Once we’d finished in Mandalay, we needed to head back to Yangon to collect the rest of our stuff and then move on to the South of Thailand. Due to the time of year and the costs of flying from Yangon to Bangkok, getting a plane wasn’t the most practical option. Luckily we had prepared for this in the first part of our stop at Mandalay and had arranged a bus to go from Yangon to Myawaddy, which was home to one of the border control points between the two countries. The journey there felt like the longest yet but largely due to the lack of sleep you were able to get on it. Though the rocking of the bus wasn’t actually that bad, the company felt it was necessary to keep on an endless stream of TV entertainment which boomed over the speakers through the entire trip. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it wasn’t back to back cheesy music videos, whole acoustic concerts and what could be best described as a Carry On Myanmar film series. Even if there had been a single English subtitle or translation of the videos, you’d get bored pretty quickly. Every music video is essentially about men pining after women and every film narrative was led by slapstick comedy about how hard it is to ride a moped without crashing it into some sort of public event.
Aside from the late 90s and early 00s style entertainment, we survived the long journey to Myawaddy and even got there in time to cross the border before it closed for the evening. When we crossed the small bridge linking two countries together, we were greeted by the usual taxi drivers who took us directly to our hostel in Mae Sot for the night. It was really refreshing to be able to pop to the local Tesco Lotus and buy something that we could actually cook rather than wandering around trying to find the best restaurant at the cheapest price. We ate our pasta, reduced vegetables and pasta sauce and finished the meal with some reduced doughnuts, reflecting on the not so distant similarities to home, and prepared for another long journey travelling to Phuket via Bangkok.
We arrived in Phuket early in the morning after taking a coach to Bangkok and then immediately taking an overnight bus from there. After nearly a full 24 hours of travelling, it wasn’t ideal to arrive at the hostel way earlier than we could check in but leaving our bags with reception, we were able to have a look around the town. We were in Old Phuket town, a historical part of the island that houses much of the Sino-Portuguese architecture; colourful buildings and homes showing off the fusion of Chinese and Portuguese styles. One thing that Old Phuket is proud of is the amount of street art that has been placed around the town. There’s enough of it to actually go on a walking tour to try and find them all. With enough time to kill, we decided to search for them using a guide from our hostel before we found somewhere to get breakfast.
There are many works of art painted around the area, varying from smaller illustrations under windows to large feats that cover the whole length of the buildings. They have a uniqueness in each, even when they are depicting similar images. The walk only took us around half an hour but it’ was enough to highlight the art in a town that not only welcomes creativity, but loves and promotes it. Even when we eventually checked into our hostel, you could see the walls of the room stencilled with abstract images to complement the streets that surround it.
Though we only spent a few days in Phuket, it definitely made for a memorable experience and became a gateway to the beauty of the South of Thailand, proving that the country could give you something different whichever area you decide to visit. It was easy to see how people fall in love with the island upon seeing it but our end goal was to get to Ko Tao for Christmas. With that target in mind, along with the deadline of our visas after it looming closer, we wanted to make sure we hit a couple more spots along the way. The next of those destinations was Ko Lanta.
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