Phuket (formerly known as "Junk Ceylon") is only three and a half hours' flight from Hong Kong and, according to the woman I sat next to on the way home, is where everyone from Hong Kong goes on holiday. Although the name apparently means "hill" in Malay, and there is a mountain range on the island, most of the landscape where we were, near Surin Beach, was extremely flat.
Most of the wedding guests stayed at the Chedi, a slightly down-at-heel resort consisting of villas on stilts in the hillside near the sea, linked by a network of wooden steps and bridges. The wedding took place in a curiously bland mega-villa owned by a prominent Hong Kong couple. The sun shone, everyone was happy, and the groom, an Australian, quoted Alasdair Gray to describe how he felt about being with his wife, a Scot: "Work as though you live in the early days of a better nation". When it got dark, we released huge paper lanterns into the night sky; they disappeared twinkling into the distance.
The only small blot on the weekend happened on Saturday night. While I was asleep, some opportunist opened the sliding door of the villa, which was unlocked, and took a few steps to my bedside to find my camera, wallet and phone. The camera was, humiliatingly, clearly found wanting (and to be fair it's seen better days) - that was discarded outside the door; the cash from my wallet was taken too but they left the credit cards. People kept asking me if I was traumatised by the experience. I wasn't: I didn't know any better; I was asleep at the time. If anything I feel lucky: I didn't wake up to see them there, they didn't get much, and no doubt they needed the money more than I did.
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8 comments:
Hey Lottie, That was my feeling too, relief you weren't harmed, though I smiled at the camera being dropped. Am also rather impressed that you would sleep with an unlocked door, I check everything obsessively, especially if I am in unfamiliar surroundings. I wish I could be a bit more insouciant, though that clearly has risks.
nmj,
under my "build a more literate world, one nut at a time" program, you are entitled to 1 (one) cashew nut for the use of "insouciant"
Thanks, NMJ. It was, in the scheme of things, good of them to save me the hassle of having to replace my credit cards and Hong Kong ID card. My watch was in my bag too, and that's been with me a long time; it would have been unconscionable if they'd taken that. They could have taken the lot in haste and discarded into the sea anything they didn't want.
Anonymous, can I have a cashew nut for "unconscionable"?
So, what we are saying is that they are neat and tidy, considerate robbers?!
Ah, Anon, I had to look it up and check it was actually English, I studied French long ago and was tempted to put an 'e' on the end. But thank you for the cashew.
You are welcome. My "One nut at a time" program has helped up to one people use their extensive vocabulary. So I feel it's worthwhile......
If by "up to one people", Anon, you mean me, so long and thanks for all the cashews...
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