Carry On Only: Phuket

Arrival

Our first intro to Thailand is Phuket Town, a near cousin to Penang in Malaysia and filled with old Sino-Portuguese architecture, reminiscent of sea shipping between India and China. It is not on the main beach stretch and even locals wondered why we weren't staying at the high end resorts Phuket is famous for.

Arriving at our hotel was actually comical.....

1. The taxi driver tried to up sell our hotel by pulling in to ask for directions into a travel agency where they came out to talk to us...

2. He pulled in to three or four gas stations looking for air for his flat tire but they were all closed

3. He was still bewildered on what streets to take to find our hotel that Brad directed him with his GPS app on the phone....

Thank you Brad.

It is hard to describe first impressions. It is run down but has a charm that comes out in the buildings, the decorative tiles in the uneven sidewalks and the quiet calm in the way Thai people do life.

First breakfast:

Out and about

We haven't done much more than walk about ourselves as we are right in the historic center of Old Town but here are some of the modes of travel.

We have also timed our time here with a festival. A combination of their celebration for the Chinese New Year combined with the Phuket Town Festival. Just steps from our hotel door the parks has been transformed into a huge stage for dancers, the streets are lined with vendors selling stickers, car wax, clothes, purses, beauty products and food galore.

Pad Thai, deep fried everything, soft shelled crabs, corn on cob, insects, waffles, sushi, and any kind of thing on a stick you can imagine from squid to hit dogs to pig snout.

Anna and Brad ate deep fried silk worm. I couldn't convince them to try the deep fried cock roaches.

There is also a shrine set up for gifts to their Chinese gods.