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Well hello!!
I hope you are all well and not too depressed with the British weather. (Anta - I'm not sure what it is like in France?)
Since we last spoke I am now master of the pink bus!! I persisted and can say I'm fully au fait with the way it works. It's not promoted for tourists as each journey costs 10 bhat which is equivalent to 20p and the taxi and Tuk Tuk mafia that monopolize Phuket town would have their noses put out of joint. In the end it's all comes down to money. Anyway, I digress! When I use the bus to go all over town I'm generally the only westerner on the bus which really makes me happy to be like a local and travel like they do. Some bus drivers are notoriously bad and like to brake hard and try to get the bus up on two wheels when going round corners. I don't know if they're doing it for my benefit to show me a good time in Thailand!!
I have got lost many a time but thankfully the three bus routes cross each other at some point so I have always got back. Once though I was completely lost and I had to use a motorbike taxi to get back. I'm not particularly keen on them as you ride side saddle and have to grip on tightly!!
I have used them a couple of times coming back from the supermarket with cold foods as it's too hot to be waiting for a bus.
Last week I met up with Maria in a temple where we wandered around and lit some incense sticks and candles. Maria is a Buddhist so she did her praying in front of the shrine. It is very bad to point your feet towards Buddha so you must kneel tucking your feet behind you and pointed away. We wandered around the temple and enjoyed the peace and tranquility. Once we left we found a street restaurant (I'm not sure I can call it a restaurant as it's a few tables covered by tarpaulin and corrugated iron). It was very rustic and the locals seemed to enjoy it so we grabbed a table. I saw a girl get given a bowl and helping herself to the array of food in big pots displayed on the outside front table so Maria and I followed suit and helped ourselves to the buffet. We had no idea what anything was as the lady spoke no english but that was what made it fun. In fact the food was absolutely delicious except for one dish which was too spicy and made my nose run and my eyes water along with a bout of coughing. At least I made the lady laugh as she found this very funny. All in all a good lunch for the grand total of one pound. Yum!!
We then took a ride on Maria's scooter to King Rama IX park which was a few minutes ride away. It's a lovely park with a couple of lakes and free exercise machines all round the big lake. We had a go on a few machines then had an ice cream for our efforts!! There was one man who power walked round the lake for the whole two hours we were there. He wasn't exactly young either so I was very impressed!
Maria went off on her motorbike afterwards and I caught the pink bus back to my apartment. Easy!
Last Wednesday I had a check up again with the Doctor at Bangkok Phuket Hospital. She was pleased that my blood pressure had come down a lot to 120 over 86 but felt that it could come down a bit more so upped my medication ever so slightly.
I was happy with my treatment.
On Friday Maria and I had breakfast at Nong's (i46 cafe). Mr Hai also came in who I have met before and he is a real character. He has a very infectious laugh and even though his english is not the best he has a good sense of humour which is understood by everyone. He gave an impromptu massage to Nong's Dad and also to Maria. I declined as I had one last time we met. Nong says everyone knows Mr Hai in Phuket town and he can be seen riding his yellow bicycle everywhere!!
When we finished lunch Maria took me on the back of her scooter to a beach I hadn't been to before - Surin beach. It took about 40 minutes to get there and it's a lot quieter than other beaches I have been to. We had a nice time in the sea and it was nice to cool off even though the temperature is like bath water. Not like the sea down at the South Coast of England that's for sure!
After we left the beach we went to Maria's house in the middle of nowhere which was a ten minute ride away from Surin beach. We dropped off her hire bike and walked about twenty minutes to the property. Before her foot injury she had been staying there for five months but when she fell down a big crack in the path and crippled herself in Phuket Town that's when she checked in to Ming Shou to recuperate and also where we met. The house is attached to a barn in a big field which we had to trudge through. I was a little scared I might run into a snake but it was okay!! It had a bedroom, a bathroom and a kitchen sink but that's about it. I didn't like it very much as it was so isolated and she had grown to dislike it too but she was staying in it for free as it was not being used. It belongs to a friend of a friend and she was doing them a favour by occupying it. Rather her than me!!
She had to move most of her stuff (quite a lot!) into her new apartment which is not too far from mine in Phuket Town and then go on to a nuns retreat, full board, for two weeks meditation. This is free but Maria has to make a donation at the end of her stay.
She called the local samlor man (scooter with a caged seat attached) to help load most of her belongings and the three of us and luggage drove back (a bit squashed) to Phuket town. I was dropped off first, Maria dropped off her things in her apartment and then she checked in to the temple. She has to get up at 3.00am to begin each day (it's not something I would personally enjoy!!)
The next morning I decided to hit the gym (part of the apartment complex). I did one hour of exercise on the treadmill, stepper and bicycle. I must have sweated half my body weight out as it was so hot in there!! The fans helped, but not that much. In the afternoon I caught the pink bus to the big Tesco Lotus to get some groceries.
The last couple of days I have done some chores, eg washing my clothes, visiting Bun from Ming Shou, exercising and walking and I have also visited a Tour company to book my visa run trip. I'm going by minibus (16 people) on 11 February to a five star casino/golf resort on a tropical island in the Andaman Sea which belongs to Myanmar/Burma. All of us from the minibus will get lunch there and some official from the casino will stamp my visa so I can get another 60 days (I got a double entry tourist visa in the UK before I left so I get more days than a standard visa). I then just have to return to Thailand by boat and mini bus back to town. I have to be up at 5.30 that day but I should be back by 18.30 the same day. It's the most upmarket organised visa run you can do (apart from flying!) and one which I didn't mind paying a few hundred bhat extra to do. That will take me up to 11 April which is the day I catch my flight back to the UK. Time is flying eh?!!
The visa runs are very common in Thailand as all foreigners have to go out of the country and back in again. I guess it's all about the money.
I'm going back to the hospital tomorrow morning for another BP check up. They are very thorough here in Thailand!!
So I'll wish you all a good night for now and catch up with you all soon.
Take care. Xxx
- comments
Neil Holland Oh yep, mastered the pink bus then... Don't like the idea of the taxi bikes though, always liked riding motorbikes but hated being a passenger!!