It's wet in Phuket

Today was an uneventful day in Phuket. I woke up early and then slept in late. It was very relaxing. And, I realized that from my hotel room (more specifically from my bed), I can see the Big Buddha that sits on the highest point of the island.

I went back to the tailor this afternoon for a fitting of my suit's pants and to take measurements for a coat. I brought the coat that I have with me on the trip as a sample. During the fitting, the store began to put lots of pins in my coat for reference. It was then that I realized that they were expecting to keep my coat and ship it back to me. As much as I'd like it out of my backpack, I'm not finished traveling. I need that coat (despite having ripped the seams out of the arms)! I was of course able to keep it. But as a tip, if you ever plan to go somewhere to have clothes made, consider bringing samples that already fit. It's easier.

The trip back to my hotel took twice as long today. The Thai new year has started and people are out celebrating. How do they celebrate you ask? With giant water guns and buckets of water. They will drench anyone on the street. In fact, I even saw some folks who were opening doors of unlocked cars that were driving by to shoot the driver. It was really wild and unexpected. Somehow I made it out dry. And the tailor had given me the heads up yesterday to protect my phone, so it was safe in a ziplock bag.

When I returned, the pool had been shut down due to the rain, so I sat at the bar, ate ice-cream, and drank beer.

Because of the water festival, my 1 hour drive in the morning is slated to take 3 or 4 hours. That means I will be waking up super early. That fact and the precarious water gun situation outside has led me to order room service. For the first time since I got here, I'm eating non Thai food. I felt guilty until I realized that I've had Thai food in almost every country on my way here. It's always cheap and always open.

I'm having Italian food tonight: fettuccine with pesto sauce and red wine. Fettuccine with pesto is one of my favorites. The wine is not. Unfortunately, the hotel is so focused on tropical drinks that they only sell one kind of red wine. It's not the best, but it works.

I'm avoiding mixed drinks right now (because they're sometimes made with egg whites) so I've had a lot of beer, red wine, bourbon, and whiskey lately. Life could be worse. And the good news is, I haven't been sick from food or drinks at all. Lets hope we can keep it that way!

On a related note, I found an interesting website you might like when traveling. It's called canidrinkthewater.org. It's just what it sounds like: a place to learn about water quality in any country.

Below is a photo of the hotel's decorations today. I wanted to take a photo of the crazy people with the giant sized water guns for you, but it seemed to be a recipe for disaster.

Wish me luck tomorrow!