Phuket was busy. Boy was it busy. We had 5 days and not one of them was spent idling on the beach. We made our base in the heart of the madness on Patong Beach so that we could walk most places. We shopped up a storm - particularly for new bikinis, while the boys used the 5 days wisely and had some suits tailored. We hit the mall, the stalls and everything in-between and even started to enjoy the inevitable haggling process. There are brand knock-offs for days if thats your thing, but there are plenty of other beachy items I found more worthwhile.
Island hopping was done via day trips to Phi Phi, James Bond Island and around the caves in Phang Nga Bay. The weather didn't always play along, but we got enough sunshine to see the famous beaches and get some great snaps. Phi Phi was spectacular and I would love to come back and spend a few days there to explore the island properly.
We hired a taxi for a day to see the major sights such as the Big Buddha, Old Phuket Town, some temples and view points. I think a future trip to Phuket would be based at Karon or Kata beaches - they're far more chilled out and the beaches are still pristine.
Old Phuket town has fabulous restaurants on every corner, and beautiful stores brimming with silks and intricately detailed fabrics. The old buildings and the locals and monks going about their lives is worth spending an afternoon just people-watching.
Seeing the Big Buddha was wonderful. It is bigger than you could imagine, and so very impressive. The whole site has the most unreal sense of calm, and we took the opportunity to pray with a monk. It was a simple and brief encounter, but one I'll always cherish. I love the Buddhist way of life and the teachings are an endless resource of inspiration, and I find them soothing to the soul when I need it.
We also spent an afternoon at Siam Safari - an elephant encounter we were assured by a few sources that was well worth it and that the animals were treated well. We loved meeting a few of the younger elephants, and after lunch and a lesson in making chill paste, we took a short ride to a view point on elephant-back. Our mahout thought he was hilarious after realising we weren't loving the spiders in some of the trees and pretended to pick them up and throw them at us for most of the ride.
Spiders = Sense of Humour Failure.
Food-wise, my favourite meals were from stalls hitched to scooters on the street. Pad Thai was my dish of choice and each one was better then the last. Our snack or in-between meal that we couldn't get enough of was the banana and Nutella pancakes on every corner. I miss those so much!
Tripadvisor (good 'ol Tripadvisor) pointed us in the direction of Sabai Sabai. The Pad Thai was sensational, and the watermelon fruit shakes entrenched an addiction that will last a lifetime. It even sports a poster on one of the walls from our own V&A Waterfront congratulating it on being the best restaurant in Patong.
As far as nightlife goes, you don't have to try too hard to find it - follow the neon lights. Bangla Road is a myriad of neon lights, some questionable entertainment and also plenty of restaurants. The streets are packed with tourists, entertainers and the world-famous lady-boys. We didn't find them as pushy or creepy as we'd been warned about. A simple "no thanks" and a smile was sufficient. Drinks are cheap and generally the place is crawling with inebriated Aussies and Brits - which we thought was more funny than it was annoying. We had a few nights of too many cocktails and a little leg shaking - but mostly we left the total debauchery to the Aussies, and happily sat back and watched. On that note, don't do drugs kids. We saw Aussies getting up to some serious mischief while clearly very high. One even was getting a tattoo on the beach. On the beach! No clean sterile room, just aplastic chair and shirtless old Thai man inking the boy for life. Like I said, don't do drugs kids. Make good choices. This has been a PSA from Pretty Mint.
So thats the Phuket leg of our trip. I'll post on Samui later this week - you won't want to miss that one. It is the most wonderful island - and a place I will go back to again and again.
