Sunday, December 5th
Survived the 10 and a half hour flight from FRA to BKK. Luckily it was an overnight flight. I remember seeing 6.5 hrs being left to fly and the next moment it was only 1.5 hrs left. Bliss! Just woke up for breakfast. Funny, the blinds of the windows were down, and I had totally forgotten it was bright outside. After opening my window seat blind I could enjoy views of Myanmar and rice fields right before landing in Bangkok.
I was flying Lufthansa 747-400, my seat was 44K. For future reference row 43 had more leg room as there are no seats in in front of it. The 747 was old with no personal screens provided for economy class passengers. I didn't bother watching the shared screen since all it showed was news and football. I think there was also a documentary shown there but I was fast asleep at that time. The flight attendants were polite and nice.
In BKK I had to get my tourist visa on arrival which meant that I had to fill in a form, provide my return flight number and take a ticket for the passport check queue. I had arrived earlier than most people, so it only took me 20 minutes to get through the red tape. That left me with plenty of time to explore the airport and drop my luggage to the check-in desks at AirAsia. The airline is somewhat similar to Ryanair with the exception that they have all new planes and a lot nicer staff. Each passenger is treated with respect and true friendliness. I had already checked in online in hope that it would reduce the time for Qing and win me some time in case my previous flight was delayed. Unfortunately, domestic flights have all sorts of packages that locals are bringing with them or sending home and it took a long time to get these dropped off, so there was no difference between a regular check-in and a bag drop off!
Finally, after long hours of travelling across continents I reached Phuket. I was a bit nervous about getting from the airport to Phuket town to my hotel but there is absolutely no reason to be worried. The second I got out of the arrivals there were plenty of agents trying to sell minivan services to various destinations on the island. The first who approached me asked me where I was going and gave me a price for the ticket to Phuket town (which was 100b). I agreed immediately as I had read from my LP bible that the tickets are around 180b. The minivan took me straight to the hotel, what a relief! Not so relieved when I saw the room I was staying in Rome Place Hotel. For the 33 euro I paid for it - horrible! The doorway was full of little brown ants. Looking at the pictures it seems to be a nice place to stay but my room seemed to be a downgrade of the ones pictured on booking.com. There were 2 pc's in the hotel for Internet usage - 30b per hour. The computers must have dated back to 1990s.
Monday, December 6th
A better day ahead of me. At least I was well rested and ready to explore the amazing country! Mark, my Irish friend has not replied to my text message, so I decided to take my holiday into my own hands and get a local bus (sörng taa ou) to one of the beach destinations. As I walked in the streets of Phuket I realised there
were no proper side walks which made it very difficult for me to move around with a roller luggage. First lesson learned - do not bring a roller luggage to a backpacking holiday! However, I was determined to find the notorious bus stop and a lady from a travel agency kindly gave me directions on how to get to the bus stop. After a short 10 minute hike I finally found it. The driver of the bus lifted my luggage on the bus and told me to get on as well. I was not sure when I was supposed to pay for the ticket but he did not ask me for money, so I left it to sort out later on. The bus had around 6 locals sitting on it - all of them staring at me with my luggage, camera, and travel guide. There were 3 more tourists but they seemed to know where they were going. I was the only one chancing my luck to get to my newly picked destination Kata. Apparently, it is packed with Scandinavian tourists. I did not know where to get off the bus, so I waited for the last stop. As I got off I made my way to the nearest map. I was not sure if I was in Kata or Karon because the route description written on the bus said Phuket-Kata-Karon and I had just got off at the last stop. After a few minutes of studying the map I was still not able to figure out which beach I was on. After
comparing some of the hotels and restaurants from the map with the ones in LP I decided I was actually in Kata - my desired destination. That was not yet the happy ending as I had to start looking for a place to stay, preferably as cheap and nice as possible. I accidentally found a newly opened guest house www.beachinn-kata.com and got a double room (for myself) for 1000b. Excellent! Beautiful, clean, white sheets, fresh white towels, hair dryer (didn't really use it), LCD tv, fridge, air-con, telephone, wireless, safe, toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo, shower gel, kettle, coffee, slippers, European plugs. There is no need to book accommodation in advance in Thailand, there are plenty of places around to choose from and you can often get a cheaper rate too. The Beach Inn has great location, just opposite Boathouse Wine & Grill (often visited by the Thai rich). After relaxing for half an hour in my room I decided to go for a stroll and get to know the area and beaches. Surprisingly, my first thoughts on the beach were about the tsunami that had hit the coas back in 2004 and what damage it may have done.
