After trekking in the jungle, we decided to swim in the sea, lie on the beach, and at the same time visit the 2nd ocean of our trip - the Indian, and the first one we had was the Pacific, in which we swam in the Philippines, the island of Catanduanese and the coast near Legazpi.
- Phuket town and surrounding area
- James Bond Island Tour from Phuket
- Phi Phi Islands Cruise
- Bike in Phuket - what to see on the island
Khao Sok National Park, Thailand
Khao Sok is the place in Thailand where we definitely wanted to go. One of the largest national parks in Thailand, also with a very beautiful lake.
By the way, the lake has a rather interestin...
Phuket town and surrounding area
To sample the Indian Ocean, we first chose the village of Khao Lak and even bought bus tickets, but while we were waiting for the New Year's bus (it was the first day of the Chinese New Year), we changed our mind and decided to go to the well-known island resort of Phuket. We quickly changed our tickets and now we were already waiting for the bus to Phuket.
Here we are on the bus, the journey from Khao Sok to Phuket takes about 4 hours. On the way, we passed through Khao Lak and realized that we had made the right choice towards Phuket. From the outside, there is absolutely nothing to do there, just lying on the beach.
In Phuket Town, this is the main city on the island of Phuket, we had a double room booked at Phuket Sunny Hostel for 450 baht. The hostel impressed with its novelty, cleanliness and a fairly spacious room with a table and wardrobe. And there was also the only really hot water in this place, which even had to be screwed on! So we recommend this hostel to everyone.
Phuket town is located on the ocean, but there are no sensible beaches in it, but there are good housing prices, a bazaar with cheap fruits and supermarkets. In general, on the first day we decided to see what was what and not go to the beach.
We walked around the center of the old city, booked a luxury boat tour with a 50% discount, so it turned out to be even cheaper than usual, looking ahead, I will say this tour was really a luxury. And almost all excursions to Phuket departs from the city, and buses pick up people from all over the island, but only from the most popular ones for free. If you live away from the crowd, you will have to pay extra.
In the evening we went to the park, and at the same time found a very cool eatery, or rather a cafe with delicious and inexpensive local food.
We traveled around Phuket on a bike. Renting a bike in Phuket costs 250 baht per day plus gasoline. After reading the horrors about "divorces" when renting bikes, we took a bike right in our hostel with a cash deposit, not a passport deposit, and carefully photographed the bike with all its flaws. By the way, we did not have any technical problems during trips or when returning the bike. Either lucky, or the owner is normal, or they exaggerate on the Internet.
It is very convenient to move around the island on a bike, the main thing is to get used to left-hand traffic and not really drive on mountain roads, and in general it is not worth driving more than 50-60 km / h. In general, the locals drive quite carefully and we did not notice any dangerous situations.
One evening, on one of the ancient streets of Phuket, there was some kind of semi-festival, semi-night market. You could watch all sorts of performances, buy various souvenirs and have dinner.
The next point on the map where we will go will be another famous resort Krabi.
We liked Phuket Island and Phuket town itself, not very big and not very small, sufficiently touristic, and the choice of cheap fruits at the local market adds advantages.
And during our stay in Phuket, we went on two sea excursions:
- James Bond Island + surfing
- Phi Phi Island
James Bond Island Tour from Phuket
As we have already written, we got on this excursion almost by accident. Just passing by the travel agency, they saw an advertisement for 50% discounts and decided to find out. That's how we got on a "luxury" excursion cheaper than a regular one. The description of the excursion promised kayaking through grottos and caves, James Bond Island and some other island, all located in the Phang Na Nature Reserve.
In the morning, at the agreed time, a minivan with just a space cabin arrived for us. I was immediately pleasantly surprised that the transfer is only for 7 people, and the minivan is designed for 9 seats, and not as usual for 20.
