I remember my first trip to Thailand - it was March 2012 and I was invited to go there on a business trip. Although I was there for work and much of my time was spent doing site inspections and other things, I fell in love with the country. When I came back and wrote about it for work I said - this was my first, but surely not my last time to Thailand. I knew there was something and that it had so much more to offer...boy, did it ever :)
I visited Thailand again just a little over a month ago. This time I was on vacation and got to relax and really take my time on enjoying the place. I was there with two of my co-workers and I have to say that those two were the best travel buddies one could look for - ever! Let's call them K and N for future reference :)
The trip came about in a funny way. I remember a time months and months before (probably the winter before the last), when we were driving back from a work related event and got to talking. We talked about different trips we would like to take and so on... So months and months later - I had just got back from Italy and K told me that they had booked tickets to Thailand. A couple hours later, I had my tickets booked as well. We didn't have any plans or ideas, but we knew that this trip was going to be the best ever - check! ;)
If you're new to Thailand and want to enjoy the beaches then I recommend taking the route that we took - Phuket-Koh Phi Phi-Koh Lanta. Although it was the same route that I had taken a few years before, I still wanted to go back and do the same thing.
Phuket - a mix of everything on the menu
Don't get me wrong, but that place has changed, even with two years. There's a huge Russian population there and therefore most of the signs are translated to English and Russian. I do have to say that it was a bit strange. Usually you're used to seeing signs in the local language and English, but not there.
Phuket in itself is a tourist hot spot. Maybe you've heard about Patong Beach? Or Kata and Karon Beach? If you're planning on visiting that part of Phuket then I would categorize them as follows:
- Patong is the place where the party goes on 'til the early hours and back. You've probably heard about sex tourism and that is pretty much the place when it goes down the most. I personally don't like the place - it's too loud and crowded. Don't get me wrong (again :)) I love a good party, but that is too much. One or two nights would be OK, but more would be suicide.
- Kata Beach is a more quiet and laid back place. It's further down south from Patong and totally different place than the first. This is also the place that we stayed at for the first three nights in Thailand. Kata is good for families too - the beach is pretty decent and the water isn't too bad, so the smallest ones of the family can take a dip as well. We stayed at Kata Orient House and I would recommend it. It's not anything fancy, but the hotel's location is really good and there's a guy on the corner of the main street and the street that the hotel is at, that makes mean fruit shakes! :) The hotel was clean and quiet - you could hear some cars from the road, but nothing too much. The pool was great as well.
- Karon is a mix of the two I expect. I didn't spend an awful lot of time there, so I'm not going to pass judgement. But what I have heard and read, it's an OK place for both families and younger people with friends.
Koh Phi Phi - party all the way
After Kata Beach on Phuket, we were off to Koh Phi Phi. I was there in 2012 as well, but stayed on the quieter side of the island. So I didn't really know what to expect from the parties and the everyday life of the island. And let me tell you - Phi Phi you stole my heart. Yeah, it's not the cleanest place in Southern Thailand and I wouldn't recommend going there with children or your honeymoon, but if you want to party for a couple of days/weeks/months - then this is the place. I've heard that Koh Pha Ngan is a pretty rad party island as well - we'll see in a year or so ;)
On Phi Phi we stayed at the
Ivory Hotel which again had a great location and was OK, although there were some downs. First, the room that we stayed in (sorry, can't remember the name) has the AC right above the beds. I mean, yeah, you can't live without air conditioning there, but having cold air being blown on you the whole night is not nice. We tried adjusting the fan direction, but to no avail. And the other thing was the quiet policy at the hotel. I totally understand that there's no need yell in the corridors and you have to respect other people, but if almost every wall has a sign on it that you have to keep quiet - it gets a bit weird. We didn't have any problems, but I did have an urge to ask the receptionist if the owner knew on which island they were on. Phi Phi is no place for a quiet vacation....
...if you're not on the other side of the island of course. In 2012 I stayed in the Holiday Inn Resort which now is named the Outrigger Resort. You can get there by boat only and that was a really nice quiet place to visit. Although it did take about 20-30 minutes by longtail boat to get to the center. In the end, if you're looking for a relaxing holiday with nice beaches and beautiful scenery - go to Koh Lanta.
Koh Lanta, my love
Oh, Koh Lanta, my love. After spending three nights in Phuket and then three nights on Koh Phi Phi, we went to Koh Lanta. I fell in love with that island from the first time we got there in 2012. Koh Lanta is a place for honeymoons, family holidays and friends having a great time. The laid back atmosphere of the island just hits you - no point in fighting in :)
We stayed on Long Beach which is pretty much in the center on the western part of the island. The hotel we stayed in was named
Soontreeya Lanta and I highly recommend it. It's a boutique hotel and has only 12 bungalows all together. The owners are a Thai-Irish family and are on site all the time - really nice people. The breakfast is good, the rooms are super cute and if you think you've seen big beds - no you haven't. We booked a room for three people, so we had an extra bed in the room, but the main bed was so big that we all slept there and could have fit two more people in easily. The pool was great as well, spent many relaxing days by it.
There are some things though that you have to take in to account - the bars and restaurants on Long Beach are not open as long as on Kata Beach for example. The first night when we arrived, we spent a good hour for looking a place to eat. And moving around in the dark is a bit tricky as well since there are no pedestrian walk ways so you're pretty much on the road and the street lighting is not the best.
When you're on Long Beach then do visit a bar on the beach called Mad Bull Beach Bar. You have to walk through the Lanta Castaway Resort to get there. Sunsets, colorful cocktails and great food - you'll get it all there.
More to come
This two week trip was a life changer in so many ways and I couldn't have asked for a better vacation. We all came back glowing like we swallowed the sun and the feeling hasn't left us. I'm planning on doing a separate post on each of the islands with all kinds of tips on how to spend your time there and such.
As you can gather from this post - Thailand is amazing. It's one of my most favorite places on this planet. No two places are alike in Thailand, except that the locals are awesome everywhere :)
Remember - the world is a candy shop just waiting for you to take a bite ;)
