This is our first time in Phuket, Thailand. Our plan is to stay a few nights in Phuket Old Town. Then, we’ll spend a couple of nights in Patong Beach. After that, we fly back to Singapore and head home.
Checking in and getting settled
We flew into Phuket from Singapore and arrived early in the evening. The bus to town takes about an hour and 20 minutes because of the stops it makes. So, I booked a cab instead. We are staying at the historic Hotel Midtown Ratsada. The hotel site evolved from a tin mining workshop (used by Japanese forces in WWII) into commercial buildings. Then, eventually became a hotel known for its blend of Sino-Portuguese and colonial styles. It revitalized a historic landmark once called “Phuket’s first department store with escalators”.
After checking in we took a brief walk around the neighborhood to shop for supplies. Item one is wine of course, but item two is bottled water. Or, maybe I should reverse that. You can’t drink the tap water here due to the lead and bacteria content. It’s just not safe and the last thing we need is to get sick before we get back home. This also means bottled water to brush your teeth and no drinks made with water or ice. Although a google search now reports that ice is safe in bars and restaurants. Ice is made with filtered water and delivered to them for safe use. We did have a couple of frozen beverages in a bar and didn’t have a problem. However, I wouldn’t try it on the streets or in a food stall.
At night, lights illuminate the old town, and people fill its bars, restaurants, and shops. We look ahead to exploring tomorrow.
Walking around town
It’s another hot day today. Although it’s a high of 90 the feels like temperature is 102 degrees. We’ll need to break up our day. We’ll walk around in the morning and afternoon and stay in the air conditioning midday. We started in the local markets watching them peel and grind coconut to making floral bouquets. Like we’ve seen before, there are electrical wires and motorbikes everywhere. It’s still scary trying to cross the streets. You hold your breath, say a prayer and keep moving.
We also discovered a few temples and historic buildings as we were walking around. The details and colors in the architecture is incredible.
I mentioned the Portuguese and colonial architecture earlier. Here are examples of the beautiful buildings reflecting this style. You’ll notice the shops and retail on the first floor and apartments above. Everyone comes out to greet you, even the pets.
Phuket city views
We headed to Khao Rang viewpoint this morning. This location offers views over the island’s main city. You can also see Big Buddha on top the hills in the distance. A few of the small islands off Phuket’s east coast are also visible. While here, you just have to beware of the wild monkeys. They love shiny things and food. The guy next to me had a coconut drink. One of the monkeys darted up his leg. It climbed on his back. Then it stole the coconut strip right off his drink! I guess he needed a treat too.
We decided to get a full body Thai massage this afternoon while waiting on the night market. It’s 300 Thai baht per hour ($9.40 USD). It is awesome! I didn’t know someone could stretch, pull, and knead my body in so many different directions. It’s quite the workout from head to toe. At this price, it would be my new regular routine. We had to find a wine bar afterwards to chill, as we are too relaxed to walk.
Phuket Sunday Walking Street Market
If you find yourself in Phuket on a Sunday, don’t miss the Old Town Night Market. It’s one of the island’s most colorful weekly highlights. The streets come alive with sizzling local street food and handcrafted treasures. There is also live music and charming boutique stalls. This creates a vibrant mix of sights, sounds, and flavors. Be prepared. The later it gets, the more crowded it becomes.
It’s an ideal spot to sample new dishes, soak up the local culture, and enjoy a evening stroll. It’s every Sunday from 4:00-10:00 pm. There are so many amazing things to eat. I’m glad we went on our way to dinner. We certainly didn’t need to eat after all the great food from the street stalls.
Street food
We were skeptical about eating the street food. However, we decided to try a few dishes cooked to order in front of us. Some of the delicious treats we ate included crispy pork. It’s just like the cracklings in Louisiana, but it has extra meat. Then we had the Thai larb salad. It features minced pork with loads of fresh herbs and onions. It includes a zingy dressing made from lime, sugar, fish sauce, and spicy chili. We needed extra napkins not because it’s messy, but we are sweating from the spiciness. Oh and we ate the delicious butter grilled scallops on a skewer. We also couldn’t resist the homemade Nutella donuts filled with cream. Oops, I almost forgot about the white chocolate gelato on the way back to the hotel.
Currently, there’s about 32 baht in $1.00. You’ll notice the prices in the photos are 10 baht (30 cents) for spring rolls and 30 baht (less than $1.00) for beef, chicken or pork skewers. Things are very inexpensive compared to the US. We enjoyed a great meal considering each dish averaged $1.00-3.00.
Asian Breakfasts
We are amazed by the loads of food and the variety for breakfast at our hotels. It’s all delicious. They prepare both Asian and Western food in one huge buffet. The Western foods include the usual—bacon, eggs, omelets, hash browns, pastry and waffles, fruit, yogurt, juice and coffee. Then they offer Asian options on the same buffet. You can have congee (rice porridge) with lots of toppings. There’s a full salad bar, meats, and cheeses. They serve rice, noodles, and soup. You can find roasted vegetables, Indian curry and Thai dishes. There are dumplings, steamed buns, chicken, roasted fish, shrimp, and assorted fried items. By the time you try and sample a little bite of everything for breakfast, you can’t eat again until suppertime. Here are a few of the options at breakfast at the Hotel Clover Patong. I see a diet in my future.
Patong Beach
Patong Beach is Phuket’s most popular resort town with a long sandy beach of almost 2 miles. It’s also known for its crazy nightlife along Bangla Road. To give you an idea how busy with tourism this place is, the metropolitan population is just over 59,000 people. However, it’s projected to have over 12 million tourists visit this year. Our hotel has an infinity pool on the roof overlooking the beach and Patong Bay.
The beach is beautiful and it seems everyone is out and about walking, shopping and enjoying their day. We walked by a small fishing village on the way back to the hotel.
Bangla Road
Bangla Walking Street is the island’s famous, bustling nightlife hub, transforming from a quiet street into a pedestrian-only party zone. Neon lights, loud music, bars (beer bars, go-go bars), strip clubs, restaurants, street performers, and ladyboys come alive after sunset. It’s a sensory overload with vibrant energy, lights, and live bands. The air is filled with the aroma of hundreds of food stalls. You can also smell marijuana from all the weed shops too. This continues until the early morning hours. It’s really impossible to describe. Oh, and the crowds are unbelievable. We are in and out fairly quickly, because for us it’s the type of place you have to experience once. What a zoo!
Final day in Thailand
We are headed home tomorrow. So, it’s time for our final massage of the trip. This time we enjoyed an awesome full body oil massage and Danny added a manicure. I teased him that he should get a “pedicure”, like the guy we saw today at the fish tanks. He said he’d pass on fish eating the skin off his feet. So we spent a relaxing day near the beach instead. The sunshine and turquoise blue water is beautiful today.
We are relaxed and ready for our 30+ hour journey home. Our travel starts from Phuket and goes to Singapore. Then we head on to San Francisco before finally arriving in Houston. We had an incredible time in Phuket, Thailand.
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