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After several weeks of trials and tribulations (don’t ask) The Pattaya Otter felt in serious need of a holiday.
The requirements were very simple – no hassle.
Therefore in choosing a location, getting there as easily as possible was a major consideration.
And as the resort island of Phuket in Southern Thailand was one of the few destinations that could be reached by flying from the small airport near Pattaya, as opposed to having to travel to and through Bangkok to that departure point, it became an easy choice.
And so after a leisurely breakfast we set off by car for what is technically called U-Tapao International Airport (International because they have a flight to Cambodia about once a week) just past the Naval Base of Sattahip, approximately one hour’s drive from Pattaya.
As this is also a military airport we had to pass some security checks on arrival there but were soon directed to park our car in the free covered carpark a few metres from the terminal.
There we found a small but adequate building and after checking-in supped a free coffee whilst awaiting the call to board our flight.
A delightfully decorated transporter provided by Bangkok Airways (the photo above actually shows the one at Samui Airport but this was similar) took us to the plane which then took off for the first leg of our flight to said Samui Airport.
This took approximately one hour and on arrival there we disembarked and waited in their unique open-air terminal for around 30 minutes before re-boarding our flight for the further 30 minute trip to Phuket.
On arrival there after promptly collecting our luggage we made our way outside and found the taxi provided by our hotel duly waiting for us.
A drive of around another hour took us down through the centre of the island, past a large amount of new developments in progress and finally to our hotel on the resort beach of Karon.
There we were shown to our room to the rear of the hotel but overlooking their very enticing looking swimming and plunge pools.
We spent a relaxing first evening wandering around the quiet resort (this was the end of the rainy season and as such only a small number of tourists were present but the following few months will be another matter), and eventually settled on an attractive looking and relatively busy restaurant for our first meal.
This lived up to expectations being most tasty and accompanied by a pleasant carafe of wine and the bill although higher than Pattaya was not unreasonable.
After a good night’s rest and an enjoyable breakfast at the hotel (inclusive) we decided that our first full day would be a relatively easy one and so caught a taxi to for the short drive to the island capital of Phuket town to do some sight-seeing.
By co-incidence our trip had taken place during the annual vegetarian festival and this was to be its final day.
Now this doesn’t sound the most exciting of events but in fact it’s celebration, mainly by people of Chinese origin, involves several bizarre rituals such as walking on hot coals and sticking skewers through mouths. The purpose of such practices is apparently to scare away demons – personally I think I would prefer the demons.
Our arrival there co-incided with a major parade and we were fortunate on disembarking from our taxi to witness most of this.
A large number of people, all dressed in white marched in procession down the street, some b earing images, some on trucks, but most on foot. And sure enough amongst those parading were many with skewers of all shapes and sizes clearly stuck right through their cheeks.
And not just empty skewers but many with heavy weights attached
From time to time the parade stopped and someone from the roadside crowd tossed a firework into their midst, at which point those closest to it proceeded to dance around the exploding cracker (I guess you would too). 
Once this passed, we paid a short visit to the Chinese temple from which it had originated and then proceeded to explore the rest of the town centre.
But it was becoming very hot as the time approached midday and we didn’t wander very far before feeling in the need of refreshment.
So a call at a nearby ice-cream parlour provided a welcome cooling down, during which time we spotted outside this Thai version of the ‘Del boy’ van (photo 8780)
A further short walk around a not particularly interesting few streets and we decided we had had enough and so caught a taxi back to the hotel to spend the afternoon enjoying the pleasure of the swimming pool.
Before setting out for our evening meal we met with the hotel travel agent and booked a series of trips for the following days, and then again headed off this time in the opposite direction to the previous evening in search of places of interest and of course, food.
Our meal, again at a restaurant chosen on the strength of appearance and busyness was again pleasant if not quite up to the standard of the previous night.
But still adequately wined and dined we retired for an early night in preparation for an early start the next morning for the first of our two boat trips.
The details of which will be continued in the next article.
To view any of the above photos in full size, just click on it.
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