phuket-parting shots

phuket-Patong Beach

The infamous Patong Beach- the most popular and hence the most crowded beach in Phuket. The beach is full of activities- parasurfing, jetsking,massage,local families and foreign sunbathers all in one.

One of the things that interest Fang was the topless female Caucasians walking about with their swinging bobbies in full view. Thailand is an Asian country and is primarily Buddhist; I was told walking about topless(like vice activities) may be torlerated but it does not mean that the locals accept it.

Fang naughtily took out our DC and snapped a topless sunbather in all her glory. However we masked the vital part to protect the identity of the innocent lady! hahaha

phuket-seafood dinner

After massage, we went across the road to a row of open air seafood stalls. The stall touts came across the road to stop the traffic for us so that we will patronise their stall.

I hate touts! Normally will do all I can to avoid going to their stall, but the thai tout spoke perfect mandarin & Fang said "hao", so we went in to look at the menu. Curry Crab for 150baht(S$6.60), clams for 100baht and kang kong veggie for 80baht. We settled for this stall as it was going to rain. Ordered 2 crabs(1 in yellow curry and one chili crab), clams and kangkong and green curry chicken.

It rained cats & dogs soon after our food arrived. We were slightly wet. The tattered roof didn't shelter us entirely from the rain. However the crab was good and we went there again the next evening!

phuket-breakfast

on the first morning, Fang jumped out of bed at 7am in the morning! she normally does not get up before 10am.
i told her it's only 7am, then she said:"oh", then went back to sleep. However she was too excited to sleep anymore so we washed up and were at breakfast by 8pm.

Breakfast was nothing fancy. But for a 3star hotel, it was good. There was a live cooking station where the staff fried bacon, did eggs in many styles;sunny side up, omelette,scrambled and boiled. There was local food as well. We quickly "chope" a seat by the pool and stayed there sipping coffee even long after we finished eating.

phuket-tuk tuk

Tuk tuk trips in Phuket are really expensive. It can cost 200baht(S$8.80) to travel from one end of patong beach to the other end. 300-400baht from Kata/Karon beach to Patong beach.

Fortunate there were local buses that costs 25baht/person. So from Kata Beach,we took the bus to Phuket Town and then from Phuket town to Patong for only 20baht/person! We get to sight-see and save lots of bahts!!

Overall tourist transport in Phuket is expensive compared to Bangkok. The metered taxi ride from the airport to Kata beach cost us 450baht(S$20) and a flat rate of 700baht(S$30) from Patong Beach back to the airport.

We saw a sign at a Patong roadside shop saying "airport taxi- 450baht", but upon enquiring, they say it's 480 baht for the 2 of us. We then went back to our hotel reception to book as Fang felt it's safer. They quoted 600baht(S$26), then they increased it to 700baht when we told them we are leaving for the airport at 5:30am. According to them, anytime before 8am is more expensive. What a rip-off!

However Fang decided to book it as she doesn't want to miss our flight at 8am.

phuket-Kata Beach,one claw crab

It was low tide as we came to this part of kata beach. The boats were stranded on land.

As we stepped onto the steps, we saw tiny movements. On close observation, they are actually very very tiny crabs with only one claw. The claw is bigger than the body. There were tens of thousands of these creatures and they hid into the sand holes everytime we made a noise!

phuket-phuket town

saw on map that there local buses that will take us to Phuket town. We located the bus stop and hopped onto the bus for 25baht(S$1.10) each.

The bus which resembles a giant Tuk Tuk stopped for people to hop on along the beaches on the way to town. Halfway the journey, the driver stopped on the side of the road and came to the back to collect the fare from us.

After a bumpy 50min ride, we finally arrived in town. Phuket town looks like Singapore in the early 80's.

I regret not taking photos of the rustic shops as I was preoccupied witht the sights and the smells.

phuket-Karon Beach

Karon Beach is definitely less crowded than Patong beach. There are more spaces and less activities. nice enough for us to people watch.

phuket-Kata Beach

Kata Beach is a small stretch as compared to Karon & Patong beach. We took a free shuttle from the hotel and arrived at the beach early morning hence the beach is not crowded yet. We saw groups of tourists boarding the little boats and found out they were going to the surrounding islands for diving trips.

We strolled down the beach. Came to a little hut at the end of Kata beach. It's a seafood restaurant. We said that we must come back for lunch or dinner. In the end we forgot.

phuket-Kata centre

Kata shopping area has a more "resort feel" as compare to the hustle & bustle of Patong. however shopping was not on our itinery as we didn't had been to thailand countless times and nothing fancy us.

However Fang saw a pair of shorts that she kinda liked. Upon asking, we are quoted 400baht by the Thai-Indian ethnic shopkeeper. We could get the same kind of shorts for about 150baht in Bangkok so we said thanks and walked. But they insisted that we tell them our desired price. We kept walking but they kept pesisting that we give them a price. So we said "100".

They started mocking us saying "100 dollars?" (meaning US$100). Then we said 100baht and they told us to "go away". So bad! Actually I was warned by a friend about these Thais of Indian origin. Unfortunately I still fell into the trap.

phuket-hotel pools

There are 3 swimming pools at the hotel. Our room had a balcony overlooking the pool. We had a welcome drink at the Bar by the swimming pool on barstools that are submerged in the pool. The pool has a mountain view in the back and a seaview in the front.

phuket-check in

arrived in phuket and checked into our hotel and were greeted by a bed decorated with orchid petals and a fruits platter. the "IOU" was kinda cheesy but it was a good effort by the hotel to welcome us.

we visited phuket in March which is still the high season hence hotel room rates are almost double the normal season. So we opted for a cheaper hotel.

The hotel we stayed at is only 3 star but we were ok with it as we just need a clean room to sleep in. We would rather save on hotels and spend the money to travel to more places.