In Poo Ket

I've escaped the madness and mayhem that is Bangkok. I am comfortably settled in to Phuket now. (That's pronounced "Poo Ket" to all of you non-Thai-speakers, not the way it looks.) Phuket is considered Thailand's answer to Bali, and in many ways it is. The beaches here are world-class. And there are dozens of 5 star hotels near them. Of course this is still Thailand, so there are plenty of aggressive tuk-tuk drivers, t-shirt and DVD vendors and Massage hawkers begging you to stop and shop. But other than that, it's pretty nice here.
The hotel I am staying in is definitely the nicest I've EVER stayed in. Period. You can see from the photo, that this place is pretty swanky. And it's not that pricey too. That's one of the nice things about Thailand - that the properties are pretty inexpensive. This place is much bigger than my last condo in Vancouver, at 1000 sf. It's a shame I don't have someone to share it with.

I had to endure a 12 hour overnight bus trip to get here. I got the last seat on a "VIP Bus" to Phuket. It left at 8pm last night, and got in here early this morning. I am not too sure what constitutes it as "VIP", other than it had two Stewardesses dressed like KLM staff handing out little snacks and water bottles. The seats were uncomfortable, and I barely slept. Thailand really needs to figure out their political struggles, and get back to making it nice for tourists to come here again. I am not a bus traveler. I felt like I should be lugging a backpack instead of a suitcase.

I will hang out here until Saturday, when I will fly down to Kuala Lumpur. I hope that the Phuket airport doesn't close by then. I will use the time to relax, sit by the pool, and relax in the oversized apartment. Maybe I will set up a photo blog that you can see some of my other photos.

The last few days I was in Bangkok, I spent with a new friend Anthony. I met him through some of the other people I know there. Anthony is a Dentist in Bangkok. He is Thai, but grew up in Paris and London. We spent time doing 'normal things' like seeing a movie and bowling. It was like I actually lived in Bangkok.