Phuket: Sunday, Funday

What’s the best way to start a Sunday? Sleeping for 14 hours. Turns out it is also an excellent remedy for jetlag. Which is a good thing because out schedule was very full.

First on our docket was Sunday brunch with the Hackings. Manda explained the usual Hacking schedule involves working on Ocelot six days a week; Sunday is their boat-free day. But on Sundays they have brunch and end up talking about the boat anyways. Since Monica and I are de facto members of the Hacking clan now, we joined in the brunch.

The brunch place was a ten minute walk from Manda’s apartment. We got to stroll down what I assume is Chalong’s main drag. It was early enough that the sun and humidity weren't so oppressive that Monica and I were running for aircon. So we got an opportunity to check out life in Chalong.  Even at 9 am on a Sunday is was full of little cars, trucks full of smelly fruits and chickens, not to mention scooters. Scooters everywhere! Shops are already open. To my surprise they aren't tourist related at all. Before coming here I imagined all of Phuket Island to be like the postcards: sun, sand, booze and a lot of tourists. It is one of the best known tourist destinations in Thailand! Turns out most of the "touristy" life is in Phuket town, not Chalong, and it's also the off season.

Brunch was surprisingly american. The restaurant served combos named after different countries. I imagine they just picked well known countries because the food didn't feature any specific regional dishes. For example, I had the Swiss combo. It was hash-browns with ham and bacon, which I'm pretty sure isn't a Swiss specialty. They did get the american combo right though. It was the biggest, offering twice as much food as any of the other options. The food was excellent, but the coffee didn't come in a big enough size. It was like drinking out of a thimble. 

The view over the bay and Chalong

Once we stuffed ourselves we piled into the rental car and headed for the Phuket Island aquarium.  We passed some excellent views on the way. The best was the view over the bay, which the Big Buddha barely visible on the far hill. Now the aquarium, all I have to say about it is, if you want to see a real aquarium go to the Seattle aquarium. The only exhibit that I thought was interesting was the one with sea turtles because I've never actually seen a sea turtle before. Then I realized they were swimming in a tiny glass cube, which is the zoo equivalent of a bare concrete exhibit. Back to being disillusioned. 

Manda and I on the bow of the R/V Chakratong Tongyai

But it wasn't a total bust! Because the aquarium has a research vessel. The R/V Chakratong Tongyai. Manda and I, being Oceanography majors, went a little batty when we learned that we could get on for free and check it out. The ship was fair sized, at least 30 meters long. There was a very clean chemistry lab, which hadn't been used in a while. No sign of any type of geological equipment, but they most likely packed that away when they're not out. Overall I was pretty impressed with the ship and her layout. It wasn't what I would have expected for a third world research vessel. I've heard some pretty interesting stories about research equipment from Africa.

Probably wasn't actually allowed up there...

There was no one about when we got out on the main deck. So I took a climb up the mast for fun. Manda did not approve, she's such a stickler for rules. But Sue was all for it, she even took some very nice pictures of me. Once I climbed above the main body of the ship it got very windy, very fast. The wind felt lovely because by this point is was getting pretty hot out. At least the sea breeze kept the humidity at bay.
             
Manda and I were eventually forced to leave the ship.

Taking our Sunday in a completely different direction, Sue and Jon decided to use the rental car for a much needed grocery trip. Apparently they were running very low on chips ("our daily sodium intake" says Jon) and soda pop ("for the workers" Sue says). But since Monica and I were with them, they decided to give us a little culture shock. Instead of going to the local Tesla Lotus grocery store for these items we went to SUPER CHEAP, the local mega-mart type place. And it ended up being an adventure.

Manda, in the middle of SUPER CHEAP

SUPER CHEAP is indeed a grocery store. And a hardware store. And a clothing store. Electronics store. Toy store. Pet store. Really an everything you could possibly think of store. It reminded me of a cross between a Costco and Uwajimaya, except with more chaos. The store is actually a giant warehouse and definitely not air conditioned. As far as I can tell they sell anything you could think of; groceries, animal food, plastic containers, electronics, clothing, designer knockoffs, toys. But this place wasn't like your average Costco warehouse. The aisles crossed and intersected each other randomly. There was no order or numbering. I imagine the birds eye view looked like one of those mazes you find in a newspaper. The products weren't stocked with any order either. On our quest to find chips we passed a cookie aisle, followed by a lot of plastic containers, followed by dog toys and then we ran right into chips. Maybe it's an alphabetical system, but since it's in Thai I can't follow it.

Once we found the chips Sue took us to the produce section. It was full of fruits and vegetables I've never seen before. The smell was terrible. Apparently it comes a very specific fruit called the durian, a spiky brown fruit. It smelled like cat pee but somehow stronger. It was really terrible. She, of course, found our reactions hilarious. That's why she brought us to produce in the first place. 

Once the Hackings had procured their chips and soda pop we headed back to the apartment to pack up our stuff. Tomorrow we get on a bus and head for Khao Sok National Park for some hiking adventures of the outdoorsy sort.

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!!!