Thailand - Phuket

We spend our Christmas holidays in Phuket (25th to 28th December 2010). Yes the same place which was affected seriously by Tsunami (26th December 2004).  The Phuket islands has abundance of sandy beaches and clear water beaches. The winding coastal roads along the west coast of this 540-square-km island offer stunning views and easy access to some of the world's finest beaches. There are good many ways to travel around Phuket. The most common mode of transportation is by tuk-tuk but we rented a motor bike which cost around 150 /250 Baht per day.

   
We stayed in Little Mermaid nice budget hotel which cost around 900 Bahts.This hotel is located very close to Karon Beach. Karon Beach is one of the best beaches in Phuket. Here the sea is calm and  the sand is white, fine and powdery.

 

Our first visit was drive into Phuket town and then visited the Butterfly Garden which is located across the Phuket town. The admissions fee for adults is 300 Baht and for children below 10 Years is 150 Baht. It is constructed for the conservation of butterflies and visitors can see lot of colourful buterflies here.

Then we visited the famous Patong Beach, one of the most popular and well-developed beach on Phuket Island. Patong Beach is more famous for its nightlife than the 2-kilometer beach that runs the entire length of Patong.

Wat Chalong- Buddhist temple

Cape Phromthep is Phuket's southernmost point, a rocky headland surrounded by steep cliffs with views of the ocean and all the islands to the south and east of Phuket. On the top of the hill sthereare few restaurants and a viewpoint which people come from every corner of the world to watch the sunset. Yes it was splendid sight to watch the sun sets.

We went for Koh Phi Phi island hopping to enjoying incredible nature. 18 km of coral reefs surrounds 4 islands, Phi Phi Don (The Village), Phi Phi Ley (Maya Bay), Bamboo island and Mosquito Island.

 

Chalong Bay s is a take-off point to well-known islands like Phi Phi, Coral Island, etc.,. It bustles with activity from the crack of dawn till 9.00 am as the boats leave for their destination of the day . From 4.30 to 5.30 PM this bay is again quite busy with the passengers returning from their offshore island tours. 

Chalong Bay

Maya Bay is a stunningly beautiful bay that's sheltered by 100-metre high cliffs on three sides.Snorkeling is excellent throughout the bay, and the boat stops here for 15 minutes for snookering You can see beautiful corals and brightly coloured fishes here.

Enjoying the Marina Bay...

At the northern tip of the island, Viking cave (Tham Phaya Naak) is a major collection point for swiftlet nests.  Viking Cave is the immense cave named after the pictographs on the wall of the cave which indistinctly resemble to ancient Viking ships.

 Phi Phi Ley is an uninhabited island. This beach is probably the most beautiful i have ever seen in my life.

 

Monkey Beach is a beautiful beach with white soft sand where jungle clad limestone cliffs tower above.

We stopped in Phi Phi Don Village to enjoy delicious buffet lunch.

Our final stop was Khai Nok island. Khai Nok has a beautiful snow-white sandy beach surrounded by crystal clear emerald green water, perfect for swimming and snorkeling. It has lots of deck chair at the center of the beach together with restaurants and small bamboo shops selling souvenirs, cloths, ice cream and so on.

 

We were back to Chalong Bay and then to our hotel in Karon beach. We again changed our dress to leave to Phuket Fantasea a theme park. It was a long drive from Karon to Kamala beach to reach Fantasea. We walked into the amusement park and then we entered the animal kingdom which had few animals and birds and most interesting to watch was the two siberian tiger which was scarching the glass to come out. Then we entered the grand palace to watch 45 minutes show of Thai dance, elephant dance etc...Overall it was one of our memorable day to finish and we need to pack again to catch the morning flight to Bangkok.....