Nov 21 Patong Beach

Julie was wide awake at 5:00am. She tries to be quiet, but in a hotel room its challenging. I rolled over and managed to get a few more hours, but hunger got be going. And the breakfast buffet at Graceland is fantastic - traditional, asian, pastries and lots of fruits.

@Graceland Resort & Spa

We were gone by 9:30am to explore the town - a walk along the beach and the market areas. Phuket Patong Beach is an amazing area. There are so many vendors trying to sell something to the many visitors. And the area is going through transformation, with new or renovated hotels, and high-end restaurants and stores. Lots of Thai and foreign money funding these projects. Phuket attracts many visitors, and unfortunately the sidewalks are congested with people, especially during the evening when many visitors have left the beach.

People eating fish.

Fish eating people.

Nov 19, 2017 Vancouver-Ghuangzaou-Phuket

 Thailand 2017

Travelling to Asia is painful- 18 hours in the air and 5 hours waiting in airports. To minimize the pain, drugs work, which was demonstrated by the young man next to me. He took some herbal medicine and slept 12 of the 13 hours from Vancouver to Ghuangzaou. From Ghuangzaou to Phuket there was a young women next to me who must have taken something - she slept most of the 4-hour flight. I watched 5 movies to pass the time.

We left the Phuket airport at 1:00am and a 45 minute taxi ride to our hotel, Graceland Resort And Spa, Patong Beach. We travelled through the town of Phuket, where there was a few food street vendors and many bars still with customers. One thing unique in Phuket is the number of 24-hour 7 Eleven and Family Mart stores. As we got closer to Patong Beach there were even more small convenient stores, sometimes a store on every block. There are no big grocery chains, and for fresh fruit and fish, there are street markets.

It was such a relief to finally get to our room. Sleep came quickly!

Oct 17-23 Alicante

What a great way to end a vacation after trekking 810km. Alicante is the best location in October. The weather is ideal mid-20s and it's still possible to swim in the ocean, and the reason there are so many tourists. While here Volvo was hosting a regatta and expo. There were many multi-million dollar boats in the harbour. The climate is the big attraction, as is the castle on the hilltop, the many restaurants and many trendy stores.

Amazing city!

Great art!

Beautiful harbour.

Wonderful beach, with the castle in the background 

Volvo regatta and expo

This person is being blown up by a jet of air.

Oct 16 Santiago

 A day to arrange our travel plans to Alicante and a last visit to Santiago.

Leaving Finisterre...sad time for Julie

Last day in Santiago. Rain...good time to leave.

Oct 14-15 Cabo Finisterre

Day 2, a visit to Cabo Finisterre. It was a short walk, 3km each way to "the end of the earth". I always thought the visit to Cabo was meant for pilgrims, but apparently not. There is a trail that goes alongside the road, and there were many tourists exploring this historic site. 

At Kilometre Zero

The lighthouse 

Big foghorns

My souvenir for reaching the end...810km later 

Oct 13 Finisterre 15km

I was still feeling weak, but decided to proceed to Finisterre. Bad decision, I should have rested for another day before proceeding. It was very painful for Julie to put up with my slow walk and many breaks. But eventually the trail made its way to the bay and we could see our destination. It was an awesome sight!  Along route we stopped at a cafe for drinks and ice cream. Eventually we made our way to our hotel which was in the town centre, and we had a top floor with a beautiful view of the harbour. Hence we decided to spend another day.

Finisterre in the distance

View from our room.

Oct 12 Cee 20km

We left Olveriroa in a thick fog, which eventually disappeared giving a bright sunny day. The walk was hilly travelling mainly through forests. We had a wonderful lunch before arriving to Cee. We knew today was a national holiday but it didn't clue in that all stores would be closed. But there were lots of restaurants to choose from. However, by 5pm it hit me. I'm not sure if I contacted a bug from another person. Julie was fine, but I could not leave the room. I was knocked out. 

Leaving town in the morning. The fog creating a spooky scene.

We took advantage of the notice and stopped at the bar for coffee, and Julie was able to enjoy the resident kittens.