The Aforementioned glass of Yak.
So now I'm slowly recovering from my bout of diarrhea, and Helen has now got a dose involving dashing to the bathroom more times than is normal necessary for a month of toilet business.
Anyway we left remote Kamala Beach By a Sawngthaew, a Thai version of a bus, think a old decrepit truck made of wood ( i shit you not, Wood!!) with 2 benches in the back (No Seat belts, Remember Kids safety first) Mind you when you see the mode of transport for a average family of four, i guess this is pretty safe. On the Plus side the Sawngthaew is Cheap 50 Baht Each from Kamala and the journey took 1hr 10 Min's. Not the most comfortable mode of transport but on the whole we may have to get used to this.
Me Chilling In The Sawngthaew.
The Average Family of Four's Transport.( Count them )
Mad eh? anyway we hit Phuket Town, without too much ado, one thing was the locals on the Sawngthaew seemed fascinated with the idea of westerners traveling on their bus i guess its not something that happens all that often judging by the looks we got of the locals.
Next we landed at the Thavorn hotel as recommended in Lonely Planets Place to stay on a budget, if your a traveler reading this avoid this shit hole if you have a chance they have 2 standards of room grim and grimmer,being on a budget we asked to see the cheapest first.OMFG OMFG OMFG i was filled with trepidation as we were taken out the back of the hotel and walked down a dirt track moving towards a dilapidated block of flats in what looked like a place a junkie would of drawn the line at. Now being quite resilient and a bloke I'm not generally to bothered where i lay my head.Helen at this point had a fit and put her foot down and told me there was no-way on earth were we staying here.
Hell Boys Flat.
Notice the boarded window, holes in mattress with wires poking through, lack of bed sheets and what you cant see in this photos is the smell of piss and mould, or the human faeces rubbed on the wall. Nice all for only 280 Baht no extra charge for the crap.
At which point we returned to the hotel reception and declined the room and asked to see the posh room.
The "posh" room was 550 Baht and was like it was decorated 40 years ago and reception when describing the room was extremely proud of the fact that it had hot water, "Hot Water" wasn't really that hot to be honest it was slightly cooler than tepid, still the sheets were clean and the mattress didn't sag to much, although here is were we slipped up. the "posh room" we were shown at was away from the street front.
When we got the key to our room our room was at the front of the hotel which is also were the main road is and trust me when i say you can hear it all night, you can hear the traffic all night. Upon looking at my receipt for the room it stated on the receipt no refunds issued so rather than go down stairs and argue i figured i could put up with it for one night.
About 8 pm we decided to go to a pub called O'Malleys as recommended in the Lonely Planet Guide and i quote
"Travelling thousands of miles to sink a Guinness in an Irish Pub always feels a little daft, but Phukets homesick flock to this cosy watering hole for pool and assorted shenanigans. It has a generally welcoming atmosphere and the interior is almost authentic, if a little too clean"
In reality should of read something like this.
"Travelling thousands of miles to sink a Guinness in an Irish Pub always feels a little daft, however if you can be arsed with the trek out of town ( and it is a trek) following our advice to get a authentic Pint of Guinness and a game of pool,
you WILL be disappointed with it's graffiti style picture of Bob Marley on the wall and Rasta colours Painted on the roof oh and also a distinct lack of a pool table, however don't be too disappointed, as there is a girl outside that can do tricks with pool balls you wont believe, and while there is no Guinness on offer we can always offer you a bottle of Singha beer at twice the price it is everywhere else.
Don't despair though folks there is a Murphy behind the bar, yep you guessed it "Akhmed Murphy" ex Lady boy from Bangkok and the closest thing to a white person on the bar staff"
Needless to say we had one drink and left stopping off for a meal on the way back now one thing that is curious i don't know how half the business's can survive at the moment because virtually every restaurant we have been to outside Patong we have been the only customers in it,great for the personal service a bit strange for the mood and ambiance of a place.
Is That a Tumble Weed.
This Morning we moved Hotel to the Imperial Hotel round the corner and the rooms are much better styled albeit a little dated, free Wi-fi in the rooms and a movie channel, after we had moved Helen wasn't overly impressed with my suggestions for entertainment for the day, either visit the local Temple or the book store to say she wasn't amused is a understatement.
We headed to the Temple of Serene Light as i figured it would be more interesting than looking at Thai Books ( i reckon Helen is missing her beaches now although to be fair i know i am :( )
Don't wear your shoe's or the Monk's will come and do some Kung Foo on your ass.
After our jaunt to the temple i had a visit to the local dentist, now in UK prices i need a £1000 worth of work seeing i was here i reckoned i'd be able to get it done for about £500, and there's the problem people in the UK complain of racism, and yes i'm sure there is a element of it in any society in the world.
However it's bad when you have two price for every thing as a Farrang (Westerner) when they quote you anything its 4/5 times what they ask our Thai counterparts and even when you engage in bartering with them and know the price that it should be they wont budge or if they do move its very little, now you can argue that its just because you are tourists, but i have often pondered how the Thai Males feel about all the Dirty Old Men who come out here as sex tourists. I know i feel a amount of repulsion towards them, i mean its quite often you see men in their 60-70's with Thai Girls in their early teens, surely it irritates them.
I digress the aforementioned Dentist Quoted me £2000/$4000 to have the work done and even when i checked the website of a high class cosmetic dentist in Bangkok for the work he said i needed done it was £900/$1800.
At which point he wanted to start straight away, fortunately Helen was back in the hotel room with the squits still giving me a excuse to say i had to talk it through with her as that was most of our trip money and i made a sharp exit.
I think i will wait till i get to Bangkok for the dental work and see what weird and wonderful price they come up with there, on that note i'm off but i think we've had enough of Phuket town for now and maybe head to Krabi in the Morning.
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