May 14, 2023. (Day 120!)

And it is Mother’s Day. We had no prearranged tour today so we decided to go to a resort that our friends went to yesterday. Negotiating with the taxi drivers is very interesting here. They have total control of transportation (no Uber or Uber like service) and they can charge whatever they want. At the port itself (which is never a good idea) the taxi driver quoted $130 US to take us to the resort. It was hot but not too far to walk to the port entrance where that driver said he would take us for $30 US. Quite a difference. We took him up on it without negotiating because yesterday people told us they paid $20/person to Phuket town which is closer than the resort.

It took about 35 minutes to get to the Centara Grand Beach Resort where we hoped to have massages but unfortunately they were booked up until 1 PM which would have been too late as we needed to be back on the ship by 4. So instead we paid 1000 Thai baht (about $30) to use the services of the resort and it included food and drink.

It is a lovely place right on the beach and it had several beautiful pools and a lazy river tube attraction. A bonus was that the wifi was fast and we updated our devices and downloaded the latest upgrades while enjoying the resort.

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that it is election day here today and there is no alcohol served in Thailand from 6 PM last night all through today. We were told that by the receptionist (we already knew as it was announced on the ship and printed in the daily newsletter). There are also signs posted in all of the bars here. That was not a problem for us and, in fact, we think the Thai system is a good one. Hold elections on a Sunday and restrict drinking for 24 hours before and during the election.

After the wonderful lazy river float, we went to the restaurant for lunch. We had already gotten 2 large bottles of water, and for lunch, Norm had another one, I had a Coke light and we both had excellent shrimp pad thai. After all of that we still had about $2 US left of our 1000 baht resort fee!

The driver that took us to the resort said he would be back by 1:45 but if he wasn’t back by 2, he probably had another customer. He tried to give me a code to reach him on Whatsapp but it wouldnt go through. We waited until just after 2 but when he didn’t show up, we hired a taxi from the hotel for the same $30 (1000 baht). We stopped at a money exchange so we could pay him in baht.

It was a nice relaxing day with Norm and the only thing that would have made it a nicer Mother’s Day is if our sons were with us.

Remember the bunch of bananas we bought in Sabang? We are down to only 4 bananas! He said they are the best bananas he ever tasted. I guess we will have to go banana and mango shopping tomorrow. I am also looking for a new pair of Malaysian sandals that I bought on a previous trip – they are my go to sandals – the most comfortable I have ever had.

Phuket is really nice and it does attract lots of tourists. One of our friends told us that the regional airlines charge as little as $16 to fly here from nearby cities so people often fly in just for the day! Cheaper than taxis for sure.

Tomorrow we are back in Malaysia so our clocks go forward an hour tonight.