Phuket
Having sailed the Indian Ocean/Arabian Sea, skirting Sri Lanka and crossing the Bay of Bengal & Andaman Sea, we found ourselves on the west coast of Thailand in the popular destination resort known as Phuket (pronounced Poo-ket). This island, ‘discovered ‘ less than twenty years ago by adventurous tourists, has moved from being a sleepy place known for its tin mines and its rubber plantations to become a cross between southern Florida and parts of Kauai.
Our ship landed at the port early in the morning, and you could feel the air laden with humidity even behind our air conditioned doors. We’re getting closer to the equator with every port and the climate as well as the flora is distinctly tropical. We had decided on a tour which would take us to the northern end of the island to Phang Nga Bay with a stop to see a rubber plantation – I wanted to mimic a bit what Daddy had seen in the 20’s though he never came here.
Our guide was an enthusiastic, if not terribly articulate man named Kai, who’s been a tour leader for over 40 years (obviously not always in English). As we got settled into our bus for our 1.5 hr. ride, he gave us each fans to keep us cool as well as maps and a history of the area. As we left the town of Phuket one saw row upon row of car dealers, repair shops, tourist shops, hotels and travel support companies. It wasn’t quaint, or particularly picturesque, which is why we thought of Florida. Thailand being primarily a Buddhist country has many temples, and along the way every business establishment, be it a restaurant or a dealership, had a small, colorful temple structure outside the building. It looked somewhat incongruous to see a sleek modern establishment and a very ornate, curlicued shrine, so I tried to snap pictures as the bus whizzed along newly paved, multi-lane roads.
Our first stop was a themed reserve tourist trap, where one could ride elephants, dirt bikes or learn how rubber is made. While in Daddy’s day the elephants served as muscle power to carry tree trunks, haul labor or pull weight, it is now illegal to use them and the last of the elephants are now here purely as a tourist attraction. Tin production has also been slowed with the increase of tourism and the primitive methods used to get the tin which couldn’t be competitive. But rubber continues to be a thriving business. Row upon row of rubber tree ‘forests’ lined the roads of Phuket. Each tree trunk had a small black plastic basin, about three feet off the ground, to catch the liquid latex. (Just like maple trees at home). We couldn’t believe that this fairly arcane approach was competitive in a world that needs rubber in vast quantities, but perhaps we’re the ignorant ones and this is the best technique to use.
The process of creating rubber is amazingly labor intensive. The catch basins are emptied by hand, the white latex liquid is brought to a central shed where it is mixed with formic acid and put in a tin pan (roasting pan size) where it takes on the texture of tofu or firm Jello (this for Bob’s sake). The ‘tofu’ is then pounded by a man using a rolling pin to make it thinner, and then run through a wringer to flatten it into a thin white sheet, and finally placed in a shaded area on a long pole to dry. As it dries it turns from white to brown and hardens into what we would recognize as rubber…looking like a shower mat. They showed examples of all the uses of rubber from tires to flip flops, to condoms to erasers. The leaves of the tree are used for fake flower arrangements and the tree trunks are ultimately turned into furniture. It is complete recycling. The only question is – are they competitive in the world of rubber? This will take some Google research.
With the ‘educational’ part of the tour completed we continued our bus ride to the Phang Nga National Park where we boarded a long motorboat for a ride through a waterway made up of eighty dramatic limestone islands. These islands were caused by the movement of tectonic plates a few million years ago and each takes on an eerie shape and size. The government of Thailand has preserved this area making it a large nature preserve, otherwise by now it would probably have become a tourist enclave of high rise hotels & condominiums. One very famous island is called James Bond Island because the movie ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’ was filmed here in the 1970’s. It is a distinct tourist destination with many motorized longboats (each with an incredibly noisy motor) taking people out daily to walk on the very small beach which was featured in the movie. We dutifully circled all sides so every known photograph could be taken before continuing on to a ‘floating village’ inhabited by Muslim fishermen who originally migrated from Indonesia. It is a self contained village community complete with school, restaurants, post office and tourist shops …and is a stopping place for every tour boat. In a sweltering classroom of the school, while the children outside were playing soccer in their girl and boy scout type uniforms, we learned about the island’s history. My brain was too fried to soak up information so I took pictures of the kids, the markets and the houses, which mostly aren’t actually ‘floating’ but are now stabilized on cement pilings.
Our last stop on theboat was lunch at a hotel located in the park reserve. Thai food andThai beer on a canopied open-air deck, and we were ready to start back to our air-conditioned bus and our very air-conditioned ship. (I never knew I had curly hair until I arrived in the tropics). When we arrived at the ship quay an array of hawkers had set up tents & booths right next to our ship …so with Thai bahts burning a hole in my pocket, I bought a few swim tops and we returned to the boat for a much needed cold beer, a shower, dinner and to bed.
