Here we go:
Last week was our Mid-Semester Break. It's hard to believe I'm already pretty much halfway through my adventure here. For break, I spent a week in Thailand, staying in two major cities, each for about 3 nights. Phuket and Bangkok. So I'll break it up into two sections.
Phuket
My favorite of the two trips was to Phuket. Located on the West side of the peninsula in South Thailand, Phuket has wonderful beaches and is next to one of the best bays that you will find in Thailand as well as some excellent islands. While the city itself is not what I expected, it was still my favorite location I've been to so far (besides Singapore). What made this trip so great were two things: exploring the islands near Phuket and Patong Beach.
When it comes to island adventures near Phuket, a very common destination is the Phi Phi grouping to the South. While it does come highly recommended by many of my friends and I may want to visit it at some point, we opted for a different kind of adventure. John Gray's Sea Canoe company is a sea canoe tour that lasts a full day (or more if you want/are on a honeymoon), and I can't say enough great things about this company and the experience of their program "Hongs by Starlight".
(Laying down to enter a cavern. A lot more pictures on Facebook!)
(A secluded beach on Hong Island)
Between canoeing through bat-infested caverns that are only accessible through certain tide times, and having to lie down in the canoes as rock ledges pass over you to enter beautifully secluded lagoons, the sights were nothing less than amazing. In addition, the guides themselves were friendly and hilarious (Including pretending to be pirates with us), the food they served was amazing, and the sights they showed us were spectacular. I highly recommend their company if you are looking for some great sights in Southern Thailand, well worth the money.
Patong Beach is the main beach of Phuket, and while it is a beautiful and large beach with sun, sand, and activities, it is infested with tourists. Typically I would try to avoid something like that, but flights into Phuket are cheaper than any other airport in Southern Thailand, so money is money. And when it comes down to it, I just needed a day on the beach. (I mean who can complain)
(The makings of a good day on Patong Beach)
Phuket as a city is alright I would say. Not in any way astounding, although the interesting Nightlife and wonderful Thai Massages are enjoyable (Literally hundreds of massage places, like more than there are coffee shops in Seattle). If I ever went back to Southern Thailand, I would really like visit one of three places however, so just advice for you future travelers: Koh Samui (Ang Thong National Park), Koh Phi Phi, and Krabi.
And now... Bangkok.
I'm not going to say too much about Bangkok. But, I do have to give a shout-out/recommendation to the amazing bike tour we had. What an amazing way to spend our first evening! Biking through the streets of Bangkok (though a little challenging at times) and being shown the sights all by an amazing guide (Getting a local to show you around is the way to go). Grasshopper Adventures is the name of the company, and its a must in my opinion if you are visiting the city even for a short time.
(Temple of Dawn on the Bike Tour)
Ok... Bangkok. Honestly, not my favorite city in Southeast Asia, I'm a little biased towards Singapore however. If I had one tip for tourists (especially if you are white) it's this: you will get ripped off. Be careful. Haggle as much as you can and always ask for metered taxi. But it's going to happen regardless, sorry about that. I pretended to only speak Spanish one time, but that only helped a little bit. Also, Tuk Tuk's. While they are a cool form of transportation (Little motorbike/cart things), they will over charge you like there's no tomorrow. Be careful about that too.
That being said, the shopping in Bangkok is excellent ($20 knock-off Diesel watch... I'll tell you it's real if you ask me though). We spent a majority of our shopping time at MBK mall. Great place, lots of shops, and if you're willing to haggle and look around, you can get great prices.
(Street markets like this are also great places to shop if you can haggle decently)
We also visited the Royal Palace (Oh, side note we were very close to seeing the King at the hospital, but unfortunately we barely missed him while biking through) but as far as the Royal Palace goes, it's kind of a waste of time if you aren't planning on paying to get the full tour (which we weren't) however there are great markets around the Palace that we found for food. If you do go, note this: everyone outside the gate is lying to you. It's not closed, you need proper attire but it's offered free inside, no there are no fees, closures, or entry barriers. Just saying, it will happen.
And then that brings us to the Nightlife. There's nightlife, and that's all I'm going to say. Bangkok is... well Bangkok. If you do plan on going out: be safe and research where you want to go.
Would I go back to Bangkok? No, I've seen it once, and while I think it was a good life experience, it's not really my scene. If I ever go back to Thailand it'll be for an island or a beach :)
So there we go, that is my super-condensed version of what my trip was. Sorry for a lack of humor/blowing through topics. I covered many main points but I left a lot out as well, just for the sake of time (Including a museum of dead people, Phuket city details, restaurants, and housing arrangements in both cities). Let me know if you have any follow up questions (send them on here or facebook, cause apparently I suck at Twitter) I'd be happy to go into detail or let you know about some of the other things I did/saw.
This week will be mostly school work, but coming up in the next month I'm continuing to explore Singapore (Jazz clubs, Night clubs, and Chocolate Buffets) as well as lots of school and work on my book. I'll keep you updated!
Until next time!
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