Big Buddha
I thought the girls were going to be wanting to sunbathe and just chill out at the beach but apparently not, well that was fine with me, I’m never one for sunbathing anyway. So this morning’s activity is to apparently hire mopeds and drive around the island a bit.
Neither Amanda nor Erin had ever driven a bike before although Amanda had at least been on the back of one. The mopeds here are automatic which for some is easier but it also means you really have to be careful with the acceleration if you’re not holding onto the brake.
Erin didn’t want to have her own bike and to be honest I really wasn’t comfortable taking a passenger so Amanda said she would take Erin on the back and we set off to find bikes.
We paid our money and hoped for the best and this is how it went……..!
Erin jumped on the back of Amanda’s bike for Amanda to realize she wouldn’t be able to ride with a passenger so she went to hop on my bike for me to realise just what I knew, that I really wasn’t comfortable with someone on the back. Whilst all this is happening though Amanda turns the throttle, releases the break and rides straight into my leg and while I’m doing my best to keep the bike upright with Erin on the back Amanda loses control and both her and the bike end up on their side! Not the best of starts and considering there is no insurance cover I’m really not sure this is such a great plan. But filled with holiday confidence Amanda and I take off on our own just down the road to get the feel of it all. Back at the hire shop Erin decided she will give it a try on her own and after a little wobble she managed about 3 feet before deciding it wasn’t for her and I have no idea how the next bit happened but somehow she managed to get off of the bike whilst still hanging on to it, turn the throttle and the bike with a mind of its own then mounted the pavement while she hung on for dear life! I know I shouldn’t laugh but it really was the funniest 5 minutes in a while! In the space of literally 5 minutes both Amanda and Erin had managed to crash both bikes…….and they wanted to ride around the island on these?! The owner of the hire shop came out with our money in her hand clearly not wanting us to take the bikes and after some gentle persuasion I managed to convince the girls that perhaps car hire would be better and in all fairness judging by their past record I offered to drive the car as in Thailand they drive on the same side as us, I’m not sure I could take any more near misses today.
The bike owner was glad to get her bikes back and fortunately the car hire lady hadn’t seen all the excitement!
Coastline of Phuket
So off we went. We didn’t really have much of a plan as to where we were going, it was just a case of having a look around. We drove first down the coast going through Kamala and then Patong beach. Patong beach is where all the tourists go and it is really not that great at all. It’s full of ‘go go’ bars and English restaurants and Brits with their shirts off, when really they should keep them on (!) and rows and rows of sunbeds! Not my idea of a beautiful Thailand beach that’s for sure. The LP describes it as Costa del Soul-less, I think that just about says it all.
We didn’t stop and continued down to one of the southern points of the island to the aquarium there. After a stop for lunch we just about made it to the aquarium before it closed and apart from 5 baby turtles in a relatively small tank it wasn’t the worst I’ve ever seen, not by a long shot. I don’t know what it is about aquariums but I don’t seem to mind them in the same way that I mind zoos.
Southern coast of Phuket
The three of us had been talking about perhaps going over to Ko Phi Phi, another island a 3 hour boat ride from Phuket for a couple of days, just to relax a bit and maybe do some snorkeling.
So after visiting the Bid Buddha set on a hilltop near Chalong we made our way back to make some plans.
Big Buddha
Now I know when I travel I tend to sleep and eat pretty cheaply but it does seem that Amanda especially has a very different budget to me and also to Erin. So back on the hotel computers, while Erin and I are looking at GHs Amanda’s looking at hotels and hotels on Phi Phi cost a lot! Whilst we were looking though it also appears that Phi Phi has been ‘touristed out’ and by all accounts is not so great anymore, again full of bars and rubbish etc.
Amanda was pretty adamant she wanted to go to Phi Phi but I wasn’t that keen and neither was Erin and in the end we managed to convince her otherwise and made plans to go to Ko Lanta, a smaller, nicer island nearby. Now for the accommodation though. Even on Lanta, Amanda’s looking at quite expensive places and Erin and I are looking at quirky beach bungalows. In the end we found a compromise and headed off for dinner.
Thing is in a lot of places it’s the cheap quirky places that are the best! ;-)
No comments:
Post a Comment