Restaurant at Cape Phromthep

So, hopefully most people know where Cape Phromthep is? Right at the south tip of Phuket on the west side, touted by many guidebooks and websites as the place to watch the sunset. We have been many times in the past for the sunset, for nice views, and I finally hiked down the path to the end of the cape earlier this year - first time I had done that after living here for more than 10 years! There is also a restaurant here. I had not really paid it...

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Thanoon Seafood

We had some holidays around the end of September and early October. It was the kids school holiday and also my parents were over from the UK. The weather during that period was less than great. A bit too much rain and we tended to limit ourselves to quick half day shower-dodging excursions around Phuket. We got lucky on September 29th - pretty much a rain-free day. I had a few things on my "to do" list (or better to say "to blog" list) - including...

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Crossing the Bridge for Purification

OK, one more post about the Phuket vegetarian festival ... On the very last evening of the festival, October 5th, we all headed into Kathu village again. We'd just been there on the morning of the 4th to witness faces pierced by swords, guns, skewers and long metal rods and a procession through a million firecrackers. The noise and the bizarre rituals are part of the festival, but there's a lot more to it, a very deep tradition and history which...

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Vegetarian Festival - Piercings and Firecrackers

Yes, more vegetarian festival (and apologies for scary photos)! There is so much to see during the 10 day festival, and this year I had my parents visiting - they'd never been here for the vegetarian festival before, and wanted to see as much as possible! On the morning of October 4th, Kathu Shrine was the place to be. We arrived about 6:30am... a bit late actually as the lead elements of the procession were already starting to leave the shrine for...

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Vegetarian Procession and World Photo Walk 2nd October

On Sunday October 2nd, I was in Phuket Town nice and early (about 7:30am) with Mum and Dad for 2 reasons... Of course, the vegetarian festival was on from 26th September - 6th October, and on the morning of the 2nd was one of the big street processions from the Bang Neow shrine in Phuket Town - I was in town last year for the procession from this shrine and got lots of good photos - see Bang Neow Shrine Vegetarian Procession 2010. Also, October 2nd...

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Face Piercing at Sam Kong Shrine

WARNING - Graphic content, blood and pierced faces. May not be everyone's cup of tea :)Every morning for a week during the Phuket Vegetarian Festival there are big street processions in Phuket Town, plus a few local processions near the shrines themselves. I always try to see at least a couple of the big processions. The main crowds are around old Phuket Town, which makes for a big spectacle especially with all the firecrackers, but I also like to...

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Street procession for the Birth and Death Gods

On the 3rd night of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival, our local shrine in Kathu village has a small street procession around the village which the schedules tell me is for "Propitiation of the Birth-Death Gods". The last few years I have heard long bursts of firecrackers on this 3rd night, and last year had a quick look to see what was going on. This year, I took the camera! Luckily we arrived early. My schedules said the procession would be 7:30pm,...

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