We headed to Phuket, Thailand, for dental work and perhaps a little touring. Phuket (the h is silent) Island is known for its beaches and its access to smaller resort islands with clear water snorkeling and diving. As we researched what we wanted to see, there wasn’t that much on the island itself. We did have a one-day canoe boat adventure but spent the rest of our time in Patong town where we were staying. Although we spent most of our time in an urban setting, Neil found a plethora of color settings to photograph.
Tuesday, September 26. Arrival Day Phuket Arrival
We went through customs twice on our way to Phuket. On our layover in Bangkok, all our carryons were thoroughly screened again. My backpack, for example, they ran through the scanner 3 times, adjusting it to a different position each time. They pulled out and closely examined things no other screening has ever bothered with–like a little plastic bottle of coconut palm sugar we put in our tea.
Passport control was kind of like the criminal booking process you see on TV, including taking our photos and fingerprints. “Plee put you righ finga hea [on the scanner for my 4 fingerprints], plee put you lef finga hea, plee put bot you tums hea…”
It was a 1 hour taxi ride from the airport to the hotel. From 8 to 9 at night the roads were mostly clear and traffic moved fast. The driver spoke no English and never said a word to us. He would just smile and gesture to the door or nod his head. The evening was cooling off and humidity was very high, close to the dew point. The driver kept his AC so cold (62 F) that condensation kept forming on the outside of the windows making the view in every direction blurry. About every 5 minutes he had to run the windshield wipers to clear away the fog so he could see the road. Luckily I had sarongs in my backpack and we used them as blankets over our legs and jackets to stay warm in the back seat.
We were happy to arrive at the Amata Patong hotel and collapsed into bed without much unpacking as we were exhausted (pronounced ama-ta).
Wednesday, September 27, Day 1
We had been given a deluxe room on the 3rd floor (out of 6 floors) and it overlooked the lobby arrival driveway. The hotel is three buildings in a U shape and everything echoes up between the buildings at the base of the U where we were. First we had loud music till after 2 am and the rest of the night was shouting voices of the jovial taxi drivers conversing in the wee hours till morning. Taxis and motor coaches waiting for passengers would idle below us, within spitting distance, and by 4 am Neil was tempted. 
After our morning tea, we took our bloodshot eyes down to request a new room on a higher floor. We settled on a 5th floor room that faced the hills behind town, on the opposite side from the pool and lobby arrival area and hopefully away from the noise.
It rained all night and it was still raining in the morning. We put on our (cheap Cambodian) plastic raincoats and used the small umbrellas provided by the hotel before setting out to find the SeaSmile Dental Clinic for our morning appointments. They had emailed us a basic map but it didn’t have our hotel on it (even though the hotel is recommended on their website) and the front lobby gave us incorrect directions so we went in the wrong direction down the street. At 7 am 95% of everything was still closed except for a few places preparing to open at 8. We found our way back and had time to stop for a breakfast of Pad Thai before our appointments.
The appointments were to setup our dental plans for the week. The staff and dentists at the Phuket SeaSmile Clinic are all really friendly and competent. The short version is Neil came to get implants of his four lower front teeth, however, the specialist doesn’t think he has enough bone density for the implants at this time. Neil’s major work was to have a deep plaque cleaning. My major work to be done was two root canals and crowns, three fillings, and a few upper molars extracted. (It took time to internalize the need for extractions and a second meeting with the specialist to explain the need for them. I am resolved to it now because the teeth are in the spot where I have been having pain and I can see the infection on the x-rays.) I can get implants later when the infection has healed and the bones build back up.
With our plans decided, we had a nice Indian lunch and then settled into our new room.
Thursday, September 28, Day 2
We like our new room so much better. Sitting on the bed writing this, I have a pretty view of the verdant green hill backing the town. It was blessedly quiet and we slept well. Neil noted that on the 5th floor rather than selecting a certain temperature for your shower, you select a temperature range. He said he set it for the range stimulatingly hot to breathtakingly cold. He estimates someone on a lower floor flushes their toilet about every 10 to 15 seconds.
