Phuket
December 25, 2019 to January 1, 2020
We flew down to Phuket on a 747… it shows how popular the destination is and that scared us a bit. (Was super excited to ride the 747 again though, had been a while!!)
Once we got there, we felt a monopoly from the taxi and minivan companies. They control the high prices and that really upset me. Fortunately, Grab (aka Uber) was working down there and we were able to bypass the taxis and get to our hotel affordably.
We had rented a 3-bedroom apartment located on the east coast which turned out to be a less touristy area, close to the Chalong pier where boats depart to the islands nearby.
Beaches and islands
Of course, we went to the beach, a different one every day. Some were less populated than others, some with sand and other with rocks. On the west coast, we came across Patong beach which was overly touristic, apparently not recommended for families because of the sexpat business going on. Fortunately, we only passed by and saw for ourselves that we were well where we were.
Chalong
Koh Lon and Koh Bon
We rented a long-tail boat for the day and first went to Koh Lon (20 minutes across from Chalong) where we were the only ones on the beach (it even felt like we were the only ones on the island). Koh Bon was next, more touristy and sharing the beach between swimmers and boats picking up customers. Kinda annoying!
On the way back, we took a detour through Coral island and back to Chalong pier. It was a nice long boat tour and Lana took a good nap after playing in the water and building sand castles.
Surin
Ao Sane
The most beautiful sunset and first snorkeling with colorful fish.
Yanui
Snorkeling and seeing a blue star fish, angel fish and lots of other colorful ones.
Scooters
In Phuket, we finally rented scooters to peruse the 208 sq. mi. island. We actually kept them for 2.5 days. Salah and I were driving and we were 3 by scooter with the girls sandwiched between 2 adults. It felt great to be free and we loved the feeling of driving. We were not used to riding motorbikes but it’s easy to pick up, although balance when stopping and turns can be challenging at the beginning.
Heading back from the beach, we hit some bad traffic and Lana was falling asleep. Monic had to hold her while giving directions but she did awesome!
Big Buddha
This 45-meter-tall statue made out of marble that shines in the sun. It is located on the Nakkerd Hills and can be seen from afar.
The site offers a 360-degree views of the island. We crossed paths with monkeys up there.
Bubble of History: Long before flip-flops and selfie sticks, Phuket was an island of rubber trees, tin mines and cash-hungry merchants. Attracting entrepreneurs from the Arabian Peninsula, China, India and Portugal, Phuket Town was a colourful blend of cultural influences. Today, it stands as a testament to the island’s history. (Source Lonely Planet Thailand)
Old Phuket Town
We wandered the charming small town, its colorful buildings with Sino-Portuguese influences while popping in souvenir shops.
We found the Sitao Ceramic Studio where Lana, Naema and Coralie painted clay shapes that would become souvenir magnets after applying a quick dry glaze. They also offer pottery classes but there is a 2-week turn-around time for fire glazing. It reminded us of the Midnight Star Pottery in Richmond Hill. Naema had asked for it for a while so it was a nice surprise.
Some of our favorite food in Phuket: panang curry, vegan restaurant and some street food (roti and chicken curry, papaya salad).
New Years’ Eve
We had elaborated a simpler menu than for Christmas because our kitchen was more basic: smoked salmon, pizzas by Naema, goat cheese and olive spreads, chips. Dessert was fruit, popcorns and chocolates.
We played cards with the girls, a new game they got for Christmas, which was fun. Then Lana went to bed and Naema stayed up until 11pm then she was done. The four of us chatted until we heard fireworks outside. We stepped out, wished a Happy New Year to one another and enjoyed the show going on all around us. Then we headed to bed because our alarms were set at 8am for an early departure to Koh Lanta.
The fact that we were isolated from the big crowds in Chalong and that we had the scooters to do some sightseeing on our own contributed a lot to make our stay enjoyable. We liked Phuket!
Koh Lanta
January 1 to 4, 2020
We had a 2-hour ferry trip from Phuket to Koh Phi Phi (super touristy and famous since Leo Di Caprio shot The Beach there…). We had a 2 hour stop on the island so we grabbed lunch, a quick glimpse at a beach and back on another ferry taking us to Koh Lanta in 1 hour. Naema got sick on the first ferry and stayed outside for the rest of the trip. She was feeling much better.
We all got sick one after the other on the first days of 2020, which sucked our energy.
