Things got off on the wrong foot here when the deluxe bus I was on dropped me off an hour plus late in Phuket Town. It was a good long crosstown walk, lugging my gear to the local jeepney pickup area, and when I got there, they had stopped running for the night. After being hassled and almost cheated by every tuk-tuk driver and scooter pilot (like I could fit myself, my divebag, and a backpack on the back of a scooter!) in the downtown area, a local woman took pity on me and browbeat them until one relented and gave me a fair price to get across to the west side of the island where I had a reservation at a guesthouse.
Lesson: When you are in a hired vehicle in a foreign country and you think your driver is clueless and lost, just trust yourself. Even though I only had a black and white tiny map in my SE Asia Lonely Planet Guidebook that I could barely catch glimpses of in the passing streetlights, I had a funny feeling I'd been seen some familiar looking buildings and waterfront - it didn't matter because it was a set price with no meter, but after he asked some guy directions for the third time and tried to convince me to get out at the wrong guesthouse twice, it was obvious I needed to take a stand. We wound up at a verrry expensive looking resort hotel and asked the security guard for help, he got the concierge involved and the problem was soon solved. By the time I got checked in it was almost 8:30 and I needed to hustle to find the dive shop that had been recommended to me before it closed. After the delay due to my run-in with the dog, (see Thailand Observations & Musings entry from August 23rd,) I just slipped in the door just a minute or two before they closed and got my diving set up easy as pie.
The diving was very good, vis a little worse than Koh Tao, but they do three dives a day off the boat and give you three square meals to boot!
www.diveasia.com
First day out we went to Koh Phi Phi, (where they filmed Leo DiCaprio's "The Beach") and my next day we went to Racha Yai, south of Phuket. I got buddied up with an Italian named Omar who lives in China (for 15 years,) and imports everything from shoes to steel and we really hit it off. His family owns a vineyard and makes wine outside of Venice so we had a great time talking grape, it's a good thing I got so much enological experience this spring! He is a pretty new diver, just about to start his Rescue Class and we had a good time diving together. There were six of us in the group, and the DM trusted me to lead the last two around after the rest went up when their air got low, so my streak of all 60 minute + dives is still alive. I saw a bunch of lionfish, some green turtles, all kinds of morays, big grouper and three big cuttlefish. The topper was all the octopus (Octopusses? Octopi?) - I don't think I've ever seen so many outside of a night dive, and on one of the Racha dives, there were two about a meter apart! I was in heaven and spent a good chunk of that dive right there.
After the first day of diving, Omar invited me to stay with him in his Villa at the Marriott - and once again I busted up my schedule to have some fun and spent the next four days hanging out with Omar and his Chinese girl-friends. The Marriott has to be one of the nicest places I've ever stayed, the villa had two bedrooms, two baths with big soaking tubs, a full kitchen, huge deck and was decorated lavishly. The resort itself has to be seen to be believed, so here's the website:
http://www.phuket.com/marriott/
When we weren't diving, we drove all over, (well Omar drove, the rest of us just held on! No wonder Italians love F1 so much.) visiting Koh Phang-Nga (site of James Bond's island in "Man With The Golden Gun,") Khao Lak and whooping it up all around Phuket in the evenings. Omar's been visiting Phuket for 15 years and is even friends with all the "entertainers" at the Ladyboy bars. (Where I had a blast, by the way. Don't worry Mom, I somehow resisted them but Omar and I had a hard time believing some were really men!)
Sadly, the road was calling me and after getting some meetings changed, Omar drove me to Krabi (setting a new land speed record along the way,) and we spent the day poking around before he went back to Phuket around sunset.
Two funny Phuket stories, (well there's more, but these are the two I'm telling now...)
Story 1:
On my first night, I was desperately looking for a place to have a Chang and unwind, but every bar was covered with Thai hookers and I knew that as a loner, it would be impossible to just have a beer without getting constantly hassled. Make that harassed. So I walked by a bunch of bars, examining the patrons and debating my options. I figured I'd introduce myself to some total strangers, explain my predicament and ask for some company and cover. There were lots of couples, and I didn't feel comfortable barging in on their possibly romantic evenings, there were several guy with two girl combos and I knew they'd just think I was hitting on the single girl, and all the other groups included the previously mentioned working girls. Finally, I spotted the perfect group - five western girls with lots of empties around. They turned out to be English & Dutch and laughed at my tale then invited me to sit with them and when I bought a round, they promised to "protect" me. Fat chance. Never, ever, drink with anyone from Holland. And then accept a lift home from one on the back of a scooter in an absolute pissing-down, blinding rainstorm.
Story 2:
You might remember from my Bangkok posting, that I've been trying to see the new Bourne movie and I've finally found some success. Walking up the street in Phuket, I noticed Matt Damon pointing a gun at somebody on a small TV and didn't recognize the scene. Is it? Could it really be? Yup, movie piracy at work, depriving hard-working Hollywood millionaires of their royalties, but providing me with the opportunity I'd been waiting for. So 80 Baht later, ($2.40 US,) Omar and I were watching Bourne Ultimatum, and except for someone's head blocking a bit of the bottom of the picture, it was great. Can't wait for the next sequel.
That's all for now, I'm in Ao Nang, near Krabi which is back on the mainland south of Phuket. Tomorrow morning I have an early bus/train to Malaysia and I hope to be in the Perhentian islands off the east coast of the Malay peninsula sometime tomorrow...
Ciao,
Climenze
