Phuket

Phuket

Im back now that I am almost recovered from the sore throat and cough that Rich gave me. We landed in Phuket and I decided to get the minibus from the airport, rather than a private taxi. That was a mistake as it took a couple of hours to get to the hotel rather than the normal time of around 45 mins. Once we arrived at the hotel (our first hotel in the whole trip) we couldn’t find a way in, the door was locked and there was no reception. Worried we would be sleeping on the beach we went into two next door places and finally managed to get someone to call the manager who came to let us in. As we were both dying we decided to book another night at the hotel so that we could just relax a little. We basically checked in then headed out to find some food for the evening. This gave us the opportunity to explore a little, although we were tired so we didn’t last long. In the first restaurant we found we were seated by a very nice ladyboy and ordered some pad-thai as I think that was all we could handle. 

The following day we only ventured out of the room for food, the rest of the time we slept, drank lots of water and did some admin but by the end of the day we were feeling a little better so we decided to go out and book a boat trip for the next day. 

The boat trip went to 4 islands where we were taken by guides on canoes into two caves and out to openings within the rocks. These were beautiful and often had mangroves growing within. We also spotted some interesting wildlife including bats and walking fish. On the trip we also went to James Bond Island, where one of the James bond films took place, and while it was nice it was so touristy that ruined it a little. There were stalls selling tat and there was so many people there that it was difficult to move. The final island was a small fairly deserted island where we were able to swim in the warm ocean for an hour before heading back to Phuket

Today we are heading out to Koh Lanta which is a quieter island where we can snorkel and relax for a couple more days. 

Us going into the first cave

Inside the first cave

The Mangrove within the cave

Speeding through the cave by kayak

High cliffs around and within caves

Hong island area and cave

A beach with piranha rock at the second cave

James Bond Island

another view from james Bond island

another beach and rocks at the caves