Guesthouse and monkeys
We rented a 3-bedroom “apartment” in the jungle. It was very rustic and we were surprised of the lack of windows on the house but embraced the challenge! The first night was mitigated. Some of us slept well and others less so because of noises, hard mattress, … We had breakfast and went out. We had noticed the monkeys playing in the trees nearby and took some pictures.
What was our surprise when we headed back home at 8:30pm and Salah and Coralie’s bedroom had been sacked by the monkeys. Food was scattered around the room, Coralie’s creams went missing, Naema’s glasses and the ebook had been thrown to the floor. The bed was dirty and the whole place was a mess. Fortunately, all backpacks had been located in the only room that monkeys could not enter because closed by French doors.
We were in awe, the girls had a meltdown: there was no way we could stay there for another night (we had 3 nights booked total). We called Airbnb but there was not much they could do. Fortunately, the owner was very cooperative and found us closed rooms at a guesthouse down the road, and a free ride (at 10pm with a sleepy Lana and all hands full, that was not negligible). The new place was fabulous, we even had free scooters and a breakfast beyond the peace-of-mind. Everything ended well, thanks to our lucky star.
Pool and beaches
After a first rough night at the jungle guesthouse, we crashed at the pool of a luxury hotel all day. Salah, Domi and Lana were feeling good but the rest of us were not. It was great to stay on the sunchairs and go for a bath in the pool or at the beach for those who could. We had a mellow day and when we headed back to the rooms after dinner, that’s when we had to deal with the monkey’s mess.
On the second day, we had 3 scooters with our new fantastic guesthouse and we went to Klong Nin beach at the end of the day, to watch the sunset while sipping a mojito.
Everyone was feeling better and we enjoyed an exquisite bbq fish on the beach that night. It was blissful.
Old Lanta town
Before the beach, we visited the old town which is basically one strip, mostly touristy with restaurants and souvenir shops. There is a lot of handicrafts like local pottery, jewelry, coffee which gives an authentic twist to the slew of shops.
We will keep mixed feelings about Koh Lanta due to the monkey business and sickness but I am glad it ended well and we got to enjoy our time on the island.
Ao Nang
January 4 to 6, 2020
We took a 2h30 ferry to Ao Nang, stopping in Railay (a beach between 2 karsts: beautiful).
I will not talk at length of Ao Nang because it is far too touristy and not authentic. I would not recommend for travels.
What we liked there: going to the beach and eating at the night market.
Monic and Domi went to visit a construction site (Monic is an architect and can’t help it even on vacation) and went up on the hill to have a nice view of the bay. In the meantime, the Elsankaris were working at the hotel on the last blog articles about Laos.
There was no official visitor center and it was hard to know if the information we were getting on trips back to Bangkok (for Domi and Monic to catch their plane on Jan 8) or to Hat Yai (for the Elsankaris heading towards the Malaysian border) were priced well.
In the end, we all went to the Krabi bus station 15 minutes away, but at different times though. Salah, the girls and I caught a tuk tuk around 10am. When we arrived at the bus station, we were immediately directed to a public bus leaving in the next 2 minutes. We paid 4 times less than if we had booked a minivan trip from Ao Nang. So it proved us right.
Domi and Monic did the same and caught a night bus to Bangkok at 6pm.
Hat Yai
January 6 to 7, 2020
Back to traveling as a family, we were sitting at the back of the bus on a bench seat for close to 5h30 hours. We stopped for lunch at a decent hour and food was good.
The South has strong muslim influences, and at the bus stop, there was halal food and prayer rooms for men and women.
Our friend Damien (@kulturogeek) had struggled with his family on a minivan trip from Krabi to the Malaysian border. They had booked a full day trip and unexpectedly had to spend the night in Hat Yai. Based on their experience, we decided to break up the journey: sleeping in Hat Yai, booking a train trip for the next day.
We bought our train tickets when we arrived. Departure 7:30am the next morning. Then we visited a few hotels and guesthouses and picked the “less worse”.
We ate Indian food, which we were missing, after all the pad thais and thai curries (massaman and panang that we loved) we had had for 30 days.
Then we went to bed and did not sleep well, we felt that we were stung all night: bed bugs or mosquitoes? Who knows but we were out quickly the next day to catch our train, our last morning in Thailand.
Coralie
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