We realised when we were still at breakfast so Dion went up the million and one steps back to our room to get our books so we could read. It was lovely - reading while gazing out on a tropical paradise with the sound of the sea and an occasional bird chirping.
At 9:00 we left as we were the 3rd out of 4 couples to be collected from our hotels, and the only SA couple amongst Australians from Sydney. They were all honeymooners (2 couples had just got married the previous Saturday, and the other two weeks prior to that) and of course, we were old hands at this after 11 ½ years. Too funny.
Our guide was called Bee and she promptly handed out stickers which we had to wear "so that you all get on the right bus". Good plan!
We went to various lookout points - absolutely beautiful unspoilt beaches.
Hard to think that a natural disaster happened less than 5 years ago.
We asked Bee about that and she said that most of Phuket was rebuilt in 3 months! They were forced to work quickly because tourism is the main industry. I was amazed at the resilience of the Thai people. I'm sure here in SA it would have taken us a lot longer to get over all our victim mentality, but that's another post!
When we booked the tours I was warned that I wouldn't be allowed inside the Buddhist temple in skimpy tops because shoulders have to be covered, but Bee told us that this temple is very touristy so they don't mind our naked shoulders. The Thai people set off firecrackers to celebrate good things and also to ward off evil spirits so one way or the other, the firecracker industry does well. LOL.
The Buddhist temple
Dion and I hurried through the Buddhist temple (I'm not particularly interested in sights like that - I just go because it's there) to get to the market opposite. Our guide told us that we would get t-shirts and the like much cheaper than anywhere else so we were quite eager to check out the selection. Dion got some shorts and a t-shirt while I bought… yes, you guessed it…souvenirs.
Next stop - cashew nut factory.
It is amazing how much work goes into producing a single cashew nut. The ladies sit and remove the shells from the nut, one at a time. They have three bowls - one for perfect nuts, one for nuts that break but are still good, and one for the bad nuts. They don't throw anything away - absolutely everything is used. It was a real eye-opener, especially what those ladies get paid, something ridiculous like R20/R30 a day.
Notice the three piles of nuts. This lady's eyes must be so sore from all that concentrating every day.
All of us bought quite a lot of stuff there - personally, I felt guilty and that I had to support those ladies. Dion and I got sesame & honey, and chocolate cashew nuts.
The last stop on the tour was the Gems Gallery (all along we thought she was saying James Gallery). Very nice if you're into jewellery (I'm not) and only one piece really interested me - string of pearls but it wasn't very practical so I left it. The one Ozzie girl then bought it.
Interesting how everybody is sooo quiet at the start of the tour and as we all start taking pictures of one another and commenting on various things how people start to loosen up. Of course, I was talking the whole way through. At the Gems Gallery, people really started talking properly about jobs and all sorts of things, and after that, we couldn't shut the one girl up. We still didn't find out her name so I dubbed her Kylie, and she was all Ben this and Ben that. She and I got through her whole holiday to Vietnam - flights and everything - in a 15-minute drive to Patong Beach. I rest my case.
Dion lurves street scenes. I must say I can never see what the big fuss is about while he's snapping away, but when we're back home, they always do look stunning. Well done, Sweetie.
Please note - left of picture, there's a red tuk-tuk taxi and on the right side, you can see two tailor shops.
We could decide where we wanted to be dropped off if we didn't want to go to the hotel. We decided on Patong Beach to save money on taxi fare. Any taxi to virtually everywhere is 350 - 400 Baht (R75 - R85) one way, so at least this way, we only had to pay to get back to the hotel.
And that's all for now - these pictures have taken AGES to download.
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