We landed at a really small pier called "Dorphin Pier" by the tender and walked to our sightseeing bus under an attendant's direction. I knew from a signboard on the way that that pier took the role of customs, but we weren't required to show our passports or something. All the procedures for immigration seemed to have already been done before landing. I remembered that the Russian inspectors took lots of time to check our passports, when I had visited Karafuto (Russian name: Sakhalin) 2 years ago. I recognized how lazy they had been. Our passports were deposited on the ship and we carried just its copies on Phuket island.
The shops on the way to the bus were all makeshift. They would be stalls which were set up only when big cruise ships came. Anyway, our trip on the island started.
(Vocabulary)
direction [U] 管理, 指揮, 監督
under sb's direction <人>の指揮のもとに
上陸地点はDorphin Pierという桟橋だった。上陸して誘導員の指示に従い観光バスまで数百メートル歩いた。途中で見つけた看板でこの桟橋が税関業務を行っている場所だと知ったが何の手続きも必要なかった。船の中で全ての手続きが完了したのだろう。先の記事で書いたロシア人たちの仕事がいかに遅かったかというのがよくわかった。我々のパスポートは預けており、上陸中はそのコピーを携帯した。
途中の店は全てにわか仕立てのテントだったので、おそらくは大型客船の入港時にだけ立つ露店だろう。さてこれからバスでのプーケット島観光が始まる。
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