Tuesday, December 7th
Mark, my Irish friend is now back in Patong, he asked me if I wanted to come by but I just realised there is no bus service between Patong and Kata. The only option seems to be tuk-tuk and I am not going to spend 500b to get there - might even be 500b each way, not sure. I decided to wait for Kats and Veiko and go there later with them. Sounds like a better cost saving plan. So, I stayed in Kata instead. My crib seems to be so new that the management are still refurbishing it. How did I notice it? The saw started at 10am in the morning not giving me enough time to rest. What a nice wake-up call by the "hotel"! Luckily, the night life in this area does not last long and all restaurants nearby by room close at midnight.
The weather today is a bit better and I can actually see a shade of sun - even had to dig out my sunscreen (probably should have done this earlier as I noticed a bit of pink colour on my shoulders and chest after a few hours on the beach the day before. Here comes the learning curve: even if it is cloudy and nearly grey, still wear sunscreen). I guess I spent the whole day doing nothing, just relaxing, reading LP and enjoying the idea that I was so far away from home.
Wednesday, December 8th - is it?
No idea! Seem to forget about time over here. This morning looked promising - a beautiful sunny day. Made my way down to the beach until my long-waited friends finally arrived. I guess it was good I was not able to spend all day on the beach since it was quite unbearable to spend all the time in the sun. The climate here is completely different and so is the strength of the sun. In Estonia everybody would be frying themselves on the beach all day long without any problems, whereas here, 15 minutes was maximum time I could spend in the sun without jumping into the crystal blue Andaman sea. I didn't bother renting an umbrella either as I was supposed to meet my friends in a few hours time. I agreed to a less posh version of lying on my towel. Eventually, I put on my surf top not to completely burn myself. Sunblock was quite uncomfortable as it kept mixing with sweat and sand. A spray might work better next time..
We spent the evening walking on the beach and later grabbed a few bottles of beer to catch up with each other, since we had not seen each other for ages! It was a great night, apart from the fact that my friend Kats had encountered sand flies and ended up with a nasty rash on her feet and legs. I have to say, it did not look great and the pharmacist offered her anti-depressants as a "cure". So, please, read the label before you buy or take any tablets in Thailand. Anything doctors in Europe would normally prescribe was available over the counter without hassle. Sandfly bites are quite common on the beaches but only one of us managed to get the rash. Well, Kats must have been sitting in the nest (since she had around 200 of them), that was the only logical conclusion! As she likes to say: "If you can't be a good example, you must be a horrible warning!"
Thursday, December 9th
A few days have passed and we've got up to visit party heaven Patong. Saw a few lady boys, quite ugly looking fellas. Rode in a tuk-tuk that had loud speakers and colourful lights installed into it to look more appealing to the customer as the competition in tuk-tuk market is fierce! Patong is a place for real party goers who want to spend their time getting pissed on cheap drink. I would definitely not recommend this to families with young children. Bars the size of streets, food places and travel agencies on every single corner. One evening in Patong was enough for us to realise that we would not want to spend our time in that dump but to move forward and explore much more beautiful and peaceful places. We did learn one thing though, when booking day trips to any tourist attractions it is useful to shop around as the same tours can be arranged half price from the price listed in the brochures. Our so called luxury trip's original cost was 2,800b per person and we ended up paying 950b each - what a difference!
When travelling from Kata to Patong we managed to bargain ourselves the ride for 350b. The drivers are really trying to rip everyone off as much as possible, so we figured getting the price down from 500b to 350b between the three of us was decent enough. As the days advance we start picking up all the tricks and tips on how to not get ripped off.
Friday, December 10th - Phang Nga (Bond Island)
Our trip started off with a transfer from our hotel to the pier where the boat left from. It was around an hour and 15 minutes drive to the pier somewhere on the northern side of Phuket island.
