We arrived into Phuket airport at 12:30 am from
Guanzu, China. After going through immigration and customs we stopped at the
airport to get a sim card for the Whitney's phone so that we would be able to
communicate with them when we were separated.
We left the airport and walked to our Hotel The Luna Hostel located a block away.
We tried sleeping in but we could only sleep
until 5am. We decided to get up and have breakfast. The hostel had bike available for guest to use which we took advantage of and went exploring. We ended up at a beach inside of Sirinat National Park.
The beach goes right along the path that
airplanes follow when landing in Phuket. We walked to the spot where planes
clear the fence and watched several flights approach the jetway and land. They
were right above us. It felt as if we could touch them if we reached out our
hands.
Planes taking off begin their run near where we
were standing. Their jets move so much air when they take off that they create
a sandstorm on the beach. The sand hitting us hurt.
We left the beach, and headed to the airport
where we caught a taxi mini bus to Karon Beach. The wait at the airport was
30 mins long, the ride was over an hour long.
On the way we were hit by a tropical rain storm.
Moped drivers pulled over and sought refuge anywhere they could. The rain came
out of nowhere and lasted about 20 mins. By the time we reached Patong Beach it
was only a drizzle.
We got off at Karon beach and walked along the
shops for a while. We decided to get some lunch at a restaurant across from the
beach.
The food was OK, the service was terrible. The
waiter brought us a soup we didn't order. When we asked the waiters, she told
us that it came with our meal. Then they put soda on our table, which we hadn't
ordered. We told them we didn't want it so they took it away.They ended up
charging us for the soup because we ate it. Scammers that they were, they made
me so mad that I left my first negative review on Trip Advisor.
After that we hiked all the way to the Karon
viewpoint. There were a lot of tourists in mopeds zipping by us and the road
had no shoulder for us to walk on.
We saw some traditional ‘gas stations’ stations
or shacks with litre glass bottles filled with gasoline that drivers can buy to
fill up their vehicles.
We also saw an elephant riding camp, where
tourists were petting the animals.
Halfway up the hike there was a police
checkpoint. They were stopping all bike riders with bags and checking for
drugs. By the time we approached the checkpoint we saw
a man offering a bribe to the police officer.
The view point was great, but it took us a few
minutes for our red faced to return to regular color. We were glistening from
sweat, my hair was damp, and stuck to my face. Needless to say we decided to
look for a ride back down.
We found a tuk tuk that we bargained down to
200BHT ($6) and rode the long hike down in a matter of minutes.
Kata beach was gorgeous. The water crystal blue
and warm. We walked along the entire beach right on the edge of the water
letting the waves hit our legs. It was truly paradise.
We finally had to leave Kata/Karon and head back
to the airport.
Transportation costs in Phuket are very
high. It cost us 1,000 BTH ($31) to hire a taxi back.
Once back we headed to the airport where we
caught our flight to Chiang Mai.
