Summer Travel 2023 #3: Phuket June 30-July 3rd

My next stop was Phuket.  I had stayed in Phuket once before.  The Royal Phawadee Village Hotel made a good showing during my first visit back in January.  It was an affordable and cozy hotel the first time I was here.  

These pictures were from my first stay. 

They disappointed me this time.  I arranged pick-up from the airport with them and their driver had the wrong name on the sign.  I arrived to a room with décor akin to an 80s roadside motel with stains on the walls and carpet.  It was nasty.  I asked for a new room.   

Here was the first room.

Here are pictures of the room I got after I requested the change.  They put me in a room on the 4th floor in the back corner of the hotel.  The stairs on the last floor too the room were not lit.  I had no hot water and the lighting flickered a bit but at least it was bigger and cleaner than the first room.  On my last day there I got locked out the safe and didn't have wifi.  The phone was filled with static so I couldn't even call the front desk.  

At least it had a view.

I won't be staying there again. 

My first stop upon arrival was a new cannabis store that opened up near my hotel.  This place, like countless other weed stores, popped up in the six months since my last visit. 

When I had developed a strong case of the munchies I decided to leave the dispensary. I was offered a free sample as I passed by a barbeque joint called Naughty Nuri's.

 
It was so good that I ordered a rack of ribs.  Then I made the mistake of ordering one of their coladas.  Imagine my horror when they stopped the band from playing some good tunes and started singing this tacky song as they shook my colada.  The colada was good but this song ruined the experience a bit.  

After dinner I ate half of this magic brownie and went to sleep.

Saturday morning I slept in a little and then got a breakfast of fried rice. 

I hung around after breakfast to kill time.  I read a book, walked around, had a toke, and worked on my post from Vietnam.  It was raining all morning so it was not as if there was much else I wanted to do, but I did walk around a bit in the rain.

The rain fortunately lightened up and finally stopped by the time the afternoon came around.  It was lovely weather for a run, so I joined the Phuket Hash House Harriers for one of their trails.  Our on-in was the Expat Bar. 

We got back to the Expat Bar fairly late that night.  I had drank quite a bit and had eaten a lot of edibles so went to sleep shortly after getting back to my hotel. 

On Sunday there was more rain.  While not as heavy and long as it was on Saturday it was still quite a deluge.  When the skies finally cleared up a bit I took a taxi to the iconic Big Buddha statue.

I stopped to feed and pet an elephant on the way back from The Big Buddha.

Sunday night I wandered around a little and had some drinks. 

It was time for me to check out on Monday, but my flight was not until much later.  So I checked out, left my bags with the front desk, and wandered around for a little bit.  I got some fish and chips at an Irish Pub, got a cannabis massage at the Green Room, finished all my weed, then returned to the hotel for a couple drinks before my ride to the airport. 

I departed Phuket slightly delayed.  My next stop would be Incheon Airport for a long layover before my flight to the US.  Next time I return to Phuket I will be with Faye.