Culture shock

I was prepared to sleep in shady bungalows and travel in crappy buses without doors with my knees in my chin. I was prepared to eat indistinguishable meat on a skewer and do my natural needs in worm-infested dunny with only a hole in the ground but in Phuket there was something I wasn't really prepared for. And that is a bar full of Finns.

I remember coming back from India and this reverse culture shock is quite interesting. For me it hit on a bus from Helsinki-Vantaa to my home town as it was a brand new Mercedes bus with floors cleaner than some plates I had eaten from in the previous months. Not to mention the utter silence and lack of movement of the high-tech transport. It was something similar, hearing a lot of finnish spoken around me (there is quite a strong Finnish community in Phuket, it seems) and drinking familiar drinks made by a trusted bartender for eight years and running.

Okay, the food at Pore (in Ao Chalong - or Chalong bay) was incredibly delicious. I have been mostly eating local foods in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand but the appeal of bacon stuffed chicken breast, mashed potatoes and one meter ribs was too hard to resist. I wound up sleeping in a nice hotel 200m from the bar and for two days it was just like any weekend in Finland. And actually the hotel was supposed to be quite cheap and crappy, but for me a tiled floor and a real bed with provided bed linen and towels was a luxury. And for 250 baht per night it was quite cheap for Phuket.

There was also a sauna right next to the bar and after countless weeks of cold showers and dusty roads the warmth really hit the spot. And as you could just keep your tab open when going in, it reminded me even more about Sling In and Santa Fe in Helsinki. :)

Jasu doing his magic in Pore
I know that even going to a place like Phuket might strike some travelers as a horrific thing to do but refusing the fact that some times I like to eat good western food, hang out with nice people from my own country and drink excessive amounts of alcohol would be lying to myself. Of course that is not why I came here but sometimes it is nice to take a little break from experiencing new stuff and places and just wind down the way that is most familiar to you.

The famous 1 meter (3,28 feet) ribs
And as you can get one meter ribs with all the side orders for less than you can get a Pedros Blackened Steak in Santa Fe, Helsinki it just seems logical to indulge in a cheaper country where the food is better and drinks are a lot cheaper. Thanks again, Jasu & co. :)

Now I am taking a night bus to Bangkok from where I will be continuing towards Cambodia and Vietnam.