I missed the beach and sunbathing so much that I got really excited when we arrived in Phuket. Obviously, we had to immediately deal with the taxis. I and my mom thought we are getting screwed again, but actually, in Phuket they had legit taxi systems with fixed tariffs. I was told that the taxis are really inexpensive in Thailand. They did not have high prices compared to Amsterdam for instance, but they were not super cheap either, especially if you will be using the taxi every day. You can also rent a car or a motorbike, which will cost less if you will be moving around a lot.
We arrived later in the evening and during the night, it seemed like our hotel is somewhere in the middle of a jungle. We had a nice pool, where we went for a dip right away. The next day obviously we wanted to spend on a beach as well. We had two beaches nearby, the Surin beach and Bangtao beach. Surin beach took our breath away right when we arrived there.Later we found out that Bangtao is much closer, also stunning, and has many shops and restaurants on a nearby beach.
Without planning, I managed to spend the time the best way possible. Obviously, first day was a beach day. Then we slowly started making plans for the rest of the remaining time and some things just serendipitously happened. We stayed nearby the beach but far enough to stay in the quiet zone. We wanted to visit the Phuket city itself. There we ended up seeing the most prestigious transvestite show in town. I have seen a drag show in Gran Canaria and laughed till tears, but this was different. Their costumes, stage decorations and choreography were well done and you can see the hard work behind it. For me it was also interesting to see the ladyboys world, so openly and so tolerated. About four times a week i pass by the blue light district in Amsterdam, which is a small area for the transvestites in the red light, but in Thailand, it was something new.
Also, thanks to that night we found out about a Thai boxing event, got excited about it and tried to get tickets for a show as long as we were there. I am not a very big fan of boxing, but i have to admit that it was very interesting to see it live even though i am a complete novice at the subject. Obviously, we also had to get a massage, because it was so inexpensive and possible at almost every corner. I tried Thai massage and i have to admit it hurt so badly and i suffered for a half an hour, but afterwards the feeling was great. I have had pain in my neck and back for a while now so i really needed something like this.
We also took two boat tours, one to Krabi island and one to James bond island. Krabi was the first one and we were excited, even though we had to wake up very early. A mini bus took us to Phuket city, where we had to take a big boat which took us near to the islands and then take a smaller boat that cruised us around the islands. I was baffled how stunning everything looked. Just breathtaking and like i mentioned on my previous post if only i could have visited it like thirty years ago when there were fewer tourists. We made stops at several islands to admire the beauty, snorkel around the chicken island and visit the Viking cave. The snorkelling was not so impressive, though since the water was rather foggy and there was one type of fish, when in Bali i had a much more exciting and colourful snorkelling experience.
James Bond island tour was fun as well. This time, the mini bus first took us to a Monkey cave, where inside a huge cliff's cave was a temple. Outside the hungry monkeys were waiting for the tourists to feed them bananas. The next stop was to take a small boat. It was unbelievable that we were cruising around on a boat surrounded by huge rocks. The view and feeling are just hard to describe. First, the boat stopped at a Muslim village. The village was in the middle of water just kind of floating there, but it had all the facilities, it had a touristy point with restaurants, where we also ate and then it had many shops followed by peoples own private houses and we even saw a school with a football/basketball court. Later on, it was the long waited James Bond island, which was again unfortunately way too crowded, but still worth visiting. And the last activity included kayak ride near the James Bond island.
Oh, how wonderful Thailand is... I hope i will get the chance to go back and maybe spend few months to see more of it!
When looking at the map we saw that there are some waterfalls not so far away from us. One day we took a trip there and found out that the waterfalls were in a national park, which was the last piece of rain forest left in Phuket and also a sanctuary for the gibbon rehabilitation centre. The waterfall was not as it seemed on the pictures. I googled it and it looked beautiful. Actually, it was quite small and hard to get a good view on it, but the jungle around it was wild with many interesting trees. I got a bit angry when we were walking there since i noticed trash left by stupid people on the ground and decided to clean up their plastic waste. Sometimes i am just speechless how uneducated some people are. Fat, ugly and stupid and cannot stay ten meters without having a snack and then leaving their junk behind. The gibbon rehabilitation centre was sad because those poor gibbons have been the victims of humans, who have been trafficking those exotic animals around the world and then ditched them or beat them up when it turns out that the wild ones cannot handle the urban life. Some good people were taking care of them now and we also got the chance to donate.
The last day i decided to challenge my fear of heights again and see if i will die if i will try out to fly with a parachute attached to a speedboat. I am not sure if this sport is called paragliding or parasailing or para something, but i did it and it was wonderful and also brought goose bumps on my skin. I flew quite high and saw an amazing view, but it was a little scary too. I landed softly in water with no regrets, it was so fun!
Oh, how wonderful Thailand is... I hope i will get the chance to go back and maybe spend few months to see more of it!