On the move

Last week we'd been staying in Phuket Town so that we were right in the middle of the action during the festival. Now that it's finished we've moved over the hill to check out Patong.

Before leaving town, we decided to have lunch at this little jungle cafe on the top of Rang Hill called Tung Ka Cafe. The view over Phuket Town and south down the coast to Rawai was stunning. The food was really tasty too, chicken satay and a lovely fresh stir fry with cashew nuts (back into the meat now!). They even had soft seats. It sounds weird but comfy furniture is one of those things you don't realise you miss until you have it again. I had to giggle when I noticed they were playing Christmas songs in the background though.The coffee afterwards was served in the traditional Thai way, with a refreshing cup of tea alongside.
Patong is one of the most popular beaches on Phuket, it's on the west coast just north of Karon. It has a long white sand beach, several large malls with a cinema and supermarket, beautiful green hills all around, and a pumping night life (apparently!).It also seems to have a bit of a reputation for being one of Thailand's major destinations for sex tourism, however, unless you're out at 3am, this aspect of Patong goes largely unseen.

If you put aside its reputation, Patong is actually pretty cool. There are loads of different places to eat, ranging from cheap road side stalls to high end internationally acclaimed restaurants. In Kata/Karon area we found it a bit tricky finding cheap eats as it's a bit more resorty.

Bighead and I do like to be close to the action and the food, so perhaps Patong is the one for us??

Today however, we're off to Phi Phi for a couple of days to do some diving. We've never been before so I'm looking forward to seeing what the fuss is all about.

Veggie Fest Videos

Oy yoi yoi... I hope these clips aren't too slow for you as I've tried to balance size with quality. I can assure you that they'll be much quicker for you to watch, than they were for me to upload! They're each about one minute long.

The first vid is of the main part of the procession and the second will hopefully give you some idea of what the grand finale was like (although the sound doesn't translate very well!).

We sadly said goodbye to the food stalls last night as the festival has drawn to a close. And just in case I haven't been able to convey to you just how clever these people are with their 'not meats', check out this imitation chicken drum stick...I swear, it is not real chicken.

We were at the stalls fairly early in the evening and even then, there were loads of fire crackers being let off around the food stalls and temple. There was a buzz of activity about the place as locals prepared for the midnight farewell ceremony/explode-the-rest-of-your-fireworks party.

It was just like a Guy Fawkes night in Welli (except it went on waaaaaaaaaaaaay longer!). Fireworks could be seen and heard all across the city. At midnight, the explosions intensified and a seemingly endless stream of crackers echoed through the valley for close to 30 minutes. It really was quite unbelievable and there certainly wasn't much sleeping going on.

What a cool festival, something for everyone!

In other news...

Check out my new baby.
While my dear friend was busy giving birth to a gorgeous baby girl (congrats guys!), I too received a new bundle of joy (not quite as exciting but nearly!). You can't really tell from the pic but it's just a tiny wee thing and can even fit in my shoulder bag! Love it!

The Street Procession : Phuket Vegetarian Festival

The other day Bighead and I woke at the crack of dawn, pulled on our white clothing and headed to town to check out one of the festivals street processions. Each Chinese shrine has its own procession, usually starting at the shrine and ending up in Phuket Town. This particular procession was run by the Bang Neow Shrine which is located in town, so the procession followed a route around Phuket Town centre.
We jumped on the scoot and drove till we found a spot where people were gathering. The locals were buzzing with energy as they set up street side offerings of Chinese tea, fruit and other vegetarian treats. A great deal of care and attention is put into the presentation of these family shrines. What a fascinating and enjoyable religion to observe.

We waited patiently, with great anticipation. Small fire crackers popped up and down the street, creating excitement in the crowds of white-clothed people gathering at the road sides.

We spotted four large poles wrapped from tip to toe in crackers (similar to double happies but much bigger) leaning up against a shops awning. We made a mental note to keep an eye out for the moment they were set alight.

We could hear the procession coming well before we could see it.

The sound is difficult to convey in words and the energy of the event is almost overwhelming. As the procession gathered momentum, families lingered by their shrines, welcoming the passing priests. It's been extremely moving to see how dedicated entire families are to the ceremonies and rituals of this event. Being able to stand by and watch as priests approached shrines and blessed families was an experience I'll never forget.

There were points in the procession that I must say, I was secretly glad I'd only seen through the lens of my camera. These dudes are serious. Most of the procession was fairly graphic (some parts extremely so). If you are squeamish at all about such things, please do not scroll down the page. I take no responsibility.

Some of the objects seen protruding from people's cheeks, and other places, were very strange (I wonder how they decide which items to use?). The other thing that surprised me was how many participants there were, remember this is just one of the many shrines in the area. We must have seen hundreds of these dudes.
The procession took about two hours to pass us by, beginning in dribs and drabs and finishing with a finale that was way more spectacular than I had ever imagined. I mean, I knew that there would be very loud fireworks but I had NO IDEA.

