La Gon Thailand

My flight out of Thailand didn't take place until 8:00 at night, so I had plenty of time to do a little more sightseeing. Once again I took the shuttle into town and hired myself a Tuk-Tuk for 4 hours. I asked to see some temples and do some shopping. The first temple I asked to see was closed, so it wasn't much of a start. Then he took me to the Chinese temple in town. That was very interesting and a little odd. Then he suggested I go to the park at the top of the hill, which has a nice view of the city. That was the prettiest part of all of Phuket. Next I let him take me to one of those shopping emporiums that pay the drivers to talk tourist into going there. But as it was the same one I went to a few days before it was a bit of a bust. I wanted to go to another temple, but he wanted to take me to another emporium first. I thought it must be on the way to the next temple. Boy was I wrong. And I got ticked. So I spent about 5 minutes in there...it really didn't have anything I was interested in. So I demanded another temple. And it turned out to be a good move. It was very touristy (about 50% of the visitors were obviously foreigners), but it was very colorful and big. I walked around for ages. It also had a row of market stalls behind it selling all sorts of goodies, for much more reasonable prices than I had seen anywhere else. So I picked up some more clothes and souvenirs. Had smarmy Tuk-Tuk man take me back to my hotel. Had some lunch on a chaise under the palm trees and a quick last dip in the ocean. Took a shower in my room before I had to check out and then went to pay the bill. My Visa wouldn't go through! I had to pay in cash, which with the lousy exchange rate cost me about $60 extra. And then I had to sit around for 2 hours before my shuttle to the airport fuming over it. It was a pretty crappy way to end my vacation. Then at the airport I stood in line for an hour to check in (they were very inept there) and then as you head for your gate they charge you 500 Baht ($15) cash to get there. It's such a scam. I just got to the gate in time to get on the airplane. As I was hurrying through the lobby I noticed a Burger King. It's been ages since I have seen a BK. And the woman behind me on the plane had a BK Veggie Burger. Oh my God! I coulda had a Veggie Burger. Well, the good news was that the flight was pretty empty and I had a row of seats to myself. I was able to lie down and get some sleep. It was not good or restful sleep, but it did make the flight much shorter. We landed in Nagoya at 7 am and I caught the bus back to Hamamatsu and was home by 11. I don't regret going, but I don't think I would go back to Phuket, nor recommend it to anyone else. If you want to go to a beach in Thailand I think Krabi would be much nicer (and I hear it's cheaper). I do still really want to go to North Thailand - Ayuthaya and Chiang Mai - and to Cambodia to see Angkor Wat. But you have to go in the cool season, and I don't know that my schedule will allow for that anytime soon. But I WILL be going! Got it.