Woke up this morning to a cloudy sky. They have been calling for rain for the last few days but none has appeared. Since we did so well on the buses yesterday we were going to head to Paden’s favourite beach in the area, Nai Harm beach. It is on the southern west coast of Phuket Island. It was 21 km away and according to maps.me should take 17 minutes by car, but we were taking the bus. Two buses to get there. Your guess is as good as ours as to how long it would really take. We did find a pink bus stop a lot closer to our hotel than the one we went to yesterday. Always helps to ask at your hotels front desk. Bus came along in about 5 minutes. We were on a roll. That is until we had to get off. Apparently not all buses automatically stop at the transfer point to the beach buses. We were let off a few blocks past but it was no big deal to walk back. Now we were in search of the correct bus to get to Nai Harm beach. First guy directed us further up the street. Next guy sent us up to the first bus. Meanwhile a taxi driver is offering to drive us there for 600 baht (approximately $25 Cdn) compared to the bus fare of 80 baht ($3.50 Cdn). Do we still have ‘SUCKERS’ written on our foreheads? We get to the first bus stop area and there was no bus going to Nai Harm beach. We decided to walk back to the end and watch as the buses were pulling in. Turns out the bus we wanted had been sitting there just about in front of where the taxi driver was trying to con us. Once it was full (only holds 12 people and that is really cramming them in), we left. Took us about 25 minutes from that point to reach our beach. Dropped off a few people at other places and other beaches on the way.

Oh the sights you see

I have to say that I agree with Paden, Nai Harm beach really is beautiful. The sand was like icing sugar. So fine and soft.

The water was very clear, not quite crystal clear but you could still see your feet when the water was armpit high.

Talk about warm water. This water was warmer than our heated pool which we keep around 84F. Saw a beautiful fish swimming around me. It looked like a zebra. Even though there were quite a few people it was so quiet and peaceful. We rented a couple of lounge chairs, cushions and an umbrella for $8.00 Cdn. Have I mentioned it was hot? It was so hot in the shade that we only stayed for 1 1/2 hours and then went in search of an adult beverage and food. No food or alcohol was served on the beach that we could see. You could purchase water and ice cream. Across the street were plenty of restaurants with a great view of the beach.

We ordered a couple of Chang beers and lunch. I had fried shrimp and cashews and Doug ordered salmon steak with fries and salad. It was good but, not cheap.

We wouldn’t need any dinner after this though. Since we had eaten there, the restaurant gave us a ticket to use the ‘toilet’ for free. Otherwise it was 10 baht (approximately $0.45 Cdn). No toilet paper here even though you pay! Thank goodness I travel with my own.

We decided to get the 3:00 pm bus back to Phuket as it was just too hot to do anything else.

Last bus was at 4:00 pm. We departed around 2:50 pm. Guess this guy had his own schedule. Talk about a slow milk run. He was honking his horn every few minutes and stopping to pick people up. He stopped for a coffee, then more people, then gas. The bus was jammed packed full as he continued along at a snails pace. Sometimes not even on the road. The white line is the edge of the road technically.

Meanwhile I’m sitting at the back of the open bus with the 1000 degree heat of the sun beating down on me. Doug turns to me and says ‘now I know what a slow roasting chicken feels like’. Took us 1 hour 20 minutes to get back to the beach buses stop in Phuket town. Found the pink bus stop, not like yesterday and headed back to our hotel for the night. But not before grabbing our ham and cheese crescents for tomorrow’s breakfast.