Travel in Phuket Islandwritten by: Dorcus The biggest island in Thailand is Phuket, located south west of the country in the Andaman Sea. The word Phuket is the modern name for Jung Ceylon and Thalang. There is a close relation between the island and Peninsular of Malaysia. Reference is from a western source which referred "Jung Ceylon" to be a wrong pronunciation of "Tanjung Salang" in Malay, a language widely spoken in Malaysia.
We had heard about the beautiful beach, the nightlife and disastrous tsunami in Phuket and it was in our list of the travel plan but was never a priority. We spent 5 days and 4 nights on the island without setting any itinerary so that we could make our trip as free and easy as we could before we left.
On the first day of our trip, we arrived at Phuket international airport at around 5: 30 pm in our local time. The immigration office was very slow. We queued for more than 30 minutes before we were attended to. This proved why many travellers always commented on the immigrations unhurriedness.
Our process was eased by the services offered by the Phuket airport transfers. Four hours prior to our arrival, we had booked for a limousine service through the website, airporttransferphuket.com. Airport Transfer Phuket company had already prepared receipt for our payment and an envelope filled with travel information and tourist maps.
The staff from the Phuket airport transfers were helpful as they told us that the stands of the Phuket taxi and minibus were located at the left side outside the arrival hall and we had to only look for a tag with our names. Within few minutes, we were able to trace a sweet lady carrying a big tag encrypted "Wong Ls" waiting for us at the exit of the arrival hall.
We got into a comfortable Toyota Altis, a Phuket taxi, heading to Baan Paradise Hotel. Though the driver drove fast, it took us almost an hour to arrive at the hotel. We paid 750 Bahts for the service. Soon after we reached the hotel, we were surprise by a sexy- boy parade outside the hotel. There were also guys dressed in lady-like costumes who were advertising some sort of products and services provided at the sexy-boy street, which was two blocks from our hotel.
We were also entertained with an open dance pole by some sexy ladies. We termed the dance as "open" as anyone who passed by Bangla Road could watch. This road was only busy at night. Lay-boys paraded on this street on the upper right of the road while sexy-boys paraded on the upper left of the street. The ladies prepared for their dance of the night at the lower right of the road and at the entrance of Bangla Road from the beach.
We visited Jung Ceylon mall and Promenade mall on the first night. The malls are located along Bangla Road. Jung Ceylon is a modern shopping complex located at the upper left of Patong and Patong Promenade mall is quite new and empty and it is located at the upper right of Patong. We also took a night walk along Patong Beach.
Patong streets are full of tattoo services, pharmacies, exchange currency booth on the lower left side, hotels and eateries. The street was very safe during our visit.
Our second day we spend it by taking a tour around the island. We opted not to drive by our own and got a good offer from a Phuket taxi for 1200 Bahts for a five hours trip. The driver could speak English and was very polite.
The first stop we made was at the Tiger Kingdom. This place made us have unforgettable memories. There were tigers ranging from the smallest to the biggest. The tigers were tamed so we could pet, scratch and even hold their tails from their designated cages. We paid a price of 1400 Bahts for the 20 minutes that we were in the kingdom. We then proceeded to Chalong Wat where we toured the Big Buddha Temple at the top of the hill and took our lunch, Toy yam Kung, at Rawai Beach. We ended our days trip by going to the viewpoint at Mueang District known as Phromthop cape then headed back to the hotel.
The places that we visited that day took us around 6 hours. The driver did not demand for more though we had agreed a 5 hours trip initially. However, we gave him a top of 100 Bahts after the trip. We had our dinner at Shabu Shi, Jung Ceylon and had a walk along Thawawong road before going back to the hotel.
On the third day, we went to Phuket town known also as Phuket old town by bus. It took us around 1 hour to Phuket and paid only 30 Bahts per person. The old town was not as attractive as the tourism leaflets portrayed. It resembled a down-scaled George Town in Penang. Compared to Patong, the street was quiet. Many shops in the town were closed during our visit. The food and souvenirs in the town were very expensive.
Our return journey to Patong took us 30 minutes and we paid 30 Bahts. We arrived at 5:30 pm very exhausted and disappointed. People had their cameras ready waiting for the best moment, the sunset. It indeed delighted us as watched it at Patong Beach. Dinner that night was at the night market in front of Banzaan Fresh Market. They had the best Tom yam.
On the fourth day there was a lot of rains that made us hand in Jung Ceylon mall the whole day. Our choices of activities to do were limited so we watched ATV adventure, did elephant rides and shooting games. We later strolled around the shopping mall, watched a movie and went to take our lunch at Banzaan Fresh market.
The food at Banzaan Market was not good enough but it was edible. The fresh market did not capture our eyes as we had seen much bigger fresh markets before. We did Japanese food in our hotel for dinner as we had no morale for going far that night. The foods quality did not match the price tagged to it.
Finally, on the fifth day, which was our last day, we went to the airport early to book a Asia flight back to Malaysia Phuket is definitely not a tourist paradise and far from being a shopping paradise. It is wholly a tourist trap. A simple Tom yam Kung meal by the roadside of Patong can cost up to 150 Bahts. The price comparable with a nice meal in Bangkok. We came from Phuket almost with nothing except a few fridge magnets and locally made snacks. It was different from our Bangkok tour last year where we bought many clothes and even a travel bag which was of an irresistible price.
That notwithstanding, the experience in the Tiger kingdom was and is one place that would ever be reminiscence.
| Create Date : 24 มิถุนายน 2559 |
| Last Update : 5 กรกฎาคม 2559 20:28:30 น. |
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