When we first got to
Phuket, I was amazed at how warm it was. Compared to Korea, Thailand was
paradise. Compared to pretty much everywhere else in the world, Thailand was
paradise. We got in later at night, and went straight to our hotel. It was a
guesthouse owned by a Korean family, which was great because our living in
Korea made them like us more. They were really nice, and we just went up right
to our rooms. The place was VERY nice, particularly for what we were paying.
The next morning we woke up and went straight to the beach.
We stayed at Patong
Beach, which is the big party beach, but the nightlife sucked. Due to its
reputation it was extremely popular, and overcrowded. It wasn't even a very
nice beach- a bit too reminiscent of Florida for my taste. There were a lot of
foreigners there, particularly Germans, Russians, Brits, and (above all)
Aussies. Women were walking around topless (even though it's not generally
acceptable in Thailand). Most of the men were in tiny little swim trunks and
there were thongs EVERYWHERE. Still, it was nice to be in the ocean. The Indian
Ocean is saltier than the Pacific or Atlantic (from what I can tell) and much
less wavy. The water was extremely warm and comfortable, and it was possible to
just float on top of the water all the time.
That morning we were all
swimming in the water together, and Shannon saw this little fish swimming
toward her. It couldn't have been longer than my index finger, but she kept
dancing to get away from it, and it kept chasing her. It started to get really
close, and she freaked out and started screaming. She swam over to me and
climbed on my back. Tonya, Kristen and I were screaming too, mostly because we
didn't know what the hell was going on. The fish kept swimming at Shannon, only
since she was on my back it was then swimming toward me. Shannon was clinging
on like a starfish, her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist,
everyone was screaming, and right as the fish came within range I slapped it
and it went flying. Let me tell you, I felt like a badass, even though we all
looked like fools.
That night we went out,
and one of the first things we noticed (it was hard not to notice) was the Thai
prostitutes. There were all dressed in red, hanging out in all the bars along
our street. There were creepy, nerdy, old, and/or fat white men talking to them
in all the bars, some of the men leading them down the street by the hand,
presumably back to their hotels. It was really strange to see something like
that so out in the open, when it's something you rarely or never see back home.
We went out, and it was fine, though it wasn't that impressive. There were two
Thai guys throwing around and spinning burning ropes, which was pretty cool. On the way home we walked along the beach. I
was dancing along the beach happily, ankle deep in the water, when I
accidentally flung my wallet (which I was using as a purse and thus holding in
my hand) into the ocean. I caught it just as a wave threatened to carry it out
to sea. The wallet itself was ruined, but everything inside was just fine.
The next day we went
shopping in all the little stalls along the street and in the market area. We
all bought a few dresses, and a purse, and some souvenirs. They gave the most
outrageous prices at first, and we had to learn to bargain. At first I was
terrible. They would laugh at my first offer and agree right away. I got better
as time passed, and pretty soon never paid more than half their first asking
price. The trick is to offer something ridiculously low, and if they don't
agree, you say no and walk away. They usually call you back to accept your
stupidly low offer. It was fun. There was one shop in the market that we kept
going back to, and the women would start laughing as soon as we started
bargaining because we were so stubborn. Kristen would fight with one of the
women for about 15 minute every time, and they were both laughing through the
whole thing because neither of them would budge. It was entertaining to say the
least.
The second day we went to
Karon beach, which is just south of Patong. It was a lot less populated and a
lot more beautiful. The water was gorgeous, and it felt like a cool bath. Not
cold, but cool, and it was the perfect relief from the sun which was SCORCHING
that day. We couldn't even walk on the sand at all because it was burning the
bottoms of our feet so badly. The color of the water was like liquid
aquamarines- a clear, light, perfect blue-green that I have never seen before
in nature. It was so clear that even when we went neck deep in the water, which
was still pretty waveless, you could see the color of everyone's pedicures. It
was gorgeous.
That night, December 26,
2009, was the five-year anniversary of the tsunami that hit Thailand to
devastating effects. Before we went out, we walked down to the beach. There
were mounds and designs carved into the beach, in the form of flowers, stars,
and other shapes. Inside the carved out areas, there were votive candles
floating in shallow water. All of these things were monuments dedicated to
people lost in the tsunami. The thing that struck me, that I guess I hadn't
heard much about at the time, was that it happened at the peak of tourist
season. I never realized that many people who lost their lives were simply
people on vacation, relaxing their cares away the day after Christmas, only to
be killed without warning. All along the beach people were lighting wish
lanterns. They were these large cylindrical paper lanterns, mostly white, which
only cost about $2. You light a circle of some flammable substance, and then
hold the paper of the lantern up until it fills up with hot air, like a hot air
balloon. Once it fills you release it, and it flies away over the ocean. Then
you make a wish. Our whole group did them. It was really beautiful, and you
could watch them fly way high up into the atmosphere, until they were so small
they looked like tiny, moving, orange stars. It was beautiful.
The third day Shannon and
I went on an elephant trek, which had a couple things included. We went for a
ride around the area (which was at the southern end of Phuket island from what
I could tell, and a bit inland) in an ox cart. It was okay. It was cool to see
the inside of complex where all the stuff was taking place, but the ride itself
was a bit boring. After that we got to go to an elephant show. The elephants
were all babies, and some were better trained than others. There were three.
One of them played basketball and darts. One of them played soccer. The
smallest one of all gave massages. I went down and got one. I laid on my
stomach on a mat on the ground, and he patted me lightly on the back with his
foot. Toward the end he started giving me kisses on the cheek and shoulder with
his trunk. It tickled, and was kind of gross but it was definitely cool. Next
was the monkey show. I don't know what kind of monkeys they were (there were
two of the same kind) but they were pretty funny. They rode tricycles, dunked
on a small basketball hoop, climbed up into trees and knocked down coconuts,
etc. At the end, one of the monkeys went around shaking hands with people in
the crowd and picking up baht (Thai money) that people would throw on the
ground. He would pick it up and put it in his trainer's pocket. I went forward
to shake the monkey's hand, and instead of shaking my hand he put his hands
together and looked up to the sky, like he was praying. Then he slapped
me. Shannon laughed at me, because it
looked like he was praying to not have to touch me. So I started to walk away,
and he immediately came forward and grabbed my hand. He held my hand and walked
me all the way to the outside of the monkey area. It was hilarious. We joked
that now we knew that he wasn't praying to not have to touch me, but that I'd
kiss him at the end of the date when he walked me to the door. I don’t know what the slap was for.
Then we rode the
elephant, and it was pretty cool. Our elephant was a mama (basically the only
word our guide could say in English, except for "banana," which we
bought to feed the elephant) and she was 40 years old. Looking at elephants
it's difficult to imagine that they could ever be young. They seem to be
ancient from youth. Even the babies that we saw in the show seemed to be old
and wise, it was something about their skin and eyes. I don't know how to
explain it. Maybe it's also something about how slowly they move. It was hard
to believe that our elephant was so young. Somehow it seemed young, though some
people might consider it old. I don't know. The ride was pretty short, but it
was still pretty cool. Our guide sat on the elephant's head, and we sat on a
bench on it's back, holding an umbrella to protect us from the sun. It was a
good day all in all.
When we got back we all
went to our favorite restaurant down the street from our guesthouse by the
beach. They had the best Pad Thai we ate the whole time we were in Thailand.
Their menu was in English first, then in Thai, followed by German, and finally
Italian. There was even a whole page of stuff like weinerschnitzel on the menu.
A whole page exclusively dedicated to German food. Interesting.
I will write about the
other two islands separately, as one entry with all three places would (from
the looks of it) be far too long.
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