Phuket, Thailand - The Island of Fulfilment (Day 2)

Day 2 (10/09/11):

Morning wind and tide were worth
our effort any way:D

5.30AM On the next day, we went out to the beach in front of the hotel early in the morning for the sunrise. It is a piece of advice for you guys: Don't think about sunrise if you are staying at Karon, Patong or any beach along the West side of Phuket; like what we did:).


7.30AM After missing the sunrise and packing up our stuffs in the hotel, our hotel's breakfast vouchers were not wasted. As I mentioned before, the restaurant's location was pretty good for us to enjoy the meal while refreshing our eyes with the ocean in front.

Despite having some problems with the Phi Phi island tour due to the fact that we hadn't booked the tour the day before, finally we got one-way boat tickets to Phi Phi island at 11AM, thanks to the agent's contact that we had got on the first day.

Boarding...

(Tips: Always book for these island tours at least one day before, and it's best to make it from 9AM-5PM. Even the tour desk at your hotel would usually operate during this hour.)


One lucky thing happened after all the harsh time that morning, we were offered 400 baht/person for the return ticket including hotel transfer to Phuket's hotel on the following day, which was kind of cheap compared with normal price of 500-600 baht/person, even in this low season:).

In the boat.

Reaching Phi Phi Island.

1.00AM It took two hours from Phuket to Phi Phi Island, and it was a pleasant trip in that cloudy day. Since we hadn't booked any island tour before departing for Phi Phi, we approached a tour agency near to the pier and fortunately, the next island tour at 2.30PM was on.

It was a long way from the pier to our hotel, longer than what we could expect. Nevertheless, the small and lovely town resided on this charming island was really worth our time taking a walk around. And amazingly enough, we found a lot of shops such as scuba diving, etc. owned by Europeans here.

A 15-minute walk through the town finally brought us to our destination, PP Ingphu Viewpoint hotel. Oh before that, I would like to mention about the steep road before reaching the hotel. A lift like the one below was desirable yet never expected:)), which gave us a unique experience here as well.

Hotel's Front.

PP Ingphu Viewpoint was no ordinary hotel. Each room was pretty much like a small private chalet surrounded by nature, resting on the side of the hill. To get there from the reception desk, we needed to climb up another long staircase. However, we were really pleased with putting our effort into getting there and by that, grabbing a unique life experience staying in this wonderful chalet with a fantastic view over the sea.

(Tips: About the hotel itself, the rooms were pretty much standard, yet the price was unbelievable cheap: ~U$14/night/person for non-aircon. Be warned that this place is not recommended to anyone who couldn't or doesn't like climbing staircases.)

(Tips: Do not go for any hotel near the beach at the north of the island if you want some good sleep. There is party at the beach every night, and believe me, it is really loud.)

On the way back to the pier for the island trip, I took another nice picture of this place:

2.30PM Ready for our island exploration, here we were at the pier. We had chosen speed boat over the longtail boat, and it was definitely a right choice. Though longtail boats are cheaper and more private, speedboat could save us a lot of our precious and limited time here. Not even mentioning about the fun that we had by sitting in front of the boat, it was a win-win situation. If you would like to have some really "bumpy" feeling, I recommend you to go for the very front circular seat bench of the boat before anyone gets there, you are gonna have a lot of fun during the whole trip:D (you might not get the bumpy thing during the sunny season. In the low season, the tides were really strong out here.)

Our first stop was Monkey beach, yet due to shallow water, the boat could not get in. What a pity, from out here we could see those monkeys playing on the beach there.

Money Beach.

The next stop was Viking cave that basically I could not hear anything from the driver's story regarding this cave. It could be because we were sitting too far, or probably we were totally stunned with the unbelievable beauty right in front of our very own eyes.

Viking cave

It was just not the end of it. Loh Sa Ma Bay, our last stop in this wonderful trip, was stunningly beautiful. And this was just the passage for us to reach the final destination, which we all heard about very often, Maya Bay, the place where "The Beach" was filmed.

Loh Sa Ma Bay

Have you noticed the color of the sea? Yes, it was truly emerald sea water here, and I promised I didn't do PS on any photo posted here. I myself was really amazed no less than anyone, since it was the first time I saw this sea color, and I truly felt how lucky I was at that time (I love sea, by the way:p)

The most difficult part of this trip was getting into Maya Bay from here. In the middle of the sea, we dove into the water and swam our way to the cliff. Crawling along the cliff and stepping on these slippery rocks with one hand holding tight to the rope, everything sounds easy enough until certainly a strong tide came in, blowing off all of us despite any attempt to resist. Believe me, a lot of people got scratches and wounded by the time we reached the land.

