Phuket, Thailand; A slightly less glamorous look

So as I mentioned in my previous post, Thailand was a dream. Definitely one of the most beautiful places I have, and probably ever will visit. However, in an effort to "keep it real" I have to share some of the slightly less glamorous parts of our trip that nearly blew my mind. Obviously people in Thailand have an extremely different lifestyle then people in the US, so consider this your daily dose of culture.

Upon arriving , I quickly found this friendly notification placed in our room.

If you know me at all, you know that I found this note extremely unsettling. Sharing a private beach villa with a gecko? Ain't nobody got time for that. I made sure the doors were shut tight through our whole stay, so we never had any visitors in our room, but I took the picture below on an outside wall near the pool.

Excuse me, but that is entirely too many geckos in that small of an area. 

A second extremely shocking cultural difference we noticed in a cab ride one day. Driving is the main form of transportation in Thailand. We even saw a few Ford and Chevy pick up trucks. And motorcycles were abundant, more so then any other place I have been. However, with all these cars around we never noticed a gas station. Well at least not a typical gas station. Instead we started to notice these small stands on the sides of the road: 

Yep, that is for real. That is how people fuel their cars and bikes in Phuket, Thailand. If you look closely you can see an arrangement of different size bottles sometimes resembling former liquor bottles. These stands were usually placed in front of small personal businesses, adjacent to food stands, or even in front yards. We saw several people make purchases and pour the bottle into their bikes before taking off again. 

Although I have no pictures to demonstrate this, it is also worth noting how extremely hot and humid Thailand was. I know, I know, I live in Houston, so I should be used to this. But in Houston we have AC, like everywhere. In Thailand, air conditioning is a rare luxury. Even at our resort the only place with AC was our room. The restaurants and even the front desk were open air. When driving down the street you could see people relaxing and watching TV or napping outside under a tent or a tree for shade with nowhere else to escape the heat. 

I truly loved every second of Thailand, and I wouldn't change a thing about our trip. Not even the bugs, the lizards, or the heat. Sometimes its nice to take a step back from the 5 star resort, soak in a little culture to see how people on the other half of the world live.