Phuket.

I'm back on the grid after a short stint in Thailand! We had limited access there, only enough to check emails and twitter with the iPad.

So... the trip was a real mixture of experiences and thought provoking while we went back and forth from excellent excursions to the reality of being on a tour. We were told that booking our little sojourns from Canada would be incredibly costly, and that we were better off making separate arrangements once we were settled in HK. We went to a travel agency my aunt uses but unfortunately the combination of my aunt's help and my lack of understanding of how HK travel agencies operate, resulted in us going on a programed tour instead of just getting the flight and hotel.

This is not my style of travel.

But it just ended up happening so fast so we decided to chill and go with the flow. At least all the transportation is taken care of, right?

What we didn't enjoy so much was some of the scheduled programming. The kind where you're encouraged to buy things from specific places as a part of the tour. Where there is something scheduled but you're supposed to pay extra, and if you don't opt in there is no other form of amusement for you while everybody participates in said activity.

Don and I were just hoping to... sit on a beach and stare at the horizon. So boring, huh?

But we found our stride and overall the trip was very good in its own way.

Phuket is very spread out and sparse. There are some amazing beaches but they required driving because our hotel was far away. There are no real sidewalks. Everything seems to be a freeway. It was a real reminder about what life is like when location is mediocre and the services are concentrated in very specific clusters. Lots of people ride motorbikes and scooters as an alternative to cars. I saw a fair number of people on bikes too, though the motorbike reigns supreme.



We didn't back right onto a beach but we did back onto the docks for sailboats.



In terms of the services, everything is generally catered towards tourists since Phuket's major source of revenue is tourisim. In this way I didn't feel like I was having a cultural experience in another country. I felt like Phuket was trying to be what it thinks tourists want (I also concede that I may not be like most tourists). I sort of wished Phuket was just local and more authentic in some ways. For example, we were taken to this theme park one night where swarms of people were lining up to ride on elephants that would walk around in a circle and then retire to a complex that resembled something out of Indiana Jones Temple of Doom, which housed the "cultural show" featuring some cheesy parts such as magic tricks and pulling on a live ox's harness in order to cue its moo at the right time.



Now, from what I could see everybody else was thoroughly enjoying the FantaSea experience so I do realize I am likely the odd one out. Please go to the link and "sea" for yourselves...



Now the parts of the Phuket trip I really liked was the beaches. We were taken on a boat ride to the south part of the island to a really lovely beach! Of course, any additional water sports you wanted to participate in was an additional cost, but we decided to take it easy and actually employ our own skills... and went swimming for free. After a while Don decided to rent a snorkel mask for a few Canadian dollars and he saw tons of fish and coral while impressing me with his aquatic skills far from the water's edge.

I feel awful because I started this whole post with my skeptical commentary and neglected to mention that the weather was 30C and breezy and fabulous. It was really a treat to see the colour green again.


And lots of rolling mountains.


People were very friendly.


And Thailand has some excellent spas.


I always delight in seeing flowers.


Here is that beach I was telling you about!



No need to sell me weird water sports. I like the sand and the swim.


It wasn't really that busy either.


Don is a far stronger swimmer than I am. I got tired and went to relax on the sand while he swam and snorkeled the entire time.



I had the worst hair for those few days. I figured it was the beach and I had just had it in the ocean's salt water instead of styling and combing. When in Phuket...

I didn't bother packing any makeup either. I hate wearing makeup in super hot and balmy weather. Just wore sunglasses and lip balm.


And even after the cheesy theme park and being carted around in a tour bus (all not-very-Miss-Sarah) the sand in my toes made up for everything. What a privilege and a treat to be able to swim in an ocean so far from home, and to see the beaches and beauty of a hospitable island.



I think Phuket would be absolutely ideal if one had a sailboat. I imagine it would be perfect to sail around the island to the various beaches that are popular, and also to take the boat out to the neighbouring islands for more adventures. I don't think there is much in the way of pirates near the islands themselves, but beware the rambunctious Aussies!