Returning to Thailand was not a destination I expected to revisit and I have to say I am so glad I did. Even though you visited a city or country previously it does not mean you know it entirely. It is amazing how your perspective changes as you evolve and those destinations or cultures also progress which in turn can essentially make your return visit more pleasurable.
Tuesday 3rd October
The journey from Bangkok was now moving onto Phuket, our flight was approximately only 1 hour & 25 minutes. On arrival at Phuket International Airport, I could not believe how hectic the airport was with car services, taxi companies and tour operators haggling at you to buy their services. It was a real turn off and I highly recommend you organise a transfer pick up before you arrive.
Outside the airport, there were no signs of taxi’s so we were forced to use one of the car services out the front of the airport costing approximately 500 thai baht. The drive to the Crest Hotel was approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes and our driver took us off route and said he needed to buy cigarettes. James and I felt uneasy when the driver drove through back streets in a local neighbour, we ended up out the front of a shop where a lady came to our car and asked if we had day tours booked. I was initially scared driving off route to then furious to be put in this situation. We already had all our activities booked and said so. The lady had the nerve to ask us for cash to pay the driver for bringing us to her, you can imagine how unimpressed we were. I’m just glad the situation was not worse.
Upon arrival at The Crest Hotel, reception greeted us in the lounge area with a cold beverage. The host at reception advised us that we had been upgraded from the Deluxe Pool Access Seaview room we booked to a Premier Pool Villa. We were thankful for the upgrade, however, wanted our Deluxe Pool Access Seaview room we booked but were told the room was already taken. Whilst waiting for our upgraded room to be cleaned we ordered cocktails and dinner at the Executive Lounge, PANO. The panoramic views over Patong Bay and the Andaman Sea were stunning from PANO. Our room was ready earlier than expected so we arranged for room service instead.
Concierge escorted us to our villa in a buggy. Wow, what a room! We spent the early evening enjoying the sunset in our private pool with our pool floaties and the food was delicious. In fact, it was the best room service I have ever had. I recommend the Pad Thai.
Around 8pm, we caught the hotel’s complimentary shuttle bus to Phuket town & explored the city at night. Bangla Road was bustling with a mix of tourist and locals trying to entice you to bars, nightclubs or questionable venues.
Wednesday 4th October
Our morning started with a private car transfer to visit a Phuket Elephant Sanctuary in Southern Phuket. Visits help to support the elephants and future rescues, projects and their work and offer an opportunity to support ethical elephant tourism in Thailand.
The tour started at 9.30am (we met at the office 9.00am) and lasts for approximately 3.5 hours including lunch, arriving back to the office at approximately 1pm for transfer pickups.
There are only 2 tours available. advance bookings required.
● Morning tour
● Afternoon observation tour
Phuket Elephant Sanctuary is the first and ONLY true ethical elephant sanctuary in all of Phuket, Thailand. PES is a retirement home for sick, injured and old elephants who have previously worked hard for tourism entertainment or in the logging industry. PES tours offer education about the dark truth behind elephants being used for entertainment and being used in the logging industry. If you love elephants and do not want to support animal cruelty and animals being used as entertainment, definitely visit Phuket Elephant Sanctuary! The whole day was amazing and I left knowing that my donation and being able to educate others, will make a huge difference in the rehabilitation of these gorgeous animals.
Here the elephants are free to roam the sanctuary and bath and play in the fresh natural lagoons. Not many tourists know about this wonderful sanctuary, it appears tourist go to the Elephant parks where elephants are mistreated by forms of whips and nails to handle them.
I would love to write a story about my experience at the elephant sanctuary and show readers what the sanctuary does for the Elephant community. And just maybe one of those readers could very well be a business who wants to show their support to the elephant sanctuary.
https://www.phuketelephantsanctuary.org/morning-tour
https://www.phuketelephantsanctuary.org/about-us
https://www.phuketelephantsanctuary.org/faq
After a big day out with the elephants, it was great to return to the hotel for an early afternoon of swimming and cocktails.
