Phuket - Hot, Hot, Hot

Phuket – Hot, Hot, Hot!!
Phuket is situated off the west coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea and is Thailand’s largest island 30 miles wide. Our ship arrived at 0700 in the morning amid a beautiful sunrise. I snapped a photo of a local fisherman motoring through the sunrise reflection, which is now on my computer as my screensaver.
Jerry negotiated with a private driver to takes us to see the local sites of the city. Phuket has magnificent white-sand beaches and one of Southeast Asia’s most fashionable beach resorts, complete with street vendors, coffeehouses, bars, and restaurants. Our 30 minute drive to get to Patong Beach was through windy roads amid local residents on small scooters. It was Sunday and many looked as though they were on their way to Church, quite properly dressed, sometimes four to a scooter. A poor area, to be sure. Like many an island paradise, the tourists never see how the local residents live. Instead, they arrive at their luxury beach and hotel accommodations to spend their vacation in a far-off paradise. I think Phuket is one of those places.
Anyone want an elephant ride? We didn’t, but we did feed the performing elephant bananas. Shirley received a juicy kiss on the cheek from the meandering trunk of the elephant. Want to see a monkey show?? We didn’t, but we did see one of the monkeys. It was just too hot to sit on an elephant or watch a 30 minute monkey show. On to the next stop on our tour; a very beautiful Buddhist Temple, a jewelry mart, a local food and merchandise mart, and a walk on the beautiful fine, white sand beach. As enjoyable as this journey was, we were anxious to get back to the ship and our air-conditioned environment.
Tonight we had an Asian buffet and our first poolside dance party.
Six BMK Travelers , 4/13