My excursion from Phuket had been booked on board for around a month; I had secured a place on the James Bond Island Cruise which would take me to the highly scenic setting for part of the movie, “Man with the Golden Gun”. This tour had sold out, but places did become available as time progressed. I was never keen on the horrendously early start, and was easily persuaded to sell my ticket to a table colleague who was very keen to make the trip. I enjoyed a much needed lie-in. Instead, after disembarking QM2 late in the morning, I foresook the endless approaches from men with taxis and boarded a local bus for the town of Phuket, some 9 miles from the point on Patong Beach where the Cunard tenders dropped us off. Phuket itself was devoid of anything which would attract tourists except possibly, authenticity. It was hot, scruffy and a place not to explore too deeply. I took the next bus out….allegedly back to where I started from on the beach front. I expected the bus to retrace its steps on the outward journey. But it continued bouncing along merrily in the opposite direction, in very heavy traffic. A Palestinian tourist assured me I was on the correct bus. Suddenly, on the horizon, the unmistakable silhouette of QM2 generated a huge sigh of relief! Eventually, I was back where I had started from. There was time to enjoy food at an Indian restaurant before venturing to the familiar environs of my ship. I just hope the visit to this quiet restaurant doesn’t have Delhi Belly-esque consequences! Tomorrow marks the three quarter stage of the voyage. Even so, there is a respectable 30 days to look forward to. After two days at sea, we call at Colombo, Sri Lanka. I have a bundle of Sri Lanka Rupees, worth about a fiver. These I obtained from a pop-up money changer outside the ship in Langkawi. I’m sure that the exchange was far from brilliant, and that he “made a killing”. My £100 worth of Vietnamese currency made me a millionaire for the short time I was in Vietnam!
Pictures to follow.
Best wishes, David.
David's Cruise 