Although the boat was far from luxury and we were not even sure if it had enough life vests for everyone, it was still amazing. If something is advertised as luxury - never expect to get it.. Regardless of the boat the views are breath taking - so many small islands covered with greenery painting the perfect picture of Thailand, exactly what I had always imagined it to be like. Our day trip included canoeing and a visit to the famous
Bond island. When choosing which tour to take it really does not make any difference, they are all very similar with small variations, so if you are not expecting luxury just go for the cheaper option. The first time we got on the canoes was pretty shocking. The paddler literally took us into a pitch black cave that was only possible to access during low tide. Scared the shit out of us in the first place. We could not see anything and there was a threat of hitting our heads against the rocks. Of course we were given a head light to switch it on and use it to brighten up the cave but the problem was that we were not able to find the switch! That experience was already well worth of the 950b that we spent on the trip. We just weren't prepared for all this, mentally. We took another canoe journey during that day which was thrilling but not as scary as the first one. The whole journey lasted around 8 hours including transfers from and to the hotel. Phang Nga is a place not to be missed and very Thai.
Saturday, December 11th - new day, new plans
Today was the day when we decided to move forward, to leave Phuket behind and go explore new exciting places. Our next destination was Ko Phi Phi islands. There are two islands situated right next to each other - Ko Phi Phi Don and Ko Phi Phi Leh. Heaven for backpackers, divers, pretty much anyone that is looking for a bit of a different place that is not filled with package tourists. We caught a ferry from Phuket to Phi Phi Don. The journey lasted around one and a half hours. The ferry was packed with a mixture of young backpackers and a few families - mostly aussies, a few brits and a couple of Germans, and us, 3 Estonians. The boat itself looked like it needed a serious revamp - nothing compared to ferries in Europe! We weren't after comfort and luxury, so we did not mind the green walls, horrible toilets and hard seats. There were snacks sold on the ferry at a "bar" with a few packs of Lays, Pringles and local pot noodles. And lets not forget the most important - beer! We did not drink it but there was definitely more beer than food on board. I really enjoyed the journey between the two islands. I spent most of the time on the upper deck gazed by the amazing views, warm sun and relaxed laid-back travellers. As Phi Phi was getting closer passengers on the ferry were getting more anxious and excited and started taking photos of the postcard beautiful island. However, when arriving on the island we were not able to adequately estimate the beauty of the place. So far I had only seen the pier:)
The entry fee to the island is 20b, claiming to be for maintaining it. I did not mind paying for it as long as it goes where it is aimed to be spent. After a short stroll we decided to stay in hotel Ivory. It was only a few minutes walk from the harbour right in the middle of Tonsai Village. Not quite as fancy as on the pictures but the pictures never tell the truth! We only stayed the for one night and decided to look for something more convenient and less pricey. I would not recommend the hotel as it was in the middle of the local fish market. My friends room did not even have a window. The price for two double rooms was around 100 USD. Not too bad but the place itself was not worth it. After leaving the fish market hotel we found a nice and cosy place, right behind Ivory hotel called JJ Residence (or Guesthouse).It had double and single rooms for us so I did not need to pay for two. 1000b for single room and 2000b for double room. We decided to stay there for three nights.
We spend the first evening exploring our surroundings - had a nice walk around Tonsai Village, stayed away from the non-hygienic food, took a few pictures on the beach, visited a lounge/bar called Carlitos. The prices of drinks were relatively high - 180b for a cocktail (in a bucket....). A few hours earlier there were locals giving out vouchers for free cocktails in the bucket. So it is very easy to get drunk and not spend any money. Just collect the flyers and move from one bar to another.
Now who said Phi Phi was expensive. So far we got better deals here than in Phuket.
Tonsai village itself is small and "self maintained". No transport around the island. If we needed to get from one place to another we would have had to hire a long tail boat.
Sunday, December 12th - 1st real day on PP
Got up at around 11am and went on a further discovery trip of the island. Enjoyed some lunch and spent the afternoon climbing around 500 steps up to the top of the hill to the viewing point. The climb itself was not too difficult, I was more worried about the coconuts that might fall on my head while walking underneath the palm trees as well as annoying mosquito attacks.
It was absolutely amazing up there!! We could see all the boats coming in and leaving, the bright blue colours of Andaman sea, the hourglass shaped figure painting the perfect picture of two islands connecting together. We spent a good while up there, probably around 2-3 hours. We wanted to see the sunset from there but Veiko was not so keen on staying so long, so we let him go back to Tonsai Village earlier. We stayed maybe another hour and decided to leg it too as the weather was getting cloudy and we were not so sure about seeing the sunset any more.
