The Siamerican

After being in Phuket for more than a week, the Siamerican finally decided it was time to get some swimming in at the beach, one of his last chances before he has to make the drive back up to Bangkok early Monday morning.

Waking up, he weighed out the beach verses some window shopping at Big C and Lotus super stores. The beach won out in the end for Phuket’s seaside offers some of the most spectacular coastal scenery in all of Thailand. (Note that this ‘eye candy’ infers the natural scenery and certainly doesn’t include the over-the-hill-over-the-scale western nude sun bathers that have made Phuket’s beaches their haven.) Besides, there’s plenty of Lotus, Big C’s and shopping centers and malls in Bangkok.

It was about a 20 minute drive from Phuket town, to the southern coast. Taking a breather stop at a pier near Rawai beach, the sea breeze was rewarding. Skies were blue with white puffy clouds, making the perfect invitation for some beach time.

Hopping back on the bike, the Siamerican cruised the curving southern island roads a few kilometers until he got to one of Phuket’s upscale beaches, Niharn. Here the waves can be quite reckoning, and today proved to be no exception, even if surf season is still months away.

After about an hour out in the aqua-marine, crystal clear waters, the Siamerican put his shirt on and hopped on the bike heading north. Taking the western coastal road back this time, the sea view along the way was breath taking. It’s quite important to be focused and not taken too much by the scenery, as this highway can be quite a risk factor, with speeding motorists curving around, up and down the sloping highway.

Moments, later the Siamerican arrived at Kata beach and decided to sidetrack a kilometer to finally check out Kata Noi beach. The next time he seeks a swim at the beach, Kata Noi is definitely top on the list. Smaller than Kata, the beach is also much less crowded and just as beautiful if not more.

After the quick stop, the Siamerican continued north, passing through Kata and Karon beach districts. Several minutes later, he arrived at Phuket’s tourist epicenter, Patong beach town. The roads were ever packed with motorcycles, tuk tuks, cars, trucks, and tourists walking between the beach and the town’s congested shop filled streets.

At the end of the beach road, the Siamerican had to turn eastward to head towards Katu and Phuket town. Right outside Patong town is a massive hill, perhaps the most dangerous of all in Phuket. The Siamerican recalled a blog post by the Lost boy talking about honking for spirits at the top of the hill.

Sure enough, at the top is a spirit house, and several horns went off passing it, so the Siamerican had to join in. 20 minutes, later the Siamerican made a fuel stop in Phuket town, filling some three liters. Checking his records, it apears that he went over 170 kilometers on that three liters, putting the average per liter the highest ever recorded–something like 56 kilometers per liter! Quite impressive.

Well, here’s some pictures for the day. Enjoy!

Near Rawai beach

Here’s Naiharn beach, if you look hard, notice the windmill on the hill to the south

After a swim, the Siamerican squints from the strong sun rays

Here the Siamerican poses at a seaview lookout point between Kata and Naiharn. In the background are Kata, Karon, and Patong beach.

And here’s a glimpse of Kata Noi beach