It was so nice to sleep in a good large bed with extremely comfortable blankets that actually had some weight to them. We got up at a normal time, made our way down to the common breakfast area and enjoyed some sweet, very small, bananas, toast and coffee. It had been a while since we even had the basics, instant, of coffee. Tim and I drink probably 10 % of the worlds production of coffee and this trip has put a serious damper on the global market. We are missing a fresh cup of coffee, one of the great things the West has to offer.
The internet was better here in Phuket than it was on the islands, but it was still giving us issues. We were trying to get caught up on the blog, but it was taking a very long time to upload pictures. We had to sit directly below the router, located in the hallway on the third floor, for it to give us adequate access to upload the files. After about an hour and a half we were caught up and ready to tackle the world. Our plan was to make our way to Nai Yang Beach, a tourist area on the North West shore of Phuket. Our tour prior research indicated we were well position, only about 200 metre from the bus stop.
We arrived to the day market, and knew we were in the right area as there were many buses loading for the various areas in Phuket. We definitely felt off the beaten path as we were the only foreigners waiting for the bus. Phuket Town is an interesting place, apparently with far less tourist. We assume that because people get transfers directly from their hotels to the ferry, they spend little to no time in this cute little town. The ones that do adventure here are on day trips from the mega centre of Phuket travel, Patong, a reportedly Westernized city that could be any tropical destination in the world.
While we waited, I found some nice glasses, white Ray Bans, but the quality, and price, indicated that they may as well be called Ray Bon, or Day Ban. Like a spork, not quite fork, not quite spoon; these glasses looked nice but were of inferior quality. Just fine for 100 baht ($3).
Our “bus” arrived shortly after 11am and we understood that the price should be 30 baht. To our dismay, the driver indicated 100 baht, each; the golden foreigner rate. At first we tried to haggle it down, but after some research in our books, found that we were not likely to get a better price. There was no way we would be walking the 30 kilometres to our next destination and we at least found comfort that the price at least fit the distance. It seams that any time you are asked if you want a taxi, which is A LOT, the price is 100 baht per person.
The truck ride was very nice, whisking up through a couple small towns that all looked the same, but that had the tropical charm of Phuket Island. We were inland and therefore there was little to no sign of other tourists. The ride was fairly short and we arrived to Nai Yang without incident.
We checked in to our shack, another palm tiki hut; the last one we will ever stay in. Really, when you think about it, it is kind of like camping. If you put it in this perspective, it was quite nice, a bamboo hut to keep the weather off you, electricity to keep the fan running and a bug net to keep the bugs off you. This bug net was much better than on Phi Phi and hopefully we would be unscathed from the bugs here. We didn't set up the bug net properly the last time and Tim ended up with his had outside the net; providing the mosquitoes with an all you can eat buffet for the night. His hand is comically swollen; good things for all those needles we got to come here!
Nai Yang is a beautiful beach resort area. We choose this area because it appeared to off the main tourist area of Patong, and it was close to the Phuket Airport, our next departure point. We were almost instantly hit with sticker shock when we went to get a couple beer for our beach excursion. Nai Yang is by far the most expensive place we have travelled thus far. The prices were easily double for everything and like Ao Nang, there was no signs of normal Thai life. The only Thai in this areas were working at the various restaurants and other service industries. Good thing we were only here 1 day.
After begrudgingly buying some beer and a pop, we set out for the beach. I wanted to lounge on a beach chair, but for 200 baht each, Tim violently refused! Besides, he wanted to check out the approach path of the Phuket airport which was featured on a World's Most Dangerous Airports article he had read (the real reason he agreed even to come here). We were lucky that the air planes were landing the correct way for them to fly over our head, only 1-2 hundred feet above, before their final touch-down. The planes taking off gave a new meaning to the Air Traffic Control phrase, “Caution, possible jet blast”. After each departure we were pelted by millions of sand grains in an event that would be best described as sandblasting; must have been safe though as it was not block off ;-)
If you know Tim and I, you know that much of our relationship has revolved around planes, airports and air shows. From seeing the Blue Angels perform in Pensacola Florida to Cleveland Ohio, we have taken many opportunities to get up close with anything that flies. The one to beat was at Dulles Airport in Washington DC, we sat at the end of the runway watching the endless stream of large jetliners on their final approach. Occasionally you could here the wake turbulence (vorticity) coming off the larger plane's wing-tips. Here in Phuket, it brought our experience to the next level. It was insanely loud, windy and quite a rush to have a plane, weighing several hundred thousands of pounds, moving close to 250 kilometres an hour; only feet above your head. What a rush!
After our exciting adventure we wandered down the strip of restaurants to see if we could find some “affordable” dinner. Most restaurants were very expensive, starting at about 250 Baht ($8); perhaps a good deal in Canada or the US, but for Thai standards this was very steep. We found a cute restaurant close to the end of the tourist hell that offered candle lit beach dinners at reasonable cost. The wait was not something we had expected. There were a couple table around us the had 2-4 people that had ordered an seemingly endless stream of dishes. We were very confused to know how two little Asian people could pack back so much food and 3 large bottles of beer. After about 30 minutes waiting we received our food, which was great, but we were a bit frustrated and by this point, not all that hungry. We ate our fried noodles and Pad Thai, and settled in for a interesting night in our tiki hut...
