Phuket

PHUKET

One of the most famous tourist destination in South East Asia is Thailand. Be it for the wonderful beaches or the city culture of Bangkok, this country has everything to show case.

This blog is about a trip to Thailand. Of course, I’m not covering the entire Thailand, I would be concentrating only on the southern part of the country – Phuket.

Phuket is the largest island in the country and is surrounded by the Andaman sea. Being an island, you could be bound with beaches all over but each one is worth visiting.

I would be covering a 3-day visit to Phuket and the activities and adventure that we performed here.

Day 1:

We reached Phuket on the noon of Day 1 of our trip and we checked into our rooms. The location was very near to the Patong beach – which is the most popular beach around. Since we did not have much time and we need some time to relax, we thought we could do some local sight-seeing. After consulting the local tuk-tuk wala’s - the famous rickshaw which is called as tuk-tuk here, we proceeded to the Dolphin show near Chalong beach, a good 30 mins drive from our location. It was amazing to see how dolphins and seals performed and danced around.

(Dolphin Show)

After the show, we went to the Karon view point, from where we could see the whole beach view.

Our time was slowly ending, so we reached Patong and we settled on the sands of the beach.

(Karon beach view-point)

(Sunset at Patong)

(Patong Beach)

Day 2:

We had planned and booked a day trip to James Bond Island.

Now why this island was named after James Bond? The James bond movie ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’ in 1974 was shot here and the place has been famous since.

This island is located in the Phang Nga Bay and it takes an hour ride on ferry to reach. We had booked a long tail boat and our journey started. Initially what started as a boring journey, soon turned interesting as we danced and sang through the journey. Soon, we reached our destination.

(James Bond Island)

The island has a single rock structure made of limestone. It stands with no support and hence is an attraction. Alongside, there is a cave which can be traversed through.

We clicked some pics and enjoyed our time out there and then we left the island.

On the return journey, we stopped at Phang Nga Bay, which is home to many caves.

(Phang Nga Bay)

(Heart view from the canoe)

(Called James Bond 2 island although this is less known)

We canoed through the caves which was a mesmerizing adventure. The silent surroundings made it a better feeling. 

Day 3:

Another adventure lay in front of us, as we proceeded to the Phi Phi islands.

Phi Phi or Koh Phi Phi is a group of islands that are most visited. Although it is a group of many island, only a few are inhabited while others are limestone formation. The Maya bay on the Phi Phi Don island (largest island in the group) is the most visited one.

(Elephant island)

Again, Phi Phi is an hour drive on speed boat. There are some good locations for scuba diving while there is no entry to some other. We reached Maya bay and we had good fun playing on the beaches.

(Maya Bay)

We also did snorkeling and were amazed to see the beautiful Marine life. We were drained of our energy as we returned to our rooms to pack our bags and move on to Bangkok on our return journey.

Other islands that you can visit from Phuket is the Similian Islands. This is mostly famous for scuba diving as vareid marine life. We couldn't visit this place and this wasn't in our plan as well so we had to forego it.

If one thought that Thailand is a place only for couples, then they are wrong. It’s a place for anyone and everyone and it is guaranteed that everyone will enjoy. A definite and a worthy place to visit.

Just to add more info about Visa and currency in Thailand.
Visa is on-arrival for Indian citizens. The cost of Visa is 2500 INR. You can pay the visa fee at the immigration center. Since there are a lot of Indian tourists, the line would be longer, so it may take a couple of hours for the stamping.
The currency of Thailand is Baht. One BHT is twice that of an INR. BHT is easily available in any forex and you can also exchange Indian currency in Thailand. There are a lot of forex available. But please make sure you go for a good currency rate.