Goodbye Koh Mook, Hello Phuket
Most of Day 7 was spent in transit, but we were still able to find new and exciting things to experience. After breakfast we gathered our bags and walked to the pier. The shop owner of the convenience store right outside our hotel greeted us with a friendly smile and well wishes for the rest of our trip. #friendlynatives
Jet Boat Transit in Southern Thailand
We opted to take a jet boat, rather than a ‘mass transit’ ferry. This cut the length of the trip by a considerable amount of time, but it was an expensive option. It cost about $80/person, which also included the hour long taxi ride from the pier to our hotel on the opposite side of the Phuket from pier. The boat made stops at Koh Ngai and Koh Phi Phi to drop/pick people up, as well as Ko Lanta where we had to disembark and wait about 30-40 minutes to reboard and continue on to Phuket.
This floating structure seemed to be in the middle of nowhere along our route.
The sign on the front said it was a Restaurant…
The above two pictures are from when we stopped at Koh Phi Phi to drop/pick people up. Koh Phi Phi is the island that got completely destroyed from the 2004 tsunami. It appears to be completely rebuilt, plus some now. It is one of the most well known islands and tourism is strong. It is known for good snorkeling and a great night scene. Dale and I stayed a couple days on this island on our first visit to Thailand back in 2008. At that time things were still pretty barren from the Tsunami.
I was excited to off load in Ko Lanta. We spent several days in Ko Lanta last year and really enjoyed it. The island fits in between Koh Mook and Phuket. It is bigger and has more to do and better infrastructure than Koh Mook, but is quite a bit smaller and less ‘touristy’ than Phuket. We ended up stopping at an artist’s shop that we had bought from the year before and added a couple more of his paintings to our collection. His talents are amazing.
Avista Grande Resort, Phuket
Arriving at our hotel in Karon Beach was an experience in itself. The Avista Grande Resort is a new hotel that is tucked away behind some other shops and even a soccer stadium. It doesn’t have that jump-out-at-you, grand entrance, wow-factor from the road, but that quickly changes once you make it to the lobby and wander through the pool area on the way up to your room. The pool is flanked by an abundance of lounge chairs, the water is an inviting bright blue due to the white marble that the pool is lined with and there is green foliage everywhere you look. To top it off the Lido Pool Bar makes it all super swanky. It is beyond inviting.#avistagrandephuketkaron
The rooms are impressive as well. Our room had double beds with fluffier linens and pillows than the previous resort. The bathrooms are equipped with giant soaker tubs, double sinks and separate toilet and shower rooms. The decor is modern and the closet/hutch has ample storage. Our patio overlooked the pool and Karon Beach. It is breathtaking.
Shopping in Karon Beach, Phuket
We unpacked and settled in a bit, then took a walk over to see the beach (which was super crowded and South Beach-ish) and then into ‘town’ to check out the shops and find some food.
Dale quickly found a shop that sold Billabong shorts and a good variety of t-shirts and stocked up. Shopping here is similar to Mexico where they quote you high prices and expect you to haggle. Dale loves that kind of shopping (that is the only kind he likes). The exchange rate is about $1 US to $30 Baht. I happened to find a blush pink Michael Kors purse while waiting on Dale and Kadie found a Louis Vitton mini backpack purse. So it was a win all the way around!
Pizza in Phuket
Down the road a bit farther we found a restaurant with brick oven pizza. You know that quote ‘You had me at hello’ … we were had at ‘brick oven.’ We were all finding things on the menus that we liked well enough, but pizza sure sounded good. It wasn’t great pizza, but it was good. Afterwards we stopped at an ice roll cart for some fancy ice roll ice cream, which is well worth the experience if you haven’t ever had it. The liquid ice cream mix is poured onto a super cold metal freezer plate and worked around the plate until it freezes, then scraped off the plate in a way that it forms rolls of ice cream that are then stood on end in a cup.
Night Markets in Phuket
We taxied to a night market next. We were dropped at the island’s largest mall, but forgo-ed the mall to walk through ‘Da Hood’ food market. The variety of fresh seafood that could be had was overwhelming. Squid, GIANT prawns, lobster, horseshoe crabs, all sorts of fish and clams/mussels and my favorite, mantis shrimp. There were also fried insects. It was #culturing.
We walked about 3/4 of a mile to the other side of the mall to check out the S.D. Plaza Night Market. The vibe here is hard to put into words. I want to say upscale flea market. The vendors are hustling and working hard for your business. Shops peddle a wide variety of goods, from luggage to brand name tennis shoes to purses to island style clothing. We bought a suitcase (that we had to have to get all of our purchases home) from a term girl that was in country from Nepal, working to be able to send money home to support her family because she is able to make more money here than in Nepal. She was very forward and held nothing back. She told us that she did not have a work visa so when she sees the police coming through she hides in a bathroom. She also informed us that she does not like the Chinese or Russian tourists because they are rude. She made for a fun shopping experience.
The bed felt heavenly after the rock hard one we had slept in the previous five nights. I would normally consider these beds hard, but not this night. I slept like a baby!
If you are just finding this series of vacation posts make sure to check out the epic fishing day we had in Bangkok on Day 1! There is no experience like it anywhere else on this earth!!
