Day 7

Day 7

Well today was an interesting day. We had our trip to james bond island planned and was to be picked up at 8am….sat in reception at 1o to 8 and waited…and waited….and waited….it got to half 8 and still no pick up…at quarter to 9 we rang the tour place and they had gone to the wrong hotel and hence no one there for them to pick up….So now we were like great….they gave us the option of going tomorrow instead which we did and as we were up we decided to be BRAVE!!! We hired a moped to go round the island seeing some of the sights that didn’t require a full day. So for the equivalent of 4 quid we hired a moped from the hotel. Never ridden a moped before but was surprisingly easy, I stuck to a safe speed and let the crazy people whizz by. We set off south to Karon and Kata beach which we had only drove through previously. We had a quick stop and took some photos and then carried on up to an area called Kata viewpoint which gave an amazing view up the coast seeing the three arching beaches of Kata noi, Kata and Karon. Was already glad we hired a moped apparently taxis will take you on an island trip for about 50 quid. We consulted the map and left for the big Buddha. Although easy to see sat high above Phuket it wasn’t so easy to get to until we spotted a sign for it. It was then a long 2Km ride up steep roads to the top and it is still under construction. Although a religious site and it doesn’t take much research to learn you need your knees and shoulders covered you still got women in hot pants turning up but they had staff there giving out saraongs. Now for the funniest thing I ever seen, at the top there was a little monkey (think it was a gibbon) wild, just obviously enjoying living off the scraps. He walked over to a Chinese lady and stole her can of coke and then started drinking it from the can. Was hilarious. He then went in the bin and got out a coconut and ran up the tree eating it. We took a few pictures of the views from the top and then headed back down the hillside. We carried on back up the East coast to Wat Chalong, the most sacred Buddhist temple in Thailand. It is some place. About 6 or 7 large temples with amazing decoration and monks walking round (strangely one was chatting on his Iphone) You could go inside a couple and see the amazing decoration inside. We then made our way to Phuket town which was easier said than done. We was in Phuket but there wasn’t much you could do so we decided to head back home. All in all was a fun day out, the weather was great and as long as your sensible I don’t think riding a moped in Phuket is too dangerous. We got home and went for tea at a strange place. You had to buy vouchers for amounts of money and then they had 6 different chefs vying for your business. I was boring and had a pizza but it was really nice! We headed back to the hotel and decided to have a quiet night in anticipation of finally going to phang nga bay tomorrow J

Will keep you informed!

 

J

Day 6

 

We woke this morning really late..had gone half 10 and had had 12 hours sleep which was surprising as I didn’t think the bed was comfy J Anyways got up and had breakfast which wasn’t as extravagant as at Rawai but was still adequate. We then came and got ready and walked down to Patong beach, I was in a much better mood today and so tolerated the hectic traffic. We walked down past the vendor we saw yesterday and booked our tickets for James bond island and Phi Phi as well as our one way trip to Samui on the 10^th. All in all it cost less than 60 quid for the 3 trips which we bargained down from over 120 quid J We then walked down to the beach which is nicer than I was expecting. We got asked a few times if we wanted to parasail…no thanks….a guy was guiding the parachute with no harness or nothing…absolute madness. Health and Safety doesn’t exist in Thailand. We walked down the beach along the shore line. The gentle sea waves were nice and refreshing J We then stopped off for a nice cool drink before going back to the shopping mall and getting some bits including a soft cotton shirt for our trip tomorrow to stop me getting burnt as the weather is supposed to be hot!!! We headed back to the hotel and freshened up before going for tea. We went to the same bar we had a drink at earlier and had a lovely steamed seabass which was soooo fresh mmmm. We then went to an amazing ice cream shop called swensons and had the biggest sundae I have ever had and was amazing and finally had my first experience of Bangla road which was quiet as it was still only 8pm but still the ladyboys were out in force as well as people offering to take us to ping pong shows haha, crazy. We had a couple of beers in an irish bar and then came back to the hotel and now I am typing this and watching footy whilst Mai has gone for a massage. Tomorrow we are up at 6am for our trip to james bond island which looks amazing and I cant wait so goodbye for now J

Day 5

Day 5

 