On our way down we were making plans for the next day already - whether to go scuba diving or snorkeling. Diving cost 3400b and four hours snorkeling trip with private instructor and private long tail boat cost 800b. We decided to choose snorkeling and see if we fancied anything else later on. In general, there are loads of different trips offered. Most of them are organised by locals whose aim is to earn money not bring people to proper snorkeling locations. Local tours usually pack the boats full of people and let them all into the water together and that's it.
Monday, December 13th
There was only three of us and another Australian guy. The ride out to the snorkel spot was quite bumpy and we all got soaked even before getting into the water. Luckily the adventure club had given us wetsuits, so we weren't bothered too much! Our instructor was a qualified diving instructor who had been in Phi Phi for a month at the time.
The sea was calmer nearby the cliff, so we all got into the water, even Kats. The water was really deep so Kats did not feel comfortable and got back into the boat. The rest of us continued to snorkel. The views were amazing - we even spotted sharks! At least four of them! They were swimming around us in circles and I started feeling slightly uncomfortable. The reef sharks are not dangerous but still, the idea of seeing them and them swimming around us... creepy.
After an hour of swimming in the sea we were brought to a bay surrounded by cliffs. The water was as blue as possible and as calm as in a lake. We all dipped in for a swim and pictures. The views were breathtaking and atmosphere very calm and relaxed. Only a few boats here and there. The place was remote where bigger boats would have no access to.
The next destination from this beautiful calm bay was to actual Phi Phi Leh island. Because of high seas we had to swim around 50-70m to the shore and climb onto the shore by using ropes in order not to disturb or damage the coral in the area. From there it was only a short walk to the beach where the movie "The Beach" was actually filmed, well part of it at least. It was just like in the movie -crystal blue water and white sand. The only difference was that it wasn't as big as I had imagined it to be.The strip of sand was not more than 100m. As we commenced our journey back to Phi Phi Don we enjoyed the views of sunset from our long-tail boat.
In the Adventure Club the instructor showed us photos of the fish we had seen during our trip. The pics were available for purchase for 1000b but we did not find the quality very good, so we did not buy the CD. I would recommend them to give CD's as complimentary to the actual trip.
We spent the evening in Hippies Beach Bar - free buckets of drink for flyers we got in Tonsai Village earlier. The bar itself was brilliant - fire show every evening, music till late, fire torches in the sand, mats to lie down on and small tables for the drinks.
The best restaurant in Phi Phi Don was Papaya. From the outside it looked like a dump but the food was the best and the cheapest. Other restaurants around looked better but did not have as nice food. There were signs on the wall saying the food was healthy and safe but we weren't that sure if all of it was true since they had cats sleeping in the fridge!
Tuesday, 14th December
After a bit of thought and some research in LP we decided to continue our journey to Rai Leh (Railay). According to LP it was a quiet spot that had not been discovered by the package tourists yet. We left our luggage in JJ Guesthouse and headed for the last chance to spend our time on the gorgeous beach. That day was particularly hot. None of us were able to stay in the sun for more than a few minutes plus none of us felt 100% well either. Kats was half asleep in the shade for the whole time and I felt like I had some stomach problems. All I could do is drink water all day. As we had boarded the ferry to Rai Leh, Kats and Veiko fell asleep and I spent the whole journey on the deck upstairs to get a few shots of the landscape and chill out. It took us about an hour and a half to get to Rai Leh. And then suddenly pretty much in the middle of the sea they announced that we had arrived! Who ever wished to get off had to gather on the left side of the ferry and the rest to the right. To our surprise there was no pier in Rai Leh, just a beach. A few long-tails came to meet us in the water and transferred us to the shore. Our luggage was smoothly lifted into the boat and a helping hand held our hand while we stepped into the long-tail boat. As we reached the shore, we had to carry our own luggage to the shore. Of course Rai Leh does not have proper roads, so best thing is to avoid coming over here with a luggage!
There was no need to book accommodation in advance as it is not difficult to find a place to stay there and Rai Leh is small enough itself to explore on foot. We ended up checking into a resort called Anyawadee that is situated on the East side of Rai Leh ( the low budget part of the village). West side was more for high-end customers. To be honest it was a five minute walk from East to West so no big issue really. The only difference was that there was no beach in front of our resort. First we booked two rooms, 1200 baht each. Both of these had three beds in it. We quickly came to an understanding that we could have saved a few bob by just getting one for three of us. 1500b per night which meant 500b per person - bargain!
