Saturday, October 29, 2011

Thailand Trip : Phuket Day 2

Our first morning in Phuket and the weather was really nice. The sky was clear blue and the sun was bright. Just like the other days, we started our day with breakfast at the hotel. The restaurant is located on 5th floor with a sea view. It was unlike the usual hotel breakfast. There was no cereal. Only bread, drinks and fruits were available on the long table. Instead of a buffet, the waiter showed us a list and asked us to choose 1 from 3 breakfast menu. There was only 1 waiter in duty to served 10 tables. It was so not efficient. We had to wait for quite a long time till our breakfast served. The portion was really small but the taste was good enough.

Schedule for that day was Phi Phi Island full day tour with speedboat. The driver picked us at 8.00 am. The tour was supposed to be started at 9.00 am, but there was a delay because some guests haven't arrived at the pier yet. There were 2 tour guides in that tour and they're so fluent in English. They provided medicine for people who have a seasick for free at the pier. Finally the tour started at 9.45 am. There were about 40 guests joined the tour. Before board on the speedboat, the tour guides asked us to took our footwear off and gathered them in a big bag. Cold mineral water bottles were provided for free on the boat. We had to wear life vest on boat and didn't allowed to stand or walk during the sail to keep the boat balance.



The speedboats

Our first destination was Maya Bay and we had 35 minutes to explore. Maya Bay is famous because of movie "The Beach" was filmed there. It took 1 hour to reach Maya Bay. Eventhough it was low season, Maya Bay was packed with tourists. I really can't imagine what happen in high season, maybe we can't even see the sand. Maya Bay is really beautiful. The sand is so white, the water is blue and clear.

Maya bay

There's a national park there. The park is so gorgeous too. At the end of the park there's a small crystal clear water lagoon. At the other side of the lagoon there's a wood stair lead to a small wood pier above, which has a really beautiful view point towards the sea. To reach the stair, we have to walk across the lagoon. The lagoon floor is rocky, it was hurt to walk across with barefoot. Just right at the end of the pier, there's a net made from thick ropes lead the way down to the sea. Some people climbed down the rope and swam in the sea.


National Park
Lagoon and wood stair
View point from the pier
Rope net way down

If you want to take a Phi Phi Island tour, make sure that it goes to the Maya Bay right on the beach. Some tours, usually with big boat one, listed Maya Bay in their itinerary, but only for sightseeing and not go to the beach. I recommend to take Phi Phi Island tour with speedboat. They usually go to Maya Bay by the beach, but of course it's depend on the weather condition at that day. If the wind is too strong and the wave is too big, the speedboat is not allowed to enter Maya Bay because the way in is quite narrow with high cliffs at its' left and right side.

Way in to Maya Bay

5 minutes from Maya Bay we reached Phi Phi Leh Bay. It's a lagoon with high cliffs on both sides. We were only sightseeing there. The speedboat sailed slowly so we could take pictures. The guides passed plastic glasses with cold soft drink and some snacks.


Phi Phi Leh
Phi Phi Leh

The next destination was Viking Cave. We were not allowed to enter the cave and can only took pictures from the boat. The guide said that tourists were allowed to enter back then but because the people who live there disturbed by it, they blocked the entrance. 


Viking cave

From Viking Cave we went to Monkey Beach. The beach was very small. Some people from other boats are swimming and snorkeling there but we didn't went down there. Our boat moved close enough to a tree and there were many monkeys there. The guide gave us banana to feed the monkeys. 




Next destination was swimming and snorkeling spot. I can't remember the name of that place. It was an open sea. It was my first time snorkeling and I really enjoyed it. The guide threw a piece of bread near me and the fishes crowded around me in a flash. We spent about 15-20 minutes there. It was already pass mid day when we reached Phi Phi Don and we had lunch there. The lunch was served in buffet and they were good. After lunch, we still had time to relax on Phi Phi Don beach for a while.


Phi Phi Don beach

The last destination was Khai Nai. It's a small island. Just like the other islands in Phi Phi, Khai Nai is also pretty with white sand, light and dark blue water. There's a restaurant in Khai Nai sold cold drinks and ice creams in high price. Some local sold boiled corn too. Watermelon, pineapple and soft drinks served in there by the guides. It was free time, so we were allowed to do anything, swimming, snorkeling or maybe just relaxing on the beach. A beach volley place also available on the other side of the island. The sun was shining so bright, it was so hot and I already got burnt during the trip, so I was only relaxing on the beach bent under a big umbrella. I really like beach. The wave sound made me relax. It was so relaxing till I fell asleep. We spent about 2 hours in Khai Nai.

Khai Nai beach
Relaxing on Khai Nai beach


At 4 pm we were scheduled to go back to Phuket but suddenly the wind became so strong and the waves were high too. The speedboat couldn't came close to the beach, so we have to walked to the speedboat which is stopped about 5 meters from the beach. We walked till the water almost a chest deep. We also got difficulty to climb up the boat due to the high waves. Thankfully all went alright and we headed back to Phuket. It took 35 minutes to reach Phuket. I sat in front during our way back. The wave was so big and the boat was so bumpy. Whenever a big wave struck the boat, I felt like about to thrown away from my seat. It was a great experience though. If you ever take a speedboat tour in Phi Phi Island, try to sit in front, it's so much fun.

At night we went to Jungceylon Mall. It's located right across Bangla Road. The mall was quite big. They sell various kind of souvenirs at lower ground. We had dinner at an Irish restaurant there. I had Irish beef stew, which I found it has similar taste to Indonesian food called "Semur" and my boyfriend had fish n chips with 500 ml Singha Beer for two. There's a laser and fountain show everyday at 7 and 9 pm. We finished our dinner and walked by the place right when it was about to start. I couldn't hear the narrative clearly due to the lack of speaker sound, basically the story was about a ship called Jungceylon, that's all I got. Before went back to hotel, I bought mocca almond crush ice cream and chocolate shake at DQ and they were really good.

Jungceylon

Phi Phi Island full day tour - THB 1100/pax
Tuk tuk hotel - Jungceylon - THB 150/way
Dinner - THB 860
Mocca almond crush ice cream - THB 30
Chocolate shake - THB 25

6 comments:

Surin Beach Phuket said...

We are planning to visit Phuket in mid-Dec.
Thank you for posting.
I've been looking at some of the posts on this website to get an idea about travel in Phuket for my next vacation.

Christine said...

You're very welcome. I hope my posts can help. I didn't have much time at Phuket. There are so many other beautiful islands in Phuket I'd like to visit one day :)

Fitri Intan Dini said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Phuket is a most beautiful Island of Thailand. It is home of beautiful beaches that attract more visitors. Then there are also so many best seafood restaurants, awesome Butterfly, Orchid Garden, Insect World, Zoo, Fantasea etc are also very attractive places in the Phuket.

Lagoa Eco Resort

semonskorry said...

Happy to found this blog. I have some facts related to this blog and I would like to share with all its readers. Definitely it is going to help everyone and aware people with some more knowledgeable points.หาแฟนภูเกต

Thien Nguyen said...

Hi! I’m Thien from Vietnam. Thanks greatly for your sharing! That’s really helpful! When you're in the diverse Malaysia, remember to bring some specialties of the country to home. Refer to this What to buy in Malaysia as gifts to get useful suggestions. Just from my experience.

Have a great trip then!

Post a Comment

Thank you for stopping by my blog.
If you like my posts or find them helpful, please click [g +1] button.
Let me know what you think by comment below :)