Phuket, Thailand (Super Star Libra Cruise) - My Solo Cruising

Disappointing. Disappointed. Disappointment. Phuket shore excursion (Super Star Libra Cruise Solo Cruising) didn’t take off until after 1.00pm. Due to magic show at the poolside. Actually, magic action was inside the pool itself. All locked key locked up magician eventually emerging from water for proving his critical success factors. How did it go with me? Dang! Neh! I basically out of no choice was amongst the hundreds who seemingly were all excited, trilled and frilled. I, in fact wasn’t even aware that magic show is gonna be part and parcel of this cruise holiday. Honestly, such a waste of my time. I would have actually appreciated Phuket sightseeing. Then again? Lunch too by 12.00pm didn’t go down with me. Just two hours ago, I had tucked into breakfast, and food again? Of course, without a doubt, there were still aplenty takers for the buffet lunch. I on the other hand just nibbled some side dishes. Thank god, an hour later, the moment I have been patiently waiting arrived. Phuket sightseeing. The same procedure, the same way out of ship and the same coach driven journey (Krabi Shore Excursion).  

First stop, Promthep Cape. An hour allocated, we walked from the car park below and climbed the stairs for reaching the higher level where Promthep Cape literally bared it all. Stunning. The splash of water, the blue bright sky and solid rock mountains. All of these, as well as Andaman Sea and South China Sea coming together as one stunning soothing picturesque. Believe me, I could have, honestly, stood for the longest time and continued with staring at the far and beyond sea view.

But due to time factor, within the next 10 minutes, I walked from the edge of the hill to see the elephant shrine and various shapes and sizes of elephant statues at the heart of this same spot. Significantly, whether you believe in elephant gods or not, or you just wanna to see. 

The other attraction in Promthep Cape is the Lighthouse Museum which showcases lights, bulbs and historical maritime artifacts throughout its three floors.

I think I covered all of it while going up and then coming down via the spiral staircase, before making my way back into the coach for our next stop in Cashew Nut Factory. Big cashew tree standing proud and pride tall at the entrance sort of prepared me on what to expect inside the factory. A tiny bit of knowledge gained on how cashew nuts are extracted out of their hard skin with the special equipment and also that cashew can actually be converted to pure cashew juice. Wish we had the liberty to sampling a tiny bit of the juice, instead we had the honour to helping ourselves to the various types and different flavour coated cashews until the staff got really pissed off. She literally lunging at us, maybe because we over did it or she had an attitude problem. B!

Later, what else can you expect from such a place but spending on the cashew products and the rest of the food stuffs. Did I buy? I did. Call it greedy eyes or buying for the sake of it or because others were doing it, I bought. In the end, it came as a shock when I had to pay RM200.00 for a few packets of the snacks. My fault actually. I assumed these should be cheap, in reality they were not. Duh! (Fremantle Perth).

From Cashew Nut Factory to Wang Talang Lapidary Gem Factory next. No doubt I did gather knowledge on how precious gems are harvested during the short documentary, still, the whole plot of this visit was all about luring you to shop. What? Me and precious stones? Forget it.

A quickest round within the showroom where photos are prohibited, off I left and stood outside. They rest however took their own sweet time. I wasn’t even keen in finding out if they bought, off we left for Phuket Premium Outlet. Premium? Nonsense. Over-rated actually. Just mid-range known and unknown brands. Of course if you are looking for best bargains or clearance sales or you badly want to spend your money, Phuket Premium Outlet is your deal (Royal Thai Handicraft Bangkok). My two hours in Phuket Premium Outlet was such boredom. I basically sat at the bench after getting a drink and stared at the sky, while every now and then taking a look around (Verona & Milan - Italy).

Back on the road, our final stop took place in Patong. All hell broke loose due to heavy lashing of water from the sky. Rain literally wouldn’t stop pouring. We still were adamant about heading to the beach and while doing so, we did get a first hand on Patong's popularity. Action packed night joints and women. Rain again crushing our plan to eating at the street stalls. Therefore, we marathoned into the shopping mall and opted for food in food court. Nothing great neither cheap.

Just a meal to kill our hunger. Idling our next half hour in the mall, off we left prior to boarding into Libra Cruise. Though supper was in full force, I didn’t want to eat. Two cups of coffee and good night. All in all, I did appreciate this Phuket sightseeing, nevertheless, we could have done more if not because of the magic show and rain.