Phuket
"I can't think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything. Suddenly you are five years old again. You can't read anything, you have only the most rudimentary sense of how things work, you can't even reliably cross a street without endangering your life. Your whole existence becomes a series of interesting guesses."
Bill Bryson
On our wider tour of Thailand we chose Phuket as our first stop. This was mostly because of circumstances. We were right there after all. Phuket is well known as a tourist destination and not somewhere which would normally attract us. Despite this there are 2 sides to Phuket, the beach resorts where the majority of the tourist industry resides, and the Old Town where you can trace the history of Phuket and its people to its origin as a tin mining, fishing and trading centre. That sounded like it aligned more with our interests and it was a great choice. Phuket has quite a unique culture and narrative and the people were extremely friendly.
We also got our first exposure to the incredible hostel culture of Thailand, one of the features that makes it such an amazing place for youngsters to come and earn their travel stripes in a friendly, clean and safe environment. Good for aging muppets like us as well.
Phuket street art and architecture.
Borbaboom
We rolled into Phuket old town after dark in the pouring rain after catching a taxi at the airport. Not the most promising of starts. We were off loaded on a little side street outside a rather starkly lit entrance nestled next to a bank of washing machines.
You may be forgiven for pulling a bit of a face at this introduction but as we travelled wider the presence of a laundry next door became a goal and not a disadvantage. We didn't have that many clothes.
We had arrived at Borbaboom Poshtel, our home for the next 4 nights.
When looking for accommodation I had only a few requirements. It must have a private bathroom (geriatric bladders), an aircon (menopause) and be within walking distance of whatever I was hoping to see. Low cost got you extra points and later we expanded these criteria to include breakfast ( great added value) and high traveller ratings which, interestingly, had less to do with the cost of the place than you might think, and a lot to do with the people.
I think with Borbaboom I was overwhelmed with online choice and eventually caved to the name. What can I say, it was a very lucky find.
Our rooftop swimming pool.
The hostel was snuggled behind the narrow entryway, a 3 story building with a variety of shared and private rooms and a shared kitchen with lockers for any valuables. Shoes were removed at the first doorway and we were showed up 6 flights of stairs to a tiny room with a double bed and no windows. No lift. Good for the heart. There was however a tiny swimming pool on the roof.
In the kitchen we met a young American, self styled bitcoin investor, who was waiting for his parents to cable him some money. Say no more. He told us big stories about how much he had made, before he lost it all of course, and lurked on the communal sofa for 3 days. We became quite fond of him and brought him mangos from the market incase he did not have anything to eat.
The people running the hostel were so friendly, they helped us navigate the places to visit, they organised transport for us and greeted us night and morning with wide smiles and great enthusiasm. While the room was rather small and dingy , it was spotlessly clean and fresh drinking water and towels were delivered every day. The beginning of our love affair with Thai standards and generosity.
Phuket Old Town
Phuket old town consists of a relatively tight network of parallel streets. The guide book describes the architecture as Sino Portuguese in recognition of the influence of the foreign traders in the development of Phuket.
It is a picturesque mix of old and renovated buildings, ancient shop fronts and hotels. The chaotic electrical wiring is well represented in tangles of wires on every pole., crisscrossing every street. The town was decorated for an upcoming Gay Pride week with giant inflatable characters and rainbow bunting. Strangely they did not look out of place.
There are a couple of museums, one scenically occupying the old bank building, and we headed there first to learn about the people, history and culture.
It seems Phuket started as a small fishing port but underwent economic growth with the establishment of a tin mine. Trade flourished. Many Chinese workers arrived to work the tin mine, initially as workers but later rising to social prominence and business success.
They intermarried with the local Thais and the offspring of these interracial marriages became known as the Peranaken or Baba. This mixed race has come to represent a dominant part of present day Phuket with distinctive culture and dress and great pride.
There is an unusual religious diversity with a high proportion of muslims here as well as buddhist, christian and hindu, perhaps reflecting the multicultural input from travellers and trade partners.
