A Night To Phuket!
This is the first time in a long time I've actually written in my journal as opposed to just typing this whilst I'm on the Internet.
I spent a total of three days on Phi Phi, I had a great time (on my own!) and wish I had more time to spare to stay longer. It's a popular but beautiful island which accommodates both backpackers and also has many up market resorts. I would have liked to have stayed longer to work on my tan as well as doing some diving (although I didn't want to spend more money on this) and visiting some of the other islands around Phi Phi.
I jumped on the boat to Phuket from Phi Phi's pier and I headed straight to the boats deck to catch some rays. After about an hour and forty five minutes we arrived at Phuket's port where I boarded a mini bus to Phuket Town's shopping centre.
One question that has been burning a hole in my mind is why do they give you a knife and fork in KFC in Asia? Is it because this is an classy establishment? They usually give you a knife and spoon else where in Thailand, so why a knife and fork to eat something that clearly requires your hands? If anyone out there knows the answer, feel free to email me with it, thanks.
After some much needed dodgy junk food I consulted my map and headed to the nearest cheap guest house that I could find in the Lonely Planet. On arrival at the "Downtown Guest House" the owner seemed rather surprised at my choice of guest house, the alarm bells should have starting ringing at this point. The place certainly looked the part, with a small bar and the flags of every backpacking nation strung up high around the walls. Something just didn't seem quite right. The staff seemed very friendly and the owner was great but what was troubling me was that they didn't seem to act as if having a backpacker looking for a room was something they dealt with on a daily basis. Never the less I wasn't feeling like traipsing around looking for somewhere else so I stuck to my guns.
Presumably the owners wife, led me to the back of the guest house and opened a huge iron gate, as it slammed shut behind me and I felt a shiver down my spine as my imagination raced to thoughts of the Bangkok Hilton (Bangkok's notorious prison) after recently reading a book on the subject, "The Damage Done". The book was all about an Aussie who attempted to smuggle drugs out of Thailand, got caught and spent a long time in Bangkok's notorious prison. It's probably not really the best book to be reading whilst travelling in Thailand but it does seem to be in every book shop and is a best seller. The owners wife led me up numerous flights of stairs to show me my room, to my left I have visions of the film "The Beach" as a ceiling fan spinning from one room catches my eye through the metal mesh strip above the room's outer wall. I imagine "Daffy" is staying there and wonder if he'll fancy a beer or two later and the possibility of sharing a map.
I'm shown my room and on first glance it looks reasonable, anyway I really wasn't in the mood to be going on a room hunt at this hour. I was going to stay in another place called "On On Hotel" which was used in the film "The Beach" but it was far too far for me to walk.
As a solo traveller I have had my fair share of weird experiences with guest house owners. Like the way Basil Faulty in "Faulty Towers" suspects some normal hotel guests to be hotel inspectors, I feel a few guest house owners have had the same thoughts about myself. They seem to find it strange at times that I am on my own and perhaps have strange thoughts of having a Lonely Planet inspector or a travel website reviewer in their midst. I've had this feeling on a few occasions but at "Downtown" the owner, just like Basil Faulty was going out of his way to help. He chatted away to me for a good hour/half hour whilst I sipped on the free coke he'd just given me despite saying I'd just had a bottle of water. He asked many probing questions without trying to cause offence and politely asking me if he could borrow my copy of "The Lonely Planet" to check out his guest house's review.
I find the more probing questions you ask about a particular guest house, such as "how many rooms do you have?", "do any have hot water?" etc the more likely they'll fall for the fake persona. Anyway, who was I to say any different, after all if I was from "The Lonely Planet" I wouldn't be mentioning the fact anyway. Perhaps a free dinner is on the menu this evening?
Since "The Lonely Planet's" review of this guest house or maybe even just in low season theres something a little more sinister and seedy about this place. I couldn't quite put my finger on it but there was some evidence to suggest I was barking up the right tree. Firstly I hadn't seen or heard anything from any backpackers, the only sign being the welcoming flags in the reception and the tour operator next door. After all, Phuket has a seedy reputation in parts, but here? I'm not sure. The evidence I found without even looking was a couple of used lipsticks in the draw in my room, one earring and two ladies sandals out on my run down balcony (Thinking about it I could have found a lot worse!). There were also numerous long hairs scattered around the room. This evidence accompanied by the strange approach from the staff at "Downtown Guest House" led me to the conclusion that it was probably a place where Western men brought their Thai ladies. I had previously seen one old Western dude pay for a room for half an hour with his Thai lady friend in Chang Mai some months ago. Anyhow, I've survived worse rooms than this, it just seems to me that "The Lonely Planet" needs a little updating, either that or maybe they should give me a call?
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