Beautiful Phuket, 2020.

I have always refrained from visiting party towns or islands and touristy places as I am more interested in seeing the real cultural aspect of travel, however during the pandemic, and being part of Thailand for the past 2 years, I wanted to do my part for domestic tourism within this stunning country, thus I chose to finally go to Phuket - and I was pleasantly surprised.

I stayed at Patong Beach, a long stretch of white sand beach with great colours of the ocean to go with. In the early mornings, I would walk along the beach to see the locals either fishing or gathering what seemed to be crabs or some sort of shellfish - it appeared to be a family event with the children joining in. It was very peaceful, and I was very lucky to see Phuket this way, completely tourist free and quiet - no one has known Patong beach to be this quiet and to have it all to themselves like I had was a dream!

In the evenings, I really enjoyed running barefoot on the beach, and watching the Sunset with a nice coconut water to hand to cool me down from my run and bought from the local drink mobile Unit.

My first mishap, and yes this was a holiday of many misfortunes for me...I was running along Patong beach when suddenly I felt a sharp stabbing on my large toe, I screamed, it was so painful I thought perhaps I accidently stood on glass, however not the case, it seemed it was a either a needle or a sharp shell, the thing is, I could not see what it was as I had already run past it, and could not see anything in the sand - I was really worried! So I limped back to a pharmacy and got some antiseptic cream and googled every possible thing you can find on the beach such as needles and what to do....yes, I have had all of my vaccines up to date - so relieved but still, horrible to think that people can just leave things like that around for others to find and potentially injure themselves with. I was relieved to see local council people on the beach every morning cleaning up the rubbish from the sand and making sure it was safe for us to use again.

Patong itself was closed, not many shops, bars or restaurants were open but there was enough open for me to enjoy the local cuisine, lifestyle and the chatter of locals. So, my first stop was to visit all the top beaches, get into that crystal clear water and take it all in, and boy did I ever! My first port of call was a pristine beach called Karon Beach, it is known for its crystal clear waters, long stretch of white sand and the water was simply amazing - I swam like a mermaid, having the whole sea to myself! I loved every moment of it!

Now, I forgot to mention, that I used a known respectable lady called Pai for my taxi driver for the day, at a reasonable price. You do have to be careful when it comes to taxis as when I came off my bus at Phuket Bus terminal I was greeted by taxi men, and when I said I had my own transport already booked they did not take kindly to that and called me a name, which I ignored. I was expecting this as I was warned by many this could happened - so please be careful when using taxi drivers - I use Grab taxis as I feel safe, they are registered and you already know how much you will pay. Please note, not all taxi drivers are like this, only a few so lets not tar them all with the same brush and the authorities are doing everything they can to clamp this behaviour down. Anyway back to Karon beach, honestly one of the best beaches I have ever seen in my life - Andaman sea is spectacular, great for family to relax and for children to play safely. There is parking space and a couple of places to eat and drink. There are hotels too, although I did not see their names.

Now my second mishap and this one was really scary, after my swim on this beach, I sat by a tree - and chatted to Pai for a while taking in the views. Then we headed back to the van ready for the next beach - well, as I sat in the van I noticed some red and black ants - and I just moved them away - then a sudden sharp sting on my neck, I screamed! What was that?! I smacked my neck to kill whatever it was and it turned out to be one of those ants - otherwise known as Thailand's Fire Ants - a species of ants that can sting and cause severe anaphylaxis shock and severe pain! My neck began to swell and apparently if you get stung by more than one - if not treated, can be fatal! I have not felt pain like it before, I was dying inside! Anyway, managed to get to a pharmacist who gave me antihistamines and painkillers - the hard bump on the back of my neck took 8 days to go, it was horrible and now to this day, I avoid sitting near trees in fear of these devil ants!

