That time I went to... Phuket, Thailand

Well hello readers! I am back from my South East Asian hiatus, and back to report on the excellent time I had! I feel like I haven’t blogged in ages (true) but it felt like my holiday went so fast at the same time (also true, but really, it was almost a month long…that’s a pretty decent holiday)!

So first cab off the rank is Phuket, Thailand! This was my first stop on my holiday, and boy was I ready for it. As I wrote in other posts, I was grumpy and stressed and more than ready for a holiday by the time March 9^th rolled around, so Phuket was the perfect tonic for this. I am so glad I organised to start my trip in this beautiful beach side paradise.

For those who’ve never been to Phuket before, but have been to Surfers Paradise in Queensland, Australia, well, they’re kind of similar in my opinion. And equally awesome. Phuket is just a bit smellier and dirtier and a bit more eye opening than Surfers. But those things aren’t deal breakers – I’d go back to Phuket just as quickly as I’d go back to Surfers Paradise.

My first day in Phuket I took it slow (as one should do on holidays) and had a sleep in and took a leisurely pace to start my day. I wondered down from my hotel, which was two blocks away from the beach, and down onto the main drag of Patong, taking in all the wonderful sights and sounds. The streets of Patong are a bit of a blur of stalls selling genuine fakes (seriously, I saw a sign proclaiming this at one of the stalls!) plus places to get a foot massage or your nails done, restaurants, cafes and PLENTY of bars targeted towards tourists (especially us Aussies!). It’s quite a feast for the senses!

I spent most of the morning and afternoon after that down on the actual beach, where I relaxed under an umbrella (necessary – the sun was scorching) and swam in the bath like ocean. It was just beyond!

 

I was quite new to the whole bargaining thing I knew you had to employ in countries like Thailand, and despite a few goes at the ladies Market in Hong Kong, I was pretty inexperienced at it. So it was a bit embarrassing when at the beach I tried to bargain down the price of my beach umbrella – assuming everything could be bargained down – only to discover some things just aren’t up for discussion. Oh well, lesson learnt!

My afternoon was then spent back at the hotel by the pool, a passionfruit mojito in hand and my trashy novel in the other! Ahhh bliss.  It’s so nice to sometimes just stay at a nice resort type place, which DOES have a pool bar, room service and air conditioning. Most of the time I travel on a budget, staying at backpackers or cheap minimum everything hotels, so to start my holiday in a beautiful resort such as the Grand Mercure was a true treat for me! I found a great deal on Expedia where I got my beautiful room for just $105 a night, so it was luxury, but still at a price that didn’t break my bank (which always leaves the budget traveller in me happy!). Check it out at www.grandmercurephuketpatong.com

 

The next day I had myself booked in for an all day tour to Phi Phi Island with a company called Andaman Leisure Tours. This tour was not cheap (a tidy 3300 baht), but let me tell you, it was worth every penny. It was the tour that my hotel recommended, and they booked me in to it, so I was just like ‘sure, sign me up! Here’s my credit card’, but later that day I was glad to overhear some other people on the tour say that they had extensively researched tours on tripadvisor and such and the Andaman Tours tour was apparently the best, so I really lucked out!

A minivan picked me up bright and early at 7:45am and a drive and a motorboat ride later we were near the Phi Phi Islands. I had no idea they were actually a series of islands rather than just one, but hey, holidays are for learning new things as well as relaxing! We spent the day snorkelling around the islands, jumping off the boat, eating, drinking, tramping through the jungle and looking out off lookouts. And of course sun tanning! I like to think I got a bit brown that day!

 

 

The waters in Thailand are just beyond stunning – so clear and so pristine! I could not get over it! It made the snorkelling so great. I was so surrounded by fish that I was actually touching some of them! It was amazing! You can totally understand why they filmed The Beach here – sadly I did not run into Leonardo DiCaprio though *sad face*

Seriously, that water!

  

It was a fantastic day all up – like I said, worth every penny. The guide was so friendly and such a wealth of information and was so great at working out the times we spent at each island or each snorkelling spot to maximise our experiences there and not miss out on any valuable time at any other awesome next stop. I can’t recommend them highly enough! Have a look at the tour I did by clicking here www.andamanleisurephuket.com/maya.php

 

So excited to be at 'The Beach'!

Whilst in Phuket I also made a visit to Tiger Kingdom – something I’m sure most people do when in Phuket, as it is the typical touristy experience, but hey, I like the typical touristy experiences! Take me to the tackiest, most common, most lame-o spots and I lap it all up gladly! Yep I’m one of those people. And I’ll buy the souvenir photo and the t-shirt too!

One of my friends had recommended Tiger Kingdom to me, and when I had a free afternoon I thought why not? I risked my life with a crazy speed demon tuk tuk driver to get there, but once I was there it was fab! I decided to go and see the baby tigers, since I’m a sucker for cuteness (not that big tigers aren’t cute too!) and I paid for a professional photographer to accompany me, as I couldn’t exactly wrangle a camera and a tiger at the same time! This option is great for solo visitors such as myself.

 

 

Tiger Kingdom proudly proclaims that their tigers are not drugged or chained up, which is great to see. The baby tigers were ridiculously cute, and sleeping the entire time I was there – as the pictures show! – so I felt pretty safe being close to them, even though initially I had been a bit nervous!

To round out a terrific time in Phuket I also visited the Siam Safari Elephant Park, another place recommended to me (for reals – if someone personally recommends you a place to visit on holidays they’re usually recommending you a gem. Take their recommendation and trust their word. These recommendations have led me to some amazing places over the course of all my travels!). Siam Safari is one of the best and most humane elephant facilities in Phuket, and I took part in a 45 minute trek a top a teenage elephant through a hilly region near the park. It was quite the bumpy ride, but so enjoyable. I’ve never done anything like that, so it was so cool to experience. Plus the scenery we bumped our way through was gorgeous, and the views over the nearby water amazing!

 

 

 

Soon after that my time in Phuket was over. It was an amazing four days – and there really wasn’t much I disliked about Thailand so far (well, except for all the places that still allowed smoking. I am so spoilt in Australia where they have banned smoking in restaurants, bars, beaches, outdoor areas, pretty much everywhere now. Sadly this is not the case in Thailand, and probably will never be).

 

 

If you’re looking for a nice, easy getaway to a place not too far out of your comfort zone, Phuket is the place. The beaches and islands will take your breath away, the Thai people are so friendly (even if they don’t always know where they’re going when you hop into a taxi!) and the food and atmosphere is top notch. It’s also not too expensive if you’re on a budget.

It’d be pretty hard to have a crap time in Phuket. It’s too much like paradise. And you can’t have a bad time in paradise!

Next stop…Vietnam!

Until next time, happy travels…

Jorgs