We stayed at the hotel the Sea Patong, a new, simple hotel, suitable for those looking for a place in the centre of Patong without being disturbed by night noises. The hotel has very large rooms, king-size beds, a small room that serves as a shower, one as a toilet, and the sink is in the room, separated from the sleeping area by a small wall. The room offers a kettle, satellite TV, free wifi connection. Patong offers plenty of entertainment, around you see all sorts of things, especially on Bangla Road... In the various little markets you can easily buy "branded" items and the watchword is to haggle!!! As for the food, you can dine cheaply at the various sea food places located in the street parallel to the seafront. Usually a rice dish costs around 50 Baht (about a Euro and a bit) and a fish similar to sea bass is around 250 baht.
In general the Thai are a friendly, sociable and cordial people so do not be afraid to explore! In Phuket the tourist gets around easily, you just need to organise yourself; there are tuk tuk buses and, for those who dare to drive on the left, also scooter rental. Phuket is a very beautiful island full of greenery, of brightly coloured flowers, I would gladly go back.
Day 112 Mar 2011
On the first day of the holiday, since the weather didn't promise very well, we thought we'd go and explore Phuket Town. From Patong, on the seafront, you can take local buses that for 25 baht and about 40 minutes of travel take you to the other side of the island. The road to get out of Patong is very steep, the bus must be about 50 years old and it goes at a snail's pace on certain slopes... Having arrived in Phuket, we decide to see the old area and the Buddhist temple. We get lost among the little streets and take the opportunity to eat a crepe in one of the many little places run by Thai people. We then return to Patong, and in the evening we go right behind our hotel where the Patong Food Market is, an area where in the evening there are numerous open-air restaurants offering Thai fish-based dishes at super competitive prices.
These open-air restaurants will be, for the whole week, the places where we'll have dinner. Two in particular we liked: the Kusuma, which is oriented towards Malaysia—in fact the owners are Thai-Malay—and the last one near the Andaman Sea Condominium. In these places a plate of Thai rice with eggs and scampi costs 50 baht (41 baht = 1 euro), and it's possible to eat a good sea bass for 250 baht. The dishes are true works of art decorated with flowers and very beautiful to look at, as well as to taste.
Maya Bay
Day 213 Mar 2011
We take a tuk tuk and for 300 baht we get taken to Surin Beach, north of Patong. The beach is surrounded by greenery, and at the end of the bay there are rocks and hills full of palm trees.
Surin beach
Day 314 Mar 2011
Phi phi
Speedboat trip to Phi Phi Island. We made a stop of about an hour at Bamboo Island, an uninhabited island with crystal-clear sea, white sand and breathtaking views of the sea stacks. Afterwards we went snorkelling, then we went to Phi Phi Island to have lunch. After lunch we went to see the lagoon and then by around 16:00 we arrived at the splendid Maya Bay. At Maya Bay it's possible to take a small path inside and reach a point where you can dive in. Very evocative to walk among the plants barefoot! I understand why The Beach was filmed in that fantastic place which, unfortunately, tourists are now ruining... There are hundreds of people on that bay... I think it's one of the major attractions of all of Phuket...
sea food stand
Day 415 Mar 2011
kata beach
We take a tuk tuk and get taken to Karon, the musical beach. As soon as we arrive at the beach, my mum and I look at each other not very convinced... the beach is very long but behind it has hotels and zero palm trees... so I hazard a guess that maybe it's better to go a bit further south and we reach Kata. We take an umbrella under the palm trees with two sunbeds for the whole day at the price of 200 baht and we enjoy this fantastic beach with its transparent water and the view of the little crab island in front. For the return to the hotel the tuk tuk will ask us for 400 baht.
Patong beach
Day 516 Mar 2011
Raya island
Excursion to Raya Island. To get there it takes about 40 minutes by speedboat. Here the sea is sometimes rough, and it happened to us that we made some good jumps... Raya has a very white beach and a very beautiful sea, if it weren't for the numerous rocks submerged under the sand and you have to keep an eye out not to slip... anyway the day was very relaxing, all about the sea, the view from the panoramic promontory and observing numerous monitor lizards roaming freely near the restaurant where we had lunch, which is the one at the Raya Resort.
view from Bamboo island
Day 617 Mar 2011
Wat Chalong and little waterfalls
Given the rather toasted state of our skin, we decide to go and visit the temples of Wat Chalong, the main Buddhist sanctuary of the island. So we take the bus to Phuket Town, then the tuk tuk bus. We visit the temples in about an hour and then return to Phuket Town; from here we take the tuk tuk again for the waterfalls... Terrible idea, the waterfalls are not worth the visit, the tallest waterfall must be 5 metres and to enter we paid the beauty of 200 baht each just because it's a national park, not to mention the money spent on the tuk tuk round trip from Phuket Town (800 baht).
sino portuguese houses in Phuket town
Day 718 Mar 2011
The holiday has now come to an end, so we relax on the fantastic Patong Beach, which will be quite crowded (but not even that much) but offers everything and more in a fantastic bay surrounded by green hills.
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