At the end of the procession there were groups of people carrying, what I think, were shrines. As the final groups passed each road side shrine, the families began to set alight their biggest, loudest, most impressive fireworks (cue large poles wrapped from tip to toe in crackers).
Many of the fireworks were thrown out into the street at the passing procession. As they exploded all around, the participants continued on through the chaos. It became obvious why they had their heads and mouths protected by clothing. Can you imagine for a minute what it would be like to be apart of this section of the procession? It took the entire group four hours to complete the route. So that's four hours of continuous, ear piercing fire crackers being thrown at them. Wow. 15 minutes was enough for my ear drums.
Silhouettes of people could be seen through clouds of smoke as it began to rain red paper and ash. What a buzz! These EXTREMELY LOUD fireworks fired continuously for what seemed like an eternity (ouch). And then it was over.Even before the last participants in the parade had passed, two big street cleaners barreled their way down the street, sucking up everything in their path. A mere half an hour after the event, all traces had been cleared away. Such efficiency!

If I'm fortunate enough to be in Phuket for next years festival, I must remember to wear ear plugs. The locals did, they're not silly!

I've created a couple of videos which I'll post at a later date. Our internet connection is a bit shit at the moment so stay tuned!

Phuket Vegetarian Festival aka Veggie Heaven (for real)

If I had to name my top five travel experiences, this would be right up there vying for number one.

The Festival
Apparently, back in 1825 the main town on Phuket Island was Kathu. It was a tin mining town with a large number of Chinese miners. One day, a traveling opera company arrived in town to perform for the miners. The opera performers kept to a vegetarian diet to honour two of the emperor gods. Whilst visiting Kathu, the entire opera troupe became sick with an unknown illness running a muck in the area at the time. The troupe got over the illness very quickly and the towns folk were amazed by this, wanting to know how they'd recovered so quickly. The troupe insisted it was due to their ritual vegetarianism and accompanying ceremonies. Viola! The towns people embraced the faith and this is how the Phuket Vegetarian Festival began (known as Jia Chai in Chinese). The festival starts on the first day of the ninth lunar month and ends on the ninth. The aim is to bring good fortune to all.

There are loads of interesting ceremonies and rituals that take place within the nine days. Ma Song (devotees whom the gods enter) are said to manifest supernatural powers and perform self-tortures in order to shift evil from individuals onto themselves. Ma Song are either specially chosen by the gods for their morality or have had an experience of impending doom. Each of the Chinese shrines has a street procession, most end up, or walk through, Phuket Town. Other activities to be seen include bladed ladder climbing, bathing in hot oil, and fire walking (more on this later). Oh! and there are always lots of fireworks. Apparently the louder they are, the better it is as they scare off evil spirits (believe me, they are loud). All participants stick to a set of rules including a strict vegetarian diet and wearing white clothing.

The Tourist Authority of Thailand print a booklet with all you need to know and The Phuket Vegetarian Festival have a website.

The Food
Usually, both Chinese and Thai cuisine can be some what of a minefield for us pinkies. A lot of the time it's very difficult to know what to order as a lot of the local food stalls don't have English menus. It's tough to tell what level of spice the dish will have (intimidating). They often use quite strong fishy flavours that even I, the fish lover, have difficulty stomaching. And they use ALL of the animal they've killed in the process (which in theory I think is great but haven't come to terms with yet).

Being apart of this festival is truly like I've died and gone to heaven.As you walk the street through a sea of smiling faces and white clothing, bright balloon men and colourful dragons poke at the horizon. Chinese lanterns light the way, with yellow and red all around. Row upon row of glorious vegetarian stalls line the streets. Every dish is unique and tasty, often imitating a meaty counterpart with ease. If you've been wondering where I'd got to with feedback regarding the festival, wonder no more. I have been totally and utterly drowning myself in the delights of soya products like you've never seen. We've spent so much time in 'the food zone' (Phuket/Ranong Rd area, can't miss it) that we're treated like locals. We've been returning day after day for lunch and dinner (and sometimes even second lunch!). The coolest thing is that we've tried something completely new each time. I'm not entirely sure what half of the food has been that we've been eating, but it sure is nice to dig in knowing that it's completely and utterly meat free. And so damn tasty. All we need to check for is spiciness (which can be done with a combination of charade like actions).

This is by far one of the best festivals I've been too. If you are a vegetarian or enjoy vegetarian food, you must put this on your list of things to do. I've been quite surprised by the lack of tourists at this event.

Custard Apple

We’ve slowly been working our way through the incredible selection of tropical fruits on offer here in Thailand. The custard apple appealed for two reasons. 1) It just looks plain bizarre and 2) Who wouldn’t want to try a fruit with a name like that?

I’m not sure if you’re meant to eat the skin or not but it looked a bit mucky. We carefully pulled it apart and inside were these delicious, gooey segments of apple, kind of suspended in a custardy flesh. Quite strange and very sweet. Each segment has a shiny wee pip inside but they’re easy enough to spit out. Yummy!

Coconut shake - Sums it up nicely