Alright - who pooped?
I'm not much of a blogger or a journalist so this kind of thing tends to come out as thoughts more than an elaborate painting with words. But even a well worded soliloquy couldn't describe the diversity of experiences that Phuket provides.
To start off, it's not that hot. People say that the humidity is awful and the combination of tropical heat makes you want to change shirts 2-3 times a day; not true, it's no worse than a summer in South Carolina (without the manual labor). The heat and occasional rains are hands down more tolerable than the smell of trash and sewage that persists through the streets and wafts with the constant breeze in between spas, resorts, and restaurants. Entering the water, walking the main streets, bugs, drinking water, and even eating vegetables all attribute to some amount of discomfort and concern for my health and the health of the city/country. Before Leaving Kata, Phuket island I almost lost the view of what makes this area beautiful.
The Andaman Sea, of course (!), is amazing but the kindness of the Thai people is even more so. Once you open up to the locals by trying to speak their language and showing them that you don't want to simply exchange money and be left alone they finally show those talked of teethy smiles and welcome you. As Mike, a Canadian who we met in our guest-house among a group of friends, said when you try to speak the local language in Asian countries the response is along the lines of "Oh that's so cute!" Tyler, part of Mike's group, also said that speaking to a local using their language can get in the way when you both speak English; English is the real medium people want to use to get to the main objective, trading goods for currency.
Tonight we got the real Thai experience we had been doubting was in this small city to begin with. We went to the Thai market for food where instead of honking mopeds, "pharongs" (mainstream tourists), and the sickening smell of trash there was quite the opposite. In sound there was kind conversation (all in Thai) and children playing, when we looked around there were dozens of Thais to every non-local and the number decreased throughout the night, and the smell was simply astounding. Courtney pointed out how great it would be to live near a market like this to do our own cooking. For less than $3 Courtney and I were both more full and content than we have been since we left the states. The market was a whirlwind of exchanges and before we knew it we were speaking mostly Thai to everyone, even to each other at times. Our big goal for the day was to plan how to move to our next destination and after searching a few different places all we had to do was ask someone at the market where to go and they willing, without any 'mai ows,' or wild offers for taxi service, they explained how to get to where we wanted to go for cheap.
The title of this post tells how I joked around about the filthy and touristy parts of this town, Kata. Whether it was the tourism industry or strong influence from western cultures the majority of my first experience in Thailand was that someone, I don't know who, shat on this part of the world. Which was almost completely turned around on our last day in Kata. Great times at the beach, comfort from locals who recognized us (guy at fruit stand who gave us a discount on the second time seeing us, Thais that work at the guest-house holding conversations with us, our go-to restaurant thinking that we lived there because we tried to speak Thai and were kind to them), and a great time at the Thai market provided an experience to make me think "Alright - what's next in Thailand?"
-Daniel
To start off, it's not that hot. People say that the humidity is awful and the combination of tropical heat makes you want to change shirts 2-3 times a day; not true, it's no worse than a summer in South Carolina (without the manual labor). The heat and occasional rains are hands down more tolerable than the smell of trash and sewage that persists through the streets and wafts with the constant breeze in between spas, resorts, and restaurants. Entering the water, walking the main streets, bugs, drinking water, and even eating vegetables all attribute to some amount of discomfort and concern for my health and the health of the city/country. Before Leaving Kata, Phuket island I almost lost the view of what makes this area beautiful.
The Andaman Sea, of course (!), is amazing but the kindness of the Thai people is even more so. Once you open up to the locals by trying to speak their language and showing them that you don't want to simply exchange money and be left alone they finally show those talked of teethy smiles and welcome you. As Mike, a Canadian who we met in our guest-house among a group of friends, said when you try to speak the local language in Asian countries the response is along the lines of "Oh that's so cute!" Tyler, part of Mike's group, also said that speaking to a local using their language can get in the way when you both speak English; English is the real medium people want to use to get to the main objective, trading goods for currency.
Tonight we got the real Thai experience we had been doubting was in this small city to begin with. We went to the Thai market for food where instead of honking mopeds, "pharongs" (mainstream tourists), and the sickening smell of trash there was quite the opposite. In sound there was kind conversation (all in Thai) and children playing, when we looked around there were dozens of Thais to every non-local and the number decreased throughout the night, and the smell was simply astounding. Courtney pointed out how great it would be to live near a market like this to do our own cooking. For less than $3 Courtney and I were both more full and content than we have been since we left the states. The market was a whirlwind of exchanges and before we knew it we were speaking mostly Thai to everyone, even to each other at times. Our big goal for the day was to plan how to move to our next destination and after searching a few different places all we had to do was ask someone at the market where to go and they willing, without any 'mai ows,' or wild offers for taxi service, they explained how to get to where we wanted to go for cheap.
The title of this post tells how I joked around about the filthy and touristy parts of this town, Kata. Whether it was the tourism industry or strong influence from western cultures the majority of my first experience in Thailand was that someone, I don't know who, shat on this part of the world. Which was almost completely turned around on our last day in Kata. Great times at the beach, comfort from locals who recognized us (guy at fruit stand who gave us a discount on the second time seeing us, Thais that work at the guest-house holding conversations with us, our go-to restaurant thinking that we lived there because we tried to speak Thai and were kind to them), and a great time at the Thai market provided an experience to make me think "Alright - what's next in Thailand?"
-Daniel
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