Three Hours to Check in for an International Flight?

We arrived in Phuket, Thailand and were met by our prearranged ride to our hotel, Winrisa Palace, which was located close to the airport.  This hotel cost only about $15.00 USD a night, which was $100 USD a night less than the one in Singapore. Our room was much more spacious, was located slightly away from Phuket’s downtown area, and met all our criteria for cost and amenities for our stay. The owners lived in the front apartment and greeted us warmly. 

After settling in, we took a short walk and spotted a nice looking massage spa across the busy four lane street. Talk about innocents abroad! We were able to cross to the median okay, even in rush hour on right hand drive roadways without identifiable crosswalks at the traffic circle nearby; but we were now stuck in the middle of the street. Finally, a police officer spotted our predicament and stopped the traffic to get us safely to the other side.

We delayed our return attempt for a couple of hours by both getting 90 minute, full body, Thai massages at the salon for about $21.00 each. After the massage, we ordered a Thai dinner at the neighboring restaurant. This had an open wall facing the street, which we later found out is almost universal outside Southeast Asian urban areas and frequently inside the urban neighborhoods. Our dinner included stir fry and the ubiquitous steamed or sticky rice. 

The traffic rush had ended; the street was nearly empty except for well spaced motorbikes and infrequent cars. We crossed easily and safely to our hotel.

One more country added to my list, now up to 72. We will tour Phuket and its offerings after breakfast.