I was a bit sad to leave the charm of Chiang Mai, but heading to Phuket was so exciting as it's a place I've never been but have always wanted to go. I have grown to really love Thailand - the land is beautiful, the cuisine is one of my favorites and the people are the friendliest on Earth. It's incredible to think that this lovely place was so negatively impacted by what recorded history has rated as the one of the worst natural disasters of our time. The statistics are actually mind-numbing -- a 9.1 magnitude earthquake that triggered other earthquakes around the world (as far away as Alaska), a shift of the Earth on its axis by 1 cm and 228,000 (!) people killed. Admittedly, I knew little about Thailand (and Phuket specifically) prior to that disasterous tsunami on 24 December 2004.
I was expecting to see destruction and despair amidst the tropical beauty. But strangely, there was very little damage, at least that I could see. (That said, Phuket was not as damaged as other areas; most of the damage was a bit north of Phuket in Khao Lak with the next worst hit being Phi Phi Island, where we spent one day.) The 4 days spent in and around Phuket were a dream.
Day One had us arriving in the evening to the Westin Siray Bay. Typical of Christian and me, we avoided the hotel restaurant and went straight into town to have dinner at the Blue Elephant Phuket. I had the pleasure of dining with friends at the Bangkok Blue Elephant in August, but Christian had never been. The dinner was a delightful adventure in Thai cuisine (I had duck red curry), despite our utter exhaustion while there.
 |
| Me at the resort at sunset |
Day Two (Valentine's Day) was spent lounging by the pool all day, soaking up sun and reading. (By the way, I am reading the newest Jennifer Egan book called "Look At Me". It's quite good.) When traveling with an Italian, it goes without saying that you will eat Italian food if there's good Italian food to be had. This was something I fully supported after 5 straight days and nights of Thai, so we headed to Salvatore's in old town Phuket. I had a classic spaghetti & meatballs dish that was divine.
Day Three was ushered in with a glorious thai "luk pra kob" massage that combines heated balls of thai herbs wrapped in muslin with deep Thai tissue massage. HEAVEN! More time at the pool then led us to an early departure to Christian's evening of wondrous fun at FantaSea, Thailand's version of Disneyland. It's hard to describe the sheer Asian cheesiness of it, but rest assured it fully delivered on anything you can imagine. The highlight was feeding a baby tiger with a bottle!
 |
Me at FantaSea!
Day Four was the highlight of the Phuket trip, though it admittedly started off rocky. We planned a day trip to explore the islands off Phuket - Phi Phi Island, Monkey Island, Maya Beach, etc. I was looking forward to this as much as Christian wanted to go to FantaSea, which is ALOT. After arriving at the marina, we learned that our boat was inoperable. After waiting 2 hours, the manager cancelled the trip. After declaring that this was a total letdown given it was our last full day, he whispered that he had arranged a smaller boat to leave in one hour. Salvation!!
The manager of the marina decided to come with us (it ended up being 8 of us) and gave us a private guided tour. We stopped first at Mosquito Island to snorkle, then found our way to Phi Phi Don (the larger of the two Phi Phi Islands) for a seaside lunch. After lunch I put my toes in the water and collected shells (see photo below). We then made a quick stop at Monkey Beach, so named because of the monkeys that live there. We, unlike most others, were respectful of the fact that the monkeys are wild animals and this beach is their home. (To that end, we were not unhappy when a man set his towel right in their spot of rocks and was quickly bombarded with aggressive monkeys! He wasn't hurt...) More snorkeling followed at Phi Phi Lae, where "The Beach" was filmed. It was easily the best snorkeling of my life - sea anemones, crazy colored fish, sea cucumbers, beautiful coral, crystal clear waters - surrounded by jutting limestone cliffs. I had a banana and the fish fed right from my hands! Our last stop was Maya Beach, which featured my favorite part of the day - a temple built to offer food and drinks to the lost souls of those who perished in the tsunami but were not from the island. Simple and touching.
|
 |
| Searching for shells |
 |
| A monkey from Monkey Beach |
 |
| Limestone stalagmites |
 |
| A temple providing food and drink for the lost souls from the tsunami @ Maya Beach |
 |
| Me and longboats on Maya Beach |
 |
| Beautiful |
The ride back to the marina was during sunset. I sat on the back of the boat while it bumped atop the waves with the wind in my hair, salt on my skin and a Chang beer in my hands. Peaceful and perfect.
No comments:
Post a Comment