Day 6 of my first vacation in 3.5 years

So after a grueling journey from Pattaya to Phuket that involved multiple vehicles and basically being cramped in a packed airplane with inadequate air conditioning, we made it to our destination in Phuket. Phuket is a place I am far more familiar with as I lived here briefly in the past and lived "next door" in Krabi for over a decade. This is more the Thailand that I am accustomed to and I am already enjoying it here a great deal more than other places that I have been thus far.

Phuket has some of the best beaches I have ever seen anywhere in the world but because of the fact that I am staying with a local friend and don't really want to deal with traffic and crowds we are not even going to be going to them, well at least not yet. We may go surfing in a day or two, we are just kind of taking the days as they come.

Because I am a nice guy and I don't really have a plan I did decide to go and help my buddy with his sailboat that has been parked or whatever it is called when you anchor a boat somewhere.

We started down a rather unknown beach in the far south of Phuket called Ao Yon and it was absolutely delightful how few people there were there. This beach is rather featureless as far as surf is concerned and this is why people park their boats here. You don't want to be anchored in areas with a ton of wave action for obvious reasons. I'm not a sailor and even I know that.

We did have to negotiate with the longtail boat driver for a not ripoff price but this is made a lot easier by the fact that I still remember how to speak Thai and my buddy is relatively fluent in it as well. The person who owns the boat speaks fuck all Thai so I am sure he was happy that we were there to assist.

The boat has been sitting here for 3 weeks and we were happy to see that nobody had come aboard or messed with it at all. Apparently there is some amount of respect in this cove and I think based on the relative affluence of the area that this is unlikely to change. The boat also hadn't suffered any weather damage and everything was exactly as it has been left. Basically everyone was happy. I know nothing about boats so I was more or less on the ride just for moral support and trying to not fall off into the water destroying my phone in the process.

This vessel is around $100,000 boat and honestly, while I admire the fact that people do this I simply cannot imagine being involved in such an expensive sport even if I did have a lot more money than I do.

After a brief check we went back to shore and had some beers which honestly, was probably the objective to begin with and we were just pretending that checking up on the boat was something that we actually needed to do.

On our way back my local buddy pointed out some rental villas on the coast that go for $600 to $1000 a night and once again, I can't believe that people pay that kind of money for something regardless of how luxurious it is. Even if I had millions of dollars I would take serious issue with dropping that kind of cash on a place to sleep, no matter how amazing the view is.

Afterwards we went back to one of our crew's hotels to have some beers and snacks by the pool. We had intended to eat dinner there but after the chicken wing appetizer came out I was convinced that basically everything they make here was going to be garbage and overpriced.

This is kind of off-topic but here's a question: Has anyone ever been to ANY hotel that had good food at it? I traveled a lot for business when I had a real career back in the States and my recollection is one of that basically all hotel restaurants are garbage and this one one was definitely that, despite having multiple swimming pools and one of the most prestigious golf courses on the island of Phuket.

Before anyone starts thinking that I am a fancy guy please know that I am not. It just appears as though I am a high roller because I am at a resort and running around to sailboats that I do not own and wouldn't know the first thing about operating. I'm more of a cheap lager and go-kart type of guy that goes back to his $30 maximum per night hotel at the end.

So day 6 has been the best day thus far and now I am looking forward to not being on a bus or plane again for several days and I intend to take only one additional flight before I leave this country. The total duration of my stay is a mere 12 days and we are at the half-way point. I am having a good time but honestly, I am more so looking forward to going back to Vietnam and being around my dog again.

I'd be willing to bet that she feels exactly the same way. In the future I may investigate tiny vacations in Vietnam where I am able to bring her along with me. I think that would put me more at ease and enable me to enjoy myself a great deal more.

Till tomorrow!