Arrived in Phuket (pronounced “poo-ket”) last night, after a 2 hour flight delay in KL. Funny thing, the story was that the pilot just didn’t show up! It’s pouring now so good chance to catch up on online stuff. Quick blog right now, more pics later. I’m also going back and uploading videos from Bali and putting them on the corresponding blog posts. This blogging thing is a lot of work!
So yesterday, my flight was scheduled at 5:10. I was casually going about my day, went to Starbucks for a bit, did some shopping and haggling over these t-shirts (the guy really busted my balls, i got him down from 70RM to 42RM for 2 t-shirts, so around $13…still think I could have done better but the guy was a hammerhead!)
So I head back to my hotel and it’s 2:25. Meanwhile, I hadn’t checked how far the airport was but I thought we went by it on the bus tour and it couldn’t have been more than about 15 minutes. I asked the front desk guy at the hotel a question and he asked me what time my flight was.
“5:10” I said.
“Ohhhhhhhhhhhh! You need to leave now and HURRY!”
I thought to myself “WTF?” 2.5 hours to get to the airport?? Makes no sense. Butttttttttt, apparently, I was no where near the airport on that bus ride, and it’s actually over an hour away by car. I asked about a taxi and he said “NO!!!!! Too far for taxi, too expensive!” Then he proceeded to outline how to get to the airport:
1. Take a bus to KL Sentral
2. Take a train to somehwere else
3. Take a train to the airport
Ok I was a little worried. I rushed out the door and asked a taxi driver where the bus to KL Sentral was…he said he’d drive me there, that it was ridiculous for me to take 3 modes of transportation to get to the airport. Then I got in the cab and he offered to drive me to the airport.
“90 Ringitts”
At first I thought he was trying to screw me, but I thought back to my earlier experience with the honest cabbie, and I decided to pay the 30 bucks and have peace of mind, instead of stressing about all these trains and schlepping bags all over town.
Well it was the best 30 bones I’ve ever spent I think. It took a good hour to get to the airport, and I was there in plenty of time and relaxed. Luckily, the bureaucracy was fairly minimal and I breezed through all the checkpoints.
I met an American couple waiting for the flight who had just come from Bali, and we had fun comparing stories for probably around an hour and a half, until the airline finally gave us all dinner vouchers because of the absent pilot sitch.
Anyway the flight was easy and fast, got into Phuket around 8:30 and got a taxi to my hotel in Kamala (just north of all the craziness in Patong). Hotel was…..not exactly as advertised. A little lower end than I expected, but the price was right and I’m right on the beach, with an ocean view for about 20 bucks a night!
So today I’m still in the midst of my cold, so I really took it easy. Had a walk on the beach, got some coconut chicken soup, some coconut juice, and had a nap. When I woke up it was dumping outside and it hasn’t stopped in 2 hours. I’m now planning my trip to the islands and other spots- Ko Phi Phi, Railey beach, Ko Samui, Ko Pha Ngang….we’ll see if I make it anywhere else around here.
