PHUKET

January 2011

After hearing wonderful things about Phuket, Allie and I decided to take a weekend trip there because it was only about 2 hours from Singapore and flights were very cheap (again--Tiger Air!). We forgot to check if we needed a visa or not, and when we arrived at border patrol, we saw a stand for visas and started freaking out. You also needed a photo?! We ran to the photo booth, but then realized it was only for certain countries and US citizens did NOT need a visa. Whew! Then, we met this super nice Taiwanese-American couple, Minnie and Josh, while waiting in line to get our stamps and shared a taxi with them to Patong since we were both staying there. We realized that we had a lot of random things in common, and they only lived 5 minutes from us in Singapore so we also shared a taxi home!

We stayed at the Anchalee Inn which was right on the main road of Patong (where apparently all the nightlife is), and went out for some Pad Thai and Green Curry for the first night's dinner. I booked a tour to the Phi Phi Islands (famous for the movie "The Beach" being filmed there), and we took a 2 hour ferry early in the morning to get there. We sat in the front of the boat, and met some really chill backpackers, one from Budapest and one from San Fran. They were doing a Muay Thai boxing camp in Phuket and were in REALLY great shape (they both took off their shirts to sunbathe in their bathing suits and we decided it would be best not to follow suit...). The boat ride got bumpy and water soaked all of us in the front, so we had to find seats elsewhere. The boat took us around the islands and then we stopped for a brief lunch and snorkeling. The views were absolutely breathtaking...and they even gave us fresh fruit on the way back!

That night, we went to see the famous Simon Cabaret, a show with "ladyboys" aka. transvestites who were absolutely stunning. You could hardly tell they were men, and they lipsang songs from pretty much every country there were tourists from -- China, Taiwan, US, Russia, Korea, Japan, etc. There was even a "Ladyboy Gaga" who did Bad Romance! We sat next to a lady from Kerzekstan--she was Asian but only spoke Russian...it was so confusing!

Then on Sunday, we did an elephant ride in the morning, and our guide even let us sit on the elephant's head (where he sat, probably not that safe) and made us wreaths and we had a photoshoot! He told us not to speak of it when we got back...yay for being a girl! The elephants were so cute...ours was particularly hungry and kept stopping to eat :)

Then we took a taxi to Wat Chalong, this gorgeous Buddhist temple. Thai Buddhist temples are so beautiful and ornate!

We gave our wreath to the man selling coconuts, who wore it proudly!

It was maybe 90 degrees out and we had already checked out of the hotel, so we were carrying our very heavy backpacks. We found a nice little local restaurant on the side of the road with shade and asked, "Pad See Ew?" and the guy nodded, so we sat down. After eating the best Pad See Ew ever, we got our bill and it was only $2 for that and a drink!!! Yay for eating like a local.

Best Pad See Ew ever!

So I wanted to see this Big Buddha on top of the hill and thought we could walk there since we could see it from the bottom. It was still SO hot so we stopped by this coffee shop on the way there, and I asked a guy who looked like he was friends with the owner if it was walkable. He said no, definitely not and offered to give us a ride! We found out his nickname was "Nut" (short for his really long Thai name) and he was a vet! He even stayed up there with us and drove us down (it was a 10-15 minute very steep drive, so I'm glad we didn't walk). We are so lucky that we met him!

After that, we took a tuk-tuk to the beach (where you negotiate your price up front) and got hour-long Thai massages for $8. They stand on you, twist you around, it's like acrobatics a little! But you feel really good afterward!

PS. The Phuket airport was the worst airport I've ever been in. There was not a single Thai place to eat! If you ever go there, make sure you eat before your flight.

Bye Bye Phuket!

Enjoying some grilled corn and coconut juice on the beach @ Patong.