Phuket, Thailand

Dubbed 'Pearl of the Andaman Sea by the tourist industry, Phuket is Thailand's largest, most populous and most visited island. A whirl of color and cosmopolitanism, Thailand's only island province revolves around and thrives on tourism, but still retains a spark of the real Thailand.

There is a lot to do in Phuket, and consequently, a lot to spend your money on. There are also more tourists in Phuket than on any other Thai island. Most flock to the beaches on the southwestern side, which are loaded with amenities and entertainment options.

The northern half of the island and the interior have not been swept up in the same development and offer quiet beach retreats and the chance to explore rural inland areas. In this wealthiest of Thailand's provinces, the days of ultra-cheap beach bungalows are a distant memory. But Phuket still has some of the most amazing beaches and developed infrastructure in the country.

I arrived in Phuket Friday morning before the other Aggies arrived. When I landed the resort we where staying at picked me up in a large van. The journey took about 45 minutes to get to Patong Beach. I checked into the hotel, changed into my swimming suite and then hit the beach. I walked the entire stretch of the Patong Beach. Even though the Sunami hit this island only a short 7 months ago, Phuket will be my new benchmark for judging beaches from now on. The water was crystal clear bright blue. The waves where massive and strong. The powdery sand soft to the touch. The sun was roasting, however the wind yielded a slight breeze just enough to to keep you cool. Throughout the town you can still see reconstruction and repair of several hotels and shops that where destroyed by the large wave. Talking to locals the water was higher than the first floor of most of the shops. 5000 tourists where killed on the island. That number doesn't count the local people and estimates put it over 10000 who perished in the natural disaster. The town appears to be getting back on its feet.

After walking the beach I walked along the beach front shops and purchased a stack of Phuket Postcards, some T-Shirts, and other various souvigners. I got an awesome hand carved wine bottle!! I went back to the resort and dropped off my souvigners and headed back down to the beach to spend sometime writting postcards and sleeping on the beach. I met a brother and sister from Arizona that are traveling for a whole year! Their adventures sounded truly amazing.

After relaxing on the beach I decided it was time to get a Thai massage at one of the many massage parlors. Thai massages have lots of stretching and pulling your body in different directions to relax the muscles. It was refreshing.

I then made my way back to the hotel to wait on the Aggies to arrive in Phuket. I grabbed a few Thai beers from the 7-11 and hung out at the lobby to greet my friends. They arrived around 10PM and everyone was starving. We grabbed some more beers at the 7-11. We all agreed we loved the towns that let you walk around drinking 1 US Dollars 40 ounce beers in the streets. We then made our way to a sea food restaurant where I had lobster for the first time. In the US i would have paid over 50 US dollars for the meal I had but I only spent 5 US. Lobster is so awesome!

Stephen Haynes, my clubbing and traveling buddy, and I decided to hit up the night life in Phuket. We asked the hotel where to go and we ended up being dropped off in the gay district of town. Luckily it was only one block away from the normal discos. We went to Tai Pan who advertises itself as the FBI bard or Finest Bar In Thailand Bar. We danced for a few hours and had a great time.

Sleeping in the next day was a great treat, especially since I got up at 5AM the prior morning. The free breakfast buffet was so amazing a featured an international assortment of food. They would cook you made to order omelets, French toast, and pan cakes. The spread was awesome.

Paige, Alicia, Haynes, and Myself hung out on the beach under a few umbrella and chairs just soaking up the rays. After lounging around for awhile we went walking through the shops and found a great deal on suites. I got a cashmere grey suite tailor fit and all! Haynes got a blue pin stripe that looked awesome. This was the first time I had a taylor actually do a second and third fitting. The quality was awesome.

We went swimming out in the ocean for awhile, fighting the enormous waves. It was so much fun. I have never seen such large waves! At the beach you could rent ski-dos, parasail, and many other things. We decided to go get another Massage before heading back to the hotel to clean up to go out for the night.

We found an awesome seafood place where I had Tom Yuan Soup, a spicy seafood soup. The seafood was really fresh. We walked down Balang Road a street with numerous pubs and bars, each with Thai ladies grabbing at your attempting to drag you into their bar. Thailand is notorious for what the locals call "lady boys" or transvestites. Cheap plastic surgery is the main factor. We saw some crazy transvestite at some of the bars.

We saw a Thai Kick Boxing Match at a small ring on balang road. It was intense with lots of boxing and kicking.

We had a good time and finally made our way to the Banana Disco. You paid 200 Baht or 5 US dollars entry but you received 2 free drinks! The Baht was 40 Baht to 1 US dollar. I met a cute girl from Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. We all danced with Pat and her friends and she offered to take us around Bangkok when we arrive there next week.

After several hours at the banana Disco we went back down Balang Road and checked out a few other discos. Some where ok and some not. We went to several and had a great time! We took a random motorbike taxi to get us back to the Hotel. It was an adventure in itself!

The following morning featured Elephant Trekking through the Jungle. We where picked up by our guides and taken about 30 minutes from our hotel. We saw many other gorgeous beaches with amazing views as we traveled.

The elephants where massive and had chairs attached to their backs where we could ride. We eventually had the opportunity to ride right behind the ears of the elephants on their bare kneck. It was so awesome! The elephant I was on decided it would splash water all over me completley soaking my shorts and shirt. The elephant then started throwing sand all over me! It was hilarious.

We then saw a baby elephant that could do all sorts of tricks. He could play the harmonica, bow, spray water, and many other tricks. We fed him bananas and took lots of pictures.

We then made our way back to town and went in for our final fitting. I also went to pick up my laundry which I dropped off a a near by hotel and got everything cleaned for about 2 US dollars.

We then had to leave our beautiful tropical island to take us back to Singapore to work for two days this coming week. Tuesday, August 9th is National day, similar to the 4th of July in the US! There will be lots of celebrations, parades, and fireworks throughout the country!