Yesterday, my friend whom I traveled to Thailand with and I were reminiscing about our adventures there, and it got me to thinking about how much I really loved the country…and specifically, Phuket!
I know, I know…Phuket has a reputation. It’s supposed to be overcrowded/touristy/trashy/insert-negative-cliché-here. But that wasn’t my experience at all. My friend and I spent about five days at a lovely hotel just a few short blocks from the beautiful, very peaceful and uncrowded Kata Beach, and I can honestly say it was one of the best vacation experiences I’ve ever had.
I was about to say “travel experiences,” but that might not be wholly accurate. Bangkok, our first stop in Thailand, was travel…walk around in 102 degree heat and tour temples all day while burning alive kind of travel. (That said, the temples were amazing and once I got back into a place with A/C, I regretted nothing). But Phuket was really more vacation in the traditional sense: beach time. Relaxation. Slow pace, and enough time spent in one location to develop a typical daily routine.
So what was a typical day in Phuket like for us? Read on….
Phuket Daily Rhythm
While we used Phuket as a springboard for a couple of day-trips to other nearby spots (Koh Phi Phi and an elephant sanctuary), we wisely planned a few days to hang out near our hotel and just chill. Our typical day looked something like this:
6:30-7 am—Wake up to a beautiful new day and enjoy the early morning light. And if you know me, this will be pretty shocking as I NEVER rise this early when I don’t have to…I love my sleep. I told my friend initially that as an early riser, she might be on her own for a while in the a.m. while I slowly summoned the desire to get out of bed and go do stuff. But Phuket made me a morning person, albeit only temporarily. It was so beautiful, and the lure of the ocean so strong, that I just wanted to get out there early and explore.
8-9 am—Walk down to Kata Beach, and take in the view while circling the shore a few times.
9-10 am—By now, our favorite breakfast spot, The Andaman Café, is open for business, so we pop in, grab a pastry and a smoothie, and begin our day. I was initially wary about the smoothies as so many people had cautioned against drinking anything with ice in Thailand. But it was HOT, and I figured a reputable, charming café in a big touristy beach town would probably be a safe place to test this out. Luckily, I had no problems and the strawberry smoothies were absolutely delicious and a welcome break from the heat!
10:30 am—3 pm—Beach time. After changing into our suits and grabbing our gear, we headed down to Kata Beach, grabbed a spot and purchased an umbrella for the day, and spent the next few hours swimming in the gorgeous blue-green ocean, lying on the sand reading or just reclining, and making a quick trip up to Andaman Café or somewhere similar for a sandwich to keep us going through lunch.
3-4 pm—Well, given what a stressful day I’ve had so far, time for a massage, wouldn’t you say? I got a massage every day in Phuket (there were half a dozen massage storefronts open on the road to our hotel, all costing around $10 US for an hour-long session). And those masseuses knew what they were doing: the massages were some of the best I’ve ever gotten, even if you had to be prepared for them to work your muscles pretty intensely—these treatments are not for the faint of heart. Perfect for me.
5-6 pm—Did I mention that our hotel had an amazing pool, as well as a Jacuzzi-style bubble pool to hang out in after we finished up with the beach? Well, it did, and this is where we could be found during the pre-dinner hour.
7-8 pm—Head to the local (overly touristy) restaurants to grab some dinner. This, I must admit, is one area where we failed to plan properly on the trip. I had naively assumed that the food would be wonderful anyplace I popped into in Thailand, but after several substandard curries I wished I’d made more of an effort to research good restaurants, and been less lazy about leaving the immediate vicinity to seek out really impressive places. Oh, well, lesson learned for next time!
9-10—Collapse into bed ridiculously early from all the fresh air and sunshine, and wake up the next morning excited to do it all again!
Have you been to Thailand? What were your experiences there like? Did you stay in one place long enough to develop a regular routine?