Phuket (part1)

Phuket! Beautiful Phuket… Went there with Kai Weng (yes! Adam bailed on us!) on 17 Nov 05.

DAY 1
I arrived at the Phuket International Airport by Air Asia (Cost about RM280 for a return ticket) at about 1.30PM, it takes only about 1hr15min, which is faster than the time I need to reach Subang from my place! After that we took the minibus (which is actually a van that can for about 10 ppl) for 150baht (100Baht @ RM10). After the van is full we were of to Patong (the town where we stayed in) halfway there, the van stopped at this tour shop asking us to come down, so that we can tell them where we stayed. So everyone went down, and they started asking where we were going and what plans we had. They were offering trips for about 2500 baht! (which is about twice the price we got later) Which we think is quite expensive, so we turned them down. (What a smart way to pull business, especially if they know that they were basically our 1^st point of contact) After a few minutes, we got on back to the van and they sent us to our respective hotels ( I thought they were just gonna drop us off at some bus stop, and let us find our own way, so 150baht isn’t too expensive especially if you compare to the taxi fare which is about 550baht!) After we reached the Crown Hostel (yes! Hostel ) which is like a backpackers inn that I booked online earlier, there was this lady (maybe in her forties) greeted us and showed a printout of my booking online. She then lead us to our room, which has a King size bed & an attached bathroom, but no Air-cond.(might be my fault since I forgot to check when I made the booking) but since it was only 400baht per night (for 2) I wasn’t expecting much. So we unpacked and head down to the beach straight. While walking to the beach, we saw that there was more tourists there compared to the locals… it’s like half of Europe in packed in this one small island.

When we reached the beach (which is only less than a 5 minutes walk) we can see that it was really long, I think it’s about 2km, and the whole beach is filled with these beach chairs and umbrellas. We stopped by and paid 100baht to use 2 of the chairs, you can actually see that a lot of those Caucasians / Eurasians actually sun bathing under the hot 5PM sun. A lot of them actually started peeling, and yet they are still lying under the hot Sun… crazy ppl… So we chilled at the beach for a while (with the umbrella open!) Then I called Adam and told him that we are at the beautiful beach in Phuket and let him listen to the sound of the waves crashing to the beach… hahahaha (serves him right! Since he bailed on us) He kept swearing after that …

Went to this shop that looks like a fast food restaurant (but don’t understand why the food takes so long to prepare) Had this plate of beef (I think) with loads of fresh pepper (yes, those that we use as seasoning -See pic IMG_0622). Paid about 130baht for a full course meal. After going back to the hostel for some rest, we took a walk around the area. This place is even more happening that KL. The whole stretch of Bangla Road (don’t know where they got the name from) was basically pubs, bars and clubs. Kai Weng and me was like checking out the chicks but kept asking each other if there were male or female (trust me, some “guys” had body figures every girl dreamt of having). Sometimes we just can’t differentiate between the 2. Went for a beer & some food by the beach, we were basically seating on the sand. Quite a nice place, and the food is cheap too, was quite shocked when the bill came for 180baht - that’s for 2 bottles of beer and a plate of fried “la la” (not the type that we usually eat, but those bigger ones with really thick shell). Good food (& cheap!), sand in your toes, sea breeze…fuuh… what more could someone ask for? (I’m really missing it now!) After a while, we went around asking for trips around the island, got a deal for 1300baht (which is quite reasonable since it’s like half of what someone offered earlier) for a speed boat ride around the Phi Phi island. But we didn’t have enough with us, so had to go back to our rooms to get more cash (luckily it was only about a 10 min walk). Went back after that. Had some problems sleeping that night since it was quite warm and noisy (well that’s something we need to sacrifice since we were situated right smack in the middle of the action). Can’t believe we actually went to bed before 12 almost every night since we didn’t have enough cash to go clubbing all night. We basically spent a lot on food and travel.

To be continued...