Thailand: Getting a lay of the land

When I woke up in our bungalow on the hill after a long night of heavy sleep I looked outside and realized just how beautiful this place was. The bright blue ocean with white sand beaches lined with tall palm trees as far as the eye can see. It was early in the morning but the constant sounds of scooters moving about were echoing out of the street below. Bre and I decided to go for a walk to see what Kata beach was like and to try and find the dive shop I would be training at.
Kata beach is on the Southwest shore of Phuket and is a popular destination spot for European tourists because of its beautiful weather and cheap 5 star resorts. The sandy beach is roughly a mile long and has thousands of double lounge chairs with an umbrella that can be rented the entire day for just over $3. There are several individual vendors that line road along the beach selling the typical water, snacks, beer, sunscreen, and beach toys. There are three roads that run north-to-south and three that run east-to-west; none of which we can tell have names and as I would later find out even people that have lived here for 10+ years still don’t even know what they are supposed to be called. As Bre and I walked up the street heading north along the beach we noticed the number of people out early exercising, the people out sweeping the streets, the water and ice vendors running about making deliveries to the shops and restaurants, who were all taking advantage of the cooler mornings.
We walked along until the road ended on one of the main streets heading east to west and made a right walking past a couple of small family restaurant owners who were all giving us the typical “goodmorniiiiiiiiing” as we smiled and waved hello. We got to the next north-to-south street and turned right heading back towards our bungalow, we could see right away this was the main street for bars, restaurants, shops, massage, beauty salons, and tailors. Nothing was open yet at 7:30 in the morning but based on the density of everything we could tell this place was going to be hopping at night.
We stopped at what looked like a nice place for a cheap breakfast and had a huge plate of fresh local fruit and toast, I got an egg omelet with veggies and we shared some coffee. We headed back to the room to pack up our stuff and head to the dive shop to get checked in and find out where we would be staying for the next 14 days. It turned out that the address of the dive shop I had was for their smaller sister shop so a quick call to the main shop and a driver was on his way to pick us up. Mr. Jun pulled up in a small diesel van with a big smile on his face ready to take us to our accommodations and as we drove north we chatted about where we were from.
Our place is off one of the three main streets heading east-to-west called “The New Road”. Built two years ago there are still a few hotels and mixed use retail buildings that have yet to be finished but the newness of it stands out. Baan Suay are several apartments above shops and restaurants and remind me slightly of a Santa Row layout without the ritzy façade. We quickly droped our stuff off and headed to meet Rene and the rest of the dive team at Le Marina Resorot on Patong Beach.
As we drove in the gate I knew this place was something special by the way the surroundings transformed from a jungle to a well manicured paradise. The van was parked and Rene with Sea Fun divers met Bre and I at the door with a smile. “Welcome to the place where things are all good” he said. We made some introductions and learned Rene was from Sunnyvale but was a native of Philadelphia who came here 10 years ago for a three week vacation and never left. He gave us a tour of the grounds filling us in about how the next 12 days would go and what to expect work wise. He then gave us a map of Kata Beach and gave us recommendations on restaurants and the Thai phrases Bre should use to ensure she orders vegan.
The driver took us back to our flat where we took an hour to relax in the A/C and get unpacked. Once things were all sorted we decided to give one of the restaurants a try then stock up at one of the local markets with fresh fruit. The Thai Kitchen is a small family run restaurant right of the main road that runs north-to-south that’s the furthest from the beach with some of the best Thai food in Kata, according to Rene. After the meal we both agreed that this is a place we will frequent during our stay here, the food is excellent and only cost us $7 including a beer.
The market is right at the end of the new road down the street from the Thai Kitchen and has just about anything anyone could want to make an authentic Thai meal. We spent an hour there with different vendors trying all of the fruit, some good some not so much. Oh, and to settle anyone’s concerns about the food, fruit, water or ice, Phuket is not the place to worry about in Thailand. They take special care to make sure people don’t get sick here; tourism is there lively hood and they need people to be well and spend money. Obviously you don’t want to drink tap water but you can buy a 5 gallon jug of filtered and distilled water delivered to your door for less than a dollar.
We stocked up and headed back to the room to rest and get ready for the night. After a few hours of rest and writing we headed down stairs to try the restaurant that was directly below us for dinner then we spent a few hours walking around and taking in all of the craziness that is Thailand. We called it a night around 10 pm and headed back to the room for some shuteye in the A/C.
Day 2 Album (Click to see more)