Endspurt Phuket...

After a grueling 3 hours in a rather uncomfortable minibus, we arrived in Phuket. The last 2 1/2 weeks of our trip to Thailand were supposed to start in Patong. The hotspot for tourists of all kinds. Especially the partygoers and sex tourists get their money's worth here.

Due to the sleepless night before our departure, we had no opportunity to arrange suitable accommodation. We took care of that with a pounding headache in the minibus. We both secretly knew from the beginning that the result would not be so intoxicating because we simply lacked the necessary enthusiasm. But well, we had to find somewhere to stay. And so we booked ourselves into a small 'hotel'. It took us a good 10 minutes to walk to the city's party mile. Ideal! But let's just leave it at that one positive point. There was an ant trail right through the room, the balcony was not usable, the bathroom was okay, and the bed was a disaster! Thank God we stayed there for only 2 days and immediately after arrival we took care of finding a new place to stay. We are now booked in a hotel just around the corner. We got a great price for a great service. Here we pay 16 euros per night for two, have a small rooftop pool, a huge bed, and above all a clean room! TOP!

The day after our arrival was absolutely to our liking. It was Songkran, the Thai New Year's festival, which was celebrated with plenty of water (and alcohol). People gathered outside on the streets, sprayed each other with water guns, poured ice water over each other, and simply had a good time together. According to tradition, the water is supposed to ward off bad luck for the coming year. For people who are afraid of water, there was only one way out - staying at home!! Everyone, really everyone, whether a police officer, nurse, taxi driver... got wet from head to toe. We liked this festival so much that we would love to experience it again.

As always, we rented a scooter for the entire time and first explored the surroundings - checking the location. We discovered a popular motorcycle festival located directly on the beach in Patong. Some motorcycle enthusiasts came from far away. We met motorcycle fans from Malaysia, Belgium, Singapore, and more. Bikers showcased their modified bikes, rocked on the big stage, and offered bizarre motorcycle accessories at the sales stands. A nice pastime.

The next target was the monkey hill. The next morning we drove from Patong to Ratsada, about half an hour away. There was supposed to be a hill where a lot of monkeys lived. As you all surely know, you never go to a monkey hill without bananas. We got them right at the foot of the mountain from an extremely friendly saleswoman, who also gave us two chilled oranges on the spot. Since we didn't know when we would encounter the monkeys, we slowly made our way up the hill on the scooter. After 5 minutes, we already saw a horde of monkeys. Barely getting off the scooter, the first hungry monkeys besieged us. Since we didn't know how to deal with monkeys, it was initially a slightly uneasy feeling to suddenly find ourselves in the midst of them. While Thimo was the 'guinea pig' and started to keep the greedy monkeys under control and feed them, Jessy watched the whole situation from a safe distance. We gradually approached the monkeys and had a great time. We would have loved to take the cute little babies home. The larger monkeys were a bit bolder and occasionally showed their teeth. A monkey snatched a plastic bag from a visitor's hand. He then drank the ice-cold juice in front of the visitor with great pleasure :). After the first load of bananas was fed, we got another supply. We spent almost 2 hours with the monkeys and definitely want to visit this hill again. Cool experience!

Especially when traveling to other countries, you should also familiarize yourself with their culture. And so, as already in Koh Samui, we went to the 'Big Buddha'. This time, however, it was really BIG! It is a proud 45 meters high and has a magnificent view of the sea. Wish we were a Big Buddha :)

Meanwhile, we have experienced several other things that we will share with you again in the next post. So stay tuned - stay excited!

P.E.A.C.E