The Museums, one in an old bank and the other in an old school. The bank still had the original safe and the school showed the history of education in Phuket.
Hand made Lino Prints
Beautiful Phuket silks and traditional designs.
Phuket night life.
The streets were busy, lots of food and coffee shops, and the traditional shop fronts hid some old craftsmen, painting, lino printing and traditional dress. We made a plan to come back and buy this beautiful clothing, delicate vibrant silks and collarless shirts, before we left Thailand but sadly it was not to be. We never did return to the quaint streets of Old Phuket and we never saw this style anywhere else. Circumstances led us in other directions and schlepping around with a backpack did not lend itself to gathering souvenirs at the beginning of the journey.
Small temples with a strong Chinese influence can be found tucked behind the main streets, accessed by small alleyways. Buddha shares his space with gilded statues of old Chinese gods. The Chinese make up a lot of the tourists in this part of town and they visit the temples to pray and light joss sticks for luck and prosperity.
The work of the early Chinese businessmen founded schools, hospitals and poor houses, initially for the benefit of the Chinese, but soon encompassing the broader mixed society.
Sang Tham Shrine, or Shrine of the Serene Light is a hidden gem, a Chinese Taoist shrine more than 100 years old.
Of course there is more to Phuket than the old town. It is actually a bustling city. One day we walked out of old town in search of a camera shop. We were hopeful for a spare battery for our little wide angled street camera. We walked 5 km and investigated more local markets. People rolled up to the market stalls on scooters to pick up their lunch for the day. There was delicious food and beautiful flower markets as well as incredible fruit.
Eventually we found the biggest, baddest shopping mall you have ever seen. Only the highest end of brands were there. Very bright and gold and shiny. Predictably the camera shop looked like it had everything, but nothing we needed, even batteries. Everything had to be ordered on line. We would just have to make do.
A Peranakan Parade
On our first day the receptionist at the hotel pulled us aside to tell us of a local parade occurring that day. We were delighted. Following her instructions we found the start in a small carpark about 500 m from the hotel. We had experienced the rain on and off all day, and the clouds were low and black, but we took umbrellas and rain jackets and set off at 3.45 to watch the parade.
In the carpark the people were gathering dressed in coordinated outfits, groups in local dress and fancy dress.
A large Chinese dragon was weaving in and out of the people and a big brass band was assembling. There was a large press corp scurrying in and out of the crowds. This is where we first realised that being being photographed is also a national obsession.
We found a spot across the road where the parade was scheduled to leave from and the heavens opened. It is a bit tricky with cameras but luckily most of the shops had deep verandahs where it was possible to find some shelter.
They delayed the start of the parade for about 30 minutes but eventually it had to go, before it started to go dark, and rain or not they stepped out in coordinated groups.
Each group held up a plaque signifying which area or district they were from or which business they represented. The costumes were a mixture of traditional, spectacular and humorous, and their enthusiasm infectious. They danced and sang, waving silk streamers or giant flowers.
We stood on the meridian island and shot up a storm.
We never did find out what the parade was in aid of, it seemed it was just an outpouring of community joy and pride. In other towns we often saw apparently spontaneous gatherings of people dancing in the street at markets. It was nonetheless intoxicating and sparked a growing appreciation for the spirit and community of these wonderful people. Thailand, land of smiles indeed.
The traditional Peranakan dress, a folded silk skirt and a lace edged and embroidered tunic. The skirt is a single circle of material folded around in a specific way.
Peranakan encompass all religions. This is a muslim community.
Fancy dress, and advertising….
Siam Niramit
Memory OnOn
Feeling the need for some more culture and insight I had seen adverts for a local show/extravaganza called Siam Niramit. It was billed as a musical journey through the history of Thailand with traditional dance and characters. Much of Thai traditional theatre is based on stories from the Ramakien, a story derived from the Hindu epic the Ramayana about good triumphing over evil. We decided to sign up.