So the next beach I visited was called Nairharn beach, a tranquil beach that has golden sand, green and blue waters, filled with luxurious hotels and what seemed a lot of eastern european tourists at that time - perhaps local expats. Needless to say, I stayed away from the trees as the beach is situated in a small forest! It is a nice beach, and more geared towards families or couples - it has that kind of romantic atmosphere. I did not stay long, think after the sting I just wanted out from beaches lol

Next stop was Karons viewpoint, and wow the view is great. It is easy to find as there is a massive sign that says Karons viewpoint and you can sit under the trees for shades and take in the view. Even more interesting, there were 3 wild eagles perched on a mobile unit for you to take photos should you wish to - and of course you pay for this. There are many viewpoints in Phuket, so do visit them as each and one of them has its own story to tell and amazing views.

Phuket Old town is a must visit, with its spectacular coloured structures from its european trading history and influence to its mining history with the Chinese and other Asian counterparts. The colours are amazing, the build structures remind me of Portugal for some reason, or even the old Cuba architecture, sometimes I forgot I was in Thailand and thought I was in Europe for a second! This beautiful town/city, has everything to offer from unique coffee shops to quirky souvenir shops and I would recommend staying in the old town for a couple of nights. The people are welcoming and it is safe to venture out at night as a solo female traveller. I loved this town, and I have already blogged about Monkey Hill which is a must!

Now the food in Phuket like anywhere in Thailand is great, there are plenty of cookery lessons to be had and plenty of Thai recipes to try! I mean, you could begin putting the pounds on but lets face it the food in Thailand is so spicy you will more than likely burn it off from the hotness lol Another mishap for me, during my two week holiday in Phuket, was in a restaurant where I ordered a cheese platter, and made sure the waitress understood that I am extremely allergic to ALL nuts, and for some reason some Thais think peanuts are the ONLY nuts that exist - which really does annoy me. So again, I informed her in Thai (My toa) no nuts and she replied of course - no nuts. So my cheese platter arrived, looking so tasty I could not wait to get stuck in but after one bite of my cheese, and yes you most likely can guess what happened next, my lips began to tingle and the panic set in, there were bits of nuts embedded inside the cheese - I was so angry! I had to get up and run to my hotel room to get my epi pen but not before being made to pay for the dish that could have potentially killed me! So far this holiday, had given my some scary moments lol

Whilst in Phuket, I also wanted to do a few sea tours and to be honest it was so difficult to get any tickets as tour operators were closed and when I did manage to get one to take me to various islands, it was not cheap but I have to say it was very worth it and I do not regret it at all! We went to Hong Islands, where we kayaked through the caves, and all I can say was wow, the green colour of the sea, the various islands we were kayaking past, I can only describe it as feeling like I am in heaven, if heaven did exist it would be this place. I cannot stress enough just how stunning beautiful Thailand is. We also went to James Bond Island, yep, I took the selfie of the rock island and the sign that says James Bond and posted it out there - a surreal moment to think that where I was standing was potentially where Mr McFitty Bond was standing - I could imagine I would have been his sexy on screen partner lol purleeesse we can all dream lol (I have a future blog on Hong Islands)

We also went to the Ice cream cave - called like that as inside the cave the shapes of limestone were of ice cream cones - and it was really cool inside the caves - I mean cool in temperature which was a blessing in this tropical heat.

We also went snorkeling, so make sure you take a underwater camera, views are clear and marine life is amazing but and now this is the big but: DO NOT TOUCH THE CORAL! And use appropriate suncream - one that does not pollute the ocean. I was getting increasingly annoyed with the Thai tourist who thought it was ok to stand on the coral until I politely reminded her of what she was doing. I do not understand some people - respect the ocean life, simple. We also had to leave early as the diver spotted a dangerous sea snake around us, so we got out and moved elsewhere. I was not aware that sea snakes were dangerous, but I guess like land ones, one bite is all that it takes! There were so many gorgeous colour fishes, from clown fish to bright yellow ones as well as jelly fish of which I stayed well away from but the whole experience was like being in a scene of the film Finding Nemo! I loved it!

