Arriving in Kamala (pronounced Camel-Ah) I couldn't have been more impressed. I knew that Phuket was beautiful, but arriving at Kamala was stunning. Maybe it had something to do with the 2 beers I had consumed within an hour of being picked up?! My new colleagues welcomed me with dinner at a seafood restaurant on the beach at sunset, that ended with me drinking a flaming sambucca with a plastic straw. A sign of things to come?
Kamala is one of the many beaches on the west of Phuket Island, so it is a new experience for me to watch the sun go down over the ocean. It is a small town (a 2 stop light town as they say) which is great for me starting out on my moped. Yep, that's right people, a moped! Though, I probably look like a total Nanna at the moment, scooting along at a huge 40km/hour being passed by a family of 4 Thai's on another bike. I am yet to master the art of scootering, before moving on to the art of juggling coffee, shopping and talking on my phone while driving like the locals do.
The beach is beautiful, and even though it is low season, there are enough tourists to make it interesting. As I sat on the beach yesterday, I watched a man whose job it was to keep his part of the beach (in front of a hotel) clean & tidy. Aside from picking up rubbish & random leaves from the sand, his other job must be to keep the palm trees looking good. He did this by pulling off dead palm fronds, hanging from them with all his weight to see if they are dead enough to drop him to the ground. Interesting. Zero Workplace Health & Safety here.
Other than the beach, there is a main strip, full of tourist shops, bars, hotels & restaurants. Oh, and 7-11's. They are everywhere here, and sell pretty much anything and everything you could need. Between the main shopping strip & the beach is a park with a monument dedicated to the victims of the 2004 tsunami. Kamala was badly affected, and the school (which has a stunning ocean front location) was totally destroyed and has been rebuilt. There are tsunami evacuation route signs along the beach…though there are different routes for tourists and locals. Unsure who gets the better deal out of it!
Off to find coffee then hit the beach. Hard life!
