From Melbourne to Phuket.

Hi Everyone:

I know it's been a long time since I posted a blog. Sorry!  Life has been a little crazy and I don't yet have Internet access in my house in Phuket.

Last I spoke to you, I was sitting in a lone arm chair in an empty house in Richmond, my head churning with last minute details as I finalised packing my Melbourne-life into boxes again.

For those of you who don't already know, I did the unspeakable and managed to loose my passport in the packing/throwing out of everything in the house! So, my departure from Melbourne was postponed for a few days whilst I quickly went through the process of arranging another passport and visas etc.

I think all things happen for a reason, and I spent those extra days in my hometown of Mornington and a couple of days in the City.It was good for me to have a few days to wind down really.  Everything had happened so fast that I might well have had a nervous break down before I managed to leave the country.

Anyway last Tuesday at 5am, my dear mother drive me to the local shuttle bus fr the airport, we said our goodbyes and I started the very long day of travel to the far east.

There were no further distractions or problems thankfully.  I felt one couple's pain though who boarded the shuttle bus in Cheltenham.  They had managed to lock their luggage in their car and were frantically trying to break into their car while we waited patiently for them to either join us, or be left behind.  Lucky for them, their son came racing up down from Morrabin with a spare key just in the nick of time. Lucky for them!

Melbourne Airport was a breeze.  No more dramas, lost passports or wallets ( did that once in Bangkok!).

The flight from Melbourne to KL was very tedious and boring.  I was completely naive to think they might take MasterCard for in-flight services, so not having nay cash on me, I had a midget meal and bottle of water for the whole flight.  No in-flight entertainment etc! Luckily I had a book.

KL airport was SO hot.  It was like a lump of hot coal in a bucket of water.  So humid and smokey. I'd been flying for just over 8 hours and was not feeling so great in the humidity.  I found a nice cafe though and gt stuck into about 4 litres of water and fruit juice which made me feel better straight away.

Air Asia are a good low cost airline.  They are what they are.  Service is efficient and polite and the plane is clean, new looking and crammed with seats.  I would have to say though, Being larger than their usual Asian, clientele, the seats were almost too small.  I'd invest another $200 in a premium seat on the way home.

It was a casual 4 hour wait in KL for the flight to Phuket.  I knew from past experiences, 4 hours in airport time is really like 2.  Before you know it, it's time to check back in, ditch your luggage, go back through customs/passport control and more duty free shops.

Whilst waiting for my flight in the gate lounge in KL, I was greeted by a lovely older couple from Singapore. He had worked all his life for Price Waterhouse Coopers.  They'd lived in Melbourne in South Yarra for 4 years and now lived in Singapore and spent a lot of time travelling with work. It was a pleasant experience talking to such gentile and well travelled people.

The flight to Phuket from KL was only a 1 & 1/2 hours.  So it was over quite quickly. What amazed me though was how efficient things were at Phuket Airport. We were ten minutes early, passport control was quick, my bag was the third one out on the carousel and I was outside the airport in less than ten minutes.

Peter from Rawai Beach Guesthouse, true to his word, was standing there in his white shorts and navy blue polo shirt and was about the shortest guy in the arrivals lounge.  He was completely unmissable.

By this time, I had be travelling for 15 hours from the time I left Mornington.  I felt grimy and over tired.  Peter, originally from Nottingham in England was outrageously hospitable and such a character.  What he may have lacked in height, he certainly made up for in character and sense of humour and a laugh that you will never forget.

He insisted on stopping at the bottle shop to ply me with cold beer on the trip to the guest house and by the time I arrived I was feeling very chilled, calm and ready for bed. Peter was very obliging and showed me a choice or rooms, I made my selection and very quickly crashed out for the night.

The next day, I walked the 10 minutes or so to Promthep Muay Thai to visit Goong and Danny Avison who have just built a huge new training and guests facilities adjacent to the site of Goong's bungalows, another great place to stay in Rawai and where I stayed for three months in 2007. (for more info please see http://www.thailandmuaythai.com/) I hired my scooter here and started my quest to find a more permanent home for the next six months.

That evening, the jet lag sucked what little energy I had left and I retired to the Guesthouse at about 6pm. No sooner had I showered and felt human again than there was a knock on the door.  It was Gib, Peter's lovely wife.  She wanted me to come a have a drink with her on the veranda.  So that evening, I spent 4 hours, quietly talking to Peter and Gib over icy cold beer;  About their lives, mine, what had brought me back to Rawai and what I hoped to accomplish.  They were both truly lovely and were adamant to ensure I felt at home with them and would call on them, even after I had gone in a few days.

This is what I love about Rawai, everyone really wants to help and are genuinely looking out for each other. Rawai, being a very large expat community, rather than a tourist hotspot, has a mixed semi-permanent population of Thai's (most whom were not born here but have come from afar) and Westerners who have come from afar to call this small seaside community home.

Rawai Beach Guesthouse has 5 very generous sized rooms available for between 800-1000 baht per night. Ideal for short and longer term stays in Phuket.  It is situated in an area of Rawai I have always favoured, nestled in the rise of Promtep Cape, overlooking Rawai Beach.  It is scenic, serene and a peaceful place to call home whilst in Phuket. They also rent out scooters to guests, a must if you want to stay in Rawai.  For further information on Rawai Beach Guest House, check out their website at   http://phuketdir.com/rawaibeachguesthouse/  

More on Phuket in my next post! I promise it won't take as long as this one did!.