Thursday 5th October
The day began with an early morning start to avoid crowds for our Phi Phi Island Snorkelling & Sightseeing Tour, our first stop was Maya Bay, the beautiful location of the movie “The Beach”. Here, we swam and enjoyed Lo Sama Bay, this location has a picturesque backdrop setting. I suggest booking the sunrise Phi Phi tour as you can enjoy a less crowded Maya Beach. Unfortunately, we missed out due to sunrise tours being seasonal. Currently, Maya Beach is closed since March 2018 for four months as Thai authorities want to allow the beach to recover from environmental damage due to excessive visitor numbers.
Our next stop, we snorkelled around Phi Phi Le and Phi Phi Don where we were surrounded by so many tropical fish. The schools of fish were amazing, I am so happy that I let go of my fear of the ocean, well not entirely, but enough to swim and snorkel in the deep blue sea. Unfortunately, my time in the ocean was cut short due to a nasty 3-inch sea lice bite on my arm, the crew on the boat administered lotion on it immediately.
The Viking Caves were our next stop but we were not able to go inside as the caves are now preserved for birds nesting. Viking Caves are limestone caves with wall paintings & a site for harvesting bird nests for a traditional Chinese soup.
Continuing on, we stopped for lunch is at the tour company’s favourite restaurant at the quiet end of a white sandy beach on the main Phi Phi Don Island. Dishes are served hot and cooked fresh on arrival. They served massaman curry, green curry with chicken, stir-fried mixed vegetables, seafood cashew nut, chicken and cashew nuts, fried rice, french fries and fried chicken.
After a delicious lunch, we had an hour to ourselves to explore the island, James and I strolled through the markets where I bought a couple of tropical beach dresses. The 1 hour seemed to brush by so quickly, we now found ourselves back on the boat on our way to another snorkeling spot, where we snorkelled for 30 minutes or so, amongst thousands of beautiful fish.
Our last stop was Bamboo Island, where we swam and lazed on the long white sandy beach before heading home around 4.00 pm.
Our Phi Phi Island Snorkelling & Sightseeing Tour cost 4100 thai baht each, approximately 157.38AUD each last year. The tour included: Transfers, National Park fees, light breakfast, lunch, water, soft drinks, snacks, and insurance.
http://www.phuketsailtours.com/
Returning to our hotel approximately 5:00 pm was perfect timing, happy hour cocktails had just begun and sunset was approaching.
Friday 6th October
Woke to a cruisey day ahead with no early morning tours, was nice to have a sleep in and explore our surroundings by foot. Tri Trang Beach is 10 minutes walk opposite direction to Patong beach and is a nice beach with a view of Patong Beach from afar.
We continued the 45-minute walk to Patong Beach with a short stop at Baan Yin Dee Hotel for a frozen margarita as the humidity was unbearable on this day. When I look back on our many long distances walks coincidentally they all appear to occur on the hottest days which is not the wisest thing to do yet we do ensure we are well hydrated.
The Baan Yin Dee Hotel restaurant staff who we only interacted with, were welcoming.
https://baanyindee.com/index.php?main=experience&page=dining-q7im
After a short stopped, we continued our walk to Patong. Patong Beach is not how I remember it in the year 2000, the beach appeared bleak and no-one around compared to my 2000 trip when chair lounges were scattered along the beautiful white sandy beach. Visiting in peak season may make a difference and being the party area, you will no doubt see tourist hanging out at the beach in numbers. Now, the sea is not clear and the beach itself is not that nice to look at. Continuing, we explored many street markets and finished the afternoon at the lower floor of the Jungceylon Shopping Centre where you will find an array of more suitable automatic teller machines.
After dinner at The Crest, we had drinks at Two Chefs in Patong and listened to live music. This time of the year was not so busy in Phuket but we still enjoyed the evening.
