Beach Bumming in Phuket - Part I

Last week saw both ABE & I beach bumming and island hopping in Phuket. It was a break much needed by both of us, especially when both of us have been very much "absorbed" in managing our projects at work.

We left for Phuket on Tuesday 17/7/2007. The flight was a short one...about 1 hour 15 mins from KL.

I had made reservation at the Ban Laimai Hotel on Patong Beach. I have no idea how the hotel looked like..only saw its attractive advertisement on the Internet.

At the airport we took a van to the hotel. It was cheaper compared to the cabs. For TBH150 it takes you right to the doorstep of your hotel. The airport cabs would charge you THB600!!! But....do not be fooled coz there is a "catch" in store for you on the journey to the hotel.

Half way to the hotel, the van stopped at a tour agent office. The staff at the office will request that you come down from the van. Once you are out of the van, they will woo you into taking their tour packages. Thanks to some tips from friends who had been caught in such a situation before, we didn't fall into the "trap".

Patong Beach is quite a distance from the airport. It took almost an hour to get to the hotel. When we finally got to our hotel, we checked in and after a short rest we were out out the street of Patong Beach.

Our hotel was right across the road facing the sea. It was such a beautiful sight. The sea was just a few meters away. It was a hot and sunny afternoon and the beach was already packed with people sun bathing and swimming.

As I looked towards the sea, a sudden chill came to me...an image came flashing into my mind. This was the same beach which was hit by the tsunami about 3 years ago....and I was actually standing at a spot where the big waves came and destroyed buildings and killed many people. I just couldn't imagine the chaos and panic when it happened.

We decided to walk around and see if we would find anything interesting. I was set at hunting for good island hopping tour package. Looking for one was not difficult. It was the bargaining which was a challenge. In the end, we booked an island hopping & snorkeling package. The price was ok, considering this was the off peak season. The tour was for the next day.

The street along Patong Beach is lined with shops selling t-shirts & shorts for beachcombers, copy bags of Coach & Guess. There were so many of them....I wasn't in the mood to shop yet. Well...this trip wasn't about shopping anyway. Shopping with ABE??? Huh...if I wanna shop...I'd come with my shopping buddies ;-)

And of course the street is also packed with restaurants.

We took out time walking till we came to the famous Bangla Road. It was no surprise why the street was given such a name. There were Banglas every where. Most of the traders were either Napalese or Bangladeshis. Some of them would greet you in BM...a language they must have picked up when they worked in Malaysia I suppose.