Phuket - Day 2

Phuket, Thailad -- Day Two

After another restful night Ben and I departed the hotel around 11 for another day of exploring and enjoying everything Phuket has to offer. We stopped downtown for a quick breakfast and unknowingly parked our scooters on the wrong side of the road. They have an "even days" side and an "odd days" side and we made the mistake of taking the even side on the 27th. We come back from breakfast to find our bikes ticketed and locked together. Oh boy.

So we hike back to the hotel in the searing sun and sheepishly explain our mistake to the ladies at the front desk. They laugh and eventually give us a free lift to the police station to pay our fine (about $15 each). Several comical things happened at the police station. First, when we gave the guy our money he just put it in his pocket. I understand this is basically extortion from tourists but I'd like to see them try to hide it a bit. Second he asked for our names and then just scribbled something in Thai. I didn't explain how to spell my name, I didn't show ID, nothing. I then signed three pieces of paper and got on his walkie-talkie, presumably to get our "hogs" unlocked. We ride back to the hotel and walk back down to where we left our bikes. First, and hopefully last, encounter with Thai police went about as well as we could have possibly hoped.

We got back down by the beach and they were still locked together so we decided to get a drink across the street and keep an eye out for the officer to come so we could move them to the proper side immediately to avoid being ticketed again. Just as we sat down he showed up and we moved them across the street and went back to finish our beer/Sprite. One of the annoying suit salesman that pestered us the first night spotted us and joined our table to once again try to force his wears on us. We slammed the drinks and walked back around the corner. The bikes were gone.

Luckily someone had just moved them to the other side of the small parking lot but my heart sure sank when I noticed my "black beauty" wasn't where I left her. After all that excitement we rolled out towards Kata Beach after a quick stop for fuel. They have a handful of proper gas stations here but 90% are just roadside stands where they have glass bottles full of gas that they sell for a set price. You roll up, open the gas tank and tell them how many bottles you want. Pretty nice and convenient.

So after a quick swim at Kata Beach to cool off we decided to go check out "The Big Buddha of Phuket." In our adventures we had repeatedly seen a monstrous white Buddha statue on the top of one of the mountains. We rolled towards Chalong and again got stopped by a police check point where they glanced at our licenses and waved us through. We then took a side street and began zig-zagging up a mountain road towards the Buddha. It is so surreal to be riding a moped up a jungle, mountain road. There were elephants and jungle as far as the eye can see. At the top there was a 45 meter tall Buddha and some fantastic views of the island. I forgot my camera today but I'm sure Ben will be kind enough to share his photos with me so I'll add them in due time.

After the Buddha we rode back to Patong to grab a bite to eat. After downing some personal pan pizzas we set off towards Kathu Waterfall. So just so you're following, so far today we've swam at a beautiful beach, saw an amazing religious monument, and now we're off towards a jungle waterfall. This all in the span of about 3 hours. It should be clear why I'm falling more in love with this place by the hour.

The actual waterfall was at the end of another long, winding road. As far as I could tell we were the other two people there. We hiked up through the thick jungle to find a beautiful, crystal clear waterfall cascading down the side of this mountain. It might have been no Niagra in terms of size but this was just as beautiful and surreal. It was approximately 156 degrees with 111% humidity so I was sweating quite heavily after hundreds upon hundreds of stairs. I jumped in the cool water and splashed around a bit to bring my core body temperature down to reasonable levels. I had one of those "Wow, I'm so incredibly lucky to be here" moments as Ben and I stood ankle deep in a mountain waterfall pool without another human for probably a mile. It is somewhat like Phuket is our own private playground thanks to the scooters. We just cruise for mile upon mile in whatever direction we feel like. After the waterfall we took a really nice, hour long ride through the center of the island just enjoying the scooters and enjoying the view.

Just before sunset we pulled into Surin Beach and watched the waves breaking as the sunset. I again cannot do the beauty and awesomeness of this moment justice. This is technically the "low" seasons in terms of tourism so everywhere you go you basically have the place to yourself. There were maybe 2 dozen other people on a several mile long beach. The sunset was incredible and after that we spent maybe an hour just walking the length of the beach, soaking it all in. I made friends with one of the countless stray dogs who joined up making us a trio. The stray dogs in Phuket are pretty cool. They're all reasonably clean, they're all well fed, and best of all, they're friendly but not annoying. They'll gladly let you pet them but they don't pester you for food.

After that we enjoyed a meal right on the beach in a tiki hut. This is the type of meal that you dream of having. I'm sitting here eating a delicious meal, drinking a cold beer, enjoying great company, all the while being no more than 10 feet from the beach and 50 feet from the waves breaking. After that we jumped on our bikes and headed back home. Getting really comfortable on the bikes by now and they're probably my second favorite part of Phuket behind only the beaches. It is so fun to just be able to cruise freely with a nice cool breeze on your face. It is really like we can go anywhere and do anything thanks to the bikes.

We're back in the room now recording our thoughts from the day, taking showers, and getting ready for bed. Tomorrow we're going to check out Phuket Town and probably spend some quality time on a beach. Tomorrow night we're going to go to the big Muai Thai boxing match which promises to be a good time.

Take it easy, but take it.