A cocktail cost approximately 407.50 Thai Baht = 15.64 Aud each
http://www.twochefs.com/restaurants/patong/
Sat 7th October
Our time in Phuket was divided into 2 different locations, this day we checked into an Ocean View Junior Suite room at Le Meridien Hotel located not far from Karon Beach and tucked away from the main street. I felt quite safe here as well as our stay at The Crest Hotel.
http://www.lemeridienphuketbeachresort.com/
After settling in our room we walked for 1 hour into Karon Village via a winding hilly road and and some parts had no pedestrian walkways. The walk was much longer and dangerous than expected & to our dismay, it poured down heavily on us. Due to the bad weather and having other activities on, we weren’t able to enjoy Karon Beach during our visit and thus this day just headed to the grocery store to buy our daily supplies and caught a taxi back to the hotel
The bad weather continued through to the evening so we dined at the Ariake Japanese Restaurant in the resort. The food was sensational and service good, however, very expensive.
After a flavorful meal, the rain was gushing and we spent the next hour or so contemplating if we should still go to the Full Moon Party at Paradise Beach. After some reflection, we decided to go and I made sure to wear proper shoe attire. James wanted to on wear thongs but I thought it best to wear proper shoes in case we stepped on broken glass.
Our hotel shuttle bus drove us into Paradise Beach bus stop in the forestry area, here we waited for the minibus to take us down to Paradise Beach.
This is the first time I have ever attended a Full Moon Party, I loved the atmosphere and the electronic / house music was sensational. If you are not aware, The Full Moon Party is an all-night beach party that originated in Hat Rin on the island of Ko Pha-ngan, Thailand on the night of, before or after every full moon. It is mostly attended by tourists.
Due to the rain, the crowd was not as expected but people were trickling into the grounds on and off throughout the evening. We ended the night earlier than expected as the rain was intense and there were no uncover areas.
http://www.paradisebeachphuket.com/
Web:http://paradisebeachphuket.com/contact-us
Our hotel transfer could not pick us up at the Paradise Beach stop in the forest so we had to walk through the flood for 20 minutes. And this is when the real craziness began. After only walking for 5 minutes or so, I felt a sudden shot of horrendous pain on my left foot and started bawling. An English stranger came to my aid and tried to calm me down as anxiety started to get the better of me and it was important to settle my breathing so I did no go in shock. James noticed 2 bites on my foot and one insertion was bleeding, it clearly appeared to be a snake bite, fortunately, I did not see the reptile through the raging waters but part of me wish I had. James made arrangements for our hotel shuttle to meet us at The Marriott as the shuttle service was 14 minutes away and could not reach us due to the flooding. By this stage, my foot was swelling and the pain was tremendous. After a 20 minutes walk, we finally arrived at the Marriott hotel, staff immediately lied me down and placed an ice pack on my foot. I still do not understand why Le Meriden hotel shuttle did not arrive at the Marriott Hotel before us but the wait was not long.
Approximately 1am in the morning, my hotel shuttle service dropped us at the Phuket International Hospital where Tourist are taken. Thankfully as always, I had Travel Insurance. After some tests and lots of medication to combat whatever had bitten me, I became more relaxed and admitted into a private room with a tv. The nurses checked on me frequently. It was at this moment that I realised my TOM (canvas shoes) saved me from a more sinister outcome.
Besides the horrible turn of event, we had an awesome night & if I returned to Phuket I would definitely want to experience another Full Moon Party at its fullest.
Our Full Moon early bird ticket cost 800.00 THB per person.
Sunday 8th October
I managed to get a couple of hours sleep during the night and having James sleeping on a couch in my room helped. I spent all day watching tv and praying the bite would not get any worse. By this point, my nerves were calmer as I felt I was in good hands.
In a way, I am glad I didn’t see what attacked me but then again at least I would know what kind of reptile it was versus always wondering. The nurses also treated my 3-inch sea lice bite & after blood work found out that my histamine levels are higher than the average person hence why I am susceptible to so many allergies the last few years. Hmmm, why haven’t the Australian Drs given me this information as freely!
Monday 9th October
About mid-morning, I chose to check myself out of the hospital against the hospital’s’ advice to remain for 1 more days’ observation. My foot was still swollen but thanks to the medications provided I felt at ease and the swelling had shown to be minimizing. My complimentary Bank Travel Insurance with Allianz was covering the cost of my medical bills but we still had to pay the excess prior to discharge. Guys, no matter where you are travelling it is really important to have travel insurance, travelling in foreign places outside your norm can make you susceptible to incidents. And always check the health risks and register your travelling details on Smartraveller.
