Amazing Thailand - Phuket. Review on Phuket

When the immigration officer told me, 'Sa wat dii khrap' in the morning in Phuket, I wondered what he is telling. Later I understood that he told nothing but "Hello" in Thai language with respect.

That is Thailand, the "Land of 1000 smiles", or the "Land of white elephants". Phuket(poo-get) island is on the western shoreline where huntergreen foliage meets the turquoise waters of the Andaman sea.

We started from Singapore at 8.15, traveled 1 hour 40 minutes and reached Phuket at 8.55 AM(Thailand is one hour behind Singapore). The taxi took around 40 minutes to reach Patong beach where we booked the hotel in "Little Buddha guest house".

From that journey itself, we understood that the travel is going to be fun. I felt I am travelling in Kerala as both sides of the roads are full of coconut trees, rubber plantations etc. The high way was extremely good and Patong is situated in an area full of hills and beaches.

The view of Patong beach from the top of the hill when we travel in taxi was amazing.After check-in, we went to try our first experience of Thai food. We went to a nearby restaurant, "Hemingway". The menu looked horrible for me as I was struggling to find something veg in the menu.

At last I found few and with a fear in mind, I ordered them. As an amazing fact, the food was excellent! First time I tasted coconut milk shake and Mussaman curry. It was in fact a good experience for me and I understood that it is a paradise for veggies.

Especially as I like coconut, it was not at all a problem for me. The curry was a Thai preparation in which coconut is added. My friends also enjoyed their first Thai food, "deep-fried chicken breast" and "Prawn cocktail".

After food we found a travel agency and we planned out next two days activities after a long time bargaining. Then we started exploring Patong town and beach. As it is off-season, it was relatively less crowded. Patong beach is one of the buzy beaches where there are fascilities for sea canoeing, parasaling etc. Just keep in mind that you need to bargain with them if you plan to do any of these activities.

In this beautiful beach, you can see thousands of shells coming to the shore with every wave and then will disappear in the sand when the waes go back, crabs makes holes and disappears in that holes and many other such amazing things.

Many tourists were taking sun bath, canoeing etc. Later we walk through Bang-La road, Ruamjai road, Raj-U-Thid road and back to hotel. On these street sides, you can see lots of shops, sea food restaurants(where you can choose your choice of sea food and they will instantly makes it for you), pubs, and massage parlours. In front of most of the massage parlours, lots of girls will be standing and whenever they see someone, they will come near you and start telling, "Massage.".

Later we took a tuk-tuk(a taxi service vehicle in which 6-7 people can travel), and went to a nearby land where few activities like g0-carting, ATV exploring, elephant jungle trekking etc. Remeber, when you do, for example go-carting, they will take your photo, develop it and keep it in a nice frame and they will ask you to give money for getting that souvenir.

You have to bargain before you possess it.Night life starts by 8.00 PM. After 6.00 PM, no vehicles are allowed in Banga-La road to ensure proper nightlife experience to the tourists. Both sides if Banga-La road are covered by bars, pubs and night clubs. People will be standing in front of their shops showing menu and approaching tourists to visit their bar.

Even there are few "kopitiam" kind of bars(Inside one buidling area, many bars). There will be people selling flower garlands, cigarattes, and other essential things(!). Ladies and lady-boys will be standing on the sides of the road in order to attract tourists. Nightlife is amazing and it will go till 3.00 AM.

Second Day details are available at https://weekendoutings.blogspot.com/Some facts:We stayed at Little Buddha Guest House, (Chalermporn Guest house) - 74/32 Nanai road, Patong beach, (076) 296-994-5(SGD10 per day per person)Taxi: M-Travel service - Tel: 66 76 203 467(400-600 bhats for air port pick up to hotel)Best time to go:

Any time in the year(preferably NOT on season Nov-Feb time as it is very expensive there)Also if possible be there in Patong on Friday and Saturday night as night life is best on these two nightsBook your package tours for remaining days in any travel agency(Bargain for prices)Bargain for any kind of shoppingIf possible go with water proof cover for camera so that you can take pictures while snorkeling.7/11 and Family mart are 24 hours shops which are cheaper compared to other shops especially in Patong.More pictures at:https://picasaweb.google.com/ganesh.vigneswara/AmazingThailand