Day 14: Phuket, Thailand, Sun 33° HOT!😎

Sheesh, I Had To Put My Shoes Back On!!

So here we sit. At the Penang airport waiting to board our flight which takes off in about one hour, twenty minutes for Phuket, Thailand. As usual there are not enough seats at the boarding gate available for all the people. We smile nicely and ask people holding a seat with their luggage to let us sit. I have no problem, but a youngish girl in her 20’s is unfortunately rude to AM. I guess she paid for a waiting seat for her handbags.😑

Every country has a slightly different exit procedure. When out friendly Grab driver dropped us off we had to check in one bag. We were told that the airlines here are major sticklers for luggage size and weight. So we put a bit of extra stuff into AM’s bag to check through because, while small enough to carry on, we weren’t sure if it would meet the 7kg weight limit. My travel pack with gear weighs under the limit, so no worries there. I hope.😬 If AM’s bag should get lost, one of us will be going on a small shopping spree!

We then went through the Malaysia exit passport control and the guy waved me away. Most countries permit a couple to come up together, but apparently not in Malaysia. He didn’t say a word to either of us. Not a single word. Our two index fingers have now been photographed and will remain somewhere in the cloud forever. Have fun finger images!

Then it was on to the security area for our flights. Pretty much like in South America. No check for liquids and even my small knife went through without a word said. Hobart airport in Tassie would have had a field day with me!!

Haha! So a moment ago we got up with a bunch of people to prepare to go through pre boarding. We are all keeners.

AM’s sharp eyes (she wears glasses) out perform my unassisted eyes and she sees that there are TWO flights going out of the same gate. I turn to the fellow next to me and I ask him if he is flying to Singapore. He is, and has been waiting all morning after his flight was delayed. We sit back down. Now in a holding pattern until it’s our turn.

Finally it’s our turn and everyone crowds up to the first gate. Once through there are nicely organized lines by row numbers. We are row 11 which was computer assigned at check in.

We get on board and sure enough it’s like getting on a discount plane anywhere because they use the same basic model. The rows are so close together that the tray barely opens. There is advertising everywhere, and for sure they will be selling stuff. But it’s a known and proven process so it’s all good.

The big surprise to most on board from western countries was the ‘lunch’ that was served on a 40 minute flight. I could hear people making surprised little noises. No one expected this on a discount flight. Nice touch!

The flight is fine. No photos because we didn’t get to select our seats which of course meant no window. However it’s a short flight.

Arriving we go through passport control which is basically the same except that they scan ALL our fingers this time. Oh, and both photograph our faces. I wonder to myself what the tech world doesn’t know about me. There is so much information about me in our tiny part of the universe that they could probably create a replica.

Being at the front of the plane does have its advantages. The experts say that one should sit at the back of the plane in case of an accident. I’m not convinced any of these experts have had to change plans in 30 minutes! It’s quieter on a long flight and you get to passport control and luggage pickup quicker.

We stop and pick up our new Thai SIM cards with AIS, and are a bit surprised at the price. But we want them and they have them, so we buy them! As simple as that.

We refresh our Grab account for the service in Thailand. Our driver arrived in a nice vehicle and we say goodbye to the days of the cheap Malaysian Pronto! Our driver is chatty and a wealth of information.

He’s married with two young daughters. He’s very proud of them, and he tells us that they will wear school uniforms when they are old enough. This will be their school.

Arriving at our hotel we get checked in, organize our stuff for a two night stay and go down to the cafe for a cold refreshing drink. it’s a chance to discuss our plan for tomorrow.

We’ve been told that there is a large street market tonight for, you guessed right…the Chinese New Year. Does it ever end? We are told that it’s a great place to eat. However, AM is over hungry after our ‘lunch’ and because of this we stop at the first restaurant we see. A noodle house.

Out dinner order gets a bit mixed up (language issue) and we eat what we can of our quite spicy bowls. Then walk to the night market to find some real food! On the way we stop at the first 7-Eleven I can find. It’s so much better than what we saw in Malaysia! Much more in line with the ones in Japan.

The night market is huge and very good. Lots of street food and so much bigger than the one we visited in Malacca. We share a second supper from several places.

At this point it’s getting late and we have lots happening tomorrow. I need some sleep so I think I’ll come back and write about the night market in a few days when we are in a much quieter location.

As concerns the title of today’s post, I put on my shoes only on travel days. After walking in my sandles for days it feels really odd and my feet get quite warm. I remind myself that it’s a very small price to pay. Another first world problem😏 I’m delighted that I don’t need to put them on for another 6 days!!

Cheers!

Geoff🌞😎🐲🌴🌴🌴