Last of the Island Hopping: Phuket
Trip Start
Jan 20, 2010
1
18
35
Trip End
Apr 15, 2010
Where I stayed
On On Guesthouse
Best Mansion
Phuket, Thailand
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Just some pointless wandering for the day... and Daniela prepping for her interview to happen the next day. We looked for an internet cafe so that we could have some contact with the outside world, but they were hard to come by or full. What we did find was a gamer's cafe. It was unbelievably noisy and full of really young guys, but wow, the connection was FAST! This would be something to keep in mind for future reference. Uploading pictures and video was a breeze.
The next day, we went to meet up with Jason, in Chalong Bay. Jason is the son of a friend of Andrew's dad. He's in Thailand to train in Muay Thai. He trains at Tiger gym, which is apparently the biggest gym of this kind in the world. The original plan was to come to Phuket and watch one of his matches, however his opponent pulled out. When we arrived, we also found out that he had broken his nose pretty badly and wouldn't be able to spar for a few weeks. So we didn't end up watching any Muay Thai matches while in Phuket.
Jason gave us some tips on what to see and do while we were in Phuket. Additionally, his friend Laura let us stay in her room. The accommodations at The Best Mansion were really nice. This was unbelievable generous, since we ended up staying for 4 nights. Jason also let me use his computer and Skype account for my Friday night interview (which went well, by the way).
In the morning, Andrew rented a motorbike, on Jason's referral. We took a trip to the Big Buddha, which was a fun drive up the hill. There were some cool breezes on the way up, which was nice. Apparently, it's the Biggest Buddha in Thailand... although not completely finished yet. When we got there, the eyes still had to be put in. The views below were pretty great, too.
In the evening, we went with Jason, Laura and another of Jason's friends, Tag, to see the sunset at a viewpoint near the southen tip of Phuket. We made it just in time and got a bunch of great photos. At dinner, we met Tag's friend, Kitty. Later that night, she would drive us to Patong for some night life and partying.
Patong is party central in Phuket. The strip we went to is lined with bars, clubs, street vendors, restaurants and tonnes of tourists and Thai girls and Thai lady-boys. We started out at Seduction club, then we went to walk the strip and people watch. We bought some "street meat" which is satay here, not sausages. We took a walk on the beach then had a late night pizza before heading back to the hotel pretty late.
The next day was pretty lazy, for obvious reasons. We did manage to squeeze in a trip to the night market. The market was pretty big and some good deals were to be had. Daniela was looking for some shorts, and in the absence of fitting rooms, there is a "fitting skirt" that one can use to try on clothes and maintain some modesty. The shorts were a perfect fit!
So, what did we do for our last full day in Phuket? We visited Wat Chalong and made sure that we made it to a beach. Nai Harn beach was recommended by Jason, so that's where we went. Jason and Laura took off that morning for a trip to Krabi... hope you guys had fun!
Our final day in Phuket, we woke up quite early to head back to Phuket Town in order to catch our bus to Khao Sok National Park.
Comments
Doesn't everyone go to Phuket, just so they can say, "I've been to Phuket"?
apparently everyone goes for packaged deals and resorts. We went to meet up with people. I don't really know why everyone goes.