Friday/Saturday, April 14/15
I was equally sorry to leave the group and looking forward to having some time on my own and a break from constant sight-seeing and Chinese food. Everyone says you meet people when you travel alone. I hope this is true because otherwise it’s going to be a lonely couple of months. On the plane to Bankok, I sat next to a Chinese woman who spoke no English. She was badly and heavily made up, had not very chic clothes on and sparkly pink nail polish. However, on each hand was an ENORMOUS diamond ring. On one hand, was a round diamond in between the size of a US dime and nickel. On the other hand, was a baguette diamond the size of a kidney bean surrounded by smaller ones. I would have loved to have heard her story but we had no common language and only exchanged a few polite smiles.
When I arrived in Bankok it was hot and steamy – quite a shock after China was consistently in the 50s and 60s. I spent the night at the airport hotel before continuing on to Phuket – a 1 hour flight. In the morning, it was raining but when I arrived in Phuket, the sun came out. By the time I had checked in and gotten to the pool, clouds were gathering again and we had an enormous thunderstorm. Phuket seems so much more prosperous than China – except Shanghai of course. The cars are more expensive, there is no smog (well it is an island after all), they have an abundance of flowers which they use to decorate everything. It is a very delicate place. I suppose the Chinese are struggling so hard to eek a living, there is not time for beauty and nature and contemplation.
I had a massage in the afternoon as it was still raining. The spa has little open-air huts with bamboo fences and sheer silk curtains. Each room is beautifully furnished with a modern shower that pours water out of a bamboo spout, lacquered black floor and flowers everywhere – even on the floor under the massage table so when you look through the hole for your head, you see flowers. It was blissful. In the meantime, they had brought a complimentary fruit basket to my room which was full of fruits I had never seen before. Fortunately, they also included a pamphlet with photos and descriptions. The rose apple was delicious! It may be raining in paradise, but it’s still paradise!
Monday, April 17, 2000
The water has calmed down a little today so I ventured back in and found jumping the waves a very therapeutic occupation. In the afternoon, I took the bus to Phuket town. Driving is a happy-go-lucky affair in Thailand. At one point our bus was trying to pass a car. In the oncoming lane was another car and in our lane there was now a dog. All the (Western) passengers gasped in horror but somehow no one was hurt and the driver just laughed at us. Phuket has little to recommend it. Lots of stalls selling junk. I followed my guide book to a temple which was a Sino-Portuguese temple. There I met a tuk tuk driver who offered to show me the whole town for $2. He actually spoke some English and drove me to all the main sights. Now, that’s bargain!
We went to the top of the hill behind Phuket and from there you can see the town of about 250,000 people as well as the nearby islands.
There are some wonderful old colonial houses on enormous plots right in the middle of the town. Apparently they are mostly owned by Chinese businessmen who own some of the hotels. I wondered if that was resented by the Thais. There are also a few streets of colonial town houses which are rather charming.
In the evening, I met up with Ernst and his girlfriend Ba (sp?). He is an Austrian who has lived in Phuket for 11 years. He was one of the first members of my friend, John Harris’ fitness club in Vienna. John recommended that I look him up and we actually recognized each other from 13 years ago. Ernst was incredibly kind and drove 25km each way to collect me from the hotel, treat me to dinner and show me the sights of Patong. We had a fantastic Thai meal in a local restaurant next to the beach. Afterwards, we wandered around the city. Once again there are tons of stalls selling the same stuff and bar after bar after bar. Patong is the party district of Phuket. Within a block you probably have about 30 bars each with 10 pretty girls waiting to “entertain” the punters. Mixed in with all this are men with pythons, a large bird of prey and a baby elephant who all make a living by having their photographs taken. The baby elephant loved bananas and peeled them deftly with this trunk. He also was trained to take money and pop it into the mahout’s bag.
We also stopped in to see a cabaret type show of lip synching with elaborate costumes. The warm-up to the show was a series of girls in teeny weenie bikinis dancing on a platform. Ernst swears that most of them were men. Well, they were the best looking wo-men I’ve seen! And then we passed by a Thai boxing ring where a European was being beaten by a Thai to the cheers of the audience who were both Thai and foreign.
Patong was about the least relaxing holiday I can imagine. It was great for a quick visit but I’m glad I’m staying on the lagoons at the beach
It is nice to see that there are very few people having to carry things on their shoulders like in China. The main methods of transportation are tuk tuks and scooters. Children get tucked between the legs of adults and some scooters carry 2 adults and 2 children or 3 adults. Helmets are legally required but the Thais seem to treat them as optional. I guess it’s too hot.
Tuesday, April 18
I woke up to the scent of jasmine. Ernst and Pa had bought me a garland of jasmine blossoms and rose petals. I hung it over the bed and the perfume infused the whole room. Today I went snorkeling on a long tail boat. It was wonderful for the first hour – the fish come up and eat bananas out of your hand. Sometimes they miss and nibble at you too! Then I got seasick from all the bobbing around in the water. I guess I’m just not a water kind of girl and I was very glad to get back to land. I think I’m only just turning back to a normal color after being rather green… Tomorrow I’m back to sightseeing mode as I fly to Bangkok.