After that challenging task, we moved on to the forest on the island. Finding our way to Maya Bay, certainly out of the forest, a huge space was opening up, with the finest sand under our feet and the most beautiful beach in front of our eyes surrounded by those tall and magnificent cliffs. We could not believe in our own eyes, we were totally stunned and no-one could talk to anyone. At that very moment, everyone seemed to be living in their own world, and without saying anything, it was certain that four of us were sharing the same thoughts and feelings. Just this one, I would like to leave all the feelings for those who hasn't visited to explore, and for those who has visited to recall. You MUST come to this place and feel it by yourself, no-one could describe to anyone how great the feeling was. 

Unluckily, we could not take any picture here since we left it with the boat's assistant, and somehow we could not find him when we were at Maya Bay. Having said that, we felt no regret at all, as we knew that, the feeling we had there wouldn't never be faded, and the image we had captured in our mind, it would be there forever.

I just borrow this picture from the internet for the completeness. Personally I don't feel this picture could capture the great view and feelings that I had on that day. Anyway, I took this just for your reference.

This picture was definitely taken during the high season, with the clear sky and peaceful sea. It wasn't the case for us at all on that day, and it won't be the same for you either if you decide to go to Phuket during low season.

Cold cokes were waiting for us when we reached our boat, and it might be my best coke so far, just because it came in at the right moment. Luckily enough, the sky was getting darker and darker. If it had been like that when we reached Maya Bay, we could have not been able to see the exceptionally astounding Maya Bay. Anyway, it started to rain, followed by the storm. Now that on the way back to Phi Phi Island, the boat even got bumpier than before and the rain was hitting pretty hard to our faces, but somehow we were laughing there out of joy:))

By the time we were back to Phi Phi Island, the rain hadn't stopped or seemed to be stopping at all. We ran our way back to the hotel without any raincoat while busy keeping water away from our cameras.

(Tips: To avoid disappointment, during low season, make sure you have plan B and pray for a nice weather. Island tour at Phi Phi island could be cancelled due to bad weather.)

8.30PM The rain was pretty much over, left a cool breeze and refreshing air on this island, Phi Phi. Being all exhausted after the trip, we were headed for a nice seafood restaurant named Noh Chan, located somewhere near the pier to the south of the island.  

Phi Phi Island's Map - From hotel's owner

Noh Chan restaurant

Lobster:X

The food was nice and the price was very reasonable. Moreover, it helped us regain back all the energies that we had "dropped" on the way during our trip earlier. After that, we went for a drink at a pub to the north of the island, right at the beach. Here was my first chance to take some pictures of guys with fire:

That night, we had a good sleep at those special "chalets". Though it was fan-only, the weather was cold enough to keep us cool for the whole night. The next day, we were going back Phuket Island and preparing for one of our biggest adventure, Bungy Jump.

End of Day 2 - A memorable day in my life.

(To be continued.)

Phuket, Thailand - The Island of Fulfilment (Day 1)

Phuket is an island located at the south-west coast of Thailand, just above another beautiful island Langkawi, Malaysia. It is famous and really up to its reputation for its long sandy beach, emerald sea water and a vast amount of activities to fit the needs of people from all walks of life. It is true enough that the moment you set foot on this charming island, you would never regret any single effort you have put in to get there. We have had the privilege to visit this gorgeous island during those cloudy and rainy days (09/09/11 - 12/09/11), and the enjoyment from this trip has easily convinced us to start this post, something we never do for such a long time, to share with you guys and at the same time, remind ourselves those great moments of our youthful time.

Tips:

• Season: In Phuket, high season is November-May and low season is  June-October.
• Weather: Though it is cloudy and rainy in low season, less tourists will be there and you can find almost everything cheaper by half.
• Beach: I highly recommend Karon Beach for those who like to enjoy a relaxing and quiet surroundings. For those who enjoy party, Patong beach could be your choice.
• Hotel: We visited Phuket in low season (September), and managed to get a cheap price for three nights hotel stay with a total of ~US$41 only via http://www.agoda.com/.
• Miscel.: A lot of useful info and latest news at Phuket could be found at Jamie's blog: http://jamie-monk.blogspot.com/2006/08/phuket-hotel-recommendations.html.

