Phuket: Tour a la Hackings

Having been in Thailand less than 24 hours, I have made two observations. First, the concept of roads hasn't seemed to have caught on in Thailand yet. Second, there are a lot of stray dogs.

Dogs first. There are dogs everywhere! On the side of the road, in the road, on the beach, walking through town, chasing children, chasing scooters, chasing each other, being chased… You get the picture. I’m not sure why there are so many dogs. Maybe it’s a cultural thing or an economic issue. Sue and Jon tell me that the Thai’s don’t eat dog. And the rural parts are poor enough that something socialist like a pound or animal shelter wouldn't be fiscally probable. I guess neutering (and spaying) is out of the question, especially since these dogs definitely don’t belong to anyone. So I guess it’s some sort of exponential/asymptotic growth model. Needless to say, Monica is thrilled. She is definitely a dog person. I am just going to try to avoid getting bit, even though I’m up on my rabies shots.

Now the roads. They may be paved and have center markings, but they are nothing like western roads. First off it is English style (or whatever it’s called), driving on the left. There are far more scooters, mopeds and motorcycles than cars. Legally there is some sort of speed limit but it is definitely not enforced. Neither are the divider lines. Everyone is passing everyone else. Passing is not “slow vehicles to the left” either. It’s more like “pass where ever and whenever you can” to get ahead. There is very little braking, even less signaling and no helmets. I will not be driving, at all.

Petting the baby elephant

Our car ride took us from the airport down the western side of Phuket Island, along the Indian Ocean. The ocean was beautiful, but not exactly the picturesque waters you’d see on a postcard. The seas were quite choppy due to the winds of the season. Jon assured me that in the “on season” which is December to April there are a ton of tourists along those stretches of beach. I kind of preferred the empty beaches with the local children running about, the feeling of rain heavy in the air.

Along the way we met some local friendly giants. They were kind enough to let us feed them. Their owners sold us some bananas and mangoes for a very unfair price (no doubt, Sue paid). But it was worth it because I got to feed and pet an elephant baby. Their skin is surprisingly leathery, even when they are young.

Monica and I hadn't eaten a real meal (plane food definitely doesn't count) in over 20 hours. So we ate an early lunch at water’s edge at an open air restaurant. As we drove up the various owners of all the restaurants in the area came out and waved at us and yelled what I assume were greetings (could have been insults). Honestly I was so jet-lagged I thought Jon was being yelled at for parking in the wrong place. But it turns out that sort of cultural thing here, trying to entice customers by yelling at them. Jon and Sue are total masters though, they walked up to the first restaurant they saw and we sat down. Didn't even blink an eye.

The food was excellent. We stuffed ourselves silly.

Three amigos in the Indian Ocean

After eating we trotted out to splash about in the Indian Ocean for a bit. This was our only chance to actual splash in the Indian Ocean on the whole trip. For the rest of the trip, whenever we are near an ocean it will be the Pacific, on the east side of Thailand. While we were out in the surf Monica and I got our first taste of Thai rain, which is completely different than Northwest rain. Thai rain comes out of nowhere like a sheet of water, with huge rain drops. Then before you know it, it has stopped. Like it never happened. Except you are soaking wet. I think it is excellent.

Sue and I love elephants. Monica loves photo bombing.

After lunch we visited the Elephant Shrine and Big Buddha. The Elephant Shrine was literally a huge collection of elephant statues. It had a circular set up; in the center was a Buddha figure in the lotus pose, in a golden structure. And surrounding it were thousands of elephants. They were all sorts of shapes and sizes. Some of the larger ones were carved with the Buddha statue but other (most of them) had been left by worshipers and tourists. Many of the elephants were wrapped with colorful scarves and had various types of food at their feet.

The scaffolding-covered Big Buddha

The Big Buddha is a huge Buddha statue on the top of a hill overlooking Chalong (the city the Hackings are living in). The statue must have been at least 30 meters tall, all made of white marble. It was actually undergoing some cleaning while we were there, so we didn't get to see it in all its glory, but it was still very impressive. 

Manda and I in our temple wear

Since it’s a religious monument there are strict dress codes for women; no bare shoulders or knees. Manda and I had to wear these sexy orange sarongs around our legs. I also got to wear a pink shawl. Fortunately there are no fashion codes because the pink and orange clashed really terribly. The statue itself was raised off the ground about 7 or 8 meters, and at ground level there was a temple area under the statue. When we were there it was full of chanters and monks. The coolest part of the Buddha was his hair. His head was covered in lots of little swirls of hair. They looked a lot like soft serve ice cream blobs and each one was probably a meter in diameter. It was very impressive. 

Ocelot (picture from the Hacking's website)

Once we were monumented-out we got to explore the Hacking’s catamaran, Ocelot. Ocelot is the whole reason the Hackings are in Thailand. They are doing a major refit after spending 12 years sailing around the South Pacific. So we drove to the boat yard in Chalong where Ocelot currently living. In the boat yard Ocelot is raise off the ground about 5 meters, I could walk right under it without even my hair brushing against the hull. She is impressively large out of the water, but I can’t imagine living on it for years. We got to climb up a rickety ladder (made me fear for my life) to check out the work being done. They had pulled off all their lovely teak decks and most everything is covered in plastic sheets or blue painters tape. Everything smelled like varnish, which I think was amplified by the heat of the day. The work they are doing is really amazing, but I’m not really knowledgeable enough to explain it. Read about it http://hackingfamily.com/Ocelot/ThaiRefit/ThaiRefit.htm!!!