We take a small local bus to Krabi Town Bus Station to buy our ticket (180baht/$5.50) to Phuket, Thailand. Phuket is a three-hour drive from Krabi. It is west of Krabi but we have to go north before we head west then south to the middle of the western Malaysian peninsula.
Our bus to Phuket is an enormous, air-conditioned transportation bus and our backpacks are safely stowed underneath the bus. It’s nice to not have them with us. We don’t have to put them on our laps or down by our feet. It feels so freeing to only be responsible for our day bags.
Our bus to Phuket leaves at 10:20 am so we have plenty of time to buy food from some local vendors before boarding. Small, plastic bags of fresh mango slices, bottles of water, bags of six little hard-boiled speckled eggs, chicken skewers and sticky rice are available to us. Andy and I both bought the chicken for 10 baht (50 cents). An hour or two into the ride I ate the chicken, it was a little spicy but very good. It’s been fun to try so many different local foods.
Our first night in Phuket is in the old city, a few miles east from the beaches. We’re staying at the On-On Hotel, an old, nostalgic hotel built-in 1927. The name On-On means, “Happiness for visitors” and quite the hotel back in the day. Today, the hotel was made famous from the 2000 movie, The Beach with Leonardo DiCaprio.
The entrance begins by walking into a sitting area partly outside with tables and chairs, checker and chess boards around, a mounted television set playing the Beijing Olympics and a few people surviving the heat of the day. Inside you enter a big, spacious, massive bar and registration counter where we gave them our passports, sign-in and pay 250 baht ($7.50). The hotel floors are wide wooden boards with a staircase leading to the rooms above. We head up to our room to settle in and plan the rest of the day. Our room has a 12-foot ceiling with a fan, en suite bathroom, double bed, table, and chairs all in a very large space. The wide wooden boards in our room have spaces between them and if you look closely you can see into the room below. That’s kind of creepy and Oh, the bed is hard.
From the Old City to the beach our day in Phuket was delightful. The Andaman Sea was warm and had some nice waves, a beautiful sandy beach with lots of people. We learned about local transportation. For 320 baht ($10) we caught a taxi and for the same distance, we shared a songthaew and paid 10 baht (30 cents). My lunch was delicious fried noodles with chicken and for dinner, we both ordered the Phuket fried noodle dish. Too spicy for me so Andy had mine as well. We found an open market bought some tiny yellow bananas and something to drink; coconut juice and lemon juice in plastic bags with ice and a straw. This drink bag is cute and cost 30 cents.
Environmentally, it’s better than a plastic cup, isn’t it? More compact. One thing for sure it can’t stand up by itself. I tried it and it suddenly collapsed on the table. I caught it before most of the drink leaked out. What was I thinking?
Back at the hotel, we booked a raft and elephant trip for tomorrow, each paying 1440 baht ($43.00). We sat outside on the patio and watched the Bejing Olympics. I’ve been hearing about the US swimmer, Michael Phelps but haven’t had the chance to see him swim. As I’m watching the television something inside catches the corner of my eye. Now, I’m intently looking on the floor by the bar. There it is again. It’s a rat. A big, grey rat darting along the shaded edge of the bar and room. He’s heading to the steps. No, I’m not watching him anymore and I’m telling myself, “It’s okay.” “Rats, can’t climb steps.”