On this day we originally had a Phang Nga Bay trip planned, thankfully there was availability for the following day.
The remainder of this afternoon was spent chilling by the pool sipping strawberry daiquiris and James hired a Jet ski on the beach for an hour & headed closer to Karon Beach, he said it was the best Jet Ski experience without restrictions.
Our evening was spent at the resort, the Pakarang Restaurant has an open-air setting in the middle of the lagoon. Pakarang serves both breakfast and dinner daily. Theme dinners are held here and feature live music with colourful dance performances. We experienced Indian cuisine and watched an Indian performance.
Retreating to bed, my eyes became irritated and my eyelids started to swell, thankfully I had Telefast (antihistamine) on hand. The only conclusion was that I had an allergic reaction to the orchids housekeeping placed on the face washers since the incident occurred immediately after use.
What a crazy week I was having especially after just checking out of the hospital earlier today.
Tuesday 10th Oct
6.10 am our Phang Nga Bay tour transfer with Simba Sea Trips picked us up from Le Meridien Phuket.
Stop 1 – Koh Phanak for some intriguing cave exploration, hidden caves, lagoons and hongs. A hong, in case you were wondering, is a sea cave.
Stop 2 – Sea Canoeing in Koh Hong was a stunning location for our scenic canoe trip. The Thai guide took us into hongs and caves only accessible by canoe.
Stop 3 – Koh Phing Kan and Koh Tapu (James Bond Island), the most famous spot in the bay, is the James Bond Island tour stop. Simba tour arrived before the crowds and gave us enough time to take many selfies and take in the bay.
Stop 4 – Treasure Island/Secret Hong Swimming, just a few minutes from James Bond island lays a hidden cave, only accessible by swimming, unfortunately, the water level was too high.
Stop 5 – Koh Yao Noi, a short trip across the south of the island to Pyramid, a local Thai restaurant for lunch. The food and service were good and I even had a cocktail. https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Restaurant_Review-g661285-d2102650-Reviews-Pyramid_Restaurant-Ko_Yao_Noi_Phang_Nga_Province.html
Stop 6 – Tropical Beach, the last chance to swim, relax and enjoy the scenery before heading home.
Overall, a beautiful day and Simba’s service made our experience memorable from 6am – 4pm. Adult price per person 4,200 THB = 180.00 AUD.
You can find the tour inclusions listed on the website below –
http://www.simbaseatrips.com/tours/phang-nga-and-beyond/
You have to love a tour when you return to your hotel to in time to watch a stunning sunset. Having a beachfront hotel was pretty special with minimal people on the beach, giving us a good niche for ourselves.
That evening, we dined at the resort’s chic Portofino Italian Restaurant via Poolside Terrace, it made me actually feel like I was in Italy with its gorgeous ambiance. The lasagna tasted just as good as the one I had at Chez Black in Positano in 2015.
Wednesday 11th October
Overall, what an experience I had in Phuket, attacked by sea lice whilst snorkelling at Phi Phi , taken off track by a taxi driver, a tuk-tuk attempted to take us up a dodgy dark street an experience I have not mentioned when returning to our hotel one evening, bitten by a reptile, landed in hospital, snorkelling, canoeing in hongs, swimming in the deep blue sea and bathing on a secluded tropical beach.
Will, I return to Phuket again, yes for sure. Keep an eye out for Part 3 in Koh Samui coming very soon.
christinetravels 
Great read Christine! I love the images and how you have thrown in the panoramic photos. Man, you get good rooms – amazing views! Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks Em. Found it hard to shorten, felt this blog should be more detailed to show the experience had. Part 3 Koh Samui 2017 next😊
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haha yes whilst I could. Funny enough I was just reflecting about that on the weekend. I am most grateful for the amazing experiences Ive been blessed to have. Not so easy to be as frivilious anymore.
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