Day 1: Changi Singapore Airport, Phuket, Karon Beach: 18/6/09
It took 12 hours to get to the resort, with the transfer in Singapore (during which we tried to figure out the exchange rate and whether the HSBC ATM would charge handling/service, had Burger King for lunch and felt like pigs, and walked around in general), the 1+ hour to get to the resort from the airport, and getting everything sorted out. We were just really excited to be going off on our first trip together as siblings.
Graham and I - cheesy grins for Amanda's photography at Changi
Phuket struck me as being yet another city of extremes and contrasts, the only common point that of the generally-polite people, as the Lonely Planet guide had taught. Once we settled into the most lovely resort, the major adventure of the day was the search for a place to eat, much more trepidatious than one would expect, with many stores not even open as this is off-peak season, and shady bars lining the streets’ storefronts not occupied by massage parlours, closed restaurants or tattoo houses. On our way out, we stopped off at the beach.
The beach across the road from the resort: God's crasftmanship
The massage parlour we finally went to was called Tum Rub, and it was the best, most relaxing, but also most shocking massage I’ve ever had. I discovered firsthand that Thai massages use pressure points and joints. A lot.
An early night tonight, so that we’re full capacity for the swimming, beaching and market-visiting tomorrow. Dinner was at a local place, and every other thing we wanted from the menu wasn’t in supply. Off-season… grrrr. Better luck tomorrow!
Day 2 – Phuket town, Patong: 19/6/09
We started off in the sun at the resort pool, which was lovely and HOT.
This was the pool beneath our room, where we swam most of the time
I got sun-burnt in a big way. Then we went and got a tuk-tuk to Phuket town to do some shopping, and arranged for the driver to wait for us for a while. We souvenir-shopped then stopped by this banana place, which had every dessert made out of bananas. Really refreshing, but didn’t manage to quench our thirst or anything. My longan juice shake was great, but slightly too sweet.
I don't know WHAT I was thinking, but the juice was good at least!
The driver took us back to the resort to drop off all of our shopping, then we went out for the night, getting great seafood at Patong, which is a popular tourist night spot. The food cost an arm and a leg, but was well worth it, considering the food we’d had the night before.
The spread in Patong, at a seafood place where the waitresses loaded the customers at the front so it looked packed!
The walk we had leading up to the bar street was filled with anticipation: what would we see? What could we see? We’d all heard about the famous shows in the a-go-go bars, so we wanted to stop by one. The whole experience was very depressing, and left a bitter taste in our mouths. This is how we looked during the whole performance, in a photo we took afterwards:
After that, we hailed another Tuk-Tuk and went back to the resort. A brief walk across the road to the beach helped us debrief a little, and although we felt slightly better, the night was called shortly after.
Day 3: Pilay Island, Maya Bay, Viking Island, Phi-Phi Island, Khai Island: 20/6/09
The speedboat ride from the Royal Phuket Marina was about an hour long, and our first stop on Phi-Phi was to Maya Bay, where The Beach was filmed in 1997 . Beautiful clear water, and LOTS of tourists. We went snorkelling at our next stopping point, and I was entranced: it was my first time, and I hadn’t thought I’d enjoy it, but enjoy it I did. The relatively clear water meant one could see the coral pulsing, the fish gnawing on plankton and moss on the coral, the other tourists looking like pale, extra-terrestrial creatures… our tour guide, a very flamboyant little man called Tony, took us around some other islands, including Pilay Island and Viking Island, stopping off to show us some “Indo-monkeys” that were “not tame and will attack children first”
Smart move, tourists - feeding the monkeys that are always on the verge of scratching your eyes out... there were several too-close moments...!
We then continued to the main snorkelling point: Phi-Phi Don Island, the bigget of the islands. The water wasn’t deep, and we were in constant fear of being torn to shreds by the dead coral. Once we swam out far enough though, I was separated from Graham and Amanda, and ended up happily snorkelling for a while on my own, marvelling at the myriad of colours and types of fish while my brother and sister frantically searched for me amongst the other pairs of dark heads with identical apparatus.
We got back to the resort in the evening, and quickly went to have a quick swim, not least of all to rinse off some of the salt from our bodies! Stopping off in the room, we changed into fresh clothes and walked the 20 minutes down to the market for food. And we got FRUIT!!!
My sister's caption on Facebook: "Yummy yummy fruit! All washed and clean and ready to be eaten!"
For me, Thai food is spicy, red, orange and white somehow, and delicious. The food we chose tonight was all of the former, but none of the last. Tex-Mex? Disappointing.
Day 4: Phuket Shooting Range, down for the count: 21/6/09
The sun beat down on our heads as we negotiated with the driver of a taxi outside the resort, and it was a 15-minute drive to the Phuket Shooting Range. My brother had been looking forward to this day from the time we started planning and had actually been prepared to pay for the whole lot – shooting, ATVs (all-terrain vehicles), clay pigeon shooting, go-carting… we chose our guns, slipped on the earmuffs, and were tutored by our instructors on how to safely operate a weapon. I shot a .9mm, and had an accuracy of 88%, beating my brother by 1%, and my sister by 3. Not bad for a first-timer!
I may be a rookie, but I managed to shoot down 8 out of 10 metal men. Do not mess with me! 
The ATVs sprayed mud on the backs of our legs as we plowed through puddles, bush, dirt and elephant fun. The signs they had put up, saying No teasing, no chasing, no going off the path were a result of the accident Graham had last time they were here. Let’s just say he came home from their last trip with more than a bruised ego… before we got on the ATVs, however, we had to do this:
Believe it or not, your head gets really sweaty, really fast, in the hot Thai sun, stuck in a helmet that’s been used by an unknown number of people…
The rest of the day was fun, and a massive adrenaline rush as we crashed through the different activities on offer. Pricey though, as each activity cost around THB900, just over HK$200 for 10 shots, 10 minutes or 12 laps.
At about 2pm we went back to the resort, and both Graham and I felt dizzy and generally poorly. Chalking it down to the heat, we went for a swim thinking we’d feel better before the spa packages that we’d arranged. No luck. By about 4pm we were both asleep in our beds, having gone up one by one to the shower. When Amanda came up, around 5, we were fast asleep and hot with fever. We called to cancel our treatments and ordered up room service. I threw it all up at about 11pm, and then, feeling better, packed up the remaining things Amanda hadn’t got around to pack before falling asleep with the room service trays at the feet of her bed. That’s one way to ensure a memorable last night at a beautiful resort!
Day 5: Goodbyes, Singapore Changi Airport: 22/6/09
When my alarm went the next morning, our fevers had lifted, and Graham and I felt better. We quickly got ready to leave this beautiful island of even more beautiful people. The sky was overcast, and we were glad to be going home.
We took the 1-hour-and-40-minute flight to Singapore from Phuket International airport and walked around the Singapore Changi Airport for the next 4 hours waiting for our flight back home. The best thing about the airport, according to Amanda, was the Accessorize. We changed the last of our THB, and spent up.
Amanda having Accessorized
Finally arriving at home at 10:30pm HK time, we unpacked our souvenirs, showed off our newly-acquired tans, and went to our own beds. Home at last!
But a part of our minds was still stuck on the Phuket beach… and can you blame us??
