Adventures in Thailand: Sunday

It snowed all day today. It's cold and gloomy outside and I spent my evening cramming English lessons into uncooperating kids in a noisy classroom. One week ago, I was far, far away from cold and chaos, and now all I have is the photos to remember it by. I spent last week in sunny, beautiful Phuket Island in southern Thailand. I flew into Bangkok Saturday and took the next plane to the island, arriving late Saturday night. I would be in Phuket until Thursday night when I would fly back to Bangkok. I would fly back to Seoul the following night.

Day one was far from adventurous. The above picture pretty much sums up how I spent the first part of the day. This is Patong Beach, and the water really is this blue. This is a touristy place, which is flooded with Europeans. The old fat men in speedo watching is truly world class in this spot. There are also topless women walking up and down the beach, none of them under the age of 45. Still, one could argue that boobs are boobs. I sat in this spot for hours, watching people and the ocean while sipping on beers, soaking up sunshine, and eating fresh fruit. One doesn't need to get up to do any shopping as there are locals walking up and down the beach selling all kinds of stuff.

I could only take so much lazing about, so after lunch I walked down the beach and did some exploring. I walked past the sandy beach to a more rocky area that was inhabited by thousands of mud crabs. As I walked along, I could hear them pinching and snapping all over the place. It sounded as if someone had poured a whole bunch of milk into a gigantic bowl of rice krispies, to wax poetic. The little fella pictured got caught in the open, and had nowhere to hide. We stood there for a couple of minutes and just stared at each other. I think he was curious in that he had never seen an American before. As long as I didn't try to molest him, he didn't move. When I tried to touch him, he snapped at me and scurried away. He's smart, because I probably would have killed him. (You all should know I'm joking as I wouldn't hurt a fly...unless it made me angry)

I walked down the coast a couple of miles or so, playing with the crabs, soaking up the sun, and stopping to gape at the unbelievable scenery. This place is more beautiful than I can put into words. The pictures don't come close to doing it justice, although there will be many nice ones in the days to come. On top of the natural beauty and warm hospitality there is the huge added bonus of eating Thai food every meal. This was the afternoon snack I ate in a beach front restaurant--absolutely delicious. I also ordered a pina colada at this beach side restaurant and the bartender used mix--WTF??? I was expecting fresh pineapple and coconut milk and the bartender pulls out the Mr. and Mrs. T. That would be the last "tropical" drink I would order this week.

Later that evening, after cleaning up at the hotel, I did what any red-blooded whitey would do in my situation--I got cornrows. This photo was taken on my hotel balcony by a staff member. She asked me where I was from and I said: "St. Louis. Say, do you know Eileen?". Oddly enough, she had never heard of her. I went out on the town that evening and had to fight off the Thai women with a stick. Apparently, the cornrows have magical powers. In reality, the women I was beating away with a stick were prostitutes, but it's nice to imagine. The braids would prove to be very practical as the week went on, however, as I didn't have to mess with my hair at all, nor did I have to deal with it getting in my face. That has got to be the manliest thing I've ever written in any of my journals.

I booked a trip to Phi Phi Island the following morning, departing at 7:30. After a night of beers, overt come-ons from desperate women, and a Man U. game (I settled in a pub and watched the live match with a bunch of English hooligans), I cranked up the a/c and went to sleep in my king sized resort bed. Just for good measure, I'll include one more scenic shot, which is what I dreamed about that evening.