First day visiting the Phuket peninsula. The roads are steep and windy here! We have done only 23km but it’s like we did 50km. Today we cycled at the northern point of the peninsula, following the coast, visiting some lookouts and finally arrived at Kata beach where we spent the rest of the afternoon.
Map.
First spot of the day: Raway beach.
West view.
These long tail boat again. This angle is better to see how long is that tail.
We have climb some few hills already and very soon we will arrive to the most famous viewpoint of Phuket: Phromthep Cape.
That’s the one.
That Tilt shift doesn’t work this time.
Most famous lookout means lots of people taking pictures.
A temple?
Elephant carving.
Perfect spot for wedding pictures? maybe…
Nice colours.
This place focuses a lot on elephants.
And mini one :-)
Ok, I have enough. I go back.
Back to the car park, well… The bus park.
Hey, that’s interesting. How long until it’s gone?
- Vegetables > 5 Days – 1 Month
- Paper > 2-5 Months
- Coton T-shirt (I guess) > 6 months
- Leaf > 1 year (that long?)
- Tetrapak containers > 5 years
- Shoes > 25-40 years
- Can > 50-100 years
- Plastic > 500 years or never!!! I wish I could use zero plastic but in Asia it’s impossible when I travel.
- Glass > 1 million years (I wish my glasses last this long! but this is not glass… as I though before haha).
After the viewpoint we stopped at the next town for lunch. We found a very nice local Thai restaurant. The two women who are working there are very nice and friendly. After that, we continue our hilly, very hilly road. During we were pushing up our bicycles, we met a bunch of guys on the side of the road. They are actually “Elephant drivers” and wait for clients, but in the shade, One guy even set up his hammock and sleep haha. Good job hey? One of the guy spoke a bit of english and invited us to take pictures.
They have only female elephant here. I’m wondering why.
These elephants eat pineapple leaves. But they are spiky! They don’t seem to bother at all. The video shows how smart they are when they eat. They take a bunch, smash it against their body or leg to get rid of the roots and then eat the rest.
Elephants in Thailand are tiny compared to their African friends. The guy said “come on” I take a picture with you. I don’t really like this. I mean to cross the line with animals. So many suffer from attacks by humans every time.
After a good rest we kept pushing our bikes until the road became ridable and then reached another viewpoint. That’s where we are heading today. The worst is behind. Few!
We are going to stop between the two last beaches.
Maybe we will take the time to cycle up there later. I’m already tired when I see this haha.
Last one and I’m cycling downhill!
One hour to climb the hill and three minutes to cycle down. That’s not fair when it’s 40 degrees… We reached our goal for today. Let’s go to the Starbucks (again I know) to work on our pictures, maps and blog.
We finally got some work done. Before looking for a place where to sleep we moved to a street further away from the beach to find some cheaper food (about 50baht for a meal). The main idea, stay away from tourist attractions and the price goes down :-) Easy!
After that, we cycled towards a Buddhist temple but no one was there to welcome us. We finally sleep on a different spot for the first time. when the ground was ok, there was no tree for me. When I’ve seen some good trees for my hammock, the ground was rocky or in slope. That’s happening sometimes.
See you tomorrow.
Hello Dam’. je t’explique pourquoi il n’y a que des éléphantes ? Allez, je te dis. J’ai vu un documentaire sur le Laos il y a pas mal de temps, où des ingénieurs français se penchaient justement sur la question. Les éléphants sont beaucoup utilisés pour travailler, sauf que lorsque les femelles sont enceintes elles ne peuvent plus bosser autant. Surtout qu’après la naissance des petits, elles les allaitent pendant au moins deux ans. Du coup, les laosiens (?) ne voulaient garder que les mâles, et quelques femelles sans doute pour la reproduction, sinon … Du coup, les pauvres filles étaient sacrifiées au profit des mâles. Les deux français ont fait un deal :”Vous nous laisser les femelles et on vous fourni des tracteurs pour compenser !”. Ils leur ont proposé également d’utiliser les femelles à des promenades touristiques ce qui permettait un revenu supplémentaire aux agriculteurs, bûcherons et autres professionnels en besoin de pachydermes. Du coup, elles baladent les touristes et peuvent en même temps s’occuper des petits qui suivent leurs mères dans les treks. J’avais été séduite par cette idée, et m’étais même dis que je ferais ça en allant au Laos. Ça permet de sauver les éléphantes, leurs filles et d’aider la population ! Sinon, ne culpabilise pas d’être à côté de la demoiselle à trompe, elle n’a pas l’air très malheureux.
Phuket looks more developed than I expected.
My guinea pigs eat pineapple leaves, too.