Surfin' Phuket

Dung and I took a long weekend in Phuket last week. One year into this country and we hadn't hit the biggest tourist destination yet, and really hadn't had much interest in it either. But there's one thing Phuket's got that's nowhere else in Thailand, surfing. By no means real surf, it's no Pipeline, it probably isn't even as good as North Carolina, but it served its purpose. I've always wanted to go surfing and figured this was my chance. We stayed on Kata Beach where there's surf during the rainy season and no other time, and not really any other place. For 1400 baht I got a two hour lesson with a Thai guy with dyed blond hair and lightning bolts shaved into it. But the guy could surf. After some quick lessons on the beach, we headed into some light surf and did the real thing. The first ten times or so were unsuccessful, but I got a little extra advice each time and finally popped up just right and rode a wave all the way into the beach. Not a big wave but big enough to carry me. I think I got up one more time for more than a few seconds and that was it. The most exhausting sport. Fighting through the waves to get out there is tough (and these were small waves), trying to stay on top of the board and then paddling ahead of the wave to catch it, just about killed my arms. Not to mention huge bruises on my knees from jumping up on the board time after time. I don't think I made it the whole two hours. The next day I rented a board on my own and went out with the rest of the surf crowd to try to catch some. Bigger waves this time, and I didn't catch one. Nobody else was having much luck either, but I figure it's all just practice. Problem is I need to live closer to a beach where I can get some serious surf every day. Next post?