Date : 4th March 2025
Travelled : 190 NM from Langkawi, Malaysia to Phuket in Thailand
Visited : Phuketโs Old Town
Stayed : Holland Americaโs Zuiderdam
Another wonderful 3 courses in the dining room last night, mind you we normally share a desert. The food is excellent and itโs nice to dress for dinner. Most evening we go for a shared table so you sit with whoever and chat about the day. Havenโt sat with anyone wearing a MAG baseball cap yet.
Another tour today โPhuket, the Old Townโ but we have plenty of time for coffee our usual few laps and breakfast. We have been to Thailand before staying in Bangkok for a few days but never Phuket. Phuket is an island off the southern coast of Thailand, there are 32 other smaller islands surrounding it.
Itโs a tender ride to the pier (certainly not Pamโs favourite way of getting anywhere) we find ourselves next to Ian and Barb from Victor Harbour (pictured below. They are friends of neighbours of friends, very complex but we enjoyed the chat.
Phuket is a very popular destination for Australians, but to be frank it has never been on our must visit list. Our tour bus takes some 30 minutes to reach the โold townโ. The outer suburbs are a little underwhelming as we pass through them. The tour guide takes us for a lap around the old town before dropping us off at the meeting point, a small shopping centre with clean facilities.
Our first stop which is only a couple of blocks away is the Wat Mongkol Nimit Burmese Temple pictured above. Cannot tell you more except it was closed.
Damn itโs hot today in Phuket, itโs a shade hunt. We continue walking but always on the shady side of whatever street where on.
The tour guide describes the old townโs architecture as Chinese colonial. Generally speaking there are just so many shops selling tourist clothing you loose count, then there are numerous bars, tattoo parlours and massage places. It repeats on every street.
The high point was finding a Starbucks. Itโs air-conditioned and has wifi, bad coffee aside. We have a long coffee break before going out for round two.
Itโs not getting any cooler as we continue our walk however we stumble upon Sang Tham Shrine or the Shrine of the Serene Light. From the road we notice a mural and walk up the alley to have a look, finding a traditional gate, then the temple pictured below.
Google tells us it was built in 1889 by a wealthy Chinese family.
We eventually find ourselves back at the pick-up point at the shopping centre. Itโs still 2 hours till the bus returns so we splash US$10 on a cab back to the Zuiderdam.
Its was nice to get off the ship and do some exploring but Phuketโs not drawing us back for a second visit.
Itโs a Brazilian Mardi Gras theme tonight so an afternoon nap is in order.
Michael + Pam
