Phuket weather is A'Changin

There is some discussion here and there about whether the weather on the west coast really is changing a bit early to the stable "high season" weather, with northeast winds which bring cooler, drier air than the "low" or "wet" season. I say yes indeed.

• Discussion on the Lonely Planet Thorntree

Last few days have been hot, very little wind, making things a bit sticky. Today was cloudier and there certainly was some wind blowing up on Buddha Mountain, where the Big Buddha, a 45m tall marble clad statue is slowly nearing completion. We have been up the mountain countless times. I always enjoy the fresh air, the views and now finally the main Buddha statue is free of scaffolding! yes, plenty of work to do around the base. A 10 foot high marble lotus leaf was waiting and ready to be stuck onto the concrete statue. It's taken a year to get the marble on.. maybe another year and it's complete?

But now the scaffolding has gone, it's already pretty impressive.






Up at 400m (1300 feet) above sea level the wind was certainly noticeable and made hundreds of bells ring...



And here's the view over Chalong Bay from Buddha Mountain (click to enlarge image).