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| Phuket and Ben's uncle Charlie |
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| Our view of Hat Kata from the deck |
We arrived in Phuket on the 8th to Ben's uncle Charlie and daughter Rika awaiting us at the bus station. So nice to have smiling, friendly, familiar faces to greet us rather than being hammered with questions about taxis, tuk tuks, and hotels! His uncle put us up in a hotel over looking Kata beach, where we can hear the waves while sitting in bed, we have our own private deck where we can watch the snorkelers and beach goers, and the pool overlooks the bay and the ocean beyond. Best accomodation we have had! We had a great Italian dinner with the whole family, Noi Charlie's wife, Rika 8, and Rosie 6. Noi then took us out to Patong...the hopping night life town on the island, to meet some friends visiting from England. We drank beer and watched 'lady boys' pole dance till the wee hours of morning.
The next day after a leisurely morning at the hotel, Charlie took us to see 'The Big Buddha', a project that is still under construction after 7 years. We then had a delicious dinner at Charlie and Noi's house, where Noi cooked us homemade Italian food (I know what your thinking...Italian?!) Noi, while being Thai, is a fabulous cook and their neighbor is Italian and taught her among other things the art of ravioli making (from scratch) lasagna, and bruschetta, all on the menu for the night.
