Phuket, Thailand

Promthep Cape

Wat Chalong Temple

Sunday, 12 Mar 2017 – We awoke to our alarm at 6:00 AM.  Due to a shallow harbor, passengers took tenders to the shore; we met up with our tour guide, “Oodie”; then walked quite a distance to board our tour bus by 9:20 AM.  Our excursion (“Phuket Highlights & Cultural Show”) was supposed to last 5.5 hours, but it really took 7.5 hours before we were back in our cabin.  This island was pretty much totally destroyed in the big tsunami several years ago (2004?) and thousands died, but it has been mostly rebuilt.  Before World War II, this was Siam.  At one point, we went inside Wat Chalong, a highly ornamented Buddhist temple, with its Buddha and golden elephants.  A little later, the high point of this trip was watching a production of young Thai classical dancers dressed in opulent costumes & intricate head pieces of sparkling stones, to the music of Thai drums and flutes.  We were reminded a lot of the old movie “The King of Siam,” with Yul Brenner as the King.

We were back on the ship by 4:30 PM and went to the buffet for a late lunch, then swam for 15 or 20 minutes.  Since our lunch had been so late, we danced before going to dinner.