There’s a saying in Phuket, apparently. I would find it hard to believe if I didn’t run into its truth the very second we arrived. It takes two hours to get anywhere. HOW COULD THIS BE. It’s such a tiny island.
I don’t know if the following statement is true or not. I found it on the internet, so take it with a grain of salt…but I suspect that it’s pretty accurate: “Phuket is only 48 km north to south and 21 km west to east.”
The traffic in Phuket is among the worst traffic I have ever experienced in my life. It’s not so much chaotic and insane, like, say, Delhi or Varanasi, where anything goes. It’s just…solid packed vehicles crawling everywhere. If you’re going down the road, you’ll get there in two hours. Wherever that place is. You will SIT IN TRAFFIC. Be prepared to wait and it won’t be as annoying.
It was dark when we arrived at our hotel from the airport. It was so late, we decided to just eat at the hotel restaurant instead of taking to the streets to see what we could see.
I really liked this hotel…after the initial problematic check in. Bring cash money. They make you leave a CASH ONLY deposit. And if you don’t have cash, you’re invited to use their cash machine to take money out…and wouldn’t you know it, there’s a steep fee for doing so. Luckily, we had cash…but the practice made absolutely NO SENSE to anyone in our party. There was no getting out of that deposit. And you could not leave it with a credit card. CASH ONLY.
After that slight discomforting check-in, we were escorted to our bungalow. It was really nice. I was happy to call this place home for about a week. The only downfall was–I DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY WERE THINKING–not a single dresser drawer. This was the first place we were staying at where I was looking forward to unpacking and not living out of my suitcase. And the only place where there was nowhere to unpack to. It was irritating, but overall it was a great place!
DUANGJITT RESORT AND SPA WEBSITE.
We settled in, met the others in the grand lobby for cocktails and then made our way over to the restaurant. The food was divine! It’s always great when the hotel restaurant is a hit…for those times you either can’t or don’t want to leave the hotel. This was the end of a long day of airports and traffic…so we opted to stay in…
The next day we were OFF AND RUNNING. We had breakfast at the buffet and looked about a little. This is one of the many pools on the property…
We were soon off to head to the marina. Remember what I said about everything being 2 hours away? We were about to experience that phenomenon again. Looking at Google Maps, the marina looked about 9-10 km away. It was hard to tell, but I think that’s quite accurate. So, you could probably walk there in 2 hours. It took over 2 hours to drive there.
Nevertheless, we were soon in a boat! We were heading to Phi Phi and Bamboo Islands, as well as Pileh Cove, Loh Samah Bay, and Maya Bay. There would be snorkeling, beaches, lunch, and more…
Along the way, there was so much beauty to take in. Everywhere we looked.
Absolutely amazing day! It wasn’t too hot…the water was nice. The rain was holding off…
I mean LOOK at how insanely gorgeous this place was!
One of the crew taking a much deserved break…
We absolutely LOVED our stops. One was for snorkeling, one was for swimming, and one was for Maya Bay…a filming location for the Leonardo DiCaprio movie THE BEACH.
Maya Bay was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!
Abby getting more splash than she bargained for when we went for a little beach walk on the island we stopped on for lunch…
A walk on the beach after a buffet lunch…
This was truly a trip of a lifetime. We had so much fun every day. We really lucked out with our travel companions on this tour!
When you find a swing in the middle of paradise, you get on it!
Remember how I said the boat ride back to the marina was a choppy disaster? I wasn’t kidding. It was an hour of choppy water and rain. Our seats at the back of the boat were fun in the sun…and traumatic in the rain. UGH!
I think we just ate at the hotel again once we finally got back to it this time. The next day we were going to James Bond Island…and a few other places. Another trip to the marina and another long boat ride to get to the attractions. We crossed our fingers for nice weather.
Don’t get me wrong, the terrible boat ride back to the marina was well worth the day full of experiences we had. Sometimes you have to pay the ferryman…
A LINK TO THE PREVIOUS THAILAND POST.
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KEVIN CRAIG 
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