To begin my travel diary entry, let me just lay down a few quick facts. Phuket, pronounced as "Pooket" is the largest province of Thailand. Thai Baht is the currency of the place and most of the population is Buddhist hence the influence is quite evident in the architecture of the temples there. Now that I have stated a few facts, lets get down to my travelogue.
Getting there
Phuket has an international airport hence planning a short trip was easy and the connectivity is good from India as well as Dubai which is where I live hence it appeared quite convenient. Once you arrive at the airport, there are multiple ways , you can take your trip forward. As in, we decided to stay in Phuket for 1.5 days and pushed off to Phi Phi, you may choose a different itinerary. You may choose to go to different islands from Phuket and it is possible to book on the spot ferries/ boats as well. If I may advise, don't just try sticking to your itinerary, go with the flow. It is a place to just relax, randomly take a ferry to another island to watch the sunset and then party in the night or go snorkeling on another island .
Stay / Accommodation
Phuket is quite a commercial province hence finding options as per your budget and the type of travel is super easy. It is the heart of spas, resorts, hostels and guest houses. Depending on your preferences, you have ample of options and for small hotels and lodges, booking on the spots is easily possible.
Commuting within the city
I am someone who loves to explore a new country on foot but in this case as the tourist attractions are a little far from each other, I recommend hiring bikes. They are quite convenient and save lot of time.Gasoline is readily available in bottles on the side of the roads so refueling is pretty easy. Yes, as the time of hiring bikes, they might keep your passports with them as a deposit, that is also normal and you should not panic. That is more like a security deposit incase you do not return the bike on time, they can track you down and it is returned back to you once you return the bike. I had experienced bike riding during my trip to Bali so I was excited about this one too. Some parts of Phuket are quite green so sitting on the bike on a deserted road and all you can see is lush green forest on both the sides with cool air brushing your hair as you speed gives you a real high!
Top attractions
1. Big Buddha
It is a humongous 45 meters high marble statue of Buddha in the sitting position and is the third tallest statue of Thailand. The Big Buddha glows under the sunlight and is located on top of the Nakkerd Hills which is hard to miss. We had gone there in January,2020 hence it was the touristy season and was crowded but there was enough space for parking available. Though it was quite hot but up there, really nice breeze was blowing which was a relief and the area under the statue gave a great opportunity to see the panoramic view of the city. Though the area around was a work in progress but there was something magical at that place.
2. The Encounter with tigers
There are various tiger parks in Phuket where you get an opportunity to interact with the tigers, of course in the presence of their trainers. On our way back from the Big Buddha, it had started to rain and coincidentally there was an upcoming tiger park on the same road so we decided to visit it and meanwhile skipped getting drenched in the rain. There were different packages based on the size of the Tiger. I went with the medium one. My heart was pounding while the staff took us to the interaction area and I happened to cross others areas as well where I could see tigers playing around, jumping on each other. It was unreal. Finally we arrived to our area which had two medium sized tigers, let me be very honest I did underestimate "medium". They two healthy, big tigers, as big as me. There were two trainers with us who made sure I was quite comfortable in touching them, after a point of time they just seemed to me two big cats , running around and having fun. We took some fun photos too. I was truly surprised by the way they were trained and how playful they were. One came and lay down on the grass next to me,bathing in the sun and once I started scratching his back, he turned like a dog and lay there on the floor , on his back asking for more scratches. The other one kept playing near the pool, I was just baffled with the experience I had there.
3. Wat Chalong temple
It is the most important temple in Phuket, built in the 19th century. It has been open to visitors since a long time for FREE. The highlight of the trip is the Grand Pagoda which is considered to have a splinter from the bone of Lord Buddha. The interiors are beautifully decorated with paintings and statues which have been donated to the temple. The temple remains open from 7 am to 5 pm for the visitors. I also observed a strange ritual, there was a chimney sort of a structure and people were burning crackers inside as a part of offering prayers( follow me on instagram to see the stories from Phuket trip). I stood there for long to see and people kept coming with huge rolls of crackers and there was this one person who kept burning them inside the chimney and waited for them to burst. That's the fun of going to different places and learning something new about the culture every single time.
4. Beaches and View points
When in Phuket, you cannot miss visits to the beaches. Most of them look so untouched, crystal clear water and soft sands. You can simply go for beach hoping and decide to watch the sunset on any of them, everything seems picture perfect. Every beach is different from the other in terms of sand, flora and the amount of crowd present so accordingly you can decide to pick the ones you would want to visit. Some of the popular ones are Kata beach, Freedom beach, Kata Noi Beach, Patong beach, Karon beach etc. Phuket has a number of viewpoints offering stunning views, Karon view point is one of the most popular viewpoints and the busiest. Other viewpoints are Black rock viewpoint, Khao Rang viewpoint but be prepared for a little hiking in most of the cases but all is worth.
5. The Streets and Nightlife
Exploring the streets on foot in Phuket is the best thing you can do as a traveler. There is so much of color on both the sides of the road. There are innumerable stalls of fresh fruits, shops offering souvenirs, there are people selling shell anklets, necklaces and other cute things on the streets. The night market there is quite famous, it is flooded with food stalls offering delicacies at a reasonable rate. If you are someone who can eat anything and everything, this is definitely a "Must-do" thing . The nightlife is quite crazy there too. The city looks entirely different in the night. During the day it is quite chilled out and in the night the same places looks different with light up cafes, clubs, bars and people walking around with pamphlets with offers on booze . Bangla road is certainly the center to visit to experience the nightlife. It is crazy, I feel certain parts are not very family friendly but if taken in the right spirit, it just offers you entertainment and laughter. You can simply go with friends, hangout and have a good time.
Must try dessert
Thailand has its Thai curries and stick rice preparations everywhere but for sweet-tooth like me, I definitely recommend trying out the fresh coconut ice-cream, you can easily spot them on the stalls, costs around 70 Baht, they scoop the fresh coconut in the shell,add the delicious ice cream scoops and decorate it with caramel and nuts. If you are a coconut lover, you definitely love it.
T ips
1. At the time of booking boats/ ferry to different islands, don't book the first deal you get. Go to a couple of shops before taking a call
2. Beware of the ladyboys on the streets, they can be easily found selling tickets for the cabaret show and even if you don't want to buy, they would offer taking pictures with you and end up asking for 100 baht as tips
3. Vegetarians do not need to worry, there are quite a number of options for you to try from Thai dishes and there are Indian restaurants too but the taste is not that great
4.Don't worry you would survive
5.Always carry your swim suit in your backpack where ever you go, it comes quite handy You may carry your own snorkeling kit if you love to snorkel as there are lots of opportunities to do that
6.Yes, for trip like these, do not pack heavy