Having got to the airport in good time, through check-in, security and passport control, and grabbed a coffee, all was well. Until, that is, we got on the transport that was to take us to our aeroplane. Canned in like sardines for 15 minutes, doors firmly closed, gasping for oxygen, the doors opened again. All off! Well, the command had an ‘off’ at the end of it, anyway. We were told the engine on the aeroplane was broken and they would find us another plane.
As other passengers (the old ones were the worst) kicked off, venting their frustration on the beleaguered cabin crew, none of whom knew how to repair a broken engine, we got talking to a young American couple. The young lady said that VietJet promised her that we would only have to wait one hour, and that she had chosen to believe them. Now, I am a glass half full person at the worst of times but… Conjuring up all sorts of images, all founded on a pilot scuttling around Ho Chi Minh airport asking fellow pilots if they had a spare plane he could borrow, I feared the worst. Long story short, the American girl was right, I was, joyfully, wrong, and we got away and to Phuket, arriving some 80 minutes later than scheduled. What is more, our elephantine luggage came out with the first few items on the luggage carousel. We were on a roll!
🌈 As we flew in, this (^) appeared in the sky below us. We were taking that all day long, a propitious sign indeed.
We landed in the rain…
Yet we knew that clearness was around us and all would come good.
It did. As we travelled down Phuket Island, the rain cleared. Phuket is Thailand’s largest island. It has another 32 smaller islands off its coast. Phuket lies off the west coast of mainland Thailand in the Andaman Sea. It is 48km in length and 21km at its widest.
We are staying on Kata Beach. Far south west on the above map.
On arriving, we explored the area, had something to eat and then we well and truly washed the cities of Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Hanoi, and Saigon out of our hair.
The sea is blissfully warm, reminding us of Goa, last year.
And we have 10 days to savour this wonderful setting. It makes working 6 days a week, 11 months of the year well worth it.
The view from our room…
Phuket, we love you already!
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A Dragon Apparent 
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