Phuket (poo-ket), Thailand

Phuket Album

We took a short flight from Koh Samui south to Phuket. Our main reason for coming down to Phuket was for diving Phi Phi (pee-pee) Islands and the Similan Islands. We found this convenient place to stay, that was right outside of the hustle & bustle of the main town. The room was large and clean and we had a balcony. We booked our dives through two different dive shops and we were happy with doing so. As we walked around Phuket, there was an announcing voice coming from a truck, yelling about Thai boxing with Thai music coming from it. The truck carried on top of it two or three boxers going at it, pretty good advertising if you ask me. But it did get a little annoying after the 5th time we saw it.

The anticipation for our diving adventure paid off as we took off by speed boat to the Similan Islands. This was the roughest ride we've ever had on a boat. It was fast and frantically bouncing all over the place. It was about an hour and half ride to the main diving boat and boy I was glad when it was over! We climbed aboard the dive boat relieved and a little dizzy. But as we looked out the crystal clear water we couldn't wait to jump in. Our first dives of the entire trip was incredible. We couldn't have asked for anything more. Our time between dives was spent at Monkey Beach- where we actually got to feed the monkeys! They did get a little aggressive, but overall they were fine. After a day of rest, we did the Phi Phi Islands, two dives just as incredible as the Similan, but I think I liked Similan better.

We rented another motorbike for the rest of our time in Phuket, so we got to explore some more of the island. We found a semi-private beach right in front of Club Med. This is where we spent our time on the beach. Finally, Shawn read something about bungy jumping so he made a booking and we made our way to the bungy place (getting lost along the way). Shawn said once he got up there, his mind jumped, but his body stayed behind. It was the first time he hesitated with doing something like this. He did jump and it was over really fast, but he actually did it!

I was interested in seeing a show and I kept seeing ads for Fantasea- a "spectacular Las Vegas-style traditional Thai show". When we got there, the park is set-up so that you walk past all these shops and vendors, as well as carnival-type games first. When you reach the end this is where the entrance was to the theater "Palace of the Elephants". Everything was set-up really nice, it was clean, and theatrical. Inside the theater, there was a jungle theme, with bird sounds and forest decor, even mist for added effect. We couldn't wait, the build up made us very happy that we had come. Then the show started... it was the most horrible show we have ever seen. Tons of performers, not really doing anything, the music wasn't even that good. I could have swore we were watching 5 year olds perform for their parents. Anyone could have done this performance! There was so much potential with this place, with the sets and the props, but the the performance was so disappointing. We walked out of there laughing. There were DVDs for sale of the performance, what a waste of a DVD. All we could do was shake our heads and wish for the last 2 hours of our life back.

All in all Thailand, was a great place. We really enjoyed ourselves. Now, it's off to Singapore....