2. A tuc-tuc tour of beauty and a little bit of sadness (and my strong opinions that accompany it!)

I wasn’t quite sure what today would bring as it could have been a bit of a ‘waiting around day’ since I had to check out of my hotel at midday but am not being collected for my diving trip until after 5pm. In the end though, I have filled it with excellent things. Jet lag is not my friend at the moment so I was awake horribly early (despite that being when the UK is all still just going to bed). I treated myself to a local, highly recommended brunch. Oh it was delicious - not in any way Thai but there was bread, egg, avocado and bacon so I didn’t care! I experienced a moment of pure joy when I spotted the hot drink menu … and then absolute disgust at the next part of it advertising, with an accompanying image, ‘milk tea’. Nothing about that concept has been understood or was acceptable; I was so distressed, I ordered a cappuccino! Breakfast itself was most delicious though!

After checking out, I then waited in anticipation to see if the taxi tuc-tuc man had understood a word of our conversation last night and showed up like we’d arranged …. And he did! Off we went in our little pink (sadly there was no alternative colour option) tuc-tuc tour. They’re really more converted tiny vans here but I love them nonetheless. I think they’re not recommended as the safest way to travel but I love the breeze and the view and no traffic ever goes above a 15mph max crawl here anyway, either because we were in the town or climbing up a hill so steep it required first gear throughout!

We went first to Wat Chalong - the most famous and very beautiful Buddhist temple  in Phuket then on to the Big Buddha. While not terribly originally named, it is a very accurate description. He’s a towering white Buddha who overlooks Phuket and the stunning coastline. Up close, I noticed he was covered in thousands of white mosaic tiles to achieve his bright white and unweathered appearance. I have recently learnt (because I’m reading a book written partly in Brazil when it was being constructed) that the same effect was employed to colour the massive Christo Redentor that overlooks Rio de Janero - a bit of trivia for you!).

Both places were incredible to see and wander round. I wrapped my sarong round my waste as I had shorts on and Buddha is offended by knees (and shoulders but I already had a long arm tee shirt on). Seemingly only female knees and shoulders though as we’re the only ones forced to cover up to gain entry. I am very much entirely happy to dress in a way that is respectful to the culture … but equally furious that most tourist men aren’t required to the do the same. Perhaps Buddha was more partial to a male knee? The Thai locals are all also covered and dress as is fitting for their culture of respect towards Buddha, Buddhism and the Buddhist monks. I suspect it’s more that they don’t feel comfortable asking foreign men to cover up - and a number of men didn’t see fit to be respectful enough to bother of their own accord. Big Buddha sits atop a hill, which if pronounced phonetically from its translation to English reads as 'knackered mountain'. To be fair, you would be absolutely exhausted if you were made enough to attempt to walk up it!

Anyway, I very much enjoyed my trip and the views and sights from my tic-tuc. Mid way up the mountain, it occurred to me there would likely be monster monkeys in the forest and I worried about my transport of choice as I was very vulnerable and open to attack. Fortunately, the monkeys must have been otherwise engaged with an alternate foe as I didn’t see any. The signs at the Buddha park reassured me my concern was justified though!

The absolute worst part of my whole experience though, even worse than being offered the chance to go to the tiger park to stroke a tiger on the way (absolutely not, thanks), were the elephants I saw at the road side cafes and ‘attractions’ on the way. Heart breaking examples of why tourism can be so damaging and the locals aren’t educated or interested (or in agreement) enough to stop. Poor pachyderms. It made me feel so sad to see them tied up, feet roped to the floor and mounted up with riding equipment ready. I felt even sadder than I do when I see the sad fish in an aquarium. I used to be a tourist that rode an elephant and ‘swam’ with dolphins - I feel only shame to think of it now and realise it is never in the best interests of the animal and better education and insistence upon changes in practice are vital. Mind you, while in our ‘developed’ and ‘educated’ culture, we still use animals for sports and enjoyment and feel it’s totally justified too so we have a long way to come. Thais do it to elephants; we do it to horses. There's no real difference. I worry often that I’ve done the wrong thing by having my Billie and Freddie but I’m not sure what options there are to rectify that as I’m not convinced releasing two tortoises into the wilds of Portsmouth would bring them any benefit either!?

Anyway, after my otherwise excellent little trip, I am now back in the the Old Town where I have found an alternate venue for a couple of hours in the cool to update you all on my adventures and also drink a real beverage treat…

In a couple of hours, I shall be collected and taken to the port to join my dive boat, where I shall be for the next week. I’ve seen and read so much about the diving in the Andaman sea and I’m so excited to be amongst like-minded souls (hopefully!) and to get back into the water and be with the happy fish! I’d imagine there won’t be WiFi on board once at sea so I’ll be back with a full update in a week!