I arrived in Phuket in the bleary-eyed early hours of the day, I wasn't excited, I was nervous. I hadn't really slept on the midnight flight - there was a man next to me snoring like a freight train. His snore was so loud it blocked out the sound of the plane engine, even my ear plugs couldn't block out the reverberating sound of his snore. At one point I just sat there and stared at him, willing him to breathe through his goddamn mouth.
I began to feel excited in the taxi on the way to the Bodega Hostel. But straight away when I landed I had to barter for my taxi. They were trying to make me pay more than triple the cost to get to the hostel. But I stuck to my guns and refused until a taxi driver came along that would take me there for the reasonable price. Since I arrived at the hostel early, I went to Patong Beach and lapped up the sun and the unrefreshing lukewarm sea water. My nervousness melted away as quickly as my sunscreen.
Later that night I made friends at the hostel, I was surprised at how easy it was. We ended up playing drinking games and going out later that night. Despite my lack of sleep I had an overtired excitement that wouldn't allow me to have an afternoon nap. By nightfall, Bangala Road had transformed into a clubbing mecca. I couldn't believe that it was the same road I had walked down earlier that day - seemingly relaxed and lined with chilled bars. At night, it took on a new life. The street was blocked off to accomodate the swathes of tourists out to lose their minds, their money or their morality - probabaly all three. Lady boys lined the bars and you could smell the sex-tourism from a mile away.
Today we spent the day at Surin Beach, chilling out and chatting, it feels fantastic just to be - no past, no future, just to be.
