The Diamond Princess arrived at Phuket at 9 am this morning, as scheduled.
Phuket is Thailand’s largest island, and the cruise ship was anchored by the bustling Patong Beach*. The tender boat trip to the Patong Jetty was only 15 minutes: not bad at all.
*Patong Beach was hit particularly hard by the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami. The waves reached heights of 3–6 m (9.8–19.7 ft) along the west coast of Phuket island.
Thaweewong Road runs at the back of Patong Beach. It is lined with anything a tourist might want, and might need: ATMs, markets, beach clubs with swimming pools, bars, pharmacies, restaurants, food stands, pot shops (legal but no smoking in public allowed), massage parlors, taxi stands and scooters.
Sarasin Bridge to the north connects the island to Phang Nga province, but we were a little deflated after a few hours in the hot sun and headed back to Patong Jetty to catch a tender boat to the Princess.
