Well, we've been in Thailand about 24 hours and I'd rate them as 24 of the best hours of my entire life. I cannot begin to express the beauty and wonderment that is the fine island of Phuket, Thailand. When my contract is up in Korea I planned on heading home for awhile and then traveling abroad. I would say I'm 99% certain that I will make Thailand my destination. This place is as close to heaven on Earth as I can imagine.
Last night we landed just as the sunset in Phuket. I would like to mention that we had three international flights on three different Asian airlines and every single one was either on time or early. I was dreading all the possibly nightmares of a double layover trip but Asia effeciency did not disappoint and we arrived exactly when Orbitz said we would. We exchanged our cash and caught a cab to our hotel. Initial reactions: it is hot. I'm talking 95 degrees with 100% humidity, even at 10 at night. They drive on the wrong side of the road and the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. Everyone was on scooters, motorbikes, and mopeds (more on this later). So we zig-zagged for about an hour before we arrived at our hotel, Karon Living Room Hotel, which is on the south-east corner of the island, about 2 minutes from Karon Beach, 5 minutes from Kata Beach, and 10 minutes from Patong Beach. We wandered around a bit on foot, saw Karon Beach in the dark, and ate our first meal which brings me to the first thing I love about Thailand.
Things are stupidly cheap. At dinner I had a Thai noodle/chicken dish and giant beer for about $3. Three dollars. I tipped 25% just because I felt guilty eating so cheaply. I should mention our hotel cost a total of $98 for a week for 2 people. It is completely adequate in every way for $49 each. Silly. You do have to deal with Thai currency, the Baht, which has a strange conversion rate. $1 = 33 baht so you constantly have to do somewhat difficult division in your head to figure how much you're spending. The money also all looks the same so it takes me 5 seconds to figure out how much each bill is worth. They're just different shades of red and they all have a picture of the King of Thailand to make things ever more confusing.
We also encountered what will certainly be one of my major complaints about Thailand: people trying to sell you shit you don't want. Two different guys stopped us (first mistake was stopping) to try to sell us "Armani" suits. I'm sweating like a whore in church and this dude is trying to push off some crappy suit on me. They are pros of the "just one minute, no buying, just look" routine which is incredibly irritating. All day today people were hounding us to buy massages, t-shirts, Thai boxing tickets and last, but certainly not least, tickets to "Ping Pong Shows." I know a lot of my family reads this so I'll spare you the details of what a "Ping Pong Show" actually is, but a quick Google search would clear up any ambiguity. Nothing annoys me more than pushy salespeople, especially for something so vulgar. I know this stuff happens everywhere in tourist destinations, but I think the level of desperation and 'pushiness' is probably increased in a third world country. I mean, I recognize that this is a restaurant or a t-shirt stand or a sex show; if I was interested I'd inquire. I don't need personalized advertisements thrown in my face as I walk past. I can't believe anyone would walk by and be like, "Oh, yah, now that you mention it, I am hungry/I do need a t-shirt/I am a pervent." People on vacation may be impulsive but certainly no one is making dinner decisions based on some jerk with a menu stopping him on the sidewalk, right? If anything, I avoid places like that out of spite.
Anyways, we woke up today feeling well rested and we decided to rent scooters to explore the island. What a riot. Here we are, on the wrong side of the road, flying up and down these curvy mountain roads on mopeds all day. The views were so spectacular that no blog, no photo, nothing could do them justice. This is certainly the most beautiful place I've ever been, hands down, no doubt about it. The mopeds cost about $6 a day and we spent about $5 each in gas all day. We didn't need insurance, a license, anything. Just handed them $6 and they gave us keys and a helmet. We spent the rest of the day exploring all corners of the island. By the end of the day I felt like a pro, weaving in and out of traffic and zipping around mountains in the dark without a care in the world. Ben put it best, the mopeds are a "calculated risk" so we're just taking it easy and enjoying the views.
We started at Patong Beach, which is probably my favorite so far. It is literally miles of white sand beach with perfectly clear water and the most beautiful backdrop imaginable. The water is all different shades of blue and is completely free of any trash, debris, anything. The sand is so fine it almost squeaks under your feet. After taking a quick swim. We then cruised up the coast further, seeing many small towns and countless breath-taking views. Again, I'm going to post pictures but they'll in no way do any justice to this place. In total we saw probably 5 of the most stunning beaches I've ever encountered and put a few miles on our "bikes." We spent a few hours jumping in waves and sitting on the beach just repeating, "Wow, this is so awesome." "God damn, this is great." "I can't believe we're here." "This is heaven." etc etc. There are probably straigher, faster routes to get around but we prefer the road that hugs the coastline and at several spots we just pulled over to take pictures of the waves breaking on the rocks below or of the next beach we were about to encounter.
Some other highlights were turning one of the countless hairpin turns coming down a mountain and seeing a man riding and elephant across the road. Oh yeah, elephant crossing, no big deal. At another point a small snake dropped out of a tree on to the road right in front of me. I just missed creating some really unique roadkill with my moped. We ate at a small Thai restaurant for lunch and a Mexican place for dinner. I think I spent about $10 total on food today on meals that would have easily cost twice that plus tip at home. It is sickening how far your money goes in Phuket.
After dinner we wandered the area of Patong a bit. In my Thailand research I learned that Patong is sort of the "shadiest" part of Phuket and I must say the time I spent walking around supported that reputation. Countless bars were full of scantly clad Thai women who will gladly keep you company--for a cost. That and the frickin' Ping Pong Pushers made realize that Patong is probably not the type of place you'd want to take your family after dark. It in no way detracted from the daytime beauty but it did put in perspective that Thailand has some alternative types of "tourism" that aren't exactly wholesome.
It is currently about 10 p.m. on our first full day and I'm spent. I have a solid sunburn despite applying sun screen about 10 times during the day. Probably going to watch some CNN (haven't watched TV in over 4 months, it feels so strange) and pass out. Rinse and repeat tomorrow, with less exploring and more drinking beer on a beach.
Take it easy, but take it.
No comments:
Post a Comment