Phuket & Singapore 2009 – Day 3 – Phuket Island Tour
We woke to David’s phone alarm, it had been set for 8am, I rolled over to look out side.hmmm it’s still dark, yes David set it to 8am Aussie time it was only 5am here.We reset the alarm & went back to sleep. We got up again & readied for breakfast, we had to see reception for our breakfast vouchers & while there we paid for a 1 hour internet access (100b), as we were running late we met up with our tour rep before breakfast, we arranged four tours for various days said goodbye & went to eat as Brendan was starving. Breakfast was a buffet & had a large selection of both western & oriental foods. Brendan had a lot of attention as his eyes were red again from being in the chlorine..we will have to go to one of the many pharmacies here. While we were eating it poured, torrential rain for a good hour.
We had polished off a huge breakfast & Brendan was back in the pool, the rain had stopped & it was sunny, hot & humid (which was a good thing as all the washing I put on the gate & banisters were now all soaking wet again) David & I sat outside in the courtyard & watched while having a few drinks & a platter of fruit. At 12.30 we went up to the Hi-Pub for a quick lunch – a plate of hot chips & drinks. At 1pm our tour guide met us in the lobby & we hopped in the mini bus, where we met Mr. & Mrs. Thomas from Melbourne, the other person on the tour was a no show. We had a quick tour of the streets of Patong & Kata beach ,we even saw some elephants on the street.
First stop was at Karon viewpoint where we had a picturesque view of some of the beaches & shoreline, & Brendan & I had a close encounter with a large Sea Eagle – for 100b.
We then drove along the hilly windy roads that led us to Sunset point where we saw Turtle island & a pretty cove. Brendan was more interested in the geckos around the buildings! Next was the Wat Chalong temple, I was told when we booked the tour that I had to wear clothes covering my shoulders & knees, we were standing with our guide – with sweat pouring down my back, its not hot but very humid, getting instructions when bang, bang, bang.we all looked at each other- what the…but it was explained that it was only fire crackers (for good luck )- ok.. felt much better, it was noisy & smokey, they seemed to go off nearly every 10 mins or so. We took our shoes off and went inside 2 of the temples there.we only had 1/2 hour to look around so we didn’t see everything, then into the bus & travelled to a cashew factory where we tasted the juice from the cashew apple – it was a bit bitter, I didn’t like it & Brendan wouldn’t try it at all, we saw how they manually get the cashew nuts – very slow process, no wonder they are expensive, we then had a taste test of various types on display, David bought some salted ones & Brendan really liked the chocolate ones & we bought some honey/ sesame coated ones- which tasted a lot like peanut brittle. Next stop the gem store, which is supposed to be the Largest jewellery store in the world! We were shown a film on how & where they find the gems & how they make various jewellery, then into the factory where we saw some of the men at work making different pieces- then into the showroom where you can purchase all types of items.There were some very nice pieces- I got a price on a sapphire necklace it was about $AUD 1100 – we then walked thru the rest of the showroom quickly. We said goodbye to our guide Oh & were taken back to the hotel by the driver. As soon as we opened the door Brendan was changed into his swimmers & straight into the pool. David downloaded the photo’s & I washed a few of our clothes in the sink & hung them out to dry on the banister. We changed & went for dinner, David had Mussulman chicken & I had a garlic/pepper chicken – yes I tried the local food, but played it safe, Brendan had a bit of both. It was happy hour & was 2 drinks for the price of 1,
David had the local Singh beer & I had a Deevana dream cocktail- wasn’t too bad.
Brendan played around with the singer & waiter which made the evening fly bye.
Back to the room for a goodnight sleep as we need to get up early for our canoeing tour in the morning while Brendan was in the shower David was channel surfing & much to his surprise found an old Steve Irwin show in Thai – well there you go the things you see on TV.
