day so it was quite dangerous riding. The locals have a tendency to ride through red lights, stop signs, ride along the incorrect side of the road and break any other road rule that might be in existence. During the day they are easy so see and it is no problem taking avoidance measures but at night this is not so.

Next day.

No more scooter riding for me. I don't want to ride any more. Just too dangerous on the roads. I returned the scooter and got my passport back.

Walk around the old town area. Really hot. Vanessa found a quality electronics store on the way. The old town was quite charming with the elegant but out of place Portuguese architecture. Real people can be found in the area compared to the ugly tourism at the beach areas. I found a barber working out of a garage and got a haircut for 60 baht. Pretty good job and he even trimmed the hair on my ear, up my nose and thinned my eyebrows for free.

I wandered around to the electronics store and purchase a plug as per the specifications from a website that I found. The owner said that I should bring the laptop around to check but I was confident. The second time to his store I took the laptop and exchanged the plug for the correct size. Next I needed to move the EMC core from the cable and drill it out refit it. There was a washing machine  repair shop a couple of door along from the hostel. Both the owner and his father could not speak english so I drew some pictures and managed to drill the hole in the core with success. Then came back later again to the washing machine shot with the plug connected ready to be soldered but I was not satisfied with the result but thanked him anyway. The owner would not take any money from me. The power supply worked fine but the connection is not perfect. I went to the electronics store again and purchased their last plug that fitted just in case the other broke.

Next day.

Glad to leave. It probably was nice a long time ago but now it has way too much tourism. Not really into Phuket. Will leave it to the ugly European sex tourists and pre booked package holiday makers. Still we loved Thailand and it's warm and happy people.

Fly out of Phuket airport to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

Bye
David and Vanessa