3D REFLECTIONS OF LIFE

We had our own dedicated taxi to take us to go elephant riding and to experience the 9D images at the Trickeye museum. We met our taxi driver in Bangla road, who also waved his laminated brochures to passing Bangla road crowds. After agreeing on the cost of our trip the next day and giving our hotel details, we parted ways. The next morning, at exactly 11h00, our soft-spoken taxi driver was there to chauffeur us to our planned attractions. Our driver lives about five hours from Patong, where he works. He would go home some weekends or his family would join him in Patong.  The day we met him in Bangla road, his young son was with him but since we were three passengers, the little one had to stay at home. Our first stop was to do the elephant rides. Here again, you will experience the ingenuity of the Thai people. Once you had paid for your ride, you are invited to buy food for your elephant. The food is a tiny plastic bowl of small overripe bananas that will set you back 100 ba...

Tourism is big business in Thailand. Even the Tuk-tuk drivers and the taxi drivers are informal tour guides and tour operators. They have tourism brochures and A3 laminated brochures that display restaurants, island boat trip companies, elephant trekking, go-karting, clubbing and all other sightseeing trips and experiences tourists want to explore. But, there is no mention of the .almost obligatory gem or jewellery shops that these drivers will inevitably weave into your trip. Our tuk-tuk driver and us posing in front of the Clock Tower in Phuket City. Such was our 'gem" experience when we decided to go to old Phuket Town to do a walking tour of the old city. I had worked out our 2-3 hour walking tour based on the research I had done. We boarded the Baht blue bus near Patong beach and for 30 baht each,we were taken to Phuket City. When passengers get off at various points en route to Phuket City, the driver stops the bus, gets out and then collects the fare. At a stop ...

We are posing here with fellow South Africans, Erica and Warren.   We decided to visit Phuket in Thailand as a 60th birthday gift for Basil, my husband and as a 21st birthday celebration for Sasha,our daughter. We were super excited about our Phuket Island trip but we also needed to consider our shoestring budget. Another factor was that we only had ten days because of both my and Basil's work commitments and Sasha's university programme.  Two of those days had to be reserved for our roundtrip flight Phuket-Cape Town.  It is vital that you do your research so that your holiday is fabulous and financially stress-free. Here are a few pointers that guided us. You must know what your budget is for your flight and accommodation.  Given that we only had seven days for the actual holiday, I did a lot of research to ensure that we maximised our visit to Phuket. Many travel agencies offer competitive holiday packages to Phuket. Despite the advertised holiday package...