We were really excited about the next step of our journey, Thailand. We decided to fly into Phuket from Penang as it meant we received a 30 day visa instead of a 15 day visa if we had entered over the land boarder. I was glad to be flying as the boarder between Malaysia and Thailand is still quite dangerous with recent car bombings in March. We booked accommodation at Peach Hill Resort just between Kata Beach and Karon Beach about 10 minutes drive from the famous Patong. It took about an hour from the airport to get to our accommodation and the drive was more than overwhelming...hundreds of stalls selling fake everything, people everywhere, scooters everywhere, restaurants, bars, lights, massage parlours, Aussie bars blasting AFL, thousands of deck chairs along the beach and so much more. Phuket = CRAZY! After a relatively quiet first night in Karon (quiet by Phuket standards) we ventured off into Patong for the day. Transportation was by Tuk Tuk after we were approached by what seemed like thousands of taxi drivers offering "cheap price". All day it was "I make nice suit for you mate, taxi, tuk tuk, please come in for a look, massage, manicure, dvd, cheap price for you". There were people grabbing our wrists, lots of hand shaking and a few very sneaky tactics to try and get us into their shops. The funniest thing was they have all seemed to have perfected the Aussie accent "Gidday mate, would you like a suit...what about a dvd mate" and if we ever informed them we were infact New Zealanders it suddenly became "oh Kia Ora bro". I found the entire experience quite overwhelming and just wanted to be left along while Mike relished in it, bartering with them, telling them he could get it cheaper down the road, joking with them, coming back with quite a few witty responses that they couldn't even respond too. I was a sucker at first, and pretty sure I got ripped off with my first purchase but got better and harder as the day wore on. Mike had a massage and I had a manicure and pedicure for next to nothing, enjoyed some amazing Thai food, walked along the beach with all the Russians in G-Strings and middle age English men, absorbed the craziness, and we even got to feed a baby elephant that was roaming the streets one night which was my highlight. Phuket is something we definitely had to experience however its not somewhere I will be coming back to in a hurry. Today we are off to Phi Phi Island for 3 nights were "The Beach" was filmed and apparently can be described as the most beautiful island in the world...can not wait.
love the baby elephant Beccy.Sounds like Mike knows how to get a good deal.Phuket sounds chaotic.Enjoy the island we're freezing here xx Sue
ReplyDeleteHey guys, loving the blog :)
ReplyDeleteso cool you have now been to the places we have been too, We loved phuket and the surrounding islands, I totally get what you mean about overwhelming though the first couple of days I was there I was the same too in that I found it alot to take in, but after the 2nd day I relished in it and loved it, I would go back in a instant! im sure it is a contrast to what you have been experiencing prior to that though, as it is crazy busy :)
Enjoy the rest of the Thai experience, I find them so friendly and fun , such a great culture! xxx Yep its freezing here to lap up the sun!
Will be great to talk about Thailand when I get home Simone, definatly think I should enroll in Thai cooking class because I'm not going to be able to live without this South East Asian food when I'm back. Hope all is well, looking forward to seeing you soon xxx
Deletewow, Phuket sounds like an awesome place to experience.. Mike sounds like he has the bartering down packed! Glad you mastered it Beccy, you could be very broke at the end of a day by the sounds of it! The baby elephant is awesome!!!!! How gorgeous!!!!! Loving the updates.. Take care xxxxx
ReplyDelete