While I went in for my dental procedures (2 root canals on opposite sides of the mouth) Neil decided to see if he could walk to the temple monastery we see on the hill. Not an easy goal. It cannot be seen from street level but Neil reckoned he could show people the photo he took from our balcony and gesture for directions. Turns out none of the half dozen locals he showed the picture to knew how to get there. Some of them seemed to have no idea what or where it was. 
Neil has excellent bushwhacking skills and eventually he set off straight up the hill following a little footpath. It might well have gone to the temple but he turned around when it appeared to go into a secluded homestead hidden up in the forest. He might have made friends with a reclusive hermit, or been shot at. He decided not to find out.
On the bright side, he walked several kilometers through back streets where the locals lived, shopped, and ate. He found some busy little hole-in-the-wall restaurants where hotel and shop workers go. It’s always a good sign to find a busy place where we’re the only Caucasians in the area. It means the place earns its customers by providing good food at a fair price. And one place near our hotel has the best tasting Thai food we’ve found since we’ve been here.
I started reading about what to do and see in Phuket as I rested in the afternoon. Number 4 on the list was “Party On Bangla Road” which turns out is in Patong town three blocks from our hotel. We walked past the street with the sign across it the morning when we went the wrong way looking for the clinic. We decided to check it out on our way to dinner. And once was enough. Soi Bangla is the Patong nightlife street that comes alive after dark with restaurants, bars, GoGo bars, and dancing girls who probably look young and pretty when you have your beer goggles on. It is full of hawkers getting in your face trying to get you to go in their bar, loud blaring music spilling into the street and huge overhead video screens with visually jarring ads playing all along the street. Lots of young drunk loud college kids (mostly Australian), and plenty of seedy barfly expats. Not our scene.
Neil’s note: We were walking down the street in a fairly congested tourist area when we heard someone behind us call out “Hey young man!” I turned around to respond but the guy was intent on someone else. An Aussie woman nearby said “Why did you look?” Sheepishly, I turned to answer her but she was elbowing her husband, who also looked sheepish. Thing is… he was younger than me!!! Hahaha!! I guess world travelers are just young at heart!
Exploration day to Phang Nga Bay! We booked a day excursion with John Gray’s Sea Canoe to explore sea caves and inner lagoons among the marine limestone rock islands in the Phang Nga Bay in the northern reaches of the Andaman Sea off the northeast coast of Phuket. The Hong by Starlight tour starts midday and ends after dark thereby missing the most crowded times. We loved the all-inclusive tour that included transport to and from our hotel. 
After an hour drive in the frigid minivan (do they think the only setting is MAX?), we arrived at the office at Ao Po Harbor and loaded on another bus that drove us down the pier to the boat ready for our noon departure. The upper boat deck was for the passengers (26 of us) and the lower deck was for the crew, the kitchen staff, and the canoes. 
They passed out bright orange life jackets that we had to place over our heads (but we didn’t have to don properly) because the harbor departures were monitored by closed circuit video and if any passenger didn’t have on a bright orange life jacket, the boat would receive a fine! As soon as we were past the cameras, we could take them off and never needed to use them for the rest of the trip.
It was a perfect day to be on the water–sunny and no wind. In the one-hour boat cruise to Phanak Island, we were served a delicious Thai lunch and given a briefing. Each couple would have a personal guide who would paddle us through the Tidal Nape Sea Caves. We drew names out of a hat and I drew Bau as our guide for the day. Entrance to the caves are tide dependent; some are inaccessible during high tide and others are too shallow to access at low tide. 
While waiting for the tide to go down enough, Neil and I (and all the passengers) were given free time to paddle our own canoe and swim in a protected bay. Paddling under the overhangs, we had to be vigilant to avoid hitting the stalactites with our heads. Amazing! The ocean temperature was a balmy 86 degrees and was lovely for a swim. According to our guide the green ocean color was because of the limestone “dust” that creates a muddy bottom. 
Bau took over the paddle in the rear of the canoe and Neil headed to the front as our photographer. As we approached Oyster Cave, Bau had us lay back flat to traverse the cave. There were times when I felt my nose would touch the ceiling. And then we exited into this awesome internal lagoon in the middle of the limestone island! Such places are called hong in the Thai language, and the word is also used to mean room or chamber. It was so peaceful and tranquil (until a few other canoers needed to yell to each other, ha).The following video is us traveling through Oyster Cave:
