Lobster Boy in Thailand
Ah yes, the world famous Lobster Boy has taken a break from his frequent visits to the Gulf Coast and my parent's back yard pool to make an appearance halfway around the world. Let me say this, the sun on the Andaman Coast of Thailand requires a sunscreen with an SPF of something north of 15. I'm like a nice filet mignon right now...pink in the middle and giving off some heat.
Other than my little sunburn (as Vic used to say, that's a personal problem) I can't say enough about how much we love Phuket. We were a bit disappointed upon arrival, but things have definitely taken a turn for the better. Here's a brief recap...
On the approach into Phuket International Airport you fly over rock islands and stunning limestone formations in Phang Na Bay. This is a good sign. Upon landing, as we walked off the plane, you could see the ocean. Again, good. Then we got on our mini bus and things took a slightly downhill turn. First we got herded into the rear of the van and had to watch as the driver shoved all the luggage into the small space between us and the rear hatch. Later, the Dane fellow sitting next to me reached back, checked his bag, and mockingly said "nothing broken yet". About halfway from the airport to the beach we made a short stop at the "office" where the staff had to confirm our destination. We didn't book any accomadations before we left Bangkok so we had to keep giving telling them "no we don't have a place to stay but it's okay...we'll find our own". I really didn't need to hear their sales pitch on the resorts they get commissions from. After that we made our way to the West coast of Phuket and the glorious beaches on the Andaman Sea.
Our first stop was Patong. It is the largest of the beach cities and the place we figured we'd find the best deal on rooms. So we got off here. The fact that everyone else on our minibus was continuing on to either Karon or Kata should have been a sign. A big, flashing neon sign. Instead, we stuck with our original plan and got out in Patong. After searching the main little drag of hostels we settled on a "triple" (Cece's friend Melissa had joined us in Bangkok and was traveling with us for a week or so) at the Crown Hostel. It was actually two rooms, one a double, the other a single, that shared an air conditioning unit through a gap in the wall. Fair enough. It wasn't too expensive and we were at the beach, right? Well, we were at the beach all right, but not exactly what we were looking for.
We took a quick stroll around Patong and decided it was a little Bangkok with a beach. It was Daytona and Panama City and we were looking for something a little slower and more relaxed. There were more bars, clubs, and European styled restaurants than you could possibly imagine. After a couple of hours we decided to take a trip down the road. So we hopped in a tuk tuk and took took off for Karon, about five kilometers down the road. Luckily for us it might as well have been five hundred miles away. Karon is quiet and peaceful. The long strip of gorgeous beach is almost deserted this time of year. We walked around town and ended up eating dinner at the Green Chili restaurant. The guy running the place was an expat from England who had given us some tips on the town (all of which were dead on) plus the food wasn't too expensive and the place has a beach view. After just an hour or so, we made the decision to leave our hostel in Paton first thing in the morning, get ourselves down to Karon, and spend the next three days in this little slice of heaven. The guest house next door to the Green Chili had an open room that was a suite at the Ritz compared to our hovel in Patong...for only 50 baht more per night (about $1.20). Our new room had ocean views, a patio, a clean private shower, and cable tv. We dreamed all that night that we were already at the new place.
Luckily for us the bars in Patong shut it down early that night (probably around 1:00 am) so we were able to get a few hours sleep after listening to the Bon Jovi tribute band rocking the house just a block from our room. The next morning we paid whatever it took to get out of Patong and down to Karon. After checking in at our guesthouse we put on our suits and hastily made our way fifty yards from our door to the beach. That was what can only be described as a lazy day. We booked a snorkeling trip in the morning and spent the rest of the day chilling on the beach. The waves were perfect for some good body surfing and the sun stayed out all day. That night we had yet another satisfying seafood feast (the food in Thailand has been superb...and quite easy on the ledger) and Cece and Melissa spent some time catching up and reminiscing about the old days (with the help of some refreshing adult beverages). We also started our little friendship with one of the local street dogs that night. We pretty much adopted him as our own little fella (he's got a long, low tan- colored basset body and a little lab like face with perky ears) and even gave him a name, Archie. Cece and Melissa then spent some of the later parts of the evening buying skewers of meat from street vendors and feeding Archie and his friends.
The next day we took a full day snorkeling excursion to Ko Phi Phi (pronounced pee-pee) and we will just have to post the pictures to do that place some justice. We snorkeled in three different locations, all of which featured colorful coral, an abundance of tropical fishes, and sublime scenery, stuffed ourselves at a beachfront buffet on an island resort, and watched monkeys catch bananas thrown from our boat at Monkey Beach. I'm not joking. Monkeys in trees catching bananas thrown from our boat. I'm pretty sure that alone made Melissa's trip from Chicago including her six hour layover tonight in Bangkok worth it. One little monkey even hopped up onto the bow of our boat and took a banana from the hand of our tour guide. The last stop on our trip featured a diversity of coral that matched right up there with what we saw at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Plus we got some great pictures of us feeding bananas to a mob of fish. Who would have thought fish would go crazy for bananas and banana peels?? Apparently the Thais.
