Wednesday, Nov 2 - Phuket - Beaches and Phuket City

Traffic is terrible around the island and of course there was an accident so our guide was a half hour late arriving.  We drove south along the coast past Karon Beach and Kata Beach and up to a view point so that we could see both.

We then drove into Phuket City to visit the old town.  The walk was only four or five blocks long and included a Chinese temple with very colorful ceramic tile decorations...

and a two block stretch of 100 year old European inspired buildings from the 1800 and 1900’s trading days. 

And we had lunch on a hilltop restaurant overlooking the city.  Lovely views.

When we got back to the main section of town near our hotel we had the driver drop us off in the Patong Bay shopping area so we could walk around for a bit.  It is right along the beach and the town and beach areas were busy with tourists and fun things tourists like to do.  We couldn’t stay long as we had an early pickup for tonight’s entertainment.

The show tonight was back across the island to Phuket City where we had been earlier in the day.  Took about an hour and a half to go the 30 or so miles…traffic is a nightmare here during rush hour.

The restaurant was ginormous and could probably seat almost 1000 people.  But the buffet was laid out well and the show wasn’t sold out so dinner wasn’t too crazy.

We were done eating well before the show started but fortunately they had a Thai village that featured houses from various areas of Thailand, a Thai Boxing demonstration, Thai dancers, and a grand procession that included elephants.  Everyone was very well entertained while waiting for the show.

The show covered various areas of Thailand’s history as well as some fantasy, including Hell with suitable punishments for those who were bad while living, and a magical Heaven that included lots of people flying around.  The show was really great.  But we couldn’t take any pictures.  In fact, they were so adamant about pictures that no cameras were allowed in the auditorium…you had to check them at a camera check.

Then there was the long drive back to the hotel.