Beautiful Thailand

The last blog entry gave a few insights about living in Singapore. Thus, it should be time to tell the interested reader again some travel stories from Southeast Asia. So far, Ana and Simon had made first experiences in Malaysia, nearby Indonesian Islands (both Traveling 101) and Vietnam (Asia for advanced travelers). In March, they were very happy to host their first Spanish guests who came to stay in Southeast Asia for two weeks: Ana and Jesús from Madrid. They had planned to travel during the weekdays when Ana and Simon would have to work / study and enjoy some time together on the weekends. Thanks for regional low-cost airlines, they had managed to find a very affordable ticket to go to Phuket for a weekend – flying out Friday night, returning Sunday night. After a very stressful week at work, a weekend getaway with enough beach time was exactly what they needed.

Phuket is the largest Thai island and is a major tourist destination not only for Europeans and Americans coming to Thailand but also a big regional tourist draw. Thanks to its size, it is quite diverse which ranges from a very touristy “party town” (similar to El Arenal in Mallorca) to secluded beaches. The four travelers had managed to get a very nice beach-side apartment hotel in the calmer town of Kamala. After a long working week, they enjoyed their Friday night beer listening to the waves at a beach bar.

 Since Phuket is located in an archipelago of beautiful islands, they decided to do a day trip by boat that would bring them to the famous beaches of Kho Phi Phi and Maya beach (which is where the Leonardo di Caprio movie “The Beach” was shot). They were picked up at 7 AM (much to the disappointment of anyone who wanted to sleep in that weekend) and started their boat trip in the morning off the main harbor in Phuket. After a bumpy boat ride, they arrived at Maya beach. It is located in a beautiful bay, surrounded by steep hills, covered in green vegetation, white sand… It is really stunning – the problem is: When you are there, you are not the only one who thinks that. Actually, it is sooo overcrowded with speedboats that you barely see the beautiful beach and once the four travelers set their foot on the beach, they had to compete with about 1,400 other tourists for a few square meters of freedom or pictures with the scenery and WITHOUT the tourists. Well, that was quite a disappointment. But then, it was also understandable – the only way to have less tourists there is if the beach was going to be less accessible. Due to the proximity of a major tourist location, the “spill over” of these tourists seems somewhat natural. The four travelers then continued, passing another beautiful bay, the “monkey beach” with … surprise … many monkeys and then had lunch at Koh Phi Phi. Apparently, the island was once a secret tip among the backpacker community. Well, this was probably a long time ago but again, when the four had to share the beauty, it was apparent why. Moreover, they were very happy seeing that the coral reefs and the local fish population were largely intact. They went for a longer snorkeling trip and enjoyed the clear waters of the Andaman Sea. All in all, the boat trip was nice and they were glad that they went, despite all the other tourists…

We were not the only ones

Back in their calm beach town of Kamala, Jesús and Simon settled for some beers while the two Anas got manicures and pedicures. They spent an awesome time catching up, enjoying some drinks right at the beach and a dinner with the freshest seafood possible. Sunday, they finally had time just for some beachside relaxation. They all enjoyed massages, plunging in the sea, awesome food and then, Jesús and Simon even dared to some special activities: they connected to a parachute and a speed boat that would then pull them up. Thus, they managed to see the beauty of Phuket from about 50m on top of the ground. Awesome experience even though they did not have a camera with them to take pictures… 

Jesús being brave and going first

Simon taking off

As the reader can imagine, it is much nicer to experience a day of relaxation at the beach than to read about it.

All in all, the weekend was awesome, hanging out with good friends and enjoying yet another Asian travel destination. Ana and Simon quite enjoyed the company of their Spanish friends. For anyone interested, this may be your chance for the second half of 2013. Just connect with them and maybe, a future blog will be about you.

Many greetings from the Strait Settlement Singapura