Day 1 (09/09/11):
On the flight from Singapore to Phuket, soon enough we realized that we were on our way to "paradise".

Phi Phi Island - View out of Airplane Window

So my advice is, and I bet you have found this advice some where else on the internet, do whatever it takes to get a window seat. Otherwise, you are going to miss all those magnificent views out there. Take your chance to get a bird's-eye view on the Phi Phi Island as well.

Karon Princess Hotel's Reception

Upon arrival, Karon Princess Hotel, a beachfront hotel located at Karon beach, was our first destination. A taxi from the international airport to Karon Beach took us 700 baht, and 600-700 is a reasonable price here for that distance.

And the room.

The hotel itself was clean, comfortable and pretty affordable, though we found out that the service was not so good and the staffs there were not very cheerful, either. Nevertheless, the hotel was facing the Karon beach, just opposite at the other side of the road, made it a beautiful spot for enjoying your meal while overlooking the ocean. The hotel rooms did not face the beach though since they were a bit further down the small valley road, yet the beach was near enough and almost all the time we did not stick to our hotel rooms, thus it was not a concern.

Karon Beach - View from Hotel's Front

It was a sunny day, the weather was just cool and we could enjoy the breeze everywhere all day long. We never expected such a beautiful weather at the first place, since we were afraid of the rains in this low season. Luckily, the weather was in our favor for at least the first two days.

And here comes our group of travelers, having lunch at a Thai restaurant near to the hotel. Our first meal was really satisfying, the food was yummy and affordable. The atmosphere was quiet with not a lot of tourists around, a peaceful lunch indeed.

After lunch, we have some free time before the elephant trekking in the evening. Swimming was definitely one of the best options whenever we have some spare time gaps. As we were standing here at Karon beach, with the fine sand under our feet and the strong wind bringing the aroma of the sea water all over the place, we were all feeling a strong sense of gratification and peaceful moments.

Karon Beach - A quiet and relaxing beach.

In the afternoon, we visited Safari Elephant Trekking, a well-reserved place with greens covering up a large area. Here was just like a small village, with a lot of nature to enjoy and refreshing air to breathe.

She wanted to take a pic with the buffalo, he scared her and ... the buffalo as well:))

My Beauty:X

After walking around this area for a while, it was our turns to "ride" the elephants. When I stepped on its back, at first I was afraid it might hurt and raged up, yet I realized how rough and thick an elephant's skin is.







After the elephant trekking, we moved on to watch an elephant show. Watching such a funny show performed by the elephant which we once thought as rough and boring animal, we totally changed our perception of them. Now we think they are very cute and lovable, and they could do more than what most people think.

Basketball, Soccer, Dart, etc.

Step on and blow into my girlfriend's ears:))

Four of us with them:)

Back from Safari Elephant Trekking, we took a good rest at our hotel before departing for Phuket Fantasea Show, located at Kamala beach to the north of Patong beach. Situated in a park, Palace of the Elephants was a big theater where the show was performed. It was a fun experience, yet I found out the story was hard to follow and the contents were not very interesting. Nevertheless, we did enjoy the show and the atmosphere. There was no pic taken during the show since camera was not allowed. The fun part was that we stayed back after the show to play those mini games in the park, and tried to win a prize. Eventually we got it after the attendants were tired of our poor performance and eager enough to go home that they gave us more balls to throw (at that time, the park was almost empty with no tourists:))

 (Tips: At the end of the show, rush your way out of the theater and try to grab your cameras before the crowd reaches there.)

Palace of the Elephants - after the show

We stayed back and tried to win a prize through these mini games.

By the time we reached our hotel, it was already almost mid-night. We decided to get a good night sleep and prepared for our promising trip to Phi Phi Island the next morning.

End of Day 1.

(To be continued...)

Hello World!

Welcome you to Blue & Sky blog ;)) We are a couple who love to wander and "live the road", love to make friends and do crazy stuffs. We are the newbies in this wanderlust world and really eager to get to know you guys as well as share our stories.

Somehow we feel time is drifting by and no way can we keep our youth better than travel and write about it. We hope this blog will help us keep a significant part of our memories and remind us how beautiful this world can be. 

Guess what we need to do now is to grab a backpack and just GOOOO :))) See u guys later in our blogs. Look forward to making new friends here, reading interesting posts from u guys and getting inspired more by trips around the world. 

See ya!
Blue&Sky signed and sealed :))))