Phuket

Phuket is absolutely beautiful. Surrounded by clear turquoise seas, it is divided into many districts.  Roads wind up the hillside which is rich with lush forests. Phuket is a built up industrial area but still has lots of natural environment.

In Phuket I stayed with Don, a friend of a friends, his wife Boom, and their son Calum.  They graciously picked me up from the airport and took me for a tour around the island. Even though I had never met them before in my life I was instantly comfortable and and felt like we were old friends. After we had lunch and had done a bit more touring of the island we went back to the house to get settled in. Once that was done we took the motorcycles up to "big Buddha."

It wasn't until we were heading towards Phukets view points that we got stuck in the rain. We pulled over and hid in a small restaurant until the rain subsided. My time spent in Phuket was very relaxing.  I went to the beach, explored Phuket town, and watched movies with the family.  Don and Boom lent me one of their motorcycles for me to get around the island. The island is fairly easy to get around, all except Phuket town. The town is a maze of streets which loop around each other. Don dropped me off there before going to work since I most likely would have gotten lost and never have found my way back out if I took the motorcycle.

Once I had finished wandering around the town I went to the bus station and took the bus to the aquarium.  However after the bus driver dropped off the other two passengers he instructed me to come sit in the front seat. I asked him why since I had never heard of them doing this before, to which he replied "for air conditioning".  I thought "ok, reasonable." Once I got in he reached over across me and re-shut my door saying sorry. It wasn't until he yet again reached over to lock my door that I started to feel uncomfortable. He was clearly fiddling with the door just so he could continue touching my boob. I mentioned I could get it and pushed his arm away. I was contemplating about getting out but didn't due to the fact we were in the middle of no where.  When he dropped me off at the aquarium he did the same thing. I quickly got out of the vehicle and ran inside the aquarium.

After spending an hour or so inside I was horrified to find that the bus driver was still there. I quickly walked around the back of the building and was thankful to find some staff members. I asked them for help and told them my situation. They called me a taxi that took me back to Don's place.  There are always those moments in life where you want your parents, either to bail you out, protect you or just to comfort you. That was defiantly one of those moments. Even though he had just touched my boob with his forearm I felt extremely violated.  I have grown immensely since I have started to travel. I have learned that no matter what situation I am in there is always a way out. I have also become a lot more confident and learned I don't always have to be nice. It doesn't hurt me to tell people to piss off once in a while and stick up for myself.

Once I got back to Don's I realized I didn't have the house keys with me. I was lucky to find the window to the room I was staying in was unlocked so I climbed through that. Another thing that Thailand has taught me is how to semi-break into a house. I have got really good at climbing in windows since I keep managing to get locked out. The evening I was planning on taking the bus to Bangkok to catch my flight to Phuket we accidentally locked the keys in the truck out at the village. Mon and I went with a guy from the village back to the house to get the spare keys and back which was about an hours journey.

I left Kamphaeng Phet at eleven o'clock in the evening by bus to Bangkok which was supposed to be five hours. However it only took four which caused me to arrive at the airport at three in the morning. I then had to wait in the airport for six hours for my plane to take off, none of which I slept. I arrived in Phuket at eleven o'clock in the morning with only four hours of sleep in the last twenty four hours. I managed to get two hours on the bus and feel asleep right away once I was on the plane. I also had a nap at Don's place later on in the afternoon. I woke up with my mouth wide open and my head bent back over the couch. That's a clear sign I was super tired! :P

One of the best parts about Phuket was driving around on the scooter. It was so beautiful and I find the traffic a lot more organized than other parts of Thailand. They, however, have no idea how to use a round about which they have a few of.  To get to the beach I went to, I had to go through a round about.  One of the scooters that was in front of me tried to sneak in and got clipped by one of the cars. Lucky enough he stayed in control since I was right behind him. That could have been a disaster. I found it very easy to get to the beach and made the journey daily during my stay but had a hell of a time finding my way back to the house. The road that lead to the entrance of the complex was hidden rather well and took me ages to find. I spent two hours one day trying to find the damn place and ended up getting extremely burnt while doing so.  I really enjoyed staying with Don, Boom, and Calum.  I loved just relaxing and hearing all about Don's crazy travels and watching movies with the family.

Boom and I went to the central festival which is a huge shopping mall in Phuket and went to the first class cinema. Yup that's right there is actually this incredible thing called a first class movie theatre and boy is it amazing. You walk into a private lounge where you are served a beverage and a buffet before the movie starts.  The theatre has about twelve dozen seats which are reclinable.  You receive a blanket and pillow, and have popcorn and pop delivered to you.  In total the first class theatre cost 600 baht which is about twenty dollars in Canadian.  That's reasonably cheap considering that's about how much it costs to get into a theatre back home after purchasing snacks.