Phuket

Within 5 minutes of stepping out of Phuket airport, I had been approached by multiple people trying to sell me tuktuk rides to the hotel, an excursion to Phi Phi island to kayak in some caves, postcards of hammocks tied to palm trees on some beach, and a timeshare unit at the Happy Place Condominiums. Welcome to tourism central. Like most people, if there is one thing that turns me off more than people who are just a bit too eager to separate me from my hard-earned money, it's people who are just a bit too eager to separate me from my hard-earned money at airports. Granted, since living in Thailand, I have to admit that here the pressure selling tactics of these scavengers are far less intense than what we've experienced in some of the Middle Eastern and African countries where we've lived. Usually here, just saying 'no' does the trick and these tourist-vultures just go away. 

But in the aftermath of the rather unpleasant peregrination of the past 8 hours in which we sat rankling merrily in the back seat of a taxi cab (after all we were with Canada's top Stand-Up comic!), marooned in traffic gridlock in the middle of monsoon Bangkok, add to that the three hour tarriance at the Muan Duang airport, lingering over warm beer and eating carb-laden Whoppers while waiting for our delayed subsequent more expensive flight, topped off with the constant sniveling of those pesky little whippersnappers on the plane...woe is me, I had again been transformed from my usual even-tempered, cool, calm and collected silver fox of a man to an irascible, crotchety old coot. Luckily Madeleine was with me to nudge me back to my cool, calm, and collected self with her usual tactful and endearing reminder that I was damn lucky that she was still married to me. After all, she said, we were about to 'holiday' in one of Thailand's most coveted tourist destinations. Of course, like usual, she was right.

Made it to the hotel late night/early morning to check into this brand spanking new hotel a bit off the beaten path that I had found on Expedia; off the beaten path meaning about a 15 minute walk to Karon Beach and a bit of action. And yes, the cab ride to the hotel was three times what it would have cost us in Bangkok, but still half of what it would have been in Vancouver. You win some, you lose some.  



Early morning rise with a great coffee and good breakfast waiting for us in the dining hall of the hotel; a good sleep followed by a good coffee, which just happens to be the first two of my three human survival needs, the third being oxygen. We set off for the 15 minute walk to see the ocean waves, and after passing the frontage of the umpteenth massage parlour, with of course that all too familiar nasal sounding calling out for customers by the masseuses, mostly smiling petite ladies and not so petite more robust lady-boys, a spectacular open stretch of crashing waves lay in front of us. I was back in my happy place. The beach of fine yellow sand was clean and uncrowded, and just plain beautiful. The emerald sea sparkled in the morning sun, just luring us in for a dip. By 11am that first morning, sipping our coffees at this quaint beachside café, in front of the vista of open stretches of sand and waves, I announced to the world (actually to Madeleine) that I was officially jumping off the Phuket haters bandwagon. 

From that point on, our weekend went from great to even greater. Yes Phuket is overpriced, yes it is over-run by Chinese and Russian tourists, yes there are an abundance of catcalling touts, and yes, there were a lot of fat guys in speedos, but in our case, the jumping and splashing in those emerald waves, the power nap in that abandoned hammock in a secluded stretch of Karon Beach, the riding around sharp curves in those tuktuks only to be met with some of the most magnificent vistas and cliffs plunging into the sea in front of you, those very happy happy-hour conversations with Brian and Hollie, that impromptu kids' dance spectacle at Patong Beach, and that unforgettable disco tuktuk ride back to the hotel one night, disco lights strobing to the blaring of Ace of Base's Beautiful Life...well, you had to be there... in any case, all of this made Phuket a most enjoyable weekend getaway. Yup, it was indeed truly a beautiful life.

On our way back to the hotel, in our 'disco tuk tuk'. Gotta do it!