We arrived in Phuket after 15 hours on the plane (or 18 or maybe 20 hours, I have lost count). It was a big mess outside the airport with tons tourists who had just arrived, resort buses & taxis everywhere and very bloody hot !. Luckily Le Meredien (our hotel) had a kiosk at the airport and they helped us to get a cab right away. The Le Meredien resort was really nice, we checked-in and just collapsed for few hours in our room before venturing out to have a quick look at the night life.
Our Hotel staff recommended going to Patong Beach area for the night. Its like a downtown of Phuket island filled with bars/night clubs and restaurants, ofcourse then there is the beach. At night the place completely transforms. The main street with all the bars is blocked off and a party atmosphere takes over with heaps of tourists. I must say it was rather daunting navigating through the crowded street. Every stall owner yells and grabs at you as you walk passed them so we have said 'no thank you' about 5000 times. My god did that get annoying after the 100th time.
Anyways, people come to Phuket for the beaches.Phuket does have rather a lot of very nice stretches of sand.The 3 main tourist beaches of Patong, Karon and Kata are in the southern half of the island. We spent the next day hanging around Karon and Kata beaches. Kata seemed to be more popular with younger people. There were lots of backpacker type accommodation nearby and no shortage of internet cafes.
The next day we went on a day trip to Phang Nga bay.Phang Na bay region is dotted with hundreds of small limestone islands in the archipelago. A trip to Phang Nga Bay is part of many visitors holiday to the Phuket area.
First we went to the James Bond island which is amazing . The island is not really called "James Bond" of course - that's because scenes from the 1974 film 'The Man with the Golden Gun' were shot here. The island is called Khao Ping Gan, named after a leaning rock on the island, and the one that's in all the photos There were lots of tourists and we all had to line up climbing up and down the stairs leading up to the rock.
Next, we stopped at Panyee village (Koh Panyee). Panyee village took about 30 minutes from James Bond Island on the longtail boat. It is a floating village and quite an impressive place to look at. It's a maze of houses, paths, elevated walkways, everything built over the water on stilts! Boats everywhere. You can't get anywhere without a boat. But is equally an odd place when you when you think about it. It's what I would call a micro-society. Everything is built raised on wooden stilts, there's no livelihood here except fishing, and you can do that without living in such an odd place.
It also has the tourist side, every day while the tours arrive there are stalls selling souvenirs, necklaces, shirts, shells, sarongs and much more. By the time we left, it was well after 5pm, and as we chugged back in the long tail boat back to the mainland, it was close to sunset.
Our Hotel staff recommended going to Patong Beach area for the night. Its like a downtown of Phuket island filled with bars/night clubs and restaurants, ofcourse then there is the beach. At night the place completely transforms. The main street with all the bars is blocked off and a party atmosphere takes over with heaps of tourists. I must say it was rather daunting navigating through the crowded street. Every stall owner yells and grabs at you as you walk passed them so we have said 'no thank you' about 5000 times. My god did that get annoying after the 100th time.
Anyways, people come to Phuket for the beaches.Phuket does have rather a lot of very nice stretches of sand.The 3 main tourist beaches of Patong, Karon and Kata are in the southern half of the island. We spent the next day hanging around Karon and Kata beaches. Kata seemed to be more popular with younger people. There were lots of backpacker type accommodation nearby and no shortage of internet cafes.
The next day we went on a day trip to Phang Nga bay.Phang Na bay region is dotted with hundreds of small limestone islands in the archipelago. A trip to Phang Nga Bay is part of many visitors holiday to the Phuket area.
First we went to the James Bond island which is amazing . The island is not really called "James Bond" of course - that's because scenes from the 1974 film 'The Man with the Golden Gun' were shot here. The island is called Khao Ping Gan, named after a leaning rock on the island, and the one that's in all the photos There were lots of tourists and we all had to line up climbing up and down the stairs leading up to the rock.
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| James Bond island
On the way to Koh Panyee from James Bond Island we stopped at an island used as a base for kayaking tours. You can kayak through the tunnels and caves of Phang Nga Bay . We went kayaking around inner cores of islands only accessible at low tide due to the caves was a great experience
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Next, we stopped at Panyee village (Koh Panyee). Panyee village took about 30 minutes from James Bond Island on the longtail boat. It is a floating village and quite an impressive place to look at. It's a maze of houses, paths, elevated walkways, everything built over the water on stilts! Boats everywhere. You can't get anywhere without a boat. But is equally an odd place when you when you think about it. It's what I would call a micro-society. Everything is built raised on wooden stilts, there's no livelihood here except fishing, and you can do that without living in such an odd place.
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| Approaching towards Koh Panyee |
It also has the tourist side, every day while the tours arrive there are stalls selling souvenirs, necklaces, shirts, shells, sarongs and much more. By the time we left, it was well after 5pm, and as we chugged back in the long tail boat back to the mainland, it was close to sunset.
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