The beauty of travelling in Souteast Asia is that anywhere you need to go is usually a short plane ride away. After spending several days in Siem Reap, Cambodia we flew to Phuket, the biggest island in Thailand which is on the Andaman coast.
John and I have been to Thailand 6 times now, but it was our first time visiting Phuket. Thailand is one of my favourite travel destinations because there are so many places to see, and in my opinion, the food is the best in Southeast Asia. Pad thai, panang curry, green curry, spring rolls, mango sticky rice... repeat!
Getting from Phuket airport to any of the main tourist beaches can be done by taxi, but unlike in other Asian destinations, the taxi drivers have banded together and have monopolized transportation on the island. There is a list of prices and it's pretty much useless trying to bargain with the drivers since they know the next tourist will just pay full price. The apparent reason for the high taxi prices is that drivers will likely be returning with an empty cab, so they charge extra one way to make up for this. Phuket is a big island which actually has a lot of traffic jams, so getting around takes awhile. A taxi to Patong Beach from the airport was around one hour and cost us 800 Baht, or around $25 (expensive in Asia). However, this is still much cheaper than back home. I paid nearly twice the price to get from Pearson Airport to Mississauga for around a 20 minute drive!
Phuket is very touristy. If you are looking for a quiet, secluded beach to sip a coconut on, this may not be the place for you. Patong Beach was crowded with beach umbrellas and tourists (mostly Russian, it seemed). Patong also has the infamous Bangla Road which at night time is full of bar hoppers, lady boys, loud music, and annoying touts trying to shove drink promotions or muy thai boxing fliers in your faces or asking you if you want to watch a "ping pong show." It's similar to Khao San Road in Bangkok (sensory overload). I know some people who have been to Phuket and did not enjoy it. I read warnings online that told me to avoid Phuket since it has been "ruined" by tourists. Why did I still want to go there then? Well, places like Phuket which are "overrun with tourists" are usually overrun for a reason. The reason being - it is a beautiful place!
Despite the rows of beach umbrellas, Patong Beach was beautiful. White, soft sand and warm, clean, blue waters. I expected the beach to be much more crazy and Spring-break-ish, but despite all the people it was very quiet - no loud music, fire dancers, or bars on the beach at night. We enjoyed spending time swimming in the Andaman Sea and relaxing on our beach chairs.
If you ever get tired of relaxing and are looking for adventure - Phuket has it! Ziplining, scuba diving, tiger petting, elephant riding, etc. We decided to take it easy in favour of relaxing at the beach, but we did end up taking John's parents on an elephant ride at Kok Chang Safari which was fun!
After Ann and Roger left Phuket to go on their cruise, John and I ended up staying there instead of island hopping. We moved to Kata Beach, south of Patong, which was also very beautiful and had a more relaxed feel about the town due to the absence of a Bangla Road! At night time we would see the "lucky balloons" floating up into the sky over the beach - beautiful! We even made a wish on a lucky balloon ourselves.
In Kata we found a nice hotel set on a hill overlooking the beach. Despite having to walk up nearly 200 stairs to our bungalow, it was a great place with amazing views and an awesome infinity pool. We stayed here for a week, it was so relaxing and very difficult to leave!
John and I have been to Thailand 6 times now, but it was our first time visiting Phuket. Thailand is one of my favourite travel destinations because there are so many places to see, and in my opinion, the food is the best in Southeast Asia. Pad thai, panang curry, green curry, spring rolls, mango sticky rice... repeat!
Getting from Phuket airport to any of the main tourist beaches can be done by taxi, but unlike in other Asian destinations, the taxi drivers have banded together and have monopolized transportation on the island. There is a list of prices and it's pretty much useless trying to bargain with the drivers since they know the next tourist will just pay full price. The apparent reason for the high taxi prices is that drivers will likely be returning with an empty cab, so they charge extra one way to make up for this. Phuket is a big island which actually has a lot of traffic jams, so getting around takes awhile. A taxi to Patong Beach from the airport was around one hour and cost us 800 Baht, or around $25 (expensive in Asia). However, this is still much cheaper than back home. I paid nearly twice the price to get from Pearson Airport to Mississauga for around a 20 minute drive!
Phuket is very touristy. If you are looking for a quiet, secluded beach to sip a coconut on, this may not be the place for you. Patong Beach was crowded with beach umbrellas and tourists (mostly Russian, it seemed). Patong also has the infamous Bangla Road which at night time is full of bar hoppers, lady boys, loud music, and annoying touts trying to shove drink promotions or muy thai boxing fliers in your faces or asking you if you want to watch a "ping pong show." It's similar to Khao San Road in Bangkok (sensory overload). I know some people who have been to Phuket and did not enjoy it. I read warnings online that told me to avoid Phuket since it has been "ruined" by tourists. Why did I still want to go there then? Well, places like Phuket which are "overrun with tourists" are usually overrun for a reason. The reason being - it is a beautiful place!
Despite the rows of beach umbrellas, Patong Beach was beautiful. White, soft sand and warm, clean, blue waters. I expected the beach to be much more crazy and Spring-break-ish, but despite all the people it was very quiet - no loud music, fire dancers, or bars on the beach at night. We enjoyed spending time swimming in the Andaman Sea and relaxing on our beach chairs.
If you ever get tired of relaxing and are looking for adventure - Phuket has it! Ziplining, scuba diving, tiger petting, elephant riding, etc. We decided to take it easy in favour of relaxing at the beach, but we did end up taking John's parents on an elephant ride at Kok Chang Safari which was fun!
After Ann and Roger left Phuket to go on their cruise, John and I ended up staying there instead of island hopping. We moved to Kata Beach, south of Patong, which was also very beautiful and had a more relaxed feel about the town due to the absence of a Bangla Road! At night time we would see the "lucky balloons" floating up into the sky over the beach - beautiful! We even made a wish on a lucky balloon ourselves.
In Kata we found a nice hotel set on a hill overlooking the beach. Despite having to walk up nearly 200 stairs to our bungalow, it was a great place with amazing views and an awesome infinity pool. We stayed here for a week, it was so relaxing and very difficult to leave!
Roger and Ann look like they are having a wild time!
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