I Wouldn’t Walk 500 Miles
Walking around Phuket is a strange experience, as no one besides foreigners seem to embark on such a conquest. Due to the weather, sweat drips off the body after walking less than a mile, which is no good at all. In addition, there are no sidewalks in Phuket, so one needs to walk against traffic to survive.
The traffic itself is a different story all together. There are traffic laws in Thailand, but no one obeys them and they are not enforced.
Helmet law? Nope.
Seat belt law? Nope.
Drivers License? Nope.
Driving on the correct side of the road? Nope.
Speed Limit? Nope.
Basically, walking in Phuket is done at the peril of the individual. While scooters are not expensive, I do not have any clue how to drive one and I am very frugal so I haven’t even considered getting one. I have seen everything from a whole family of 7 on one scooter, to a 8 year old riding one by himself. Crazy.
Therefore, my legs get a nice workout every time I want to head to the beach, or go just about anywhere really unless I can manage a free ride with someone else.
A few days ago, my friend and I decided to hit up some stores that looked to be interesting in Phuket Town. After waiting a long time for a bus, we got one and were driven to Chalong as I had some business to conduct there. After the business had been concluded, we waited for another bus to pick us up. It never came. Annoyed, we decided to say f-u to the bus and walk to Phuket town. It wasn’t terribly hot out, so it seemed okay as we started out.
Chalong to Phuket town is a long walk, and half the time one needs to watch both directions of the road as mopeds and cars can come out of nowhere. After about 45 minutes we finally got to Phuket Town, but got lost. Tired of walking, we flagged down a Tuk-Tuk that only opperated in Patong, and didn’t know Phuket Town. We didn’t care, and paid him 100 baht, far too much to take us to Thalong road where we wanted to it. Turns out it was only 2 blocks away, but at least now I can say I’ve ridden in a Tuk-Tuk. We got to the shop, called Soul of Asia where I wanted to go. Antiques were what I wanted to see, and the ones they had there were not very good. They had work by Dali and Picasso, but nothing really amazing in terms of Thai anqitues, most of the work was from Burma!
We luckily caught the bus back to Rawai, tired, wet from the rain and not interested in doing anything for the rest of the day.
For a few days we did that as I recovered from the sore throat that I had which had been exaserbated by all the damn smoke coming from the burning coconut husks. The Thais like to burn refuse, which is really not a good thing for me or my lungs. They burn things all the time, and every day. Every time I am out running in the morning I curse myself an idiot for thinking that I am going to have a good run, as I can barely breathe between the fumes, the humidity and the smoke!
After a lengthy bit of time off, training began again this Monday, and today my friend Nick and I headed to the Big Buddha of Phuket. The Buddha is in the middle of the island of Phuket, and commands amazing views of the entire isle. It is supposed to be finished this year, and is almost done. The Buddha itself is covered in finished alabaster, though the lotus leaf he is sitting on is still concrete without any kind of decor. The huge white Buddha can be seen from almost anywhere on Phuket, though getting there from the shore can be a bit of a pain. We paid 500 baht to get to the top, and spent about 20 minutes there. Avoiding all of the tourist crud, we soon made our way back down as the construction was still going on and there wasn’t all that much to see except for the view.
Pictures coming soon!