One of the best activities I did in Phuket was the night snorkeling to see the luminous plankton in the sea, I mean it was amazing if not a little scary as you are in the deep ocean, at night where it is pitch black and well I certainly kept thinking where is that one shark who will take a fancy to my legs!

You can do all of these activities in one tour - it would take about 8 hours so if you do get sea sick take some travel pills with you. Food and water is offered all the time too.

I also visited the Similan Islands which are the islands between India and Thailand and wow I thought I was in the Seychelles! There are 11 islands in total which is strange bearing in mind that the name Similan means number 9 until I found out that the last 2 islands were added on later. Ko Similan is the largest Island and you will need to climb the rocks to get to the top to see the views but not difficult as there are paths and steps to help you along the way, once on top wow, wow and wow! Amazing all around, colours, sand, greenery all of it! It is a must. I also saw lots of hairy crabs, friendly ones that would come close, and turtles of which are protected - leave alone please and barracudas, of which I stirred away from! This was on Christmas day by the way, what a way to spend it!There are also whale sharks in Similan, I did not see any but they are there.

Another spectacular place to visit whilst in Phuket is also the one and only floating village called Panee Island, a small Muslim community which thrives on its pearls and various souvenirs and food restaurants. It is actually surreal seeing this village as it is the middle of the ocean and I have never seen or been to anything like this in my life. The people are friendly and definitely need our support in terms of donations - there is one school there and it needs financial support so students can have things like books, stationary and fun things to use for Sports play. I wanted to go into the Mosque but I was not dressed appropriately and it would have been disrespectful so I stayed outside, and played with the many chickens, cats and dogs that were roaming freely! A floating Zoo anyone? Please visit this unique village! One thing you should note, it is easy to get lost as it is a maze inside and where the boat drops you off is not the same area as to where the boat will pick you up, as I found, I got lost! The locals realised as I am sure I am not the first tourist to look confused lol they guided me back to the opposing pier!

One island that blew me away, is called Panya Beach, and it can only be accessed by boat. It is very unique because it has one hotel - a prestigious hotel to say the least, one where I am guessing the rich and famous stay as we were warned by our guides to not venture near it! There is one beach bar with some good beach tunes to listen to, and a restaurant. You can sit all day and sip on your pinña colada, yes that is what I had! Felt like a queen!

At night Patong beach comes to life, and whilst some things were closed as mentioned before, some bars were open and it is like a scene from the movies that you see, women come out and try to entice you to their bars, and I got sucked in, I ordered my drink and she brought me a game called connect four, and she said if she wins I would buy her a drink of which I said a polite no thank you and swiftly left! The names of the bars had me in stitches too for example Titty Twisters lol it is all part and parcel of the experience of this street which is normally so packed you can hardly walk through it. Also, walking along Patong Beach at night, you get see the Art created by the locals with a very strong message!

On my last few days, I wanted to pay my respects to the people who lost their lives in the 2004 tsunami, there is a memorial in Kamala, not far from Patong Beach and well it is a sombre moment but one that I felt I needed to have. It also goes without saying, you must visit Big Buddha in Phuket city, the statue is so large you can see it a mile off and once you reach it, it will blow your mind at just how beautiful it is, and again the views are spectacular. Highly recommend to visit this Buddha, which was built in 2004 and is 45 meters tall - breathtaking. It goes without saying, as this is a religious site wear respectable clothing.

As I was there for Christmas and New Years 2020, the atmosphere was festive and on New Years Eve, there were fireworks on Patong Beach and many locals and tourist joined together safely to celebrate the event - it was amazing to be part of something so special during the pandemic. Having spent time in Phuket, I changed my mind, I love the island, the offerings, the lifestyle, the views, the food and most of all, the people - very welcoming and happy. Would I come back again? 100% YES.

Tips:

Single female travellers use Grabtaxi to be safer.