Phuket – oh what a night.

Phuket is the largest island in Thailand so big that you forget it is an island. 49 kms long it has space and a place for all to enjoy. Patong is Phuket’s biggest town and is locally known as sin city, where the phrase fun in the sun can mean just about anything. This is where our ship docked for an overnight stay. We were tendered ashore right onto the white beach front directly in the middle of the buzzing town.

The resort has morphed into an artsy, culturally rich capital with the affinity of luxury for the Jet set and the average tourist alike. With amazing 5 star hotels, swanky spa’s (and not so swanky) fashionable nightspots, high end dining, luxury shopping and not forgetting tropical white beaches to sit and watch the most romantic sunsets, you certainly get a feel of paradise. But when that sun does finally set my my the resort lights up in a totally different light. We were told to visit an area called Bangla walking street which is closed off to traffic after 6. It is a street so crammed full of people you can hardly tell what is on sale. Street vendors, pole dancers, go go girls and boys all competing for business. However I did feel very safe and the atmosphere was very friendly. There were places on side streets off this that I think offered more but nothing thrust in your face.

A 15 minute walk from one end to the other was enough for us and we headed to a cute little Thai place for dinner. We had decided not to eat on the ship that night as I wanted to try a real Thai curry. Yum !!
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The next day we took an excursion out to James Bond Island calling off at a cashew factory, I did not know Phuket farmed them and was quite excited to see the cashew plant before it become the nut.

We then boarded a small boat and headed out to sea, we stopped at a floating village with amazing views of dramatic rock formations before reaching the famous sight used in the James Bond film. I was surprised how small the actual island itself is. But all the surrounding areas did take my breath away. This is what I thought Thailand would be like.

We arrived back in Patong and had to take a Tuk Tuk ride back to the ship. These are the local taxis but with a difference. Some are so custom made they were like mini hummers or mobile discos. Overall I enjoyed our stay and am happy to have at last seen what so many past passengers of mine rave about. I did take a moment to think about the effect the tsunami had on Phuket and felt quite sad.