We barely had half a day at Phi Phi before we had to board the ferry to Phuket. I don’t know, it was the same ferry trip going there, but coming back, it seemed interminable. Maybe it was because I was seated next to someone who was malodorous to say the very least. I don’t take it against anyone to have body odor, but for it to reach inside my nostrils and punch the sh*t into my brain is another matter altogether. Bastos na ang baho ng putres, eh! Sorry, but it really ruined the trip for me. And my only escape during the 2 hour, 30 minute trip? A pirated version of the hideous “Van Helsing”, one of my most hated movies ever. Grabe, it was TORTURE. I literally got a headache from the B.O. By the time we got to Phuket, I was cranky and bitchy and irritable and…you get the picture. Thankfully my mood changed when we got to the resort. Apparently, there are only 4 beachfront resorts along the whole stretch of Patong Beach. And the beach is gorgeous. It was almost dinner time when we got to the room. But we thought we’d hit the beach before the sun went down. But to our shock, it looked like Armageddon. Freakishly dark clouds were swirling above us, as if a prelude to a tornado! The wind was howling and everyone was running for shelter! I was glad I got a video of it. But strangely, it just rained for a bit, then it was gone. Suddenly it was a clear, cloudless night. After dinner, we walked around the area and disovered Bangla, apparently the red light district of Phuket. It was so festive, with barkers advertising “ping-pong” shows, also girls pole dancing in window displays, skimpily clad girls and drag queens hawking their respective clubs, and all sorts of seedy goings-on you’d expect from the city’s underbelly. But to be fair, it wasn’t scary at all, there were as many actual tourists armed with cameras and videocams, posing with the ladyboys, as there were actual sexual patrons who would consume the wares the street’s denizens were peddling. We even saw mom wheeling her toddler in a pram! So you never felt like you were in any type of danger, unless you actually went with those guys promising you “private shows”. That would entail going with them to some dark enclosure far from the safety in numbers, and far from the neon that kept everything visible and kosher. Suffice it to say we stayed in the well-lit zones. After that we went back to the resort for a much needed good night’s sleep. The journey to Phuket was long and hard, but it was worth it.
Awww I love “Van Helsing”….