Jeep Vs. Morobike

So, what started out as a lazy sunbathing day yesterday, turned into a full blown tour of a large portion of the island of Phuket. After sunning ourselves for about 30 minutes and aquiring the worst sunburns ever, we were bored and needed a bit more to do. We ended up renting a "jeep", which was a Suzuki Carribean, 4x4 type vehicle. For $20.00 US each, we got the thing for two FULL days. It came complete with A/C, tinted windows, no gas, and absolutely no horsepower.



We set out heading in some direction down the coast of Patong Beach which is where our hotel is located. Basically we just aimed to follow the coastline for a while and see where it took us. We found some amazing beaches including Karon Beach and Rawai Beach, and each was as beautiful as the one before it. We stopped at quite a few overlook-type spots for some photos, and basically let the sun drain every ounce of energy out of us. We stopped at "Phuket's famous sunset view" as it's marked on the map, and got there just prior to sunset which was perfect timing. Not quite so perfect was John's need to go back to the car to get his wallet, which resulted in the sun dropping behind some clouds and expediting the very thing we were there to witness. I managed to get a couple shots before the sun was completely gone, but by the time John was coming back up the stairs, 75% of the people there were heading back down, and the location quickly became just a hill in the dark. At any rate, it was a good laugh.
Being in a jeep felt a tad bit safer than our previous means of transportation, but was still beyond sketchy. Add in the fact that the sun went down while we were still on the opposite side of the island and you've got yourself an adventure. A basic rundown of the situation looks like this:

-John driving a manual vehicle, shifting with his left hand since everythings on the opposite side here.

-Eric trying to read maps in the dark because there is no interior light

-Road signs that point kind of in the direction your destination is, but not really

-Street signs that are too small to read until you've gone past them

-Traffic coming head on from both sides of the jeep, in the dark, in the rain

-Rotary type roadways that circle the opposite way than what we're accustomed to


So, the whole time, I'm hanging out the window screaming "Hello" in Thai (Sawat-Di-Khrap) at every person we pass. Not just screaming, but screaming in a high pitched, super asian voice that could wake the dead. Picture the little weird lady from Poltergeist on speed, with a phony asian feel to it.
We managed to get back to Patong Beach only by asking various people on motorcycles at red lights which direction we should be heading. As usual, they were more than willing to help out, and we found our hotel in a relatively fast manner.
It was an exciting day of sightseeing and sunburning, and I was definately exhausted upon arrival back at the hotel. Exhaustion continues to be a big theme by the time most of the days here come to their end, and it will be nice to get some good rest by the end of the week. Today is our last full day in Thailand and tomorrow we leave Phuket around 5:00 to fly to Bangkok to get our midnight flight to NYC. We'll have a half day to do whatever, and then spend a total of 20 hours on planes. This trip has been amazing, and I feel like I've seen way more than should have been possible in the amount of time I've been here which leaves me feeling very satisfied. If you haven't been doing so all along, be sure to check out John's site for his accounts of the trip and some finely-tuned diagrams of Thai traffic patterns.
I think we might go see Star Wars at the local movie theatre right now, since it still seems to be raining like crazy. Nothing like some good ole' American movies to round out a trip to a foreign country. We'll probably stop off at McDonald's like the good fat Americans we are.