Phuket Island

Rex1
Thu 12 Dec 2013 22:57
We have really enjoyed the last week at the marina and driving around Phuket Island. As you can imagine the driving is a bit chaotic - motorbikes everywhere and not many wear helmets, crazy airport minivans that speed everywhere, no discernible maximum speed limit, yet 60km signs on every curve in the road (sorry but I am convinced Thai people can't drive around corners). Fuel is relatively expensive - about 30 baht a litre ($1).

We were invited by our lovely neighbours on G dock, Sue and John to a North Phuket food festival that is held once a year at three adjacent 5 stars resorts on Mai Khao Beach - Sala, Anatara and the Marriott (about 10 min drive from the marina) We decided when we arrived at Sala on Friday that we would buy a ticket for the three consecutive dinners. The resort was beautiful and the event included 1 long table and several stylish stalls where you could get different styles of Thai food. The evening also included alcohol and music (the DJ was a big guy in a tuk tuk - very cool). We loved the food and atmosphere and ate way too much. Unfortunately Greg was sick during the night and all day Saturday - and only realised on Sunday that it was food poisoning. Just crazy to think where we have been over the last 3 seasons and the street food we have consumed and for him to get food poisoning at a 5 star resort!

Unfortunately Greg opted out of the next two dinners and Dadang joined John, Sue and I. The Saturday night dinner at Anatara was simply stunning- amazing food - there were stands for each style of food- oysters, crab, prawns, chicken, vegetables, salads, desserts - there were 3 Thai dishes on each stall - my favourite was the soft shelled crab salad with watermelon.

Sunday night at the Marriott resort was also impressive, it was a feast of the east meets west and we were all happy to go with the western food after 2 indulgent nights of Thai cuisine. There was a cocktail bar, wine bar, Japanese, italian, seafood including fresh lobster, roasts, indian, thai and a dessert and cheese bar. There was a terrific band and an amazing display of Thai fire dancers in the ornamental pool.

We did have the pleasure of visiting Bangkok Hospital on Sunday - both Greg and Dadang were not well - Greg had food poisoning and a badly infected finger that needed minor surgery and Dadang had bronchitis. However the whole experience was amazing - service like a five star resort. We arrived in the carpark and were picked up in a golf buggy to be taken to the front door (only 300m away). We were then escorted to the service desk to register and then Dadang was sent for an examination with an ear nose and throat specialist and had an x ray. Greg saw 2 doctors and then had his finger operated on. We also had lunch, paid for the services and received our medications all in the one place. All staff were beautifully attired, polite, professional and had the highest service standards i have ever seen. All up it cost $500 - not cheap but definitely value for the service - we were all done within 2 hours - plus free bottles of water and free wi-fi.

Now for the somewhat mundane side of boating - we now have a brand new 100 metre anchor chain (after 10 years some parts of the current chain had deteriorated and Greg was not confident to continue using). We have also ordered some new lithium/ion batteries due to the gradual demise of our current ones. Batteries are the heart of the vessel and run everything from the fridge and freezer to our navigation systems - basically no or low batteries means not a happy ship. We anticipate these being delivered and installed in about 6 weeks time. Greg also managed to get the new freezer repaired so now I have a new fridge for my vegetables - a massive help after having a small bar fridge for 2 years - now we just need the new batteries to power it. We had the air conditioner lines cleaned and a leak in the compressor repaired. Phuket is really set up for all things boating and Boat Lagoon (about 30 min drive) has all the relevant marine businesses and chandleries in the one location - Greg and Dadang love it and they even found a Thai version of Bunnings called Watsuda on one of their trips.

We are leaving the marina today to go cruising around Phang Nga Bay for a week to 10 days and I am very excited because we bought a single kayak to go exploring the hongs.