Finally, off the plane and out of the airports! As we got off the plane, Ben and I were greeted by our host Anne, and her helper “O”. She immediately got us onto a van and off to our first hotel, The Phuket Orchid Resort. It was about a forty minute drive and reminded me a lot of Hawaii. The trees, the water, the heat, the smell of fresh flowers, and the smiling, happy faces….the only difference was that as we were driving along instead of feeling more relaxed, I definitely felt as if I was getting more tense. The driving is in Thailand is hardly defensive…. It is pure scary and makes you want to have a set of depends on hand in case you poop your pants from almost crashing into other cars and mopeds!!!!
There is not a set speed limit in many areas of Phuket and you only see a sign in random off roads in which are smaller community roads. Most of the roads are two lanes, winding, and very hilly since we are in a mountainous area of Thailand. Passing is acceptable anywhere in which they do take full advantage of… even on corners…. SO SCARY. Due to a lack of money, Anne told us that Mopeds are the way that most people get around in Southern Thailand. This is very true – you feel like a melting popsicle with bees swarming you. Mopeds = helmets in America....Not here. You will not see anyone on a moped wearing a helmet. Not only that, but most of the time, there is not just one person riding, we have seen two, three, and even four people. Some are families with their babies as young as one. It is the scariest thing ever and again makes you wish you were wearing depends because you feel as if you are going to hit them OR they are going to get hit by the cars that are constantly passing by! Ahhh so nerve-racking! OH but we did see one bar/stop that was FILLED with Harley riders… pretty funny.
As we arrive at the hotel, we meet part of our team. So far so good, the people are nice, down to earth, and just as we were, exhausted. There were five of us there at that point, including our Team Leader, Jennifer. We all had a quick bite to eat for lunch and decided to hit the ocean since we all stunk, had been on a plane, and trapped indoors for several hours. We were a two minute walk from Karon Bay. The ocean was AMAZING – it was about 80 degrees and the waves were huge – the sand was very fine and soft and had a lot of clay like sediment which immediately made me think, BANKS! After playing in the water, we did a little beach exploring and walking, and decided to head in, rest up, and shower for dinner.
By dinner time, we were all here – we immediately just kicked things off as if we had known each other forever; made things easy. The restaurant we went to was in the next bay down… Kata Bay. The tide goes out in the evening time which left all of the canoes on the sand. The restaurant was mainly seafood….Our host Anne had picked out several dishes, but for families and other visitors that head in, they get to choose their seafood of choice fresh out of the holding tanks. It was an early evening!
There is not a set speed limit in many areas of Phuket and you only see a sign in random off roads in which are smaller community roads. Most of the roads are two lanes, winding, and very hilly since we are in a mountainous area of Thailand. Passing is acceptable anywhere in which they do take full advantage of… even on corners…. SO SCARY. Due to a lack of money, Anne told us that Mopeds are the way that most people get around in Southern Thailand. This is very true – you feel like a melting popsicle with bees swarming you. Mopeds = helmets in America....Not here. You will not see anyone on a moped wearing a helmet. Not only that, but most of the time, there is not just one person riding, we have seen two, three, and even four people. Some are families with their babies as young as one. It is the scariest thing ever and again makes you wish you were wearing depends because you feel as if you are going to hit them OR they are going to get hit by the cars that are constantly passing by! Ahhh so nerve-racking! OH but we did see one bar/stop that was FILLED with Harley riders… pretty funny.
As we arrive at the hotel, we meet part of our team. So far so good, the people are nice, down to earth, and just as we were, exhausted. There were five of us there at that point, including our Team Leader, Jennifer. We all had a quick bite to eat for lunch and decided to hit the ocean since we all stunk, had been on a plane, and trapped indoors for several hours. We were a two minute walk from Karon Bay. The ocean was AMAZING – it was about 80 degrees and the waves were huge – the sand was very fine and soft and had a lot of clay like sediment which immediately made me think, BANKS! After playing in the water, we did a little beach exploring and walking, and decided to head in, rest up, and shower for dinner.
By dinner time, we were all here – we immediately just kicked things off as if we had known each other forever; made things easy. The restaurant we went to was in the next bay down… Kata Bay. The tide goes out in the evening time which left all of the canoes on the sand. The restaurant was mainly seafood….Our host Anne had picked out several dishes, but for families and other visitors that head in, they get to choose their seafood of choice fresh out of the holding tanks. It was an early evening!
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