Not having much idea how to go about the booking we made our way to a rather pleasant little hotel on the main street called Memory OnOn. The guide book said they had a good travel agent in the foyer but as luck would have it that was out dated. A lot of the Rough Guide travel guides are outdated. Just saying.
We sat down for coffee and lamented our dilemma with the waitress, a young and beautiful katoyi called Penny. Despite this being none of her responsibility, we were not even residents of her hotel, she immediately bustled off and procured 2 tickets and transport to the show for us. I would challenge you to find anyone in our world prepared to go to that trouble for random people. She even sent me a What's App later to see if she could do anything else for us.
This was just one example of the kindness we encountered in Thailand. Is it any wonder that we rave about it. I had great plans to go stay at Memory OnOn when we returned, so you could point out it is good marketing, but it was not to be.
Late in the afternoon we returned to the hotel to meet our taxi. A night market was setting up along the street so we managed to find a delicious supper before we left.
Traditional instruments at the night market.
The taxi took us 15 km or so out of town to a complex off the main road. They were super organised, ushering us in through a gold embellished foyer. An elephant in all his regalia was at the door to greet us. Our first up close Asian elephant. Smaller than our African eles but with the same twinkle in his eye.
Beyond the foyer was an outside amphitheatre overlooking a lake.
Huge statues were dotted around in traditional costumes, presumably representing the characters we were about to see. An enormous serpent, Naga, rose out of the lake. He is a very popular god in Thailand, he grants prosperity and wishes and often adorns the hand rails of temples and staircases.
Before the show a number of dancers and performers came out and entertained with dance and acrobatics.
This tableau appears to represent a fight between Hanuman, the monkey god (white mask) and Thotsakan, the demon king who kidnapped Sita, the wife of the hero of the story Rama. Rama is also sometimes depicted as green so I am not sure but then why would he be fighting his friend Hanuman? Its complicated.
At 8.00 pm we were ushered back inside to a huge auditorium. The seats were plush and it was very comfortable. Clearly it was made for much larger numbers of guests, we felt swamped in the space but it was out of season.
The show started and we were treated to an extravaganza of dance and visual story telling.
As far as I can tell they showed a brief version of the history of the different parts of Thailand, 6 or 7 tales being woven together. Phuket we were familiar with, we could recognise the boats of Chinese arriving etc but everywhere else was still a bit of a mystery to us. They seemed to have a lot of fighting in the kingdoms of Lanna in the north! A lot of the actors were in stylised costumes and masks which, if we had recognised them, would have helped our understanding.
The story would start like a historical tale and, just when you thought you had a handle on the narrative, then tigers, gods, and dragons and demons would drop in.
If I have any criticism it is that there could have been a program or subtitles to help us understand the nuances but we enjoyed the spectacle and started to appreciate the many stories which have come together to form Thailand. We were only just starting our journey after all. We would learn more as we went on.
The talent, grace and athleticism of the dancers was impressive as was their hyper extensibility. Clearly trained from a very young age to achieve the characteristic elongated and bow shaped hand and arm postures. Or else they have a genetic hyper mobility gene but lets not go all medical on this one.
Taking Care of Business
Our next day was a rest day, time to use the conveniently situated laundrette and find our next destination. We swam in the pool, loitered in coffee shops and searched the guide book for tips. To be honest our route had much more of a pin in the map vibe than a well researched itinerary. We needed to move north and we decided to visit the rain forest in Khao Sok.
I found another interestingly named hostel called Monkey Jungalow. The Thai have perfected a parallel English language with their own unique words like Poshtel and Jungalow. I call it Thainglish. I am not sure looking for the hostels with the most comical names is a very reliable accommodation strategy, but we hit the button on a 4 night stay. Our helpful little receptionist organised the transport and we were set. At this stage the transport options in Thailand were still a bit of mystery to us and we felt intimidated by the language barriers but we would learn. Until then help was never far away especially if you look like a cross between a little old lady and a rabbit in the headlights. Tech challenged.
Bringing home the mangos!