We flew by Air Asia flight from Don Muang airport (Bangkok) to Phuket. The first impression of this beautiful city was amazing. The airport is situated right next to the ocean and its mind blowing to see the flight land close to the clear blue waters. Mini bus service is available from the airport to Patong, kata beach and old Phuket town and the ticket price is THB 180 per head. One can even buy a sim card which is free but needs THB 100 recharge. The airport is full of Phuket tour offices. We asked casually about a tour to Phang Nga bay, James bond island. The agent made a deal of THB 2000 per person (written price of THB 3400) and a free drop to our hotel. We found this deal pretty good and went ahead with it. This saved our THB 180 per person as bus ticket to Patong. The program itinerary has been attached below.
It took around an hour to reach our hotel. The journey from airport to Patong is mesmerizing. We were enchanted to see birds, green trees and mountains on the road side. We stayed at Neeraja Guesthouse which is located on Nanai road (2km from Patong beach). The hotel is situated on a hill and has a beautiful view. The room is spacious and the owner is very friendly and helpful. We rented a bike for THB 170 per day from a person who was friend of the hotel owner. Its convenient and recommended to rent a bike in Phuket. In the afternoon, we headed to Patong beach which is famous for beach activities like parasailing, banana boat rides, jet skiing.
We came back, changed and got ready for late night Bangla street fun. Patong has numerous swimsuit shops and offer a very reasonable price. Haggling is encouraged. There are very few restaurants on the bangla street and they do not offer anything except Thai food. We discovered a place called Malin plaza which is 1km from Patong beach. This food court has fried chicken, seafood and fruits at a reasonable prices. We loved the place.
After dinner we went to bangla street. It was amazing. Girls and ladyboys were inviting to their bars. After a while, we went to one of the ping pong show bars. The drinks were priced at THB 900 onwards and we came out. We then went to a soi bar and enjoyed watching strippers. It was a different fun. We stayed there for 30min and moved to a different bar. We then went to the beach.
The next day we had a tour to Phang Nga bay. The pick up from our hotel was included in the tour and the driver came to pick us at 8am. We were accompanied by 6 other people and it took around an hour to reach the pier. On reaching the pier, we got into our boat. The ocean was amazing and the journey was lovely. Our first drop was at James bond island which has caves. We also enjoyed swimming in the ocean. After lunch on the boat (included in the tour package), we headed for kayaking and sea canoe. This was followed by open water swimming. The boat was halted in the middle of the sea and we jumped in the water and swam till one of the islands. The tour came to an end at around 5 and we were dropped back to the hotel by 6pm. After a long tiring day, we decided to take the popular Thai massage (THB 200) and oil massage (THB 250). We then had dinner at Malin plaza and chilled at bangla street.
The next morning, we went to Paradise beach which is 5km from Patong beach. The place was very calm and unexplored and the water was crystal clear. We swam and did sun bathing. In the afternoon, we shopped near the Patong beach. We had Krabi bus to catch (last bus at 6.30pm from Phuket bus terminal 2). A local bus takes you from Patong beach to Phuket bus terminal (THB 30 per head). The A/C bus ticket from Phuket to krabi is THB 145 per head and the bus takes 3 hours.
Krabi tour has been explained in detail in my other trip blog. If you have enjoyed my Phuket trip blog, do read Krabi and Bangkok-Pattaya blog.