Upon arrival at the pier, we were offered to wait in a cafe-shop, and tea/coffee/cookies were free. There are the same problems with organizational issues in Thailand as everywhere else in Asia, so I had to wait a little, but cookies and tea helped pass the time. But here we are at sea. Although there are quite a lot of people on board, it is spacious. At the very beginning, we were offered bananas, mineral water, bottled Coca-Cola in unlimited quantities. It was nice and we got drunk on Cola that day for the week ahead ;)
Meanwhile, we sailed to the first island with a long grotto, which we had to kayak through. Quite a lot of boats have gathered near the cave and the process of passing the cave by kayaking has been put on stream.
It all depends on your helmsman. We had a great kid - he slowed down when necessary, swam up from the side we wanted, and in general we were the first to get off the boat, and we were among the last. Before entering the kayak, the aunt-guide said that the cave was small and it was impossible to take a backpack, but then she asked which country we were from and after learning that from Ukraine she just waved her hand. In fact, many were with things, but in hermo packs, which they either bought or rented from this aunt and she did not recommend everyone to go just with things without hermo packs.
Already on the approaches to the cave, you can see rocks of bizarre shape hanging over the water. The cave itself is very colorful, bats live in it. But you need to keep an eye on the ceiling level, in some places it drops quite low.
And then there was the next island and kayaking again, this time it's the most beautiful rocks, rock bridges over the water and just very beautiful nature!
The third point of our trip was James Bond Island. He is so called because he once flashed in one of the James Bond films... The island is pretty, but there is some kind of cult around it - a lot of excursions, it is on this island that there is a payment for visiting the Phang Na nature reserve, people just swarm on the surrounding rocks, there is almost a queue to the most convenient points for photographing...
The island itself can only be reached by swimming from the shore of a larger island, if the island is shown from the sea, then also from a distance beyond the line with buoys.
And then there was another small island, to which we did not dock, but we swam in the surrounding waters and could jump into the water from a boat.
Somewhere in the middle of all these beautiful places, there was a very plentiful lunch from which it was impossible to break away. And fruits... In general, the excursion was a success! We advise everyone...
And for reference, the cost of such an excursion is 2800 baht, we got it for 1400 baht. There is also a very similar excursion, but without kayaking, the cost is 1500 baht. But kayaking is not worth missing, it's a lot of fun.
Phi Phi Islands Cruise
I didn't want to leave Phuket, so we decided on a second excursion to Phi Phi Island, and you can read about the first one here. We've had a sit-down again, which is very nice.
In the morning we were picked up by a minivan, there were already more than 10 people in it - you can immediately see the excursion is not a "luxury". And upon arrival at the pier there were no free teas/coffee and cookies. Eh... you get used to good things quickly.
We boarded the boat and set off. We have only drovefor 20 minutes, and already the first stop is for snorkeling and feeding the fish. It is impossible to swim at beach, although there are a lot of fish, but the Chinese stirred up all the water with the feet of the crowd. They snorkel standing knee-deep in water and sticking their heads in the water like ostriches and be sure to put on a rescue. The vest, or they might drown.
A little further from the shore there are many different fish, there are corals, but most of the corals are destroyed...
The prescribed hour has already passed and it's time to load onto the boat. A little time in the open sea and the island is visible again. This is the smallest of the Phi Phi Islands. And we have snorkeling in the bay, not far from Maya Beach, where the filming of the movie "The Beach" took place.
We dive at a depth, so there are whole corals here, the Chinese cannot stir up the water, since few of them dare to get off the ship. The coastal cliffs have beautiful grottoes. And we also saw anemones and a sea urchin in the background of a multi-pointed star (or it was a starfish with needles).
And then there was Phi Phi Don Island. The first thing that struck me was that I had to pay 20 baht for entry to the island, such as garbage collection. But there are a lot of people, but they are poorly controlled and with the prepared money we went through without paying anyone anything. Actually, we don't mind paying for garbage disposal, but if we leave it and stay on the island for more than 1 hour.
