We have arrived in Phuket - land of the beautiful landscape and oh so much tacky tourism! We have been here for 2 nights already and the original plan was to fly in to Phuket but then escape as quickly as possible and go to some nice, tranquil island hideaway. Instead we have decided to embrace the tack and are having an awesome time! Maybe it is because we are glad to wash away the grime of Jakarta that we are seeing Phuket through rose tinted glasses, but for some reason the European football bars and rows upon rows of sun loungers lining the beach that would normally make me run far way are just all part of the easygoing vibe here!
Plus, while many of the many western bars and fake labels clothes markets do epitomise tourism here, there is also stunning scenery and amazingly clear blue water with jumping fishes and lush green hills. Today we spent most of the morning on the beach, swimming and spotting impressive degrees of sunburn and states of undress. Brett has been busy proving his apparently finely tuned ability to tell which country people are from just from their appearance (that we can't usually prove whether he is right or not does nothing to dampen his enthusiasm). I, meanwhile have been chuntering away about how the jet skies and speed boats are dangerously close to swimmers. Yep, we are surrounded my middle aged tourists so we too have become middle aged tourists to fit in!
So far we have found that we can get far nice accommodation here for our money than in Indonesia (or maybe we've just got better at sniffing good places out). We are kind of missing our Bali coffee though, coffee here is perfectly nice but I think we're still fully addicted to the full caffeine/sugar hit that you get from a Bali coffee! Also, while Brett and his book and constant be-friending of locals saw us through quite well as far as learning Indonesian went, Thailand has us stumped! It's not even real letters! I have just about, sort of mastered thank you, but every time I say it, I either get laughed at or told how to pronounce it correctly, so I keep repeating it over again until the kind person who tried to help me just gives up! Still, we have a few weeks yet to learn more!
Brett has so far made friends with the local pancake dude (a dam good contact!) and one of the tailors who just can't comprehend how someone can be so shabbily dressed day in, day out and is convinced that Brett secretly yearns for a well-cut suit!
I have developed some hideous, mutant growth thing on my left foot! I think it must be an allergic reaction to a bite of some kind but no cream is having any recognisable effect! I'm consoling myself that my mutant foot could prove to be a valuable medical science break-through that will ultimately make me rich and famous. Or maybe I'll be like one of the X-men with super powers. Brett is sceptical, but then that's what I have to put up with, travelling with a cynical non-believer who clearly can't see a potential medical breakthrough when it's staring him in the face!
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