delayed post: krabi and phuket...

Sorry for the delay folks. Was caught up in a few things and forgot about updating my time in Phuket, Thailand. Not really much to say since we didn't spend that many days there. Spent half a day at Krabi and then moved on to Phuket where we spent about 1 and a half days. Krabi is province in south of Thailand at the shore of the Andaman Sea. Not really sure how far it is from Phuket but it took the ship about 2 hours or so. As Krabi did not have a proper port/dock, we actually anchored a kilometer or so off the beach. From there the ship arranged fisherman boats to take passengers to a few locations. Since it was a short trip, I opted for a ride to Poda Island which is off Krabi for some beach bumming. I was very pleased with my choice as Poda Island is simply breathtaking. Its a small island very near Krabi. There is nothing there except a small wooden restaurant and nature. What more could you ask for. We went very early (9am) as well so the island was deserted. Sadly at about noon the boats with tourists started coming in and the calmness gone. Before that however we had a great time bumming around. The sand was nice and soft and the water crystal blue. It was great for snorkelling but we didn't have any gear. No worries though as you could see the fish as you walked along the shore or swam. I really miss the calmness I felt on that island. Sigh. If only we had something like that off Malaysia.

After about 7 hours or so in Krabi the ship continued its way to Phuket. We reached their deep sea port around 7pm or so. After having a good dinner at the ship we followed some of the passengers on a trip to Patong Beach which was supposed to be the best place in Phuket for night life and shopping. Its also one of the major places that was hit by the tsunami recently but when you go there now you wouldn't even realise it. Everything is all cleaned up and back to normal. The only signs would be the tsunami evacuation notices and the dumb tsunami photos and shirts sold by the traders. Now the shopping isn't much to shout about as whatever pirated stuff they had there was cheaper in Malaysia anyways. The night life was pretty interesting I guess. Not what you would expect but it works. They had this street with about 200 odd bars side by side. The bars were little small ones with a bar table, some barstools, some tables and chairs and not to mention some Thai ladies to please the men. All the bars were practically the same and they seem to do pretty well. Patong Beach was a let down of sorts because it was too touristy plus not to mention sleazy. I guess it would've been better if I went with my mates instead. One thing I did like about Patong were the massages. Oooh la la and they were pretty cheap as well. Had some good massages there. Both that night and the next evening. We headed back to ship about midnite or so. Wish we could've stayed longer as things picked up as it got late but the ship was like 40 minutes from Patong.

The next morning we joined another tour arranged by the cruise. This time it was to an elephant safari, followed by Wang Talang (which is a famous precious stones outlet) and Wat Chalong (one of the most famous temples in Thailand), then some Thai buffet lunch, before heading back to Patong for a couple of hours. Out of which we only enjoyed the elephant safari, the temple and lunch. It was a great experience riding an elephant up and down rough terrain. For such a huge beast they are really agile and tough yet give out a nice fuzzy feeling. Its nice to see how Thai people especially the mahouts taking care and respecting the elephants. After the elephant safari we headed out to Wang Talang. This was a waste of time unless of course you were looking for some precious stones. We spent like 30 minutes there and headed to have our lunch. This was another highlight as the buffet setup was amazing. I've never seen so many selections before and majority of them were of yummy. There were japanese, chinese, indian, western and god knows what other cuisines layed out. Most of us took the oppurtunity to stuff ourselves silly especially after the exhaustion from the elephant ride and heat. After stuffing our faces we headed to Wat Chalong. This temple is known to be touristy as its the most biggest and ornate monastery around. I must say the architecture is really beautiful not to mention the tonnes of lovely Buddha statues inside. Would have enjoyed that part of the trip more if the weather was cooler but it was just too hot to hang about. Plus we only had like 30 minutes or so. Nothing much to blog after the temple though as Patong in the day is worse than at night. Its just meant for shopaholics. Nevertheless I did take the oppurtunity to enjoy another round of massage. Hehe. Nothing like a good rub down. ;)

All and all I enjoyed my short stint at Thailand. Although I think I would have enjoyed Pattaya or Bangkok more. Maybe next time for a full vacation and not via a cruise. More time on land then. Alrighty, time to have my beauty sleep. Gotta wake up early tommorrow to get hold of my PSP! Below are some pictures we took in Thailand. Gd'nite...