Первое посещение Пхукета First visit to Phuket

This morning I woke up in Ibis, and now, in the evening, I'm already at home. . . We rested from December 7 to December 20.2010. Upon arrival, we were accommodated quite quickly, provided a room on the 4th floor overlooking the courtyard, where the pool is. The view is good, although we didn't spend much time on the balcony. Since there were three of us, they provided an extra bed according to the size of our one and a half bed, the bed is good, strong, very comfortable, just a little lower than the one that is installed in all rooms as the main one. So there was almost no free space left in our room, but we were not upset about this, since the hotel did not sit at a minimum. The safe is good, with an electronic combination lock, free of charge. The refrigerator is small in size, I bought fruits in large quantities and had to store them on the balcony (although they were not stored for a long time - they were eaten in one fell swoop! ). The closet is small, but it wasn't crowded - not many things were brought in, as there were enough shorts and a couple of T-shirts. About breakfast Nadezhda wrote everything exactly. Mine consisted every day of a bowl of awesome strawberry yogurt (not powdered) and a bowl of that same fruit salad. The first two days we ate in nearby cafes, until we met a girl on Kata Beach who came to Phuket to work (legal : )). Here she is (thank you very much) and told us where you can eat tasty, cheap fresh Thai food. We went to Patak Road (this is the upper street, from which there is an exit one way to Phuket Town, and the other to Patong Beach. This street is a 10-minute walk from Ibis. There are a lot of cafes on it, inconspicuous in appearance, where they eat mostly local Thais themselves, well, tourists who were lucky enough to discover and bite through these cafes. A delicious portion of fried rice (fried rice) with chicken or seafood costs 50 rubles there, fried rice noodles (fried noodles) also 50 rubles. at about the same price. We left 150 rubles for lunch and the same amount for dinner for three. They cook right in front of you in 15-20 minutes, the owners are friendly Thai families, all members participate in serving visitors, even their children. By the way, the locals they just call them on the phone and come only to pick up their packed lunch or dinner. Thais do not eat at home, it is expensive, cheaper that way, for them the prices are lower than for us. So I advise you not to throw money at restaurants and cafes near the hotel, it's not worth it, this money can be used for something else. By the way, at every turn there are Landry servis, these are laundries where you can wash your linen for 50 rubles per 1 kg and give it to you clean, soft and deliciously smelling. Locals also rent their laundry there, it's cheaper than buying a washing machine. In the morning you give - in the evening you take clean. We chose a laundry for ourselves, too, on Patak Road. In Ibis, a Russian girl at the reception, Yulia, works, although she does not fully own seemingly simple information. For example, she told me that on a cheap bus that runs along the Kata-Karon-Phuket town route every half an hour, you can’t get to the Central Festival. It is possible - and very possible! For only 30 baht you get on the bus and in about an hour you get off 300 meters from the Central Festival, and do not pay 300-400 rubles one way to taxi drivers! I still couldn’t get her to bring tea accessories (tea, coffee) to us for three persons, and not for two. . I approached her with this request several times, but the result appeared only three days before our departure, when I myself explained to the maid on my fingers what I wanted. So the work of our Yulia is "lame", unfortunately. Maybe he works recently and doesn't know much. I bought fruits at the nomadic market, which is open on Katya on Mondays and Thursdays in the afternoon until 8 pm. It is located on New Kata Road, if you exit the hotel to the right, then the first street to the right is a 5-minute walk. This market is nomadic and trades in different places every day. Fruits are much cheaper there, pineapples are larger, etc. Including these days we dined and dined there for nothing! The main market on Katya is located on the same Patak Road, at first I stocked up on fruits there. Prices are very cheap by our standards. Basically I took mango, pineapple, dragon fruit, peeled pomelo. Regarding Thai massage: without even thinking and not sorting through the salons, go to the salon called "MOOK", if you exit the hotel to the right, after the confectionery, another massage parlor (not all masters want to give their best there), then Optics, but right after opticians - salon "MOOK", there is also an aquarium with fish for cleaning legs. Go right there, it's a pity that I didn't come to them right away. I won’t say about all the masters, but an elderly woman and two men (especially the younger one with slightly red hair and a hairstyle similar to a Mohawk) are generally a class - go and say thank you to me (as I say thanks to Valera, who is this Salon recommended. And now about renting a bike. For the first five days, we rented a bike from a number of ordinary ones for 250 rubles, and then after looking closely, we returned it and took a Honda PCX elsewhere, this is a more powerful bike that carried the three of us without any problems (our total weight was more than 170 kg) even on long climbs (for example, the trip to the Buddha was very easy). They took him for 400 rubles a day from a good hospitable host named Ben. His firm is located not far from the place where the nomadic market is located, on New Kata Road. . Knows 6 languages, including excellent Russian. His phone number is +66 (0835118390), she helped us a lot with many questions, and my daughter went to him in an Internet cafe, because the Internet is super expensive in the hotel, and he has 1 baht for 1 minute, a quiet and calm environment, and the person himself is pleasant in communication. Next time - straight to it! I also want to share my impressions about our hotel guide Alexei, with whom we were invited to a meeting by Pegasus on the very first day. As responsible tourists came at the appointed time to communicate with him, they provided all the information about themselves, but as soon as I refused the proposed excursions (she said that if I decide, I would call him), and then I also added that excursions from the tour operator are very dear ones, but here it’s fashionable to buy half the price on the spot, he boiled up so much and began to talk so rudely that we had no choice but to just get up and leave, despite the fact that we communicated with him smilingly, affably and correctly. Who keeps such an employee at work is unknown, I would kick him in the neck right away! By the way, he didn’t even offer us a sightseeing tour, so all 8 people from our arrival at the Ibis were left without a sightseeing trip. But we still bought an excursion to Phi Phi at a price exactly two times cheaper in "Matryoshka" from Timur (tel 0824252335), an excellent one-day excursion on a speedboat with a Russian guide and excellent service. We ourselves went to ride elephants, from the hotel about 7-10 minutes drive towards Kata View Point (Kata viewpoint). An adult ticket costs from 600 rubles, a child ticket costs half. The price depends on the distance of the route. Elephants are wonderful smart animals - be sure to ride, take pictures and feed them bananas from your hands! In the evenings we went to Patong, from December 15 to 20, a carnival was held there, which we attended with pleasure. She took her husband by the hand along Bangla Road, although the devil is not so terrible. . . ; ) It is interesting to wander around the center of JangCeylon, the prices are inexpensive by our standards. On Saturdays and Sundays, we went to the Sandy Market night market, which is located in Phuket Town before reaching the Central Festival. It works only on Saturday and Sunday from about 6 pm to 10-11. You can still get there on the same bus for 30 baht, just keep in mind that the last bus leaves Kata at 16-45 and arrives at that market just at about 18 hours. You will have a very tasty meal there, your eyes will run up from all sorts of differences, well, shopping is completely free, although not branded, but you will find good things. Durian tried - garbage! Maybe it's because it's not the season for him. If I remember anything of value, I'll be sure to post it. Yes. . . the first days we sunbathed on Katya, and then we began to go to Karon, I liked it more there, the beach strip is wider, further from the road, and the creak of sand attracts. They didn’t take sunbeds - it’s money down the drain, come for three hours and pay 300 rubles for three (twice to eat fully !!! ). We brought a jacquard bedspread with us and laid it wherever we wanted. We were satisfied with the rest! Ibisom too! Have a good holiday in Thailand!