Day 167 – Phuket, Thailand

July 23rd, 2019

Today we got up and found a scooter.  It was less than $7 to rent one for the day.  The currency in Thailand is the Thai Baht and the exchange rate is about 30 to 1-USD.  Even with such a high exchange rate from what I have seen so far (at least in Phuket), things are a little more expensive than Malaysia.  With the exception of alcohol.  Alcohol is cheaper here. 

The first beach we went to was nice, but we didn’t stay too long because we were getting hungry. 

On our way to the next beach we stopped at a little restaurant that was BBQing out front and it smelled really good.  We had some tasty Pad Thai and fried noodles. The next beach was my favorite out of all the ones we visited in Phuket.  It was called Yanui Beach and very small (only 200 meters).  I liked it though because the water was clearer and not full of trash.  Also, there were no people trying to sell  lounge chairs or other things. 

We swam and hung out here for a while, before going to the next spot.  We saw some nice scenery along the way. 

We went to Paradise Beach which we didn’t know at the time, but you have to pay close to $7 per person to get in.  It felt more like a resort with cabanas for rent, and a restaurant and bar.  It is very well manicured, and they have security guards walking around.  It was a nice place to swim but definitely not worth the $7 in my opinion.  I could see if you are traveling on holiday for two weeks, maybe it would be a nice spot to get a cabana for the day and chill.  But backpacking, and being fortunate enough to see some of the world’s beautiful beaches, I didn’t think this was special enough to pay to get in.  Just my opinion though.  We met another couple there who loved it so much this was the second time they came in the week they have been here. 

After Paradise Beach we drove to the ‘Big Buddha’ that sits way high on a hill and you can often see it while swimming at the beaches. 

After the Big Buddha we decided to drive to Old Phuket Town, which is not by a beach but known to be charming with old townhouses painted bright colors and cute shops and restaurants.  There was a ton of traffic and it really wasn’t all that charming.  Considering how far away it is from everything else and how much traffic there was, I definitely would recommend not to go out of your way to get there.  We cruised through the streets and then made our way back to Kata where our hostel was.  We turned in our scooter and found some dinner.  I can say that we have not had a bad meal yet in Phuket.  The food is living up to its reputation.  I had a vegetable green curry and Brendan had a cashew chicken and they were both excellent (and so was our appetizer of fried dumplings). 

In front of all the massage shops they also have hair braiding that is pretty cheap, so I spent the rest of the evening getting my hair braided. We had a fun day exploring on the scooter and I’m thankful Brendan feels comfortable driving because it really is a good way to explore areas like this.  It’s not too hot either since you can jump in the water then get a nice breeze riding the scooter.  I read from a lot of bloggers that Phuket is just not what it used to be with all the massive amounts of tourists it brings.  Many people recommended skipping it.  We didn’t stop at all of them, but today we saw many beaches from the south to the north of Phuket’s west coast.  Even though we are here during low season and it is fairly quiet,  I agree that you don’t need to spend time here.  This of course is personal preference and comes from my own experience of other places I can compare this to.  It does have pretty areas, but I think there are much better places.  I’m also writing this the next day and already know, I like our next stop in Thailand way better.  The food has been really good in Phuket, but three nights was definitely enough.  I would recommend only staying in Phuket as a launching point to other Thai islands.  Tomorrow we take a boat to Railay Beach which is the most famous area for rock climbing in Thailand.