Phuket (as Mrs. Phipps pointed out to us, the ‘Ph’ is pronounced as a ‘p’ not an ‘f’) was our one stop in Thailand. It is an island off the west coast of Thailand.. It’s western coast was heavily damaged by the tsunami a few years ago. We did not see the west coast but hear that most of the physical damage has been repaired. We docked on the southeastern coast at the Port of Phuket. As the ships navigator noted, since the Rotterdam is 780 feet long we needed special permission to dock at the pier since the maximum allowed length is normally 690 feet. (We received similar exemptions at several other ports.)
Our excursion took us first to the southern tip of the island, Sunset View Point, where we had a panoramic view over the Adman Sea and the islands off the southern coast. There is a small elephant shrine on top of the hill near the light house. As thanks for good fortune, people bring elephant carvings at place them in the shrine. Presumably, the larger the fortune, the larger the elephant.
Elephant Shrine
We then went to Wat Chalong, the islands most famous temple. There are speakers relaying the monks chanting on the general grounds where there are three or four temples.
A Temple at Wat Chalong
A drive through Phuket Town, the main “city” on the island, was to show off the Portuguese influenced architecture—a legacy of the tin baron era. The most interesting stop was at the Phuket Orchid Garden and Thai Village. We didn’t have time to see the orchids, but we did see a cultural show that highlighted costume, dance, and customs of the four main regions of Thailand.
