Phuket, Thailand - 23rd December 2008

Christmas Eve in Roxys with the gang, mainly from our hostel
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We got to Phuket town about 5 hours later than we were told we would be due to having to wait ages in Suratthani (maybe it was a portent for what was to come – read the next entry and you’ll see what I mean!). We’d booked a hostel with good reviews as we wanted somewhere nice for Christmas...we weren’t disappointed. Our room was big, good shower, air-con and the hotel had a nice garden, a kitchen and a lounge area with a big tv and lots of dvds to rent. We’d decided to stay in Phuket town as although it’s quieter than other areas there are lots of buses to all parts of the island (which all set off from just down the road from the hostel) and it’s a lot cheaper than staying on a beach. We put the kitchen to good use straight away by making our own version of Pad Thai (noodles) using ingredients bought at the local fresh market. On Christmas Eve we went out to one of the only bars in the area with some friends we’d met in the hostel and had a great night.

Christmas dinner
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On Christmas day itself we went to Patong beach and sat there most of the day. Our Christmas dinner consisted of Chicken & Mushroom pie, chips & gravy. Not exactly your normal xmas spread but it was English food and we’d fancied pie for ages. Plus we had the mega luxury of vinegar which we haven’t seen since for months....not even in supermarkets and believe me we’ve looked! On boxing day we had a very lazy start by sleeping in very late. I was then talking to a staff member and mentioned that we wanted to extend our visa. She told us that the visa office would be shutting at 4pm and wouldn’t open til Monday...we’d forgotten it was Friday and it was 3.30pm by this point. We madly got ready and rushed out to find a tuk-tuk to take us to the immigration office. Typically it was 5 mins before we could find one and we got there with 10 mins to spare. Then we realised we’d forgotten our passport photos and had to pay to get some more done! At least we were sorted to stay in Thailand for an extra week.

MMMMM...tastes like chicken (NOT!!)
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In the evening we went to the Fantasea show. We were picked up in a pink minibus and taken to north of Patong beach. From the moment we stepped out the mini bus we had big grins on our faces, even where you collect the tickets from is amazing, really decorated and there are people in costumes and all sorts. Inside it is like Disneyland with shops and carnival style stalls. There is a walk through show called Tiger Jungle Adventure. We walked past 3 windows before we spotted a llama type animal and had to go back to the first ones to spot the frogs and monkeys (the monkeys were asleep in trees to be fair!). There were also white peacocks, birds and these huge hamsters that were very cute. The best bit was the two Siberian Tigers. They were so big and majestic. They were amazing. After that we stopped to feed the fish as my dad had told me to (he and my Mum went a few years ago). I’d bought the food before I even looked at the fish, it was half a loaf of bread which I thought was odd. I understood when I saw the fish. They weren’t fish they were monsters! I think they were giant catfish, they were as long as I am tall. They had huge wide mouths and devoured the bread. There were also elephant rides, but instead of having a ride we fed them instead. Mat was feeding one while I was taking a picture when another elephant stopped next to his as it had finished it’s ride. It immediately realised I had food and stuck it’s trunk straight out at me. I could hear it sucking air up it’s trunk and when you give it the banana or bamboo it grips it and chucks it in it’s mouth and it’s trunk is back out wanting more in seconds. We then went to have our food. The restaurant is an all you can eat buffet. The food was excellent. There was so much choice, roast chicken, noodles, rice, chicken drumsticks, fish, curry. The best item was the braised beef stew, the meat was so tender it just fell apart in your mouth (I had a few helpings of that!) Pudding was lots of little cakes, pineapple and watermelon. The fantasy show itself was in a huge theatre called Palace of the Elephants. It looks a bit like Angkor Wat. In the lobby you can have your picture taken with people in costume, elephants, etc. We weren’t tempted until we saw you could have your picture taken feeding a tiger cub. We couldn’t resist. It was so soft, just like a big pussy cat. We had amazing seats for the show, right in the centre on the first block (we did pay extra for better “gold” seats but even so we got good ones within the gold section). The show is full of dancing, trapeze artists, clowns and swordfights, all with amazing sets and costumes. The finale was with lots of elephants on stage. Childish though we are we couldn’t help but laugh when the elephants went to the toilet on the stage and stage hands had to run on and scoop the poop and sweep the wee off into a trough at the front of the stage. The elephants do amazing tricks. I never knew they were so nimble and delicate for such big animals. They can turn around on the spot on their back feet while their front feet were on another elephant’s back waling in a circle. They can also sit on their bottoms with all their legs in the air. The stage is huge, at one point there were about 12 elephants on it. We really had a very good night and it ended our Christmas well (thanks Eric & Jeanette!).

AWWWWWWW!!!! Like a big pussy cat!
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The next day we went to another beach and in the evening we went to a night market with a whole bunch of others from our hostel. All 9 of us squeezed into a tuk tuk meant for 4-6 and off we went. Unfortunately the driver was taking us to the wrong place and poor Jimmy who had been there before had to lean out the tuk tuk to get the drivers attention. They were taking us to a shopping centre not the market. We then had to stop again back in town cos they were taking us to an antiques shop this time. We made it in the end! Again we had weird food. Mat finally managed to fulfil his wish of eating bugs. He had silk worms which he really liked, said they tasted like potato wedges and crickets too which he describes as crispy. I didn’t bother trying them, I had sushi instead. Mat also decided to try sushi but picked one with caviar on it and for a guy who doesn’t like seafood that’s very brave. He ate it in one go and then struggled to keep it down. He won the battle eventually! I also had a fresh coconut where they cut off the top and stick in a straw, which I’d wanted to try for a while...but it was foul! We left for Koh Tao the following afternoon.