Ok so today we checked out of the hotel  in Rawai at midday and got the taxi up the coast to Patong….first impressions.....absolute sh*thole its soooo chaotic. Mopeds everywhere, no clear road signs…mopeds literally crashing into you!!!! Anyway we are staying in a small budget guest house which is a long way from out hotel in Rawai but we arrived and its really nice. Everything you need and only 10 quid a night with breakfast. The bed is a little hard for my liking but I slept well last night! Once we was checked in we walked over the road and handed in a bagful of laundry to be cleaned….2 quid including ironing J perfect. We then had a walk down to the beach and looking for a big shopping centre in the centre of Phuket which I thought would be hard to miss it turned out I was wrong!!!! We turned left and walked and  walked…the roads are full of pot holes, dusty and just chaos. We came to the end and so turned down towards the beach. We met a guy who was selling tours and offered us an amazing price for 2 we wanted but didn’t have the cash at the time. Anyway we carried on walking and FINALLY we arrived at the shopping centre! Wasn’t as big as I expected but it had some nice shops and loads to buy for souvenirs. After here we had lunch and I had a spag bol…..now I have NEVER EVER ate spag bol so hot!! Hundreds of chilli seeds in there..omg my mouth was on fire but was actually really nice! We had then arranged to meet someone I had spoken to online who was in Phuket at hard rock café at 5. We checked on Mai’s Iphone maps for hard rock café…20 min walk up to the north side of patong beach so off we went….arrived at the said point nothing!!!! So we asked again and it was nowhere near where the Iphone maps said it was….so we had to walk 30 mins back the way we came to finally get there..(never seen prices like it, 12 quid for a blue devil. Double the price of at home)Anyway I had a pint and then we walked along and had tea before heading back to the hotel and this is when the fun began! We tried to remember the way we came and tried taking a short cut up a street which brought us out near the shopping centre. We turned left and walked for what seemed like miles…totally lost. I was getting pretty peed off and eventually we got one of the tuk tuks back to the hotel and he even took us to the wrong one at first! It turned out at the shopping centre we should go right. Anyway finally got home and was that tired we couldn’t be bothered going back out so just chilled in the room and got an early night!!

Hopefully going out tomorrow to book trips to Phi Phi and James Bond island )J

 

Day 4

WOW!!!! yesterday wen to phromthep cape which is possibly the most picturesque place I have ever been in my life. It is on the very southern tip of Thailand and views are amazing. Can see over to Naiharn beach where we went yesterday and then out over the adaman sea. There are islands scattered across the sea which make great scenery for photos. We walked there after a morning of sunbathing and it was about a 3km walk which in the heat wasnt that pleasant but unlike most destinations there is a lack of taxis. When we arrived about 4pm we grabbed a drink and then walked to the viewing point which takes your breath away, If you look down there is the very tip of the cape which we decided to go down. It was not for the feint hearted and glad I had some decent shoes on. It was very dry and slippy but there was a well worn path, it took about half an hour to waalk down with constant stops to take photos of the surrounding area. When we arrived at the bottom I decided to climb down the rocks to stand on the edge and be the most southerly person in Thailand :) was fun to see all the little crabs being swept ashore and then scurrying back into the sea. We walked back up to the top which was a killer and then had a drink whilst waiting for the sunset and typical the clouds came over the spoil it but still got some lovely photos.

We went back to the restaurant we went to last night and had pizza this time which was really nice and then bed as we are moving on to patong today. only a 20 minute taxi ride and hoping the hotel lives up to trip advisor :) I am going to try and stay out of the sun as I am quite red today after a full day in it yesterday :)

