Sniff sniff, I gonna miss CM

Saturday, Feb 27. Yesterday i had a lazy day. In the evening, I went to dinner with Ruth and her American friend that just arrived in Chiang Mai. We met in the posh area of the city, Ninmen Haemin. We had an amazing meal. All the dishes were new to me. Unfortunately I don't remember the names of them.

When I got back, I had to jump on the computer to look for a place to stay in Phuket. This was the first destination that I booked for accomodations. I figured that I should be a little more organized in Phuket. Numerous people that I spoke to said the area turned into a tourist trap. I found a hotel in Phuket town and booked a dorm room.

Today I have an early flight out to Phuket at 10:10, so I should be at the airport by 9:00. I was up at 7:00 today because I still need to pack my bag. I made it down for breakfast at 8:00. I've not been up so early for a while now. At 8:30, I was ready to find a tuk tuk. It was 100 baht to the airport. I was in a hurry so I took it. Otherwise, I would have taken the songthaew, which would probably cost no more than 40 baht.

Songthaew's are converted red pick up trucks that they use as buses here. The back of the cab has 2 rows of benches put in, like the army trucks. There's no designated stops with them. You can wave them down anywhere and tell your destination to the driver. If he's going that way, then you hop in the back. So if there's other passengers, then they may be dropped off first.

This was my primary mode of transport around town because they're everywhere, convienent and I'm never in a hurry to get anywhere. Most of the time the fare was 20 baht, a fixed priced for this type of transport. Occationally they ask for more.

I landed into Phuket at around 15:00. There was a 2 hr, boring stopover in Bangkok. After walking out of the baggage area, I was approached my countless taxi drivers. I wasn't used to the attention because Chiang Mai was a fairly laid back place. The taxi fare was fixed at 400 baht to town so I decided to go for the bus. It was an hour wait for the next one but I wasn't in a hurry.

I ended up taking the mini bus after being approached by the driver. It was fixed at 100 baht, only 15 baht more then the bus. That was a bargin in Phuket. It even dropped us off to our hotel. But not before a stop at their travel agent where they tried to sell everyone a tour.

After they dropped me off at my hotel, I thought they took me to the wrong place. There was a porter that took my bag to reception. I checked in and paid 250 baht for my dorm room. Then I was greeted by 2 hotel representatives that gave me their business cards and told me to call them anytime if I needed anything. The porter then took my bag and showed me to my room.

My room was a normal looking hotel room except that there was 2 bunk beds. It was big, had AC and a bath tub too. There was a big screen TV in the social area with a small library and a few computers. There were also cold and hot drinking water available. Most importantly, there was free wifi. It must be low season cos it was so cheap. The building looks run down though.

I walked around the area and found Top Market, cinema, food Market, and Robinson department store all just 2 mins away. Very convenient.