Phuket

Night Ferry 1
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April 24, 2006

We took a night ferry from Ko Tao to the mainland town of Surat Thani.  Our bags disappeared, thrown through a hatch in the deck and we squeezed ourselves between our neighbors onto inch thick mattresses for the night.  These "beds" were about two feet wide and five feet long, so much of the night was spent trying not to get too snuggly with the wrong neighbor.  From 8:00pm to 4:00am we rode the raging sea in blackness, and just as we were rocked to sleep the hull would crash against a particularly large wave with a deafening crack.  Sleep was only for the hardest of sleepers, the drugged, or the drunk.  We slept little.

Beach Tourism as Man Intended

Night Ferry 2
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Arriving in Surat Thani before dawn, we were ushered en masse into the free shuttles to the "bus station".  Our bleary eyes did not discern the trap, until we were dropped off at a rip off travel agency in the darkest corner of the very sleazy shipping city.  By threatening to leave and walking a block away, we were able to finally get a good price on a minibus to Phuket, much to the numerous touts' chagrin.  After a brief stop at a strange farm outside of town, where our driver picked up some "no sleep leaves" to chew on the ride, we left Surat Thani and the east coast behind.

Approaching Monsoon
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Only one more difficult transition with the inevitable arguments, and we switched from minibus to local bus (a vast improvement) in Krabi for the remainder of our ride to Phuket.  Our new residence in Phuket Town was a nice guesthouse in an old, Sino-Portuguese building with enormous, austere rooms and free breakfast.  It was also the only place of our travels since New York with a complimentary Bible.

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April 26, 2006

New Signage
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Phuket Town is not actually on the beach but it is a charming small city, and the accommodation and food there are significantly cheaper.  We therefore spent most of our days on the beaches to the northwest, which we reached by local bus (actually giant sawngthews).  The first beach we visited seemed recently abandoned, and, in fact, we watched people still packing up their beach chairs as we strolled along its length admiring the shapes of the dark clouds on the horizon.  Before we realized it, we were walking back in the middle of the rather intense monsoon that we had unwittingly been observing on its way inland.  We did our best to keep the camera dry, but enjoyed getting drenched ourselves.

A Creepy Crawly
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Our second beach visit was to the hidden paradise of Laem Singh, which we found by a stroke of luck.  This isolated patch of shore offered a refuge from the crowds of tourists and touts that few ever find on their visit to the island of Phuket.  The sun lasted and the water raged in front of our flat rock with lush shade.  We were invisible to every beach around, but our hideout still afforded incredible ocean views.

On our extended walk to this secret spot we came upon a man carrying a gibbon in his arms, which had half tucked itself into his overshirt.  Before we had realized what it was, the cuddly primate was nestling into Loren's startled arms, and the man seemed very pleased with his surprise.  Gibbons used to roam the jungles of Phuket in great numbers, but today they are in danger of becoming extinct in the area due to development and poaching.  The origins of this particular one remain a mystery to us because of the language barrier, however, it seemed content with its new occupation, despite its probable traumatic childhood.

Our Secret Spot
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The coastline of Phuket still shows many signs of the horrible Tsunami, like barren lots of beachfront property and enormous piles of debris; however, it seems to be nearly back to its former tourist haven self.  The reconstruction has been so complete, in fact, that it makes it difficult to imagine the catastrophic destruction that took place here.