Now to be completely honest, after arriving in this place it felt like a pointless little village to visit.There seemed to be nothing to do over there and we were wondering why LP would recommend this place.
I guess late arrival, fever and us generally not feeling well made us feel slightly depressed that day. Luckily we were all better the next day and decided to stay for another night and go to explore the area a bit further. It wasn't as bad as it looked. We found a gorgeous beach between the cliffs with nice calm seas and beautiful views. It even had its own mobile (boat) restaurants. I ordered chicken pineapple fried rice. It cost around 60b and tasted delicious and freshly prepared in front of me.
We spent the day on the beach and the evening in two different bars - one was nearby our resort where we could lie down and enjoy a few cold beers with a view to the sea. The second place was the last bar at the far end of the East. We liked it! Very ZEN!
Oh by the way, Rai Leh is a secret place for climbers. There were lots of areas for climbing there and people would come there specifically for this purpose!
December 17th
Moving forward to Krabi.
The morning looked sunny and promising, around 2pm the sky turned grey, so we decided to ditch the beach and start moving back to our hotel to collect our luggage. We were lucky to escape the storm.
It was time to go and I was adamant that I was not going to drag my 20kg luggage to the long-tail boat. We got the guys from the hotel to carry these into the boat.While those poor skinny guys were carrying our luggages we were laughing and screaming while making our way towards the boat.The soil was muddy, sticky and disgusting and we had just earlier seen hundreds of crabs making their way into the water in the exact same spot.
Of course our LT boat only had one life vest so we were joking about who gets to take the vest in case the boat sinks. We thought it must be for the captain, haha!
Krabi town itself did not look anything spectacular when we arrived. We found a hostel just up the hill from the pier. It looked brand new and only opened recently. It was called Pak Up; the staff were friendly, English speaking. It was the cheapest place we had stayed in so far. We paid 700b for a 4-bed dorm which makes less than 10 euro per night. The showers and toilets were separate and nice and clean. There was a roof top bar with cocktails more expensive than a night in the hostel! However, 140b was still a good price for it.
As it was my last night before departure back to Bankgkok we had a good few drinks. Our dinner was probably the cheapest as well. We found a local Night Market accidentally. Everything was so cheap - food, clothes, souvenirs. I got all my 3 friends a bottle of natural coconut oil and small bags with hand-painted pictures. I got Anthony a pack of spices since he really enjoys cooking.
The market was superb. Everything was prepared on the spot and so many variations of sweet and salty foods that I wanted to try absolutely everything.
The next morning we enjoyed a long breakfast together in a cafe next to the hostel. The only place that served real coffee made from beans. I had to have two! Had a few hours left before my shuttle bus was going to collect me from the hostel to take me to the airport. I wish I had a few more days left to explore Krabi. Do some jungle trekking or hiking. Two weeks was long enough to enjoy all of it though.
Krabi airport was very small with only three gates all departing from the same door. Once I arrived in Bankgkok I was already tired after seeing the amount of people Qing. Luckily it wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. The authorities arranged more staff to take care of all passengers.
The flight back to Frankfurt was 11hrs20mins, over an hour longer than the other way around.
General stuff that we noticed in Thailand
No matter how little resources the locals have to arrange a boat, hotel or bus transfer - nothing gets undone because of it! There is always a plan or pattern that seems to work. From the outside it looks chaotic but actually it works perfectly. Most of the business is done over the phone (travel agencies, pick ups from hotels etc) and the driver is always on time knowing exactly what or who he is looking for. They are never late and always helpful, no matter how little money they get for it. As a tourist you are well looked after.
Also, in specific locations there were a lot of homeless dogs (Phuket). On Phi Phi there were lots of cats but all owned by someone, whereas in Rai Leh again there were plenty of homeless cats. In Krabi again, dogs seemed to be the ones who had a home.
In Patong for example (everywhere in Phuket probably) all tuk tuk's wanted to gain a competitive advantage by tuning their vehicles and adding loudspeakers to entertain the passengers. We definitely had fun!
Fish spa in Kata beach for 99b - definitely a very funny experience.
Krabi - foot massage for 200b - cheapest and best quality. Really excellent! Only full of local customers.
