Phuket Safari

I have registered with the Canadian government that I am in Thailand, and Lucas is doing the same. We are heading to Phi Phi Island tomorrow for a couple days, and if things aren't cleared up by the time we're heading back to Phuket, we're going to be in contact with our travel agent in Korea and see what he can do for us. Everyone here in Thailand are pretty confident that this is going to be over soon. The government here doesn't seem to be moving very fast, but no one seems to be in panic mode here. Flights do leave Phuket for somewhere like Kuala Lampur in Malaysia, so we might see if we can get things diverted to there. But I'll be very sad if I have to do that, because I quite want to go to Bangkok and see the Tiger Temple and Floating market. We still have another week for things to get back to normal, but I'm sure there is going to be quite a backlog of people trying to get out.

We made it to Phuket Town. It is definately a lot shabbier than Patong beach. There are no young and hip beach bums around here, in fact, there really aren't many people at all. I guess it's just a drop off point on your way to Phi Phi or Krabi. We did visit the outside of the hotel that was used in the move The Beach. Lucas and I have been trying to find the book, and we're going to have to watch it when we get back, I think I remember seeing it at his house... When we were leaving Patong, we weren't really sure how to get to Phuket Town. We were going to the bus terminal (that goes here), but then we were told to look for the blue bus on the beach road, and flag it down. We did that, and it was a sawngthaew, which is like a bongo truck with seats in the back. it was only 25 baht, so that was good for me! I kind felt like a chicken being carted around though.

Today, Lucas and I went on a half day "safari" around Phuket island. It was a lot of fun, once it got started. It was only him and I, and the guide was 30-45 minutes late picking us up. And it seemed like it was put together at the last minute, because she had a different brochure than us, and there were some things on there that we didn't want to do. But she made it so we did the good things.

First we went to go elephant trekking. I got to ride on my elephant!! I was a little scary at times because the elephant would go on a steep hill, and we would almost be falling out of our seats! It was a quick ride, but we had a lot to pack into the day. After the ride, we fed the elephants some bananas. They would just take it out of our hands with their trunks. The end of their trunks are quite nimble and like a finger. I got lots of elephant snot on my hands trying to feed them. There was also another elephant nearby that was dancing for us, and when we would take a picture, he would smile. Elephants really are smart animals.

Next was a monkey show. The monkey would put his hands together as if saying sa wa dii khap (hello in Thai). Then he would do random things with a bike, or coconuts. We even got to shake hands with one of them, as you can see from the pictures.

From there we went to a jewellry store. Just like Korea and China, we had to go to some stupid jewelly store and get pressured into buying something. We tried to just look, but of course, someone is hammering on you to buy something, so we just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible, which we did.

We then went to the Gibbon Rehabilitation Centre. This is a place where gibbons (a type of small ape) is made ready to go back into the wild. Gibbons in Phuket have been extinct since the 80's, and people here, even though it is illegal, keep them for pets or as tourist attractions. It was good to see someone taking the time to take care of them. Some of the animals would never return to the wild becuase they had been maimed by previous owners. It was horrible to see.

Beside the rehabilitation centre was a waterfall - Bang Pba Waterfall. It was a little climb through the jungle, but we made it, and it was refreshing to see. There were some people swimming below the falling water. Just just had a quick pitstop there. We then drove to a river where we went in a blow up canoe. The tide was low, and it was a mangrove forest. It was quite peaceful as we were the only ones around. There was a boat nearby that had been brought up the river from the tsunami a couple years back. We had dinner at the owner's house, and it was lovely. I love how so many things here are served with an orchid for presentation. At the house, the owner had many orchid plants, just growing wild. I keep thinking how expensive orchids are back home, and here, it's nothing. We even had a visitor frog and many geckos throughout dinner. The road out to this place was insane. A small dirt road, that was pretty much potholed throughout. The poor van we were in.... Lucas said that the van reminded him of the Suburban, becuase of the smell, and diesel, and the way that it drove.

I find it very interesting in Thailand that the majority of business have a small shrine outside, or inside, the store. They all have incense burning and offerings. There are also always a picture of the king and queen. In houses, over bridges. He is definately loved. It is unfortunate though that he is doing nothing about the protests at the airport. I can't believe that they have gone on this long really. An airport, especially for Thailand, is extremely important. Another interesting thing is that you can buy birth control pills here in the aisle of a drugstore. You don't need to talk to a pharmacist or anything. Just walk in, do to the aisle, and pay. Easy. Imagine trying to do that in Korea where you have to go to a pharmacist just to get a 10 pack of tylenol or IB profin!!! Guys in Thailand seem to have insane nails. Either their thumb, or pinky will have a ridiculously long nail on it. Seems like something that would be perfect for cocaine. I highly doubt that's the case considering the laws about drugs here. I've discovered that I really really like Tom Yum soup, a red sweet and sour soup that is beyond. Thai food is awesome!