Heaps of people, shops and cafes with exorbitant prices, a beach packed with boats. But after a walk we found a nice beach. However, it is not known what to do here for more than 1-2 days.
And then there was the road back - a beautiful sea, rocks, islands. That's how another day in Phuket ended.
The cost of the Phi Phi excursion in the least is 2500 baht/person, we paid 1100 baht/person for it.
Bike in Phuket - what to see on the island
One of the best ways to travel in Southeast Asia and in Thailand in particular is a bike, it can be rented almost everywhere, its cost is quite low. But you get incomparable freedom to choose when and where to go. Places to choose are not where tourist buses go, but where you want to go!
In Phuket, we rented a bike - it cost us only 250 baht/day (about $ 8) + gasoline. Phuket Island is not very big, so you don't have time to get tired of riding a bike, gasoline is cheap on the island... And here we have an ideal transport option
First of all, we decided to drive along a circular road along the coast, moved clockwise, i.e. first to the south.
The first was Chalong Bay, although there is a strip of sand here, but it is not worth swimming - a lot of boats and speedboats, as well as dirty water, do not contribute to this. But here you can rent a boat or just admire the sea and the scurrying boats.
A few more kilometers and we are on Rawai beach, but it is also not very suitable for swimming, but there are a lot of traditional long-tail boats here.
According to the map that we downloaded on the Internet, there should be an observation point next to Promthep Cape. We thought there were no people there, but how wrong we were... It turned out to be a very popular place, the parking lot is packed with buses, cars, bikes.
And for good reason. The view from the observation deck is simply excellent. And from the extreme point of the cape, where the path leads, it's also very nice. And it is also the southernmost point of Phuket Island.
And so we finally arrived at the beach where you can swim and sunbathe - this is Nai Harn Beach. There are a lot of cafes and fruits nearby, although fruits are twice as expensive as in Phuket town... And so the beach is pretty, but there are a lot of people. And it takes a long time to go into the water, the coast is very flat.
We decided not to go to Kata Noi beach, we arrived immediately at Kata beach. We were on its northern side, there are even fish near the rocks. Pasha almost swam to the island opposite, but the jellyfish stopped him. Boats dock on the beach in some places, but this does not interfere with relaxing by the clear sea.
Lunch has already arrived and we found a snack bar far from the sea, where we could have a normal lunch for 60 baht per dish, i.e. one and a half times more expensive than usual.
After seeing an interesting Paradise beach on the cape on the map, we decided to go there. At the same time, we did not go along the main road, but along the local one. The road is terrible in places and covered with debris, but there is a descent to Freedom beach, next to the descent to which there were many bikes, and we met a European who was looking for him. And we went on to Paradise.
And so we arrive, we put a bike, and the entrance to the beach is paid, except for those who rest in this hotel. The entrance is 100 baht per person, we decided that 1.5 kg of mango is not worth one beach and drove on.
We stopped at Kamala Beach, the tide was already out, the beach looked creepy, but we quickly took a swim and headed home. And along the way we constantly encountered rubber and pineapple plantations.
We enjoyed our first bike ride and decided to expand it and the next day went to the northern beaches of Phuket.
The first beach on our way was Bang Tao, or rather its northern part. This is very important because the beach is very long and accordingly different. There are few people in the north of Bang Tao, the depth is rapidly gaining, there are excellent groves with shade, snow-white sand. That's why we decided to stay there. The hot sun, the warm turquoise sea, it's a pity there's nothing to do with a mask here, but it's just a great place.
That day we stopped at Nai Ton beach, but it did not make a special impression on us.
It was already 16 and we hurried to the south of the island to meet the sunset on the cape. At sunset, there were even more people on the cape than during the day. Everything was filled with Chinese with selfie sticks and sometimes there were either Japanese or Chinese hung with tripods and professional equipment. After spending the sun over the sea, we went home.