We returned to the Green Chili to dine again on some succulent seafood and chat again with the friendly Englishman, Tony. We asked him some questions about the tsunami and got quite a lesson in how the news is presented. I'm sure most of you would agree that after seeing the news about the tsunami you would have thought that all of Phuket was virtually devastated. Not so, according to our local. In fact, the beach we are staying at wasn't affected at all. It is a deep water bay and the wave never went any further than the beach. Amazingly the town of Karon never even experienced any power outages. In Patong, which sits on a shallower bay, the wave did a significant amount of damage on the beach road, but was turned back by all the concrete buildings and resorts along the beach road. Only a few people were killed in Patong. This is not to say that the tsunami didn't affect certain parts of Phuket. Other beaches were destroyed and hundreds of people lost their lives. On Ko Phi Phi the wave reached heights of 13 meters (about forty feet) and killed thousands of people, tourists and locals. But it was a freak accident that didn't need to destroy the tourism industry here the way it did. This is an absolutely breathtaking island with beautiful scenery and picture perfect sunsets over the Andaman. (getting off soap box now)
Today was a bit bittersweet for Cece and I. We got another day to relax on the golden beach (and bake in the scorching sun), but we also had to say good bye to Melissa. She took off for Bangkok around lunchtime and is still sitting in the business class lounge at the airport waiting for her midnight departure for Osaka. After another four hour layover she'll hop on a trans-Pacific flight to take her home to the Windy City. We cannot express enough to her how much we enjoyed her company and how glad we were to have her as a travel companion through Bangkok and Phuket.
But I gotta say, the sunset today was SPECTACULAR. So it wasn't all that bad of a way to spend a Thursday. Is it Thursday?? Okay, I think I can actually hear all of the nasty words and thoughts being tossed my way right now so I'll wrap this one up.
We thoroughly loved our time in Karon and would definitely offer up a strong endorsement for anyone we know to visit here in the future. Tomorrow we fly back to Bangkok and then head to the bus station to catch an overnight, ten hour bus to Chiang Mai (now who wants to trade places with us???) where we'll be doing some more mountain trekking and also take some elephant rides. Won't those be fun pictures!
Signing off from Phuket.
Other than my little sunburn (as Vic used to say, that's a personal problem) I can't say enough about how much we love Phuket. We were a bit disappointed upon arrival, but things have definitely taken a turn for the better. Here's a brief recap...
On the approach into Phuket International Airport you fly over rock islands and stunning limestone formations in Phang Na Bay. This is a good sign. Upon landing, as we walked off the plane, you could see the ocean. Again, good. Then we got on our mini bus and things took a slightly downhill turn. First we got herded into the rear of the van and had to watch as the driver shoved all the luggage into the small space between us and the rear hatch. Later, the Dane fellow sitting next to me reached back, checked his bag, and mockingly said "nothing broken yet". About halfway from the airport to the beach we made a short stop at the "office" where the staff had to confirm our destination. We didn't book any accomadations before we left Bangkok so we had to keep giving telling them "no we don't have a place to stay but it's okay...we'll find our own". I really didn't need to hear their sales pitch on the resorts they get commissions from. After that we made our way to the West coast of Phuket and the glorious beaches on the Andaman Sea.
Our first stop was Patong. It is the largest of the beach cities and the place we figured we'd find the best deal on rooms. So we got off here. The fact that everyone else on our minibus was continuing on to either Karon or Kata should have been a sign. A big, flashing neon sign. Instead, we stuck with our original plan and got out in Patong. After searching the main little drag of hostels we settled on a "triple" (Cece's friend Melissa had joined us in Bangkok and was traveling with us for a week or so) at the Crown Hostel. It was actually two rooms, one a double, the other a single, that shared an air conditioning unit through a gap in the wall. Fair enough. It wasn't too expensive and we were at the beach, right? Well, we were at the beach all right, but not exactly what we were looking for.
We took a quick stroll around Patong and decided it was a little Bangkok with a beach. It was Daytona and Panama City and we were looking for something a little slower and more relaxed. There were more bars, clubs, and European styled restaurants than you could possibly imagine. After a couple of hours we decided to take a trip down the road. So we hopped in a tuk tuk and took took off for Karon, about five kilometers down the road. Luckily for us it might as well have been five hundred miles away. Karon is quiet and peaceful. The long strip of gorgeous beach is almost deserted this time of year. We walked around town and ended up eating dinner at the Green Chili restaurant. The guy running the place was an expat from England who had given us some tips on the town (all of which were dead on) plus the food wasn't too expensive and the place has a beach view. After just an hour or so, we made the decision to leave our hostel in Paton first thing in the morning, get ourselves down to Karon, and spend the next three days in this little slice of heaven. The guest house next door to the Green Chili had an open room that was a suite at the Ritz compared to our hovel in Patong...for only 50 baht more per night (about $1.20). Our new room had ocean views, a patio, a clean private shower, and cable tv. We dreamed all that night that we were already at the new place.
