Where do I even begin?
I have about roughly 1000 pictures from this trip, a few videos, wonderful memories, soulful new friends, and battle scars to document out of this 7-day trip of mine.
My traveler friends always find it slightly shocking when I say that this has been the longest trip I’ve ever taken this year. Out of the four out-of-the-country trips I’ve taken in 2014, this is indeed the longest. Most of the time, I escape only on weekends. And, sometimes, when I’m lucky, I get to add another day and have three days all in all. Status quo for my trips is always fly out on a Saturday, come back on a Monday.
So why did I go for it? I celebrated my birthday last month, and despite knowing how busy my December will be, I decided to give myself the gift of time and disappearing in a place I’ve never been to before.
I’ve gone to Thailand twice, but never to Phuket. The first time was in Pattaya and the second, in Bangkok.
I have to say, out of my three Thailand trips, this side is my favorite. I have, however, yet to see Chiang Mai. This place I surely must visit for the lantern festival in the near future.
Anyway, back to my Phuket trip.
I went barely with a plan in mind. I had two thoughts, get to Patong, then head to Ko Phi Phi.
This is the route I ended up taking:
Phuket town –> Patong (Barely a day) –> Ko Phi Phi (3 days) –> Railay (1 day) –> Kata Beach (2 days)
This is what it visually was like for this route:
Stop 1:
Stop 2:
Stop 3:
Stop 4:
There are other islands that I hear are good that I could have visited like Ko Lanta and Ko tao that would have been nice stops, but I guess it only means I have to head back.
The only way I can probably talk about this trip of mine is to talk about each place, each stop, and all that I enjoyed (and didn’t enjoy) doing while I was there.
Let’s start with the infamous… PATONG!
Even before I flew to Thailand, one of my friends had already warned me. Don’t go to Patong! “It’s a red light district,” he said.
Considering I got to Phuket at about 10ish, I was in a rush to choose a place to head to and Patong seemed to have a good hostel there so I ended up choosing that as my first stop.
From the Patong airport, you can take a cab which is about 700-900 Baht. I opted for the mini-van, because it’s only for 150 Baht.
Although, the first indecent proposal I got there was at the airport where you are tasked to book the van ride. “You come with me, and ride free…”
Uhmm tempting (…not), but no thanks.
The van ride is about an hour and maybe 30 minutes or less. I remember getting to the place, Bodega hostel, at about midnight.
The only thing I could pretty much do aftet that, according to the nice receptionist, was head to Bangla Road. You see, I never knew what Bangla Road was prior to my field trip there. I had asked the receptionist where I could get street Pad Thai and he quickly said “Bangla Road.”
Excited for my street pad thai, I freshened up, left my bags, and headed to the streets.
I stopped at a pharmacy and asked where Bangla Road is and one guy who was buying medicine as well chuckled and said “You won’t miss it…it’s the noisiest part of this area.”
And he was absolutely right. Bangla Road was just about 5-10 minutes away from where I was staying. One thing that surprised me, though, was how it transported me back to my shocking trip to Pattaya.
“Ahh, so this is what my friend meant,” I thought to myself.
I felt rather uncomfortable walking around, so I quickly found my spot, which is highly disappointing for my first meal during this trip, but I ended up in Mcdonalds, ordering what I normally get, Mcchicken and fries.
I cannot be blamed, though, as a female lonesome traveler, all I wanted to do was eat and be gone!
And that I did.
Below are some pics of my hostel in Patong and Bangla Road:
Recommendations for those who plan to stay in Patong:
– If you’re the type who likes hostels, I give Bodega 3.5 stars out of 5. I like that it’s artsy and the beds are comfortable (except for the pillows), the lockers in the room, and most of all the really helpful and nice receptionist.
– From the airport, if you take a mini-van, they will take you to a tour company. Please do not avail of the trips there unless you know it’s the cheapest. I got talked into buying a van+boat ride to Phi-Phi deal for 500 Baht. Had I read Bodega’s thank-you-reserving-a-room-email, I would have known I could have gotten it for only 350 Baht. Oh well, lesson learned.;)
– Go eat at No. 6 Restaurant. That’s probably the only place I got to eat at because I had to leave for Phi-Phi. How did I find out about it? I asked one of the guards in one of the streets in Patong, and he said that was one of the best. They were good, yes, but I still heartily missed the street food in Khao San Road in Bangkok.
– Go see the beach! I certainly wasn’t able to go.
Next stop… Ko Phi Phi!
Oh beautiful Ko Phi Phi. It wasn’t much of a hassle to go there. For 550 Baht, I was able to get a van ride and boat trip to the island.
