Mekkelmania : Thailand, - An Intercontinental travel magazine, with,jungle, jungle tour,market,international,world,flying,airlines, reservations,hotels,holidays,vacations,planners,plans,resources, how,to,prepare,discount,air fares,tickets,directory,guide,adventure,travel,tips,travelers,travellers, traveling, travelling, advice,help,planning,preparations, packing,operators,women,safety, weather,warm,weather,high,altitude,guidetravel, journals, reis, homepage, verslag, tips,last minute,Galapagos,An,interactive, stories, pictures, photos,of, backpack, backpackers, backpacking, mekkelmania, traveltips, beach, white beach, palm trees, relaxing, transport, prices, accommodation, interactive, stories, maps, lonely planet, travel guide, guide, travel information,reisrevue, reisverhalen, reizen, witte stranden, timetable, train,automobile, bus, culture, rain forrest, islands, links, visa department of transportation, help, travel advice, custom information, planning, information, resources, travel tips, hiking, trekking, ko phi phi, ko lanta, phuket, bangkok, patong beach, phuket town

Thailand

We are on our way now for 2,5 months. Cambodia was hot and dusty, so we needed some rest quickly. Where better to go than Thailand.

We wanted a flight from Siem Reap (Cambodia) straight to Phuket. Bangkok Airways says there are flying 3 times a week; Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. But only a few weeks after introduction of this flightschedule, they skipped the Tuesday flight and you would have guessed, that was the flight we wanted. Now we had to fly to Bangkok (US$150 each) and from there we booked a flight a few hours later to Phuket town (US$ 50). Yes, that was pretty expensive. But the alternative was travelling by bus to Bangkok (for only US$10 each, but 10-16 hours) and then get a flight. And we NEEDED some rest quickly.
So we arrived in the not very interesting town of Phuket, booked a room in the unfriendly, dirty and noisy On On Hotel for 180 Baht, bought our boattickets to Koh Phiphi (200 Baht each) and went out for some drinks and food. The last part was pretty good.

The next morning we were picked up from our hotel by minivan, which brought us to the harbour. From there the boat took us to Koh Phiphi in about 2 hours. First we stopped at Phiphi Le, a undevelopped island where Hollywood filmed 'The Beach'. I must say, it was a little dissapointment. I expected it to be very impressive, but nothing like that. There were also loads of boats laying around there. Probably a snorkelparadise. At least half of the people on our boat got out here for a daytrip snorkeling. After 10 minutes we went on to our goal: Phiphi Don.

From far it was an excellent view. All the limestone rocks, white beaches and of course the palmtrees. Just looking at this panaroma makes me a very happy man. We got off the boat and walked to the other end of the island (only appr. 100 meters) and asked at Charlie's guesthouse if they had a room left. They did, for 750 or 900 Baht !!! WHAT!!! Not even at the beach front. We expected some cheap stuff. Since we noticed it was extremely busy, we took the room of 750 Baht (=17,5 US$).

I appreared Phiphi was not like we expected it to be. It was busy, crowded and the water was very undeep for at least 400 meters. The other side of the island was more quiet, but the water was filled with petrol from the boats. Aaaaah. Some of our friends told us that they came here many years ago and had a great time here, with nothing going on and only few tourists. Of course I expected it to be busy, but not like this. So we decided we will go on to Koh Lanta the next day. Hopefully that is quiet. The next day a boat was leaving at 11.30 and hour hour later we were in Lanta. On the boat some guys are running around the show you their hotels and guesthouses. 'Man', a guy from the Sayang Beach Resort persueded us to come along to see his guesthouse. It appeared a very good choice. Some nice, spacy cabins for 200-300 Baht. It was very close to the beach, unfortunately not AT the beach.


Our cabin at Sayang Beach Resort	The beachbar (with happy hour)	Cool Juices	Every night !!!

At our hotel we rented a motorbike and did a trip around the island. On the West coast down South there are lots of small bays and beaches with all kind of resorts. The road is pretty bad half way the island, but it is definitely worth going. In the middle of the island is a very nice restaurant with an excellent view over the sea with a great number of small islands (it is on the concrete road).
The next day we did a snorkelingtrip around the bay. There were some nice sport to jump into the water. There were not many different type of fish swimming around but still it was very colourful. On board there was a very scary, skinny, German guy, who missed about 7 teeth, smelled, was drunk all day and was complaining about everything. It was or a case of extinct hippy-ism or over-travelling. Anyway, he was the loser of the day.

From Koh Lanta we went back to Phuket, where we stayed 2 days in Patong beach. It appeared to be a big touristcentre with lots of nightclubs, bar, hookers, hotels, restaurants, katoi's and souvenirs. We found a nice place to stay, the Capricorn Villa. Spacy, clean bungalows with fridge, tv and fan for 'only' 600 Baht! Not bad for a town like this I think. The time we were here there were about 4000-5000 American marines / navymen around town. All the prostitutes worked overtime I think. Three ships stayed here for a few days. Some others (recognizable dressed in white or green) looked after all the drunk and partying soldiers. It was also discusting to see so many old men walking around with small Thai girls. It was even worse than I imagined. Maybe it was all real love, and are both parties ultimately happy with eachother !!!

After Patong c.q. Phuket we had to go back to Singapore, from where we flew back to Amsterdam. Three months gone, back to the normal live.

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