Phuket in general, has 2 sides. Also for us personally, it had 2 sides.
Phuket really is a tropical paradise, with white beaches,crystal clear lukewarm water and rainforests. The people, once you spend some time with them, being friendly with them, are soft, kind and servants by nature. (That is most probably the main reason why so many western men has Thai ladies as wives/girlfriends.) There is a lot of development and building of millionaires security complexes. One sign reads: "Millionaire mile is just getting longer!"
The other side? Phuket is dirty. The water at the main beach is not crystal clear anymore, the streets full of paper and the water undrinkable. The people are so lost: giving offerings at cement alters, praying to budha, spending the little money they have on flowers for the gods. The tourists are also lost. Sun bathing until they are a blue-brown colour (or crayfish red), getting yet another tattoo, shopping a little bit more and walking on the beach with nothing but a small bikini pant (I’m talking about the ladies!) The rural areas and houses of the locals are also dirty and messy.
The Thai food is very good and not too foreign on the tongue. The fruit is wonderful and affordable. We could eat enough and stock up on vitamins! The shopping is an adventure, with bargaining a must. The excursions too many to choose from, well organized and affordable. All in all a good place for a family holiday.
DawieJ did describe our 2 daytrips. What a joy to be out on the open sea on a speedboat, to dive and snorkel as if swimming in an aquarium and to see the beautiful nature. God truly is amazing and creative.
Tuesday, 17 Febr we had a wonderful time around Phi-PhiIslands. After lunch, we snorkeled in the deep sea and then went to Maya bay. An idyllic place. I was still on the boat, when I heard Dawie, that’s old Dawie, call me. And then I saw it: the tip of his finger was gone, it was not hanging on a thread, it was gone! A bleeding finger was looking at me, the fractured bone in my face. I knew, I cannot fix this, one of my plasters won’t help.
“What happened?” I hear you ask. His finger got trapped in the ladder of the boat as he went down into the water. He could have jumped, but did not want to splash water on the older lady standing there.
A Summary of what followed: we went back to Phuket in a very speedy speedboat of another tour agency and went straight to hospital. Dawie was as white as a sheet and in a lot of pain. The 3 boys were brave, but quiet.. DawieJ was shocked, but his 2 brothes supported him in a special way. We were all praying. I prayed for a clean hospital and a good orthopaedic surgeon to be there. It happened like that. Dawie had to spend the night in hospital and the front tip of his 2nd finger on his left hand was formally amputated and stitched up.
The 4 of us went back to the hotel, alone. We fetched Dawie the next day and stayed in the hotel for the next few days. We decided to have 2 days of school and take our holiday the next week, which worked out good.
We prayed a lot, talked a lot and tried to learn what we could learn from this trauma. One thing we know: God can and will continue to protect us from the evil one. No matter how hard he may try, he cannot harm us or steal our joy. Our Joy comes from within.
We did not write about this earlier, because we did not want my mother to hear. She is in Hong Kong now and will come to us on Saturday. Then she can see it for herself and see that it is healing. Hopefully the shock will then be less, and we will be with her to comfort her.
So yes, Phuket had 2 sides for us: an exciting ,fun side and a traumatic side. But God is faithfull and in Him we are content and at peace.
So when Dawie says: "I lost my finger in Phuket", he literally means it! We jokingly tell him that he is taking this weightloss thing too serious!
We praise God that we still have each other. An accident can happen so quickly….
It was nice to feel the heat again, but on some days the heat was just too much. The humidity sometimes struck me like a sound wave.
The time in Phuket felt like a Strand holiday. I enjoyed the cricket on the beach, unfortunately my dad always win. We even taught some Phuket locals how to play cricket.
It is amazing that the water is so warm. It does not cool you off, but other than that, the swimming was very nice.
Some nights we went out to "shop till you drop". One night I dropped before I shopped, and did not go at all, and other nights I dropped very quickly. Shopping is not for me, but shopping in Phuket is a nice experience. Two nights we bought waffles and pancake on the street. It is amazing how they make the pancake from a small piece of dough.
We had enough of Thai food for a long time. We also ate a lot of fruit, even me - who do not like fruit! We went on 2 excursions. One to Phi-Phi Islands where we snorkeled. We saw a lot of beautiful fish. The other one was white water rafting and riding on elephants. My mother made me mad, because she told me the whole time that I must hold on tight to the rope. I think I am big enough to sit with out holding on.
With the elephant riding ,we sat on a small bench and Charlie on the neck of the elephant. He was the driver! All the adventures was really very exciting. I know that I am really priviledged to do all of this.
Phuket is amazing and a wonderful place for a family holiday. So: if you have not been there - "GO!" You will not regret it.