I didn’t know what to expect, all I knew was everybody, and I mean everybody, told me to make sure I won’t leave Phuket without a trip to Phi Phi.
As an obedient girl (hah!), I did exactly that and boy am I glad that I did! The minute we caught a glimpse of the island, everybody was obviously in awe of the place. Picturesque. The beach. The longboats. Everything
was just so lovely!
Here are a few pics of Phi Phi:
Things to do in Ko Phi Phi:
1. Go on tours! I went for the Ibex Tour which outlined about 4 stops, including Maya Bay. I only got to enjoy about 2 since I got myself into a bit of a predicament after cliff diving. Despite this, I absolutely enjoyed the experience! Well, admittedly, it could’ve been better without my injured eye and back.:p
Below are some pictures to show you how beautiful this tour was for me (and the whole group):
2. The only other thing to go for aside from going to the other islands or on tours is to check the night life and the restaurants or food stalls there.
The best bar I got to go to there was Banana Bar. Rooftop. Big screens. Music Videos. Good drinks (Loved their Hawaiian Margarita). Great vibe!
Other party places are lined up mostly by the beach. Stones. Blancos. Ibiza. And the list goes on.
You’ll see electrical rodeo bulls there. Fire dancing. Fire limbo rock. Buckets for drinks.
If that’s what you are after, Ko Phi Phi is the right place for you.
Here are some pics of my first night there:
3. Food. For those who’ve read my other travel blogs, you’d know I’m not a big eater. I did, however, enjoy some of my favorite Thai dishes while I was there. My favorite spot is but a stall on the way to the beach called Ko Phi Phi Fast Food.
Other places to try are Grand PP Arcade and Capu Latte.
Aside from those two, I must say it’s quite easy to find an eating spot. There several food stalls and restaurants all over the place.
4. Enjoy the beautiful beach! I stayed at Stones Hostel so it was quite easy to do this. Stepping outside was all I needed to do to enjoy the sun and beautiful view.
There are lots of options for accomodations and it really depends on what you prefer.
Next stop: RAILAY!
Oh beautiful Railay! I moved to another island because three days in Ko Phi Phi was enough for me. I had seen and done all there was to do.
I’m so glad I chose Railay because I saw the best beach there. I spent only a day there, but, boy, was it enough!💗
Beautiful scenery. Lesser people. Quiet hideaway. Peaceful. It was a welcome change, after spending three days in Ko Phi Phi.
Here are some beautiful pictures of Railay:
The highlight of this stop was the trip to Phra Nang Beach.
The walk to the beach itself was already amazing. The beach, even more mindblowing.
Despite carrying my backpack (with my fractured spine–an unknown fact then), I still loved every minute of it!
Oh and when I saw the beach, I completely fell in love. I’ll let the pictures show you why:
We stayed at Diamond Cove Resort, by the way. Beautiful and serene place:
By the way, I paid about 350 Baht for a boat ride from Phi Phi to Railay.
After my Railay stop, I had to decide on where to go to be near Phuket for my flight back to Manila.
I didn’t want to go back to Patong and it seemed like the most logical thing to do was head to Kata.
Kata is a lil more quiet than all the other spots I went to. I would say it’s more of a family or couple destination.
I had fun though, thanks to the wonderful folks I met. I stayed at FIN Hostel. I loved how it looked; it was so vibrant and beautiful. I loved their rooftop pool and common area.
One of the highlights was seeing another lonesome lit lantern up in the sky! My newfound besties and I tried to look for one while I wasn’t there, but to no avail. The sweethearts found one on the night I left though and lit and let it fly for me!
Oh such sweet friends they are!
Anyway, here are some pics from Kata:
Here are some pics of FIN Hostel and my newfound besties there:
Countless beautiful islands. Wonderful beaches. Soulful new friends from all over the world. Sunsets. Swimming with planktons. Lanterns. Amazing, precious memories.
Thank you, Phuket!
Will I ever head back? Definitely! Sans cliff diving and injuries, of course.;)
Tags: amazing, Asia, bangla road, beach, beaches, beautiful, birthday, birthday trip, bodega hostel, diamond cove resort, fashion, Friends, heart, holiday, hostel, hostels, island, islands, jcaf, jcaf art bags, kata beach, ko phi phi, love, memories, ootd, pad thai, patong, phra nang, phra nang beach, phuket, railay, soulful, stones, stones hostel, street food, sunsets, thai, thailand, travel Finds, travel finds jcaf bags, trip, trips, vacation, vacay, Wanderlust, wonderful
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