Off to Patong

Day 3

So on our third day we spent the day in Nai Harn beach which is more like a beach you would expect on holiday. Only the water was crystal clear as far out as you dared to swim. There were a few boats off shore but it wasnt too busy and there were plenty of sunbeds to choose from and we didnt aarrive till gone midday. Spent most of the day swimming in the sea which was unbelievably warm or just chilling in the sun, I have got  afew red patches so made sure I kept the factor 30 on these spots :) We had a walk round and you could tell it was a bit more touristy with people at every restaurant mithering you to come in but I suppose thats what you expect whilst away. We didnt walk to far as we didnt want to get lost ha and also it was soooo hot and humid. We stopped off for an amazing ice cream sundae with cookies yum yum, Mai learnt that coconuts arent all brown and hairy haha after she was arguing with me that the round,, green things on the palm trees werent coconuts we then went to a stall and she asked for a coconut......which was,,,round and green haha. But the milk was just as good. We jumped on the free bus back to the hotel and got ready for tea. We tried a restaurant that we had had a drink in the night before. It had a good menu and reasonable prices. I ordered garlic bread and thai green curry (not realising thai curry is more like a soup I also ordered rice) strangely the curry came first and it turned out they forgot about the garlic bread. which was a little disappointing but I was full anyways. Luckily I asked for my curry to be medium and it still nearly blew my head off with huge chillies in it, I even ate two of them :s probably not the brightest idea haha.

Tomorrow is our last full day in rawai and will hopefully head down to promthep cape which is supposed to be the most photographed place in phuket with amazing sunsets. So got my camerra charged and ready....I dunno how or if you can upload photos on here...be grateful if someone could let me know how if its possible.

See you soon

Day 2

So yesterday had a trip down to the beach at Rawai which is not like a beach you would expect on holiday, was more of a working beach with loads of fishing boats out. Also there were loads of long boats and other small boats with countless locals offering to take you to the islands in the distance. To me they didnt look the safest of boats and so declined but quite a few people seemed to be taking them up on their offers. They also had signs offering trips to phi phi, which from my research is abot 90 minutes from phuket so not sure how long this would of taken but it became clear later....We carried on down the beach front past a number of bars and restaurants which were all closed but it was only 11:30. We came to the pier and had a walk down and at the end where yet more local fisherman with some crazy tactics....one guy had a huge net with chain around the bottom...he threw it in and then dived in the sea (scaring all the fish away) then swam down and hooked up all the netting then hhis mate pulled up the net......from what I could see not much in there :/ More locals where using the more orthodox method of rod fishing :) Was quite sad to see young children coming up to tourists putting their hands out asking for money :( Quite ironic how there are large 4* hotels next to tiny shacks with whole families living in them. On the way back we stopped at a lovely little bar and had a beer by the sea and then stopped at a 7/11 store and got some snacks and water. The rest of the day we just chilled out by the pool, the heat gets unbearable and the pool is a god send :) the swim up bar with refreshing smooothies was welcome aswell :)

Last night we strolled back down the beach front looking for a bar I heard on trip advisor was good...sunshine bar....was not all that we ate there and had a drink which was average and saw my first ladyboy.....6ft 5 and made me laugh when they were closing the kitchen up he lugged over a big heavy meatal barrier that went in front of the fridge which made me laugh. The bar staff did a good job of making a good atmosphere with music on and them singing along and playing instruments and rang a bell every 10 minutes which we figured out meant they brought you another drink which we found was automatic unless you shouted you didnt want one.

We left here and carried on down the road to another bar that no one had mentioned on trip advisor called nikitas, I am not sure why it wasnt mentioned but it was packed with people eating what looked like great food and we will be trying there tonight. Here we had a few drinks in very fancy cocktail glasses before returning home and trying to catch up on sleep (which worked felt much more alive today.

Tomorrow we are off to nai harn beach which looks lovely so will keep you updated :)

Day 1

Finally arrived in Phuket after about 20 hours on planes. The flight on Emirates was absolutely amazing. service, food and comfort :) then knocked back down to Earth when I got on the tiger airways flight from Singapore. But anyway arrived at the hotel about 9pm and OMG the heat is unbelievable. You dont notice whilst in the airport as the air con is on but you step outside and its like when you open the oven!! The first hotel is amazing had my luggage carried to my room (which I dont really like) but apparently its rude to rufuse. The room has the BIGGEST bed ive ever seen and the bathroom is awesome! Will upload photos later tonight. went and got a pizza from the hotel restaurant which is the only let down so far....was a pizza base...with no tomato puree on, instead was chopped tomatos lol then had pieces of veg and then what I can only describe as a 9 inch round pice of cheese laid on top haha. Todays plan is to go and venture out and see what is around. hopefully book a trip or two and get some bottles of water to put in the fridge, then just chill by the pool and let me body clock re adjust. Luckily my room is....ummm...a 5 yard walk from the pool :)

Anyways off for breakfast now yum yum