Alas, I arrive in Phuket, Thailand, unfortunately in the city and not on a beach yet. But tomorrow we plan on heading to Krabi and beyond to a beach area with active things to do.
We are lucky to make it from the Phuket Airport into town. It was the wildest ride I’ve had yet. The driver was acting like he was hopped up on something and going 130 km/h down the busy freeway. Weaving in and out of cars and gunning it. Riding bumpers by a couple feet literally until he could squeak around. Fast and furious.
Tonight we ended up at a hotel used in a movie called The Beach. In the movie, it’s supposedly in Bangkok but it’s actually here in Phuket. Even though it was in the movie it has not become commercialized at all, there are no signs advertising that it was in an American movie, still dirt cheap, and still squatter toilets instead of sit-down. I’m thinking of the cafe in San Diego that was in Top Gun that has big signs all over it advertising it but this hotel has no indication whatsoever. It seems like people in the countries I’ve been to either don’t care that much about Americans and their culture or they are too poor to even consider traveling there. From the sounds of Danica’s experience in the Phillipines, they are obsessed with U.S. culture, but that hasn’t been my experience in Thailand, Kampuchea, or Viet Nam. Maybe they don’t know much about U.S. culture since hardly any Americans visit; I think they probably know more of European culture. This morning we booked a taxi through the Royal Hotel in Ha Noi and the Vietnamese guy at the desk spoke English with a strong Australian accent. I look forward to being surrounded by people with my own drab “accent.” I’m sure once I get back I’ll want to back here though with the non English speaking or heavy accented English speaking folk.
Did you see where MASH was filmed in Vietnam? Great pictures!!
Cynde Mom | April 9th, 2007 at 3:50 pm |No, it was actually filmed in Viet Nam? Alas, it was not. I just looked this fact up…
admin | April 9th, 2007 at 3:51 pm |“Where was M*A*S*H filmed?
The interior shots of the series were filmed on stage 9 at the 20th Century Fox Studios in Hollywood (the same soundstage was used for AfterMASH, LA Law, and now NYPD Blue). The external scenes were filmed at the Fox Ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains located in Calabasas, California, about 6 miles inland from Malibu Beach on Malibu Canyon Road. This has since been renamed to Malibu Creek State Park.”
Sorry Ma!