224 - Phuket - Went down to the lobby for the breakfast buffet and found the place nearly deserted but saw people from the three nearby hotels filling up the airport buses. Australians make up about 50% of tourists to Phuket but, at this time of year, Im told its more like 80%. Why? Below the equator the seasons are reversed so my Aussie mates have just come through a long winter and early spring and are eager to snatch up those cheap package tour tickets. Phuket, Bali, and Malaysia are all relatively close and highly affordable destinations. An added health benefit to eating a whole very ripe pineapple before bed is they keep you regular. Not explosively regular, just gently regular. But the two that remain in my refrigerator turned to popsicles overnight. That scooter I rented may not get that much use after all - I took a picture of this weeks Phuket weather forecast and asked the woman on the desk what the forecast was for next week - she smiled and said same, same. So my to do list includes - dropping my laundry off at one of the many laundry services in my area (50 Baht ($1.67) per Kilogram. Extra if you want 4 hour service. Then, I have a pair of jeans that are too long and catch under the heel of my sandals - Ive already found three places that will take them up. Finally I should get to Tescos near down town Phuket and see if I can find size 14 shoes. I had good luck with size 14 sandals there in 2007. An added benefit of coming here in the monsoon season is that there arent long lines anywhere. The curse is youre on the short list of sources of income to the many sales people who are here to offer anything you can imagine! Some of them have a hard time hearing the words no thanks.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 01:23:47 +0000