Georgetown, Penang - Malaysia
Bob and I had not made a tour plan for this port, but I realized I had to get off and take some pictures because Daddy had stayed here for two nights at the E&O Hotel which to this day continues in operation. It was built by the Sarkie brothers who also built the Raffles Hotel where we will be staying in Singapore.
So with Russell and Diane, who knew the town having been here on and off for a few weeks, I left Bob on board to pack and we three took off with umbrellas in hand since the skies had already opened once and threatened to continue for the day. Our first stop was the famous old E & O Hotel (Eastern and Oriental), where we enjoyed the luxurious bathrooms before getting into individual tri-shaws to be pedaled to the nearest indoor shopping mall. The town of Penang is an old English colony and these remnants of colonial structures continue to exist, though they’re being razed to make way for new malls, high rises and condominiums. (My trishaw peddler was quite upset with the loss of traditional old buildings.) Some of these lovely old buildings continue to be cared for, and there is a drive to try and keep and restore other buildings of the period rather than let the whole town become another Dubai. I have mixed emotions – you sense that the people see an opportunity through tourism to raise their standard of living past that of a third world community, but at what cost to history. Unfortunately it was a holiday In Penang (not sure which), so many of the small shops and tourist spots were closed, but holidays are days for shopping so we pedaled past Little India and Little Chinatown to a splendid mall where every Malaysian in the world was either shopping or selling. It’s almost Christmas after all, so there were appropriate decorations and appropriate music being piped through this seven story emporium to pirated goods.
It was amazing. Everything was either a knock-off or had fallen off the back of a ship. And with the average salary in Penang being less than $4000/year, the prices were right for us wealthy tourists. It was slightly daunting but Russell and Diane, having been here before, helped me to sort out what was available and where. I had gotten about $100.00 worth of Malaysian ringgits at the HSBC ATM so I was ready to boogie. But where to start, and what to buy, with too many small shops, too many of the same thing …and way too much kitsch. While Russell found shirts for $10/each, and Diane found software for $3(!), I mainly window-shopped and bought a few trinkets. (After all there’s still Singapore in my future). Malaysia is quite obviously the place to shop if you’re into the world of illegal retail.
With our retail therapy acquisitions in hand, we headed back to the E&O Hotel so I could treat them to lunch, but first we ducked out of the rain to stop at a small hole-in-the-wall for a quick Tiger Beer to sustain us for the long ride (5 minutes) back to the hotel. The contrast between our corner beer stop and the E&O showed the two sides of the old colonial world – the real world and the protected world of the British Raj, where never the twain would meet.
It was lovely to walk into this stately old institution however, and to think that only 80+ years ago Daddy and Walter had done the same. The lobby looks exactly the same, with its high dome in the main lobby which provided a wonderful echo affect (If you tapped the tip of your umbrella it echoed back at you three or four more times.). The main dining area was not open for lunch so we ate in the old bar, having satay and some more Tiger beer to sustain us. While R&D sipped, I wandered through as much of the hotel as I could, taking pictures throughout the lobby since the ‘resident ‘floors were off-limits. I got the sense of place, enjoyed pretending that I was standing in the same area as H&W, walking up to the same reception desk, using the same old telephone, and then with my nostalgia in check, heading back to the ship…. as they would have themselves.
We can tell the trip is coming to an end: the crew is even more attentive than usual in the dining rooms and bars, hoping for a nice tip; the passengers are a bit more edgy as they begin their packing, and everyone is exchanging business cards swearing to write each other at Christmas time for years to come. Our gang of nine has meshed well ,exchanged our cards, and so after pre-prandials in ‘Martini’s’, we headed to the Grand Dining room for our last dinner in this venue and then off to bed.
Port Klang – Kuala Lumpur
Totally toured out, we did nothing on this very rainy, humid day. The sky kept opening in buckets, and we knew that our luggage had to be ready to go by early evening. Our gang has planned one last elegant meal up in the Toscana Restaurant, so fancy duds have been left unpacked but all else is ready to go.
Throughout the trip as I bought trinkets here and there, I would just pull the suitcase out from under the bed and throw them in. Today was the day of reckoning as I discovered gems bought a lifetime ago in Cyprus, and Israel ,and Abu Dhabi… and had to find room for it all. But it’s done. A few shampoos, bug sprays, and unguents will be left behind to make room for the new loot, and I’m ready for the next adventure.
Dinner was delightful, and the dining room was basically empty. I guess most people had packed their duds and didn’t want to fuss with elegance. We nine chatted, took last photographs, drank fine wine and bid each other adieu.
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