THROUGHLY enjoying our first days stay in Phuket Kevin and I woke up this morning wondering what the day would have instore for us. By the time I am now writing this blog entry, the answer is a lot more than I expected. I’m pleased to say though that once again Thailand managed to astound both of us with is truely amazing nature and fantastic scenary.
Waking up at about 11am we decided to go and get some brunch at a restaurant in the Karon area and then head on to a waterfall and then perhaps to a beach we hadn’t visited yesterday. As it turned out the morning was spent somewhere neither of us wanted to end up, the police station!
Fear not though, it was through no fault of my own!
We pulled up at a restaurant called ‘The Little Mermaid’ had some breakfast and planned to get some gasoline for the bikes before heading off. As we approached Kevin noticed there was a white piece of paper sticking out between his handlebars. On closer inspection we noticed that it was a parking ticket and eventually realised that we had parked in an area which on a sign further down the road wasn’t supposed to be parked in. (For some reason in Thailand depending on whether the date is odd or even you can either park on the left of the right hand side of the road. Sadly neither of us knew of this law and had we known, neither of us actually knew what date it was)
Anyway, putting the tickets in our pocket we decided to deal with them later and carry on with our day. Sadly it didn’t quite work out that way when we realised that our bikes had been chained together (presumably to prevent us from disappearing without paying the ticket, but more likely because we were forgeign) Unaware of who had ticketed our bikes, and also how we were actually going to get out of the situation we trooped back to the hotel in the boiling midday sun and explained what had happened.
Thankfully the lady behind the desk willingly voulenteered to take us to the Police station to pay the fine which was 500 Baht. After a twenty minute drive to get to the station we found the ‘Pay Fine’ desk, filled in a form and handed over the money (which rather entertaingly and sumwhat unsurprisingly ended up in the ticketing officers top pocket)
The guy radioed for someone to come and unlock our bikes and by the time we’d been dropped off, walked back down to the bikes and had a quick drink with the bikes in view we’d had them unlocked. We returned to the bar to finish our drinks and then got the shock of our lives when we went back to the scooters only to find that they’d been moved from where we put them! Both of us figured that they’d probably been picked up by the same police officer again for some other stupid reason but we were soon informed that they had been moved by someone who was trying to reverse their car out from behind them.
In the interest of not losing our bikes again we got some gas and hit the road down to Kata beach which is just south of where we are staying. After out visit to the station we both felt we needed to cool off and while Kevin took a swim I walked down the beach and took some pictures of yet more picturesque background. I’m pretty such that I have taken a lot of ‘computer background’ photos while I have been here but someone the ones I took this afternoon on Kata beach really some up this island paradise.
With much of the afternoon left to spare we decided to hunt for the ‘Big Buddha’ which sits on a hill somewhere in Phuket and following the road a bit further south back towards the police station we soon discovered a few signs and headed north (as in up) towards the Buddha. The road was pretty steep at some points and I wasn’t entirely sure that my ‘hog’ would make it up the hill but after a lot of windy road and some more spectacular views we finally got to the top to see the incredible sight that is a big marble Buddha on top of potentially one of the highest peaks in Phuket.
We walked through a temple which was decked out with many of the things we’d seen on Buddha’s birthday back in Suwon and then we ascended up a few more steps to discover a 45ft statue of Buddha with people all around continuing to work to finish off the statue of their God. We stood and marvelled at the views for half an hour and I took plenty of pictures which you will be able to see on my photo gallery. The view from up there of the whole of Phuket was a truely amazing view and I can liken it only to the view of Paris which I got from standing on top of Tour Monparanase. Just this time it was views of beautiful beaches and clear blue water.
Heading back down we decided to go towards food and after driving on the open road for a little while we headed back towards Patong Beach where we’d spent some time yesterday. We got a nice little pizza from one of the places by the beach and then decided to sit out on the sand under an umbrella for a little while as our food settled. I watched a couple of people go out jet-skiing which I have to admit looks very fun and I was also lucky enough to see a couple of people go up parasailing which also looks like a blast. Not sure I would have the daring to do either though!
Sitting for about an hour or so on the beach we caught our breath from the excitement of the morning and decided to get on our bikes once more and head towards a waterfall which we’d seen on the map. We’d been pointed in the direction of the nearby mountain by one of the guys we brought gas from and eventually after a ten minute ride or so we reached the bottom of the fall.
Climbing up a few thousand steps we were soon at the top of the waterfall which provided us get again with some terrific views. As we climbed further and further up, it was more like being in the jungle as the humidity got much greater and also the trees started to become much thicker.
Me and Kevin got to the top, dipped our feet in the water and tried to take in the beaufitul sight of a waterfall which we pretty much had to ourself. It’s incredible to think that there is a river running right through the mountain and we weren’t even able to climb to the top of it but it was an amazing sight. The water which we put our feet in was so cool and clear, the sounds all around us we very atmospheric and it was a sight like I have never seen in my life. Certainly not one I’ll forget in a hurry.
It’s strange to think that with all the beaches we have seen, we are essentially in a third world country which along time ago was all jungle. Seeing the virtually untouched waterfall helped bring that back to me and I realise how lucky I am to have been able to see such a sight on my journeys.
Hitting the road again we rode our bikes around in a square and hitting speeds of up to 100km/h we were driving along some main roads alongside other cars which was a very auxillerating ride. We headed back towards Surin Beach and despite thinking we’d missed out on finding it after a thirty minute ride we eventually found a side street which led us to the beach.
Arriving at the beach we were just in time to watch the sunset on what I reckon is definitely the most beautiful beach I have ever seen in my life. Whilst I was in Barbados I saw some fantastic beaches but this one was out of this world. From ear to ear all I could see was white sand and gentle waves turning over in the sea. The sunset made the view even more fantastic and as we walked along the beach with no-one around we ran out of superlatives to describe how amazing the scenary was. The sand on Surin beach was perfect, the water was warm and completely clear. No litter, no seaweed, no nothing, just perfectly pure and clean water perfect for swimming in. We walked out towards the farside of the beach where I was able to climb on some rocks and get a better view of the fantastic sunset.
Feeling hungry we headed back to land and stopped at a nearby restaurant. I had some delicious sweet and sour chicken which was a perfect way to end the day. Feeling tired (and no doubt eager to blog about what we’d just seen) the pair of us rode back to Karon Beach via the usual chaos of Patong and I can say I am very much looking forward to what tomorrow will bring.
Hopefully we’ll remember to park on the right side of the road....
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