Phuket - our first Thai island

We got to Changhai Airport with loads of time to spare for our flight to Phuket. The EW line brings you directly there. We checked in our bags and waited for our plane. AirAsia offer super cheap flights around all of SE Asia. We also learnt from a guy in the hostel that Tiger are another one to check out. They even offer flights from Singapore to India from as little as €100 return. Its good, when planning, to think of Singapore as the gateway to Asia. With only a twenty minute delay we were up and away on route to Thailand. The journey was fortunately without event. No matter, how often I fly I still feel better with my feet on the ground. I may not come across as nervous as Jojo when flying, although I always notice how quickly my own fears tries to sneak in. The usual silence fills the air as the plane begins to descend. As soon as those wheels touch down safely and the brakes engage, the energy changes immediately with all the passengers. For one, people start talking again. 

Phuket airport looks quite simple and basic compared to some of the airports I had being in previously. A large crowd is standing in lines for Immigration when we enter. An hour later, we finally pass through, with a new 30 day visa stamped in our passports. After collecting our bags we headed out. From my experience of India and Nepal, I'm initially skeptical at ports of entry. You are immediately approached by to   people trying to offer taxis into the city. We decide to wait for the local bus, to save some money. A handful of people board the bus with us forty minutes later. It feel great to be back in Asia. Driving through the outskirts of Phuket and watching the world go by. There is something beyond magical about this part of the world. A movie is playing on a TV for the whole journey. Everyone, including Jojo is afixed. Its a movie I haven't seen yet called Wanted. Not wanting see too much of it, I stare out the window, as the tropical landscape flys by.      

We get dropped into the centre of the city and are told the direction to walk to get to our guesthouse. There's a certain Portuguese feel to the delapatated city streets. Electric cabling litters the skyline like an entangled mass of spagehetti hanging from post to post. We clamber down the road with our bags. Beads of sweat roll down our face in the intense humidty. Its not long before we see the plastic Backpacker Guesthouse sign hanging ahead of us. We enter a hallway to see an iron gateway. Through this sits a smart looking recpetion desk and foyer. After being welcomed in, ouir reservation is checked and we are show to our room. The hostel is of an excellent standard. 300 baht a night. Tasteful modern decor. The room we were shown was a ten bed dorm with A/C. You are given a locker with the room. A large clean shared bathroom with western toilets sits opposite. After showering and changing with headed down to the common room. They have free WIFI and 5 computers with free internet. The lounge is large and cosy. Large modern couches line the wall and Thai cushion and bean bags make plentiful seating for the room. A plasma screen tv sits on the wall and a broad collection of new and old movies is available for rent for free from reception. Out the back there is also a small clean kitchen and comfortable garden. A real find when you get to Phuket town. Well worth the stay. 

Myself and Jojo headed out for dinner. Within 5 mins we found a local outdoor food court on a corner. There was a great selection of foods available. We ordered our first meal and drinks in Thailand. The food cost 85 baht, which just under €2. Hard to believe it until you see it. Both a prawn and beef dish with portions of rice. It was a delicious tasty meal that went down a treat after our long day of travelling with only some salty snacks to curb our appetites. We chatted away and headed back to the backpackers after. We sat down in the enormous bean bags and watched some movies. We ended up heading to bed around 1am. The room was chilled to perfection with the powerful a/c blowing away. I was asleep within 5 mins. 

I woke a few times during the night and finally decided to get up at 6am. Jojo looked like he was freezing in his bed, so I covered him my sheet and some towels to warm him up. I also left the door ajar while I went to shower. I gave him a cuddle and told him I'd see him downstairs in a couple of hours. I grabbed my Asus and headed down to the cosy common room to catch up on some work and blogging. The hostel was bereft of anyone. I made myself a coffee and got to work. 

