Well. You might have heard about it for Leo’s movie ‘The Beach’. If not, must have heard about it when the deadly Tsunami struck it a few years back. Yaup…Phuket it is on this travelogue of wandering monk (ey)! If I have to name one beach holiday that one can soak up in everything….culture to adventure tourism....shopping to clubbing, eating to lazing around , it will undoubtedly be Phuket .(Of course I have not yet visited Bali…but till then..!). When I said all, I do not intend to mislead. If you are the “culture crazy” sort, Phuket fantasea, situated on the east of this paradise island, is the one. Quoted as the Thai version of Cirque De Soleil, you get a slice of Thai culture through their ‘Ramayana’ show.Filled with great acrobatic stunts and traditional dance, it lives to its namesake even though there is no English interpretation. Of the many temples around, Wat Chalong is the main and popular one .The weekend markets at the Wat Chalong gives a feel of the Thai village market. You can get good deals here if you are into local stuff.
Phuket is a huge island with lot of good beach stretches, mostly on the west and south side of the island. More Popular is Patong. More peaceful are Kata, Karon and the rest down under. Beaches are for lazing around and do some watersport like parasailing. Tuk-Tuk and Motor Bikes are good to get you out and about. Apart from beaches on the island, day trips to Phi Phi circuit and Phang Nga circuit are a must and ‘not-to-miss-for-anything’!
A Phi Phi day trip consists of stepping on the Maya Bay (to feel likeLeonardo Di Caprio for a short while and take some great shots of the breathtaking nature around), a sortie in the sea lagoon, snorkeling at Loh Samah Bay (emerald green waters steaming with a vibrant aquatic life and corals. lot of fusiliers when I jumped in), feeding our monkey brethren on the monkey island (seriously! We have been neglecting them for a while. Time to Make up with Bananas and Diet Coke for their lunch.), lunch (now for humans!) at the famous Phi Phi Don (Big) island, and a laze-like-lizard session at the Koh Kai (Egg) island. Checkout the breakwater rocks at the egg island.
Phang Nga is not exactly a idyllic beach excursion but it is more to experience the beautiful hill formations in the Phang Nga bay, go sea canoeing under the rock formations in the middle of the sea (ya...crouch and canoe in the sea caves.. it is safe and quite enjoyable traversing the caves),visit Koh Tapu(aka Nail Island aka James Bond Island made famous by the Roger Moore’s 007 Movie 'The Man with the Golden Gun'), checkout the thai life on a big floating village .Koh Panyee..(for the record, it is a muslim floating village.)They got a mosque, hospital, shops, and houses all floating on the waters. It is an interesting life to live afloat all the while, I guess. It is a half day trip where you cross Phuket to Phang Nga (Krabi province) by road and then ferry across the waters.
For shopaholics, Phuket has its own Chaatuchak near Patong and a night market on Bangla road too. You find lot of mimic art galleries where you can get a duplicate of famous paintings done. They are worth the buck but do bargain. Nightlife on Phuket is mostly around Patong, a bit crazy. For adrenalin buffs, you can do the bungee (60m jump over a lake from a crane) or hire a bike to go around the island to explore on your own. Try to catch sunset over Promthep (cape of brahma),the southern tip of the island. For gastro maestros, you get all kinds of cuisine everywhere( for the thick stomachs,count fried crickets and bbq roaches too). Needless to say,Thai food rules as best. Last to say, Do pamper yourself with a leg massage whenever you are tired a tiny weenie bit. Remember it is a holiday :)
Phuket for me has been nothing short of a great adventure... where I challenged myself to dare the limits. I did my first bungee..and boy..it was one hell of a jump(though it is 'just' 60m...I fizzled at the top.So I closed my eyes and stood over the edge...the jumpmaster gave me a nudge..and there I was with the wind buzzing in my ears as I felt like a piece of rock heading to water.Katakkkk... I was swirled up and about...I made as much noise as my heart could... in hope they will bring me down. While lowering..I was so frantic to reach the ground, I caught hold of the guy trying to bring me down and drag him up..He panicked too.It was exactly a youtube material drama.
To go about in Phuket, we (me and my travel buddy Shuk) hired a bike. I was so- so with bike and he did not know how to ride. Going from Kata to Wat Chalong, you have to travel over the hill with many tourists edging their way around in bikes. As usual, I was very much 'myself'..on the edge and drove around like on army mission. After the ride,Shuk promised never to ask me to drive.
As it was not enough, We decided to try out amateur scuba session. And you can surely guess I did this with poise. While Shuk was comfy with the equipment, I was ..hmmm..testing it. The dive master decided not to risk his reputation and made me put a glass helmet(like in those 'abyss' movies) and jump overboard. My request for a life jacket was scoffed with humor and scorn and that's how I made my descent to downunder.After all the hullabaloo on the coral island, I finally got to walk around the seabed ,feeding fusiliers and finding nemo's. It was a great experience which made me move closer by six feet to scuba diving.I am still trying to perfect swimming...:)
