Rachel's Travels (and Studies of Course!): Thailand Part II - Butterfly and Orchid Gardens, and Phuket Town

On our second day in Phuket we caught a bus into the town to explore the centre of Phuket. The bus journey itself was an experience I'll never forget! The buses are similar to small flat bed trucks with a roof over the top. They have two benches (one at either side) and then a platform at the back. I don't think I have ever seen so many people crammed into a vehicle that size. Once the benches had been filled, they then got people to 'stand' (basically hunched over) through the middle, and then packed people on the back platform. There were even three children in the front, one in the footwell and two in one seat! The bell was right at the front of the bus too, so a message had to be passed to the front if you wanted to get off at any point. Phuket itself was very busy, lots of people and traffic. The shops were cheap, but you had to haggle for everything, which made it quite a chore to try and buy things.

Following our local transport experience we met up with a tour guide and he drove us to some of the sights in Phuket. Our first stop was a butterfly garden, which not only had butterflies, but also creepy crawlies like spiders, beetles and stick insects. They also had giant centipedes, so mum, I took a photo of one just for you to remind you of our experience in Rarotonga!

Following the butterfly garden we went and visited the harbour. The police vessels looked quite nice, and were tied up alongside a medical boat. Unfortunately, not all the vessels in the harbour looked quite as sea-worthy!

After checking out the boats, we went and had a meal in one of the restaurants nearby. I chose sweet and sour deep fried fish, with a side order of rice. Again, it was very cheap, and absolutely delicious. The view wasn't too bad either, despite the weather.

Our final stop of the day was Phuket Orchid Garden. I thought it was great, I got a couple of free stems on the way in, and saw some beautiful flowers. I would have loved to have purchased some of them, but unfortunately New Zealand Customs are very strict, and would have almost certainly have confiscated them. I couldn't even take my stems back, so gave them to one of the maids that cleaned our room. She thought they were lovely, and I also like to think that it made her make a special effort with our room!