We took Air China from Beijing to Phuket, Thai air Phuket to Bangkok and again Air China Bangkok to Beijing. Visa was on arrival at Phuket airport and was quick and smooth. We need to show our return air tickets, hotel bookings, show we had sufficient funds for the trip and had to fill up a visa application form along with attaching a photograph.
Visa on arrival is free for Indians until October.
We reached Phuket close to midnight. We bought sim cards for 200 baht each at the airport, and took a taxi to Karon beach where we booked our stay. We read a lot about taxi scams etc, so we were prepared but we didn't have any trouble and managed to get to the hotel at a reasonable price.
Karon Beach is one of the quieter beaches in Phuket, unlike Patong where all the tourists are. We enjoyed the fact that we had the beach for ourselves and headed to that side on both nights to catch the action.
Day 1: We stayed at the Novotel Phuket Karon Beach Resorts and Spa and they had 3 pools as well as a Kid's club and enough activities to keep everyone occupied. We took it slow in the morning and headed to the beach late noon to catch the sunset and even did parasailing. For Dinner we went to Hard Rock Cafe, Phuket close to Patong and took a fancy tuktuk back to the hotel. (The tuk tuks here are pretty cool with disco lights and blaring music!)
Day 2: We started the day with a late breakfast and a spa session. For lunch we managed to find a local seafood restaurant called "Kan Eang 2 "and had the best Thai food we've had our entire trip. The restaurant was on the shore of the Chalong beach. We enjoyed our lunch with the view. In the evening we took a taxi to Bangla road and it really comes alive at night. Filled with tourists , there's hardly any place to walk. We were glad we chose Karon to stay over Patong.
Day 3: We booked the Phi Phi island tour through our hotel for our last day in Phuket. We went with a group called Andaman Leisure Phuket Tours. They picked us up at 7.30 am by mini van and we drove to the Jetty which is about an hour away. We then took the speedboat to Phi Phi island. The tour had multiple stops - a cave where we could swim in the turquoise blue water, a quick stop at Monkey beach where we could see the monkeys up close and personal, and a lagoon where we could go snorkeling . The experience was so beautiful. It was our first time and we weren't even good swimmers. The tour guides even helped our little boy to snorkel. The next stop was the main village where we had our buffet lunch and had free time to walk around the beach. The beach was a very quiet one and with the white sand and blue waters felt like we had the whole stretch for ourselves. We then headed back to Phuket and we can't get over how awesome the trip was. The tour was very well organized , the staff was very helpful and friendly.
The pictures don't do justice to how beautiful Phi Phi looks in real.
Day 4: We had to say our goodbyes to beautiful Phuket and took a morning flight to Bangkok. We used the Grab app to take a taxi to our hotel which was right in the city center - Novotel Sukhumvit.
After check in , we walked to PraiRaya one of the Michelin Guide recommended restaurants for a nice hearty lunch. After lunch we headed to Siam Paragon for some retail therapy. The mall is huge, but even on a Monday evening was very crowded. Bangkok traffic gets quite bad , especially in the city. So the best bet is to take a Tuk tuk. Most tuk tuks start at a high rate, so we bargained and if we thought the price was reasonable would get on.
Day 5: We did the Grand Palace and Wat Pho temple. We didn't want to squeeze to much in to our itinerary and hence just took it slow and did it at our own pace. We stopped for lunch at a quaint place opposite the Palace called Krisa. We then headed back to our hotel for a break and in the evening went for a walk around Nana. The entire street comes alive at night here as well, with street vendors, clubs and restaurants. It is quite safe and we enjoyed ourselves taking in all the sights and sounds.
Day 6: Initially we thought we'd do a day trip to Ayutthaya, but we finally skipped the idea taking in to consideration the distance and the weather. We headed to the Central World mall which has a nice play area for kids and where we could do our shopping. This mall was much less crowded than Siam Paragon. In the evening we wanted to wind down, so we ended the day with swimming at the hotel's rooftop pool.
Tips:
- Do your research well, Thailand is beautiful and has something for everyone.
- We already had decided not to do the touristy things like the Floating market or Train market as we were sure we wouldn't enjoy it.
- Read about tourist scams, and be aware of your surroundings. We didn't have any trouble getting around and took taxis with the Grab app for long trips and Tuk Tuks to get around within the city.
- Visa on arrival/ VAT Refund is all quite easy. Look up on how to get it done and need not go by reviews that say it is difficult. We got it done without any waiting.
- People are generally friendly, but be aware of people walking up to you. We had quite a few people coming to us to make small conversations. Be aware of your surroundings and take care of your belongings. When we pretended to be locals and not tourists, they walked away.
- We got sea sick on the speed boat to Phi phi island. ALP the tour group we went with was helpful and had bags, medicines and first aid. If you are going on your own it's better to be prepared.
- Parasailing on Karon beach is done by locals not experts, don't expect much help if you are hurt. Also you need to pay in advance before going up. If you have time it'd be better to look up for a proper company to go with instead.
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