Bob & Janette's Travel Adventures

Flight details:

 Gold Coast to Sydney VirginBlue Flt DJ502

Depart Friday 9Nov07 0700hrs arrive Sydney Friday 9Nov07 0925hrs

Sydney to Phuket Jetstar Flt JQ27

Depart Friday 9Nov07 1320hrs arrive Phuket Friday 9Nov07 1950hrs

Phuket to Sydney Jetstar FltJQ28

Depart Friday 23Nov07 1320hrs arrive Sydney Saturday 24Nov0740hrs

 Sydney to Brisbane VirginBlue Flt DJ237

Depart Saturday 24Nov07 1300hrs arrive Brisbane Saturday 1325hrs

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Phuket Town

Our journey to Phuket involved catching a flight from the Gold Coast to Sydney to pick up our no frills super cheap Jetstar flight to Phuket.  Flights were all on time and as comfortable as you can be flying budget airlines.  We arrived at Phuket International, cleared customs & changed some $$$s into baht in super quick time.  We decided to stay the evening in Phuket town as it was close to the pier for tomorrow morning's ferry to Koh Phi Phi.  After checking in we walked the streets for some hawker food and picked up our tickets for the ferry service.

Koh Phi Phi

On schedule the next morning we were met in the hotel lobby and taken to the pier via mini van.  Our ferry was already half loaded with passengers so it wasn't long before we were on our way.  Unfortunately the day was quite overcast but the seas were calm.  The trip took 2 hours which went very quick as the scenery was stunning.

At Phi Phi we waded through all the touts trying to sell us accommodation at a huge mark-up and soon found ourselves a comfortable room for the evening.  Phi Phi is a very laid back place and everything is within walking distance.  Feeling a little energetic we climbed up to the highest peak for a view of the whole island.  Walking back down the steep track I was wondering if there were any snakes on Phi Phi when a snake about a metre long dropped out of a tree right along side of me.  Jan didn't see it and to this day I think she doesn't believe me.  Later that afternoon we booked a snorkelling cruise for the following day and then found a nice restaurant to settled in for a few cold beers and cocktails.

Our snorkelling cruise was on board a longtail boat with a dozen other fellow travellers.  First stop our driver, who spoke very little English, stopped by a reef and indicated we should jump in.  Just as I was about to enter the water he pointed & muttered .....SHARK.  Now I tried to get out of him whether he meant SHARK...GOOD or SHARK...NOT GOOD!!!  Being unsure we swam off in the opposite direction to where he was pointing.  As it turned out they were harmless reef sharks so call us chicken shits if you like.  We weren't taking any chances on the driver who was safe on the boat & probably had little knowledge of first aid.  We stopped a few more times at some very spectacular sites, including Maya Bay where "The  Beach" was filmed.  All in all a great day spent snorkelling in crystal clear waters.

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Koh Lanta

Another 2 hour ferry trip saw us landing on the island of Koh Lanta.  Hearing so much about a quaint resort called "Fisherman's Village", we headed south and checked in.  The resort was right on the beach with thatched roof huts scattered around the gardens.  Pure bliss....well that was until we had an intruder during the night.  I was awoken by Jan's screams and noticed a cockroach scampering away. Next morning we found more secure dwellings at Emerald Bungalows on Klong Khong Beach. Beachfront bungalow and sparkelling swimming pool all for $25 per night.

We decided to take a speedboat the following morning to the uninhabited island of Koh Rok Nok, a marine national park about 25Ks further south.  Soft powdery sands, crystal clear water and a great picnic lunch right on the beach made for another excellent day in paradise.  On the trip back to Koh Lanta we were escorted by several schools of flying fish skimming alongside our boat.

Krabi

From Koh Lanta we decided to make our way back to Phuket with a short stopover in Krabi.  This time we caught a mini van which involved several time consuming car ferry crossings.  Next time we would probably opt for the more pleasant ferries to travel back.

We decided to stay in Krabi Town rather that out at the beaches and found the best Guest House in Town, Chan Cha Lay (chanchalay_krabi@hotmail.com) paying all of 250Baht per night (AU$8.25).  Once checked in we hired a motorbike and headed out to Ao Nang Beach.  It pays to make sure you have enough air in your tyres when hiring a bike as half way we got a flat.  This we only noticed when pulling in to get petrol.  A kind pump attendant walked me about 500 meters down the road to a mechanic who removed the tyre and fitted a new tube.  Total cost for repairs....AU$3.50  You gotta love thailand prices eh.  Next morning we took the bike a short ride out of town to Wat Tham Sua (Tiger Cave) where we climbed the 1237 steps to the top of the mountain.  It was a hard climb but worth every bead of sweat.

We enjoyed many great meals at the Krabi night markets with street hawker food being the best of all.  We did our usual day snorkelling trip out of Krabi on a longtail boat and on our last day we headed to the spectacular Railay Beach for some last minute beach time.  This has to be one of the nicest beaches in Thailand, pure bliss swimming in the warm water shaded by the mountains.

Phuket

We caught a comfortable minivan for the 3 hour trip to Phuket and fortunately we were the only passengers.  Within minutes we were booked into a hotel and heading down Bangla Road to Patong Beach.  A few minutes later Jan was strapped into a ParaSail and off around the harbour.  To our surprise the man that helped strap Jan into the harness ran behind Jan during the take-off and climbed up into the sail rigging.  He rode around the harbour with Jan and climbed back down during the landing.  OH&S in Thailand.....No way.

The following day we had a day sail booked and spent the day on a yacht cruising the Phang Nga Bay with Capt Mark.  We visited several islands and stopped for a picnic lunch on a deserted beach.  Some of the island contained hidden "Hongs" which are like an inland lake in the middle of the island.  All in all a most enjoyable day.

Naturally night times were spent in nearby Bangla Road, famous for the bars and nightlife.  One evening we found ourselves at a bar that had a mechanical bull as their centre stage entertainment.  Jan decided that the cow girl in her needed exploring so she decided to have a go.  Jan had some difficulty getting on the beast so I went into the ring to help her on.  We both ended up crawling around the floor when she fell off on top of me.  Jan called out to the crowd to throw in some jelly and we would do some jelly wrestling instead.  With encouragement from the crowd Jan was finally hoisted up and managed to last a few bucks & turns before finally being bucked off.

Our last night in town was again in Bangla Rd where we spent a few too many hours chatting to other travellers and me getting an offer to go home for the night with a gorgeous "girl".....with a very deep voice.  Naturally I declined.

We thought that the time we had allocated to Phuket was long enough but alas Phuket is another place that we need to return to to do it justice.

 

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*Postscript:  Phuket booked again for May09