Kelly and I read in her copy of Lonely Planet Thailand that the beaches on the north west side of Phuket island are beautiful, large and isolated and potentially the home of sea turtles. That was enough to make us jump on a bus headed north. Not so for the British boys. Their book said nothing about the north and they showed very little interested in heading into the unknown, so we parted ways. Our theory was that if it wasn't in the guide book that should be a good sign, right?
Because our beach was off the beaten track, litterally, we had an interesting time getting there. Our destination was Mai Khao, Phuket's longest beach. At the bus station we were first told there are no buses to Mai Khao. We thought there were and pressed on. The second person we talked to seemed to indicate she could get us close but not all the way. Ok, we thought, better than a 900 baht tuk tuk all the way from Phuket Town. The person we finally bought tickets from sorta made indications that we were going to be on a bus destined for our beach... maybe.
There are a lot of buses in Thailand and about one actual bus stop (it was actually quite quaint, magic marker on white bristol board). Instead of a series of prearranged stops the Thais have opted for a more casual approach. And it works very well if you happen to either be or look Thai. For the rest of us it's slightly more unrealiable. The theory is quite simple. All you need to do is flag down the bus you want wherever you happen to see it. It works seemlessly for Thais. A bus that is hurtling along in the far right-hand lane (they drive on the left here) can magically appear along the left hand side in a mere moment to pick up passengers. This whole system just seems to emphasize my theory about Thai transport that was born in Bangkok; if there is a more fun/dangerous way to do something it is in practice in Thailand.
I quite enjoyed marveling this system of transpo for about a half hour until I realized getting off would probably require the same sort of magic Thai touch. I questioned the ticket taker about Mai Khao to which he gave a very unreasuaring yet extremely commong reply, a polite giggle. Oh boy, I thought. The final destination of the bus was about 200 km north, I wanted to go about 40 km.
The single most important advice I would give anyone traveling or living in Asia is to be very calm and patient and nurture a particularly relaxed attitude. It's truely remarkable, to a westerner, how often everything just works itself out.
As it did on this bus trip. The ticket taker who until this point had laughed at the mere suggestion of Mai Khao suddenly reappeared and told me we were there. "Mai Khao?" he said. "Yes!" I said, isn't that what I said before, I thought, as I think after almost every conversation in which I attempt to speak the local language.
We were let off at the side of the highway at the turn off for the beach. Originally our plan was to camp because we had read you could rent tents for cheap and sleep on the beach. But it was also very reassuring to note a large English sign that read "Beach Bungalows" in the direction we were headed.
It's extremely hot these days in Thailand (sorry Canada). So when we found ourselves at the beginning of what looked like a very long road to the beach surrounded by fields of palm trees we cursed our "winging it" attitude just a little. We tried to hitch a ride but found that, like flagging buses, it only works for locals. A bicyclist stopped to offer us help. Our conversation went like this:
Bike: "whereyougoing?"
Us: "Beach. Camping."
Bike: "Yes. Bungalow."
Us: "Camping?"
Bike: "Yes. Campingbungalow."
Us: "Ok. Yes."
He turned out to be a great help. Being Thai he got us a lift in a pick up to the Beach Bungalows. Malcome, the owner, was from England and told us the camp ground has been closed for 5 years. The bungalows were great though. Woven from bamboo they cost about 500 baht/night. We were right on the beach and had arrived in time for a sunset swim.
There were only about 10 bungalows and probably only three or four were actually occupied. I don't think it gets too busy because there were only four tables in the restaurant. It was at dinner that night that I realized that Kelly and I stuck out like sore thumbs being young, western, female backpackers.
Every other guest was a couple. One old, divorced, white male from the west with his young, attractive Thai girlfriend. Eavesdroping was fun though moderately disturbing. I found out that the man sitting at the table next to mine had been married 22 years to a Californian girl. Apparently the divorce cost him half a million dollars. He left the States seven years ago on his boat. He's been dating his current Thai gf for a while, a whole month.
Other guests included two other older American men and an older German man all with Thai gfs.
Despite feeling extremely out of place the whole time it was a beautiful part of Phuket.
I'm back in Phuket Town. Six hours until my night bus leaves desitned for Georgetown, Malaysia.
View from my guesthouse in Phuket Town.
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