Luckily for us the bars in Patong shut it down early that night (probably around 1:00 am) so we were able to get a few hours sleep after listening to the Bon Jovi tribute band rocking the house just a block from our room. The next morning we paid whatever it took to get out of Patong and down to Karon. After checking in at our guesthouse we put on our suits and hastily made our way fifty yards from our door to the beach. That was what can only be described as a lazy day. We booked a snorkeling trip in the morning and spent the rest of the day chilling on the beach. The waves were perfect for some good body surfing and the sun stayed out all day. That night we had yet another satisfying seafood feast (the food in Thailand has been superb...and quite easy on the ledger) and Cece and Melissa spent some time catching up and reminiscing about the old days (with the help of some refreshing adult beverages). We also started our little friendship with one of the local street dogs that night. We pretty much adopted him as our own little fella (he's got a long, low tan- colored basset body and a little lab like face with perky ears) and even gave him a name, Archie. Cece and Melissa then spent some of the later parts of the evening buying skewers of meat from street vendors and feeding Archie and his friends.
The next day we took a full day snorkeling excursion to Ko Phi Phi (pronounced pee-pee) and we will just have to post the pictures to do that place some justice. We snorkeled in three different locations, all of which featured colorful coral, an abundance of tropical fishes, and sublime scenery, stuffed ourselves at a beachfront buffet on an island resort, and watched monkeys catch bananas thrown from our boat at Monkey Beach. I'm not joking. Monkeys in trees catching bananas thrown from our boat. I'm pretty sure that alone made Melissa's trip from Chicago including her six hour layover tonight in Bangkok worth it. One little monkey even hopped up onto the bow of our boat and took a banana from the hand of our tour guide. The last stop on our trip featured a diversity of coral that matched right up there with what we saw at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Plus we got some great pictures of us feeding bananas to a mob of fish. Who would have thought fish would go crazy for bananas and banana peels?? Apparently the Thais.
We returned to the Green Chili to dine again on some succulent seafood and chat again with the friendly Englishman, Tony. We asked him some questions about the tsunami and got quite a lesson in how the news is presented. I'm sure most of you would agree that after seeing the news about the tsunami you would have thought that all of Phuket was virtually devastated. Not so, according to our local. In fact, the beach we are staying at wasn't affected at all. It is a deep water bay and the wave never went any further than the beach. Amazingly the town of Karon never even experienced any power outages. In Patong, which sits on a shallower bay, the wave did a significant amount of damage on the beach road, but was turned back by all the concrete buildings and resorts along the beach road. Only a few people were killed in Patong. This is not to say that the tsunami didn't affect certain parts of Phuket. Other beaches were destroyed and hundreds of people lost their lives. On Ko Phi Phi the wave reached heights of 13 meters (about forty feet) and killed thousands of people, tourists and locals. But it was a freak accident that didn't need to destroy the tourism industry here the way it did. This is an absolutely breathtaking island with beautiful scenery and picture perfect sunsets over the Andaman. (getting off soap box now)
Today was a bit bittersweet for Cece and I. We got another day to relax on the golden beach (and bake in the scorching sun), but we also had to say good bye to Melissa. She took off for Bangkok around lunchtime and is still sitting in the business class lounge at the airport waiting for her midnight departure for Osaka. After another four hour layover she'll hop on a trans-Pacific flight to take her home to the Windy City. We cannot express enough to her how much we enjoyed her company and how glad we were to have her as a travel companion through Bangkok and Phuket.
But I gotta say, the sunset today was SPECTACULAR. So it wasn't all that bad of a way to spend a Thursday. Is it Thursday?? Okay, I think I can actually hear all of the nasty words and thoughts being tossed my way right now so I'll wrap this one up.
We thoroughly loved our time in Karon and would definitely offer up a strong endorsement for anyone we know to visit here in the future. Tomorrow we fly back to Bangkok and then head to the bus station to catch an overnight, ten hour bus to Chiang Mai (now who wants to trade places with us???) where we'll be doing some more mountain trekking and also take some elephant rides. Won't those be fun pictures!
Signing off from Phuket.
posted by Matt | 9:52 AM
1 Comments:
Hey guys! I had the best time and thank you so much for letting me join you on this amazing trip. My family might believe that I actually made the trip when I show them the blog, because I'm sure I won't be able to remember anything about it (right?).
Still hanging in Bangkok. Double-checked my ticket and my layover is a lovely 10 hours in Osaka....leave it to me to make efficient decisions!
Give Archie a pat on the head for me. Love you both!
Melissa/Sis
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