Phuket

 

Phuket Thailand

We were on deck early to watch the Dawn Princess manoeuvre around un the channel and then back up the channel to the berth – very impressive and no easy feat given the size of the ship, especially for those who are reversing-challenged even in a small car – LOL!! Thank goodness to the person who invented the reversing camera!!

We have been to Phuket a number of times and visited the major attractions, so we opted for a rather low key in and around Phuket Town – the capital city of the island – and the elast touristy.

We walked down to the pier where a large group of taxis and vans with drivers were assembled – many were sharing their taxi tours but we decided to be independent and pay a bit more -  we negotiated the price and thought that he spoke and  understood reasonable English - $50 for the car and driver at our disposal for the whole day. However, then we were led to another driver and it didn’t take us long to realise that those friendly smiles and awkward laughs meant that he didn’t understand a lot of the conversation – no big problem really – just part of the experience.

The great post office adventure

I had bought a pair of prescription swimming goggles in Singapore and decided to ask Rachan, our driver, to take us to the post office so I could send then to her. Our communication difficulties were highlighted when he took us into a spa. We thought that he thought that was what we wanted, but he had taken us there so that his friend who works there could interpret for him. She was stunningly beautiful, but we have a feeling that she was so beautiful, she was actually a lady-boy – so famous in Phuket.

Finally she translated that we wanted to go to the post office – and so the next stop – after about half an hour in heavy traffic mainly composed of young men with death wishes on motor scooters – was the Telegraphic and Post museum – well… think about it …. tourists want to see temples and museums ….. not actually POST a parcel. Luckily the receptionist at the museum spoke English and so she gave us directions to the Phuket central post office and told us that – ‘yes they accept US dollars at the post office’

The post office is another experience altogether – you go into the downstairs section – show the contents of the package to the gentleman behind the counter and he hands over an appropriately sized box, three pieces of wide sticky tape and a carefully measured piece of string!! At this point, it became apparent that they didn’t accept US dollars, and we had to give back our box, tape and string (9 baht which is about 30c) and go back out to find a currency exchange.

Rachan patiently drove us to the currency exchange, we duly exchanged the money and went back to the post office…. relined up…. reshowed our parcel…… re-boxed and taped and retied the parcel … paid the price and were directed upstairs to actually post the parcel…. up the stairs with everyone else ……. and there were some customers lugging really big heavy parcels up the steps …..who am I to question the logic ...... take a number and sit down to wait for your number to be called …. just like a Medicare office in Australia!!

Finally we were called up, the parcel carefully examined to make sure that the special tape was in the correct places and also that it was tied securely, and we were given the options for postage prices and concluded the deal. We loved this little slice of local life and had fun with all the twists and turns.

The rest of the day was spent exploring old Phuket town, the cashew, honey and jewellery markets and just experiencing the local life, a great lunch which cost the equivalent of $7.50 AUD, massages and then back to the ship.

The Rolex challenge

At dinner last night, the great Rolex challenge was thrown issued …. to see who could negotiate the best price for a genuine fake Rolex, and could come back with the receipt. There was a market on the dock with traditional Thai products as well as some very blatant ‘genuine fake’ dealers with sunglasses, watches, t-shirts, DVD’s, and jewellery.

We went to the ‘Watchs Shoppe’ and bargained for our purchases – one male and one female - down from $25 each to two for $25. Very impressive when you consider that they have a 12 month warranty, genuine plastic bag to store it in and a spare battery – and the seller even tested them and set the correct time - LOL. The seller even encouraged me take his photo so that I could recognise him if it broke down in the warranty period!!! We had so much fun bargaining and laughing at the whole process.

However, we weren’t able to get a receipt – so we were afraid that we had failed the challenge – next best thing though – we came back to our cabin and took the 135Baht labels from our cashew nuts and attached them to our purchases ready to show them off at dinner. Jo and Garry also displayed impressive new Rolexes from the same dealer I think, but I think we won the price challenge.

 Not to be outdone, Col and Judy pulled out their purchases – and a crumpled receipt written in Thai – although we could only make out a couple of figures. Clearly, the challenge winners were declared – until Judy broke down and admitted that she had sat outside a shop and copied the sign in Thai and created the receipt – the Thai script actually read “internet café” - had she been able to keep a straight face, we would never had known that it was a fake receipt to go with the fake watches.

We declared that there was no challenge winner cause no one was able to complete the full mission – however Judy got bonus points for creativity and mine is definitely the most unique – it is a back to the future ‘time travellers watch’ – time has stood still since I first brought it back to our cabin!!!!

Now where did I put that photo of the seller and the warranty???

Three sea days now until we arrive at the Maldives.