Pooo Get
Trip Start
Jun 05, 2008
1
23
38
Trip End
Sep 28, 2008
Phuket,
Thailand
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Phuket - pronounced Poo-Get (with a soft g) is the largest island in Thailand and lined with dozens and dozens of beaches to which tourists, locals, and subsequently masauses, vendors, and savvy Thai businessmen flock. Much more developed than I imagined, the roads are smooth, the sun is strong, and the beaches as gorgeous as they say, minding you find the right one.
The west side of the island is particularly gorgeous as everyday we saw amazing sunsets of cotton candy pink and baby blue, and dark navy blue and fiery orange as it changed right before our eyes. We spent a night in Nai Yang, a smaller local beach near the airport and had a room right on the beach for $15. Fuj and I finally made it! And ran holding hands, screaming, galloping into the surf. Then treated ourselves to a much deserve (we think) pina colada! The water was warm and easy to be in and lots of young Thai couples wandered hte beach with their various types of puppies (much to our delight!) I had prawns for dinner fresh from the ocean and fuj unknowingly ordered a monk fish...an ENTIRE monk fish much to the delight of the restaurant owner. Meaty and good she says. The owner showed us an album of pictures taken of Nai Yang before and after the tsunami and the devastation was so so sad. This tiny local street of thatched roof restaurants was demolished, trees torn up, cars smashed, and the resturant dog, a friendly loving lazy mutt named lulu, survived but went nuts-o.
beach. really not as isolated as it looks ;)
They call her Tsunami Dog cuz she's crazy but it was great to loll about at the restaurant table petting the dog, burrowing our feet in the sand, and seeing Fuj have to eat a huggge fish. The main tourist beach, Patong, is wall-to-wall with fancy resorts, cheap eats, gigantic malls and movie theators, and cheap lodging. Tuk-tuk driver and pad thai vendors holler at you while you do your best to walk the crowded sidewalks filled with tourists, and vendors. Its chaos galore and definitely an intense party area with lots of bar with ridiculously cheap drinks - I'm talking Toads Bar Cheap! Well almost, drink's aren't pennies but a dollar for a draft is more like it.
Instead of staying in Patong, we stayed in Phuket Town, uninhabited by tourists but contained some overflow from people who's flights were cancelled due to the state of emergency in Bangkok and the protests at Phuket airport. The town is cute, and cozy and very very Thai. It was relaxing and we treated ourselves to the 50% discount at the hotel spa experiencing for the first time a Tropical Fruit Body Scrub. I don't know what was in it, but it smelled deeeelicious like lemongrass, and fruit with some milky mixture and exfoliating beads. The women massaged us with the mixture for an hour scrubbing our pores (which could get painful) and letting us soak in the scrub mixture to soften our skin. I don't know what was in it, but it was awesome after rinsing to feel our skin and how baby soft it was after the treatment.
Karon Beach was also pretty dope being real low-key and since it's low tourist season lots of the restaurants are either empty or closed. So we got real real personal service getting the recommended watermelon/pineapple smoothies which are so refreshing and serenaded by a Thai live 1-member band who was so amazing and bad at the same time, we went back two nights in a row.
At sunset we went jogging up and down the beach and stumbled upon a park filled with Thai men playing pickup! Of course, since it's PRE SEASON! We jumped in. Rudy better watch out as my skills have only improved with age and laziness. Fuj scored the first 3 goals of the pickup game we ended up having 5 of the 6 goals scored! Sweden 2009 and we're already preparing, sort of. The men were quick and fast and the goals were tiny. We played shirts and skins...though it was rather difficult to tell shirts b/c some of the men had shirt sized tattoos across their backs...deceptive tactic I'll say. It was fun and so great to play soccer again!...on the beach...behind a gorgeous sunset.
It was finally nice for a change to interact with THai men in a way in which they weren't hassling you, hitting on you, or trying to make you uncomfortable. They just wanted to play and they let us play! It was grrreat.
