Steamy!
So I’m here in Phuket and things are pretty much wonderful! I landed yesterday around noon, my bag made it with me, and I was promptly picked up, along with a fellow trainee, by a guy named Neil. He drove us the hour or so to our accommodations, which actually surpassed the photographs! We have little beach “villas,” 3 or 4 in each one, with our own bedrooms upstairs and a common living room/kitchen/patio downstairs. There is a beautiful pool on site and we are less than a five minute walk from one of the 12 beaches on the island.
This is definitely a tourist area, but it’s a good, easy introduction to Thailand and the food is still quite cheap, the roads are still chaotic, the people are amazingly friendly and it is HOT. It feels like Florida in the dead of summer, complete with afternoon thunderstorms and palm trees doubled over in the wind. It’s wonderful!
There are 15 of us in the group and everyone has hit it off extremely well. It’s a good mix of girls and guys, americans, canadians and brits. We’re all expecting our “training” to be pretty lax and are looking forward to what will more or less be a month of vacation at a beach resort.
No matter how cheap things are, however (beer excluded – one beer costs as much as a meal), it is EASY to spend far too much. There is too much to do, too much to eat, too much to drink and too many neat things to buy. I should be fine as I’m pretty good at moderation, but I will certainly be spending more than expected here. There are several of us that want to get our diving certification done, so we’re going to try to pull it off while we’re here – hopefully during the week between this course and when we start to teach, as it is a four day ordeal.
I’m still weighing the pros and cons of renting a scooter – it’s cheap (the girl next door got one for three weeks and paid less than $100) and I would love to be able to get around the island, actually see it while I’m here without having to hire transport (there are more varieties than you can possible imagine!), but I am slightly concerned about making through the month without an accident! It’s actually not that busy on the island and no one drives fast, but they do drive on the left (sometimes), lanes are merely suggestions, and the signs (whatever the say) might as well not be there. Needless to say, they haven’t really discovered sidewalks and walking isn’t always the smartest option! So we’ll see.
Anyways, things are great so far and I think that I’m in love with the place. We lucked out and the ethernet connection in our villa (which is supposed to cost 1000Baht/month) is working and we are enjoying free internet. My only regret is in not bringing more clothing…you are literally soaked the second that you walk outside. Luckily clothes are cheap and plentiful here…I just may have to lose a few pounds first!
Tags: Travel
allisonrae
May 4th, 2008 at 8:33 am
Sounds incredible A! I appreciate all of the details; almost makes me feel like I’m there.
May 4th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
OMG – that beach is so pristine! It reminds me of Surfside, Texas! JK- It actually reminds me of Leonardo DeCaprio in the movie THE BEACH.
Can’t wait to hear how your first day of training went. It’s 5:00 a.m. Monday morning your time so I guess you’ll be getting up pretty soon for your first day on the job. We’re just getting ready to throw some dogs on the grill for dinner. Speaking of dogs for dinner, what have you been eating in Thailand so far?
May 4th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
This is so awesome! I know for sure that I’ll have to visit you now! Keep me updated and I know you’ll do great!
Love ya sis
Katy
May 4th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Hi Allison!
Your pictures make me want to take the next flight over! I cant wait to be over there with you. It was great to actually talk to you last night…even though it was 2am 🙂 Hearing you talk of green curry inspired my dinner tonight although I paid more than $1.50 for mine! You are probably just about to start class for the day. I cant wait to hear more about the program! We are all living vicariously through you!!!!
love ya- Gabe
May 7th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
I’m sooo jealous!!! Rent the scooter!!! I wrecked mine 3 times in two days, a new tube and a couple of kicks to get the plastic parts back into place and it was good as new. Too bad it wasn’t that easy for me to bounce back!
Keep the udates and pics coming, enjoy every second and drink lots of Chang Beer 🙂
August 29th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Allison!!! It sounds like the place you started staying at was great!! I’ll have to look into getting involved in the same program 🙂