21 October – Culture

Today we decided to do some more “cultural” tourism. We didn’t want to spend the whole day out and about, with an early flight to Bangkok the next day, and so chose activities that seemed close to Kata, were reasonably well advertised, and (we hoped) relatively interesting.

Orchid Farm

This is a private business run by a European (judging by the warning signs, a German?) primarily for the purposes of exporting the delicate flowers, and (I assume) supplying them to local businesses. I think that they charge the pittance for entry as an easy supplement to what must be a lucrative business.

There is not much of a display explaining much about orchids, how they are grown, let alone a guided tour. As such, we were out in less than 30 minutes. Even so, I got some exquisite photos.

Big Buddha

The King of Thailand commissioned this monument of Buddha to be built, but funding stalled and progress is slow, which is a crying shame. They now resort to asking for donations from visitors to help out, but I think that if they put some serious work into advertising and charged entry they would be much more successful. Maybe that’s too commercial for the Buddhist ethos, but if you’re going to put a huge statue on top of the tallest mountain that can see the whole Island, you should do it right.

Wat Chalong

This 200-300 year old temple was at once the most exciting and disappointing stop of the day. Here we encountered the modesty requirements on visitors, with P being required to cover her bare shoulders with a shawl (provided free).

Again, the lack of tourist amenities like tour guides, explanatory pamphlets or signs really hampered what could be a good way to keep the temple well-maintained, and allow me to recommend it.

As it was, I was forced to dredge up 15 year-old memories to explain the murals, symbology and numerology of aspects of the temple. And I’m pretty sure I got a fair amount of that wrong.

Conclusion

There is “cultural” tourism available in Phuket, but it’s pretty disorganized and you’ll need to bring your own guidebook. I’d recommend dedicating one day to do it all and hiring a taxi to take you to all sites. Get a good price on that transport, and don’t be afraid to wander away once you’ve had your fill. Our driver was convinced we’d be all day at those three sites, but we were done in about four hours including travel time. I’m pretty sure I could come up with a more interesting week of comparable sites in Bali.