Honestly, now.

Not suprisingly, it rained again today.  However, I was not about to let this flag my enthusasim.  I woke up and went out in search of breakfast and the bus stop.

I’ve found that it’s always a good idea to bring something along to amuse yourself if your travel plans do not go according to how you….well….planned.  During breakfast, the waitress expressed her sympathies that the weather was so rotten (it had just begun to drizzle).  I shrugged and responded, “It’s not winter. I can deal with the rain.”

From Phuket Day 2

And rain it did.  I’m glad I brought a book with me.  Of course I have refused to purchase an umbrella because it galls me that I have three in Korea.  At least the rain isn’t cold here.  So I waited and read.  And read.  I actually finished the book, which is good because I needed to do that for class.  I looked up  and the scene still looked like this:

From Phuket Day 2

I thought that I just might not go the the beach today.  But eventually I did lighten up.  So while I decided not to go swimming, I would try out the island’s bus system.  No problem.  I made it to Patong Beach (it’s the largest one) and spend the rest of the day wandering around between the shops and the beach.  I did purchase a new swimsuit.  I was told that my one-peice is contructed of kevlar, so I picked up another one before I went to Cambodia.  That one, turns out, was very reminiscent of tissue paper.  I think I found a happy medium.  I’d like to pick up some board shorts, but we’ll see if I get around to it.

The beach was pretty empty, due to lack of sun.  So I walked up and down and looked at everything that had washed to shore.  Some of it was interesting: bits of coral, dead fish, and sea shells.  However, I was depressed by the amount of garbage.  I saw everything from plastic cups to a pregnancy test.  I know that I’m running the risk of sounding like one of “those travelers,” but the more I travel the more that the presence of Western culture is off-putting.

From Phuket Day 2

I know that Westerners bring in scads of tourism dollars.  But it’s difficult to NOT have your stomach turn at the sight of Ronald McDonald doing the Thai greeting.  It’s just sad creepy.  Not to mention the deterimental effects that Western culture is having on pretty much everyone.  (Here’s my plug for In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan.  If you get a chance, pick it up and read it.  If you don’t, then you should make the time to pick it up and read it.  It makes you think long and hard about the dietary decisions that you make every day.  Not to mention how it casts doubt on everything that so-called authorities say.  It’s disturbing to realize how much of your life and beliefs were created by a committee.  And while I’m at it, read The World Without Us.  If that doesn’t make some part of you want to run away and live in the woods, then you didn’t read it carefully.)

Okay, back to the beach.  I learned an important lesson today.  Most of the buses in Phuket don’t run past five in the afternoon.  Learned that one the hard way.  Tomorrow, I’m either going to go to the Phuket Zoo or the Phuket Aquarium.  I don’t think there’s a bus to the zoo.  I know there’s one to the Aquarium.  So it’s a toss up.  Hike the four miles to the zoo or take a bus to the aquarium.  I’d also like to walk to Phuket Bay, but we’ll see if I get that done.  I’m in no hurry.

To see the rest of my pictures, click on the photo below.

Phuket Day 2