This Valentine's, I decided to Phuket.
Okay, soz for bad pun in title. Anywho, I know I'm super late in adding this post but better late than never? I went to Phuket over Valentine's weekend and here's all the stuff I did.
Day 1: So we get into Phuket around noon on a Friday and rent a car from the airport service. Our hotel was down south in Patong, very close to Patong beach. It took us about 45min to get from the airport to our hotel. We were right next to the Night Market Patong which was frikkin amazing. So we headed there at 3ish and since it was still hot AF outside, decided to get a couple drinks at the market before we hit the beach. And I gotta tell you, the drinks there are potent and cheap. I love Phuket.
We noticed Phuket really loves Jenga. Like there were Jenga towers at every bar we went to. Which is great. Because drunk Jenga is SO much fun. That's me on the left :)
We hit Patong beach around 6 and booked a tour to James Bond island for the next day (about SGD 40/person including lunch) on the way. I gotta tell you.. I had an emotional breakdown at the beach. I was a wreck, and there's one good reason why - plastic. So much frikkin plastic everywhere. And also I was drunk AF. But really, it was the plastic. I was so turned off by that beach. And by humans in general. Like how are we so disgusting. How do we just take everything given to us for granted? How are we so eeww?! But anyway, so I decided to be a part of the solution. And cleaned the beach. Yah. On holiday. Crying. Drunk. In Phuket. Yah. And I came across so much gross stuff - like dead fish (eewmax). And I just cried more. And cleaned more. Until I decided to leave. But anyway, moving on from emotional breakdown...
Day 2: Remember that tour we booked when I was drunk AF? Yeah, I nearly didn't either until I was awoken bright and early by annoying alarm. But I'm a morning person, so I dealt. We got picked up at our hotel in a van and got dropped off at the pier where all the boats were docked. After a yummeh iced coffee, we got on a big boat towards Lawa Island.
This was taken on our way to the island. There's a sprinkling of islands everywhere in these waters! It's absolutely breath-taking. And I know they are just rocks jutting out of the ocean and you can't even set foot on them, but they're called islands anyway.
We sat on the beach at Lawa Island and played in the water for about 45 mins. We were then taken to another island where there were canoes with rowers who took us to see these beautiful caves. The water was so blue and we could see little fishies! When we got back on the big boat we had lunch and were on our way to James Bond island. FYI - this was the least interesting part of the entire day, even though it's the tours biggest selling point. It's basically another large rock jutting out of the sea, and you're on the neighbouring island looking at this rock from which James Bond jumped from. The water wasn't clear and it was drizzling. But YOLO, so I faced my fears and swam in the sea. Yup, did it. *brushes dirt off shoulder*
We got back to our hotel around 5pm and were pretty beat. Headed out to explore more of the streets close to us. Found a hip hostel with a bar and didn't get any drinks (because it was Big Buddha day..? or something like that). BUT, they did have jenga (duh). So we got a juice and played some jenga, watched that week's EPL game, got dinner and dozed off.
Day 3: Big Buddha day! I was most excited to see this. I love sight seeing. And the Big Buddha did not disappoint. It sits atop a mountain and you can see him from miles away, looking down at you. It took us about 40mins to drive from Patong to the Big Buddha, up the mountain.
LOOK AT THIS!!! SKY SO BLUE AND BUDDHA SO PEACEFUL.
So the temple isn't fully constructed yet but I just know it's going to be amazing and I can't wait to return and see it done up! The view from up here is amazing, and it's sooo windy. Perfect for a good ol' bollywood-style photo. We even got to do cute things like write our names on aluminium leaves and tie them around the temple and buy a marble slab, write our names on it and that'll be used in the construction of the temple!
There were monks in the temple too and you could go up to them. I was supremely fascinated. And truth be told, I love Buddhism. It just seems so calm and peaceful and full of self-awareness and nirvana.
On the way to Big Buddha there's a bunch of cafés (and many with Bob Marley/Rastafari flags and banners decor.. Hmm...) and a couple baby elephants that you can feed. And after petting this cute baby elephant, I've decided they're my fave animals. I didn't feed it and I do not condone keeping these creatures locked up and used for their tourist value. It's sad to accept the reality here.
Anywho, so I noticed the baby elephant reach for plastic on the street and pushed her trunk out of the way and she wrapped her trunk around my arm and licked me!!!! Adorable and eew!
On our way down we stopped at one of these restaurants. The view was insaneee. And obviously, I had to get a coconut. I mean. Pls.
This is me trying to be an artsy photographer. Yes, I know, I am not.
We then tried to find a quiet beach and were successful! We went through the resort, it's nice af pool and to the beach. We only had about 20min of beach time because then it started to rain. But, being the glass-half-full kinda people we are, we decided to chill by the resort's pool. The resort we weren't guests of, mind you.
I even tried my hand at driving here! And am sure, beyond a shadow of doubt, that I will never be a good driver. And will probably never be licensed to drive.
How cool is this. We could see the storm coming in on the left but the sky was bright and clear on the left. And what a beautiful sunset it was.
Day 4: We spent all of our last day shopping on Bangla road (yes, shopping.. in the day.. not partying at night. I know, I know). But it is pretty lively in the day too! Got a bunch of souvenirs for folks back home, got some DQ at the Jungceylon mall, ate more Indian food and were on our way to the airport before we knew it.
I absolutely adore Phuket. It's where I'm retiring, did I mention? Gonna get me a plot of land, build a B&B, farm a bit, raise some cattle, stare at the mountains and chill the fo.
Wanderlustfully,
Niharika