HOW good it felt to be back by the ocean again. We stopped in Phuket for a day to break up our journey from Chiang Mai to Bali. We're glad we did.
The kids played outdoors practically the whole time, but there was a price to pay. The sun was scorching. For the first time ever, Zenchai got mildly sun-burned. In fact, we all did - and it didn't take long. Be warned.
It is said that Phuket has two seasons: hot and wet; and bloody hot! Officially, it was rainy season and our hotel was practically deserted. We had a few trickles of rain, but it was mostly sunny.
We didn't surface until late in the day as we had left Chiang Mai on an overnight flight and arrived in the ealy hours of the morning. We were all tired.
But after breakfast the kids were in the pool, which they had all to themselves. Zenchai swam and entertained himself by making boats from banana leaves and banana flowers, make-believing they were pirate ships.
It felt good to be back by the coast again, even if it was only for a day.
I took an exploratory walk, to see what the neighbourhood had to offer, which wasn't a great deal.
I noticed, though, from the moment we landed that everything in Phuket is about three times the price it is in Chiang Mai.
Getting a taxi after midnight, when we landed, cost us 400b (£8), the taxi drivers insisting the journey was 15 minutes when it was actually five! But what can you do when there was no alternative?
The next day, as I searched for food and fruit for snacking for our kids, I again noticed the inflated prices - and no fruit shops in sight!
We were staying close to the airport, so the rest of the island, particularly where it is busier, is likely to be different.
However, the light at the end of this proverbial tunnel I was walking was the golden
beach. It was about a 15-minute walk from our hotel and the ocean was a beautiful warm temperature and the sand nice underfoot - not too sticky and no glass or sharp objects to be found.
We went there late in the day, around 5pm, when the sun wasn't as fierce - or so we thought. It was still hot even as we played in the water.
Kobra made friends with an older local boy while Zenchai was busy building castles and moats. Eventually, the boy, who barely spoke English, joined Zenchai and they all played together, digging, running races etc.
They played until the sun went down and it was time to eat. The beach is lined with restaurants and we didn't know which one to choose. We picked one in the end and the food was nice even if the experience was spoiled by insects dive-bombing our table.
In the dark, we headed back to the hotel, showered up, packed our bags again in readiness for rising at 4am for our flight and hit the sack.
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