Jojo appeared at around 10am. We booked a moped for the day and headed off to have breakfast somewhere in the town. We drove around Phuket town until we found a another place the locals ate on a corner. Just before getting here we stopped in a more western style cafe, although the prices where to steep for our tight budget. It is said in all the books to eat where the locals eat. So, that's what we did. The only two westerners there , we munched on some pork scratchings to start and then a spicy rice dish of some sort. Absolutely delicious again and once again just over 100 baht for the two of us. 

The rest of the day we spent going from beach to beach along the west coast. Phuket island is fairly small overall. We didn't really know where we were going, although we found all the places we planned to. We began in Karon beach. An overall touristy, over run beach with deck chairs and umbrellas as far as the eye could see. The beach and water were very pretty. The views were a bit disappointing. We headed on up to Patong. Worse by a long shot. A bit of the Coste Del Sol in Asia. The main road lined with burger joints, bars and tour operators. 

We finished up in Kamala. On route we got a puncture. Thankfully, we had only passed a mechanic a couple of hundred yards before it happened. The family sat outside in a covered garage, with the TV on in the background. They told us to wait while they rang someone to come. After some initial discussion we agreed to replace the tyre with a second-hand one for 100 baht. Three generations carried on their days activities as the tyre was being replaced. Every now and again a look from them with a smile. We headed off to Kamala. All of the beaches you will find on the west coast of Thailand were hit by the Tsunami in 2004, so most have new buildings and structures alongside them. Kamala had signs for Evacuation points everywhere. As my memory serves me, I think I remember seeing a video when the giant wave hit this particular beach. I prefered Kamala to the other beaches. We jumped in and had swim in the area marked off. After we came  out we had a beer and relaxed on some loungers, as the heat of the day finally passed. It was a pleasant finale to the day. Phuket is not quite what I had being expecting from Thailand, so far. Nevertheless, it was very pleasant travelling around the island on the scooter. We headed off home with rush hour traffic just beginning to build up. Just after leaving Patong we got another puncture. We stopped and had a snack at a local food stall, while the tube was replaced. 

When we got back to the hostel we spent some time doing some research online about our next few days. Our plan had being to head to meet Peter and Shane in Krabi the next day. We hadn't booked the ferry and we were not sure if we were going to head to the Phi Phi islands first. We both thought it'd be cool to go to a full moon party if we had the option. We headed into discover some more of Phuket town. There is whole section of town we didn't even know existed. It has a collection of modern stores and restaurants. We ended up coming back and eating in another local place for dinner. We decided to go for a western option this time. We agreed to stay another night before heading off. After we got back we lay down on Jojo's bed and watched the movie Bolt. Another animated movie classic, about a superhero dog, was extremely entertaining. 

I got up early and began doing some work for Lucca Leadership. Jojo joint me in the living room and began watching the 3rd saga to Lord of the Rings. We met the owner of the scooter and he agreed to give us another day for free in exchange for the money we had spent on the scooter. It was nearly two o'clock by the time I finished up. Jojo had patiently waited and was now hungry, so our first stop was to get some food. We checked out a Pizzeria around the corner. It was a bit on the expensive side. We decided to continue searching, until we found something a bit cheaper. The remainder of the afternoon we explored the east and south of Phuket island. 

We found a fantastic buddhist temple that was preparing for its nights activities. A collection of stalls where lined up in the dusty car park selling sweets and savory foods and toys. Harmonic music filled the sweet warm air. The temple was a myriad of gold, reds, blue, greens and yellows. The whole scene was beyond beautiful. Jojo and myself parked the scooter and went inside the temple. Local people arrived to the altar with incense sticks. It was a wonderfully peaceful experience to watch and be part of. We were acknowledged by everyone with a smile and gentle bow of their head. We stayed for another little bit, taking photos and watching more and more people arriving. Jojo told of how the ambiance reminded him of similar religious get togethers in Brazil. 

We arrived back to the Phuket town well after dark. We had dinner of pizza for Jojo and steak for me. As it was to be expected, the steak was a disaster. The deep fried ice cream with chocolate sauce was delicious. We strolled around town a little more before heading home. We caught another movie in the common room and finalised some of our plans for when we were to leave the next day.