Phuket, Thailand

Day 1

We were really looking forward to relaxing on the beach and getting away from the the hustle and bustle.  After landing, we saw that we were still in Thailand with many tourists and we weren't going to get away from the salesmen anytime soon.  We skipped the people that offered 100 Baht rides into the city.  These are so cheap because it is a shared ride van and the vehicle will not leave until it is completely full.  We ended up going outside to the public taxi and were charged 600 to Karon Beach.  This wasn't terrible considering it was  about an hour away.

People seem to be selling their window space?

Our Hotel

Movie Selection

Someone is going to get a surprise in the middle of the night

We never used this

After checking in, we dropped off all our stuff and decided to explore the area.

Our first lunch

Careless Whisper on the tv

Fried Egg Rolls - Now that I think about it, where's the egg? the crust?

Chicken Curry

Pad Thai - we ate a fat kid lunch and got 2 entres

Sofas in the hotel

The rest of the night was aimless wandering the immediate area.  We would pop into a 7-11 every so often to get a beer.  We turned it in relatively early so that we could finally get some rest.

Day 2

We slept in and finally got some rest.  We ended up leaving the hotel at 2 or so and got breakfast at the Mermaid.  It was decent and fairly priced.  Afterwards, we went to the beach to get some color.  We were definitely in the top 5% of the youngest there.  We weren't sure if it was the timing or the particular beach that we chose.  In either case, we rented some chairs, grabbed some beers, and relaxed.

After a few hours on the beach, we headed back to our hotel and wanted to see the sunset at a cliff-top bar.  It turned out to be really cloudy so we saved it for Tuesday when our classmate would show up.  We walked around and found a decent spot to view the sunset from and had some drinks.

Uh oh - Someone is in trouble

Phuket something

So so so many chinese new year decorations

Attempting to see the sunset through the bajillion clouds

A lot of restaurants had fresh seafood out front for you to pick from to grill

After passing baskets of fresh seafood, we came across some food carts.  There was one with noodle soup, which was AMAZING, and one with pork bun, which was SUPER AMAZING BEST EVER.  After our little snack, we headed back to the hotel to plan our night.

Condiments for Noodle Soup

Noodle Soup

Took this picture while we sat eating noodle soup - we had to get up 5 seconds after taking this picture because we refused to buy overpriced drinks from the establish that was right next to the food cart

Yummy

Hello Kitty Tuk Tuk

I ate a lot of these

Rotisserie Chicken

Rotisserie Chicken Chef

We decided to hit up one of the recommended restaurants in our travel guide because we didn't know any better.  The place seemed pretty close so we decided to walk it.  Well, remember when I said that things are not as close as they appear.  Well, they are not.  We walked for an hour?-ish?  We almost gave up several times along our walking adventure.  Finding the restaurant was a stroke of luck as well.  It was down an alleyway and did not have a super obvious sign.  It was a good thing that one of my friends with superhuman eyesight noticed it.

Trying out some new beer

I got Limeade but it seemed like they put salt in it

Masaman Curry

Spicy pork with 100 year old egg

After dinner, we walked tried to find a tuk tuk but was unsuccessful for the first km.  If you know anything about this place, the amount these drivers charge is not based on anything.  They will charge 400 to go 3 km when our airport ride was 600 for 1 hr!  Anyway, we turned down driver after driver until one said ok to our 100 baht proposal.

This is when I retired my camera for the night and we decided to visit Patong, the party city of Phuket.  It was not what we expected and pretty much saw a lot of the same we saw in Bangkok, including the Ladyboys.  We walked around trying to find a proper pub and relented to a dance club called Banana Club.  It seemed more chill due to the entrance fee and we had a good time before tuk tuk-ing it back to our hotel.

Day 3

Day 3 was a big day.  It was our tour day of the Phi Phi islands.  We chose to go with the super luxury tour package because we didn't want to get lumped into a boat with 50 people.  Another reason why ours was $100/pp instead of $40/pp was that we got to visit 6 islands as opposed to 3.

We were up at some early hour and immediately passed out when we got into our van.

Sand tan

The boat was nice.  Our guide was nice.  We had about 22 ppl on our tour and we didn't feel crowded or rushed at any point.  We had an opportunity to snorkel at a couple of locations and the highlight of the island tours was Maya Bay.  What a sight!  Pictures do not do it justice and it is definitely a slice of perfection on earth.

First Island - some semblance of privacy

Our lunch spot

Our guide

My view was blocked a few times

Monkey Beach

Where they get the bird's nest for bird's nest soup

Sand was super smooth

Maya Bay

Some of our snacks on the boat

Leaving Phi Phi

Going home from the dock

What kept me alive from the 10000000s of mosquitos

Chicken curry for dinner - are you surprised?

Day 4

Day 4 was a relax day.  Besides being exhausted from boating all day and snorkeling, one of my friends got kankles.  We decided to hit up the last restaurant in our guide book, the Pad Thai Shop, said to have the best pad thai in the world.  After a quick breakfast, we began our hike down the beach.

Not sure why there is a bottle of beer and swimming trunks next to the tub

What the fishies that eat your dead skin look like

Our "Quick" Breakfast

This SMELLS - If you see one, either hold your breath and cross the street

Vday stuff in 7-11

Camera Strap Tan

Prawn Pad Thai

How you save space in your luggage

After our 2 meal lunch and waking adventure, we rested up so that we could go out to the after beach bar for some drinks looking at the sunset.

We ended the night with dinner at the Red Tomato.

Day 5

This was travel day.  Our cab was due at 430 am and it promptly arrived.  Getting this cab was an en devour in itself.  When we tried to book a cab through our hotel, they said they were full.  What do you mean you are full?!  How are we supposed to get to the airport?!  Luckily we recruited the taxi driver from the after beach bar. Who knows what we would have done if that was never resolved.  Remember, when in Phuket, set up your return transportation ASAP.

Anyway, we go to the airport without incident except for the fact that he got gas twice?  We got some over priced breakfast at a Burger King in the Airport for 229 Baht and again plopped down in our seats. This time we were getting ready for Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.