Phuket, Part II

Since I was on holiday in Phuket, I just wanted to relax! On Sunday I decided to rent a motorbike and give myself a tour of some the different beaches that Phuket has to offer. The motorbike rental for the day only cost $7! And yes they drive on the left side of the road in Thailand and yes I did a great job driving on the left!

First up I took the short drive over to Karon Beach, which is just north of Kata Beach. I did not like Karon beach as much as Kata Beach. It was quite large, but there was no one there picking up the garbage, so it seemed a little littered to me.


Next I drove to the market to eat some real Thai food, not the westernized stuff I was finding at the restaurants near the hotel. After lunch I thought it'd be a good idea to relax when the sun was strongest by getting a massage. I naively thought I'd be getting a western massage, but in fact the massage was half western and half Thai. But it still was very good and relaxing.


Next up I drove down to Kata Noi Beach (Little Kata Beach). Kata Noi was just as amazing as Kata Beach, but just smaller. I would recommend staying on this beach if you don't want to be near really any restaurants or shops at all.


Here is Karon Beach on top, Kata Beach in the middle, and Kata Noi Beach on the bottom:

Next up I made the long trek over to Nai Han Beach, which was recommended to me by all of the locals back in Phitsanulok. Nai Han is supposed to beach one of the most beautiful and isolated beaches in Phuket. However, this was probably the busiest beach I visited the whole weekend! This beach was full of expats and their Thai wives. It is a beautiful beach though. However, my photos are not that great because it was overcast when I was there.

Just in case anyone has forgotten what the sun looks like when setting over the sea:

Phuket, Part I

I was so excited to be in Phuket, I spent the whole first day on the beach!!! I began the day with breakfast (from 7 Eleven of course) on the beach:

I had such a wonderful time lounging around the gorgeous Kata Beach. I believe that Kata Beach is the best beach I have ever visited in the world. It's quite big, the sand is absolutely perfect, no rocks or shells to step on, there's no garbage, the water is clear and beautiful, and I almost had the whole place to myself! Later in the day, the waves also got almost intimidatingly large.

For the next day I booked a tour of Phi Phi Island. The first stop on our tour was Maya Beach. This is where parts of the movie "The Beach" were filmed. Even though I haven't seen that movie, I still recognized the scenery:

After relaxing on the beach and swimming around the cove, it was time for some serious snorkeling. I saw many beautiful fish and even one shark!

Next up was Phi Phi island for lunch. The next beach was one of my favorites, Khai Nok Island. This was a tiny island in the middle of the Andaman Sea. I enjoyed more snorkeling and the picturesque scenery. After a long day in the sun I was ready to head back to the resort for a swim in the pool and an "after sun facial."

Bangkok & Phuket

Wednesday night I hopped on a flight to Bangkok with P-Kik at the last minute. We stayed at Asia Hotel in Bangkok (http://www.asiahotel.co.th/asia_bangkok.htm) for the night. Asia Hotel is expensive (from a poor college student’s point of view) and looking a little old, but it’s still quite nice. One great thing about Asia Hotel is that you can walk straight from the hotel’s second floor onto the Sky Train.

Thursday morning I hopped on the Sky Train and headed over to the famous Siam Paragon shopping center. Just picked up a few things of course.

I spent the afternoon flying down to Phuket, the largest island in Thailand. This is where the tsunami hit back in 2004.

I chose to stay at Sugar Palm Resort located just 100 meters from Kata Beach. I was told that the beaches on the west side of the island are much better than those on the east. I thought that Kata Beach was a good compromise between the crazy tourism at Patong Beach and the isolated feel of Nai Thon Beach. And oh what a great choice! Kata Beach turned out to be one the most beautiful beaches on the island and the Sugar Palm Resort (http://www.sugarpalmresort.com/) was so amazing!!! I highly recommend Sugar Palm Resort and Kata Beach; it’s the best in Phuket.

Thursday evening I saw the Simon Cabaret show. This was an exciting show filled with lip syncing transvestites. Somehow I ended up with a front row seat to the show. Many of the lady-boys were quite beautiful and more than convincing. The Simon Cabaret show was quite entertaining, however the dancers seemed less than enthusiastic. After the show all of the lady-boys lined up outside begging for photographs. Of course every photograph you take with them costs about $2. If you want to see the Simon Cabaret show make sure to call ahead; they will pick you up from your hotel in a minibus and drop you back off after the show for only 160 Baht.