The never ending journey

Sunset at Thong Sala pier

Finally!  I have arrived in Phuket after a very interesting 24 hours of traveling via various methods and vehicles.  I took a minibus from the travel agency in Haad Rin to the pier in Thong Sala. I had to wait a couple hours before the ticket people arrived, I checked in and watched the sunset and then went off in search of a restaurant with wifi and power outlets.  I found the perfect place down the road and ordered a delicious thai tea with coconut milk and pad thai and had a nice dinner while researching places to stay in Phuket.  The women working there were really nice, and in true Thai fashion they didn't try to rush me even when they were closing up.  I finally noticed when they started turning the lights off!

This road is barely wide enough for one
lane, let alone two!

I headed back to the pier and boarded the night ferry, a very interesting experience.  When we arrived in Surat Thani we waited for a while at the pier until trucks came to take us to a nearby travel agency... where we waited another couple hours and then were carted to a second travel agency.

Finally we loaded up in the minibus and drove the 4 hours to Phuket.  This is the first time I've booked any transport through a travel agency and I think I prefer just doing it myself.  I had, up until now, managed to miss the experience of drivers taking me places to try to sell me things, but we stopped outside of Phuket at another travel agency where they forced us all out of the bus and tried to sell us on various hotels around the island.  I finally got dropped off at the bus terminal, but it's a new terminal that's 5 km outside of town which I hadn't realized, so I had a bit of a walk to the hostel.  Fortunately its a beautiful day, and it was nice to stretch my legs after sitting for so long.

I though about taking the bus, but the route is all in Thai!
I saw stops for most of my walk though so I guess I could
have taken it

My hostel is twice as expensive as Chiang Mai, but cheaper than anywhere I've stayed recently, and it is really nice!  I'm pretty excited actually.  It's really modern looking and has balconies and a big bathroom, and the first floor is a restaurant / bar with couches and a pool table.  The motorbike taxi drivers have come up with an interesting solution to getting customers.  There were a group of them playing pool in the lobby waiting for fares.

A pedestrian walkway, finally!

Phuket Town seems like a nice place to stay for a few days, lots of coffee shops and restaurants as well as street vendors.  After I checked in and dropped off my big bag I went to one of the coffee shops down the street where I randomly ran into one of my teachers from my CELTA course!  It was nice to see a familiar face and he gave me some suggestions about what to do in Phuket.