First trip to Thailand: Bangkok-Phuket-Koh Samui-Bangkok. Continuation - about. Phuket
So, let's continue (beginning of the story at this link http://www.turpravda.com/th/blog- 157063.html
As part of our first independent trip to Thailand, from March 5 to March 10, we rested on the shores of the Andoman Sea on about. Phuket, Bangtao beach at the Best Western Premier Hotel and Resort 4*. We left Bangkok at 12:45 and arrived in Phuket in 1 hour 05 minutes. In BKK, we got to the airport in a previously planned way (not by taxi) by tuk-tuk (70 baht) to the SkyLine ground metro station, and then on the train itself (40 baht per person) we reached the airport itself. In total, we managed to get to the airport for 150 baht and it was great that we didn’t need a taxi!
At the airport, they found our terminal, our gate and had a good time at the Bangkok Airways Lounge (these airlines always offer such services for their passengers, because they have tickets quite expensive - about $ 100 for one, but the price includes and baggage, and choice of seat, and meals on board).
The Boeing 737 was filled to capacity, however, the stewardesses are so young, during the flight, which lasted a little more than an hour, they even managed to give us a full hot meal. The views from the window were great!
Upon arrival in Phuket, we took a taxi for 700 baht per car (their prices for transportation are serious! ) and this despite the fact that the baht was almost equal to the hryvnia in March 2015 and after 30 minutes we were taken to the hotel. In general, as it was written on the forums, we did everything according to the scheme: we approached the construction site of a taxi, we were issued a receipt, we immediately paid and we were sent to look for a driver. And this taxi turned out to be such an executive class Mercedes with a leather interior. Maybe we did something wrong at some stage, but we didn’t want to roll back anything already ! ! On vacation!
On the way to the hotel, the driver warned us that he needed to stop by his office for a minute (on the way), and upon arrival in the car, a Thai woman sat in the front seat, who began to sell excursions to us in amazing English. Everything was very unobtrusive, we received a lot of interesting information and colorful booklets, but as it turned out later, the services offered to us were 20% more expensive than we then found in a travel agency near the hotel.
I booked the hotel through booking with payment on arrival - Best Western Premier Bang Tao Beach 4*. Together with this hotel, I also had another booking on the same BangTao beach - the Laguna hotel complex - very large - just a separate city, but it was originally 2 times more expensive, and when the hryvnia went down, it was generally golden. I canceled it, and at Best Western I managed to pay for the room in advance, although not the original price, as it was indicated in UAH at the time of booking. When I first booked this hotel, its cost did not reach UAH 10.000. (Premier room with direct sea view), but when she had already exceeded (at the rate) for 12.000, I wrote to booking and asked to pay it in advance. I received a letter directly from the administration of Best Western, and I managed to pay for the hotel before the next collapse of the hryvnia.
A little about the hotel: it consists of two completely identical 4-storey buildings, which are built in the shape of the letter "P" and frame the same pools. At first, we were given a not entirely successful room - in the building closest to the reception and a restaurant with a bar, where it is quite noisy in the evenings. At first, we were a little upset, because we so wanted peace and tranquility after the noisy and chaotic BKK. But in the evening we walked around the neighborhood and found that the second part of the hotel is absolutely quiet.
The next morning, the first thing I did was change our room to the second building - very quiet and peaceful. Here, even by the pool, there are much fewer people, the music from the bar is not heard at all!
Wi-Fi only in the reception hall, where it's cool and there are no mosquitoes. You can also catch it near the pool, but in the evening the heat does not subside, and mosquitoes begin to eat not like a child.
The location of the hotel, I think, is very good - not directly on the seashore, the beach is right there and not long, a couple of steps - and into the sea. In the morning the tide (at the time when we were here), the sea comes close enough. In the evening - low tide - the sea departs by 50 meters and no more! The sea is not transparent (or maybe we were so “lucky”! ), but when Lera and I took daily long walks along the beach (the sand is dense and very comfortable for walking), and our hotel is located almost at the very beginning of this Bangtao beach, then what further from the hotel, the more interesting was the sea - waves, transparency and blueness. Although, since the beach is sandy, because of the waves, the water near the shore always becomes cloudy. We also reached the Laguna Hotel (about 40 minutes with a normal step along the surf in one direction) and I got up to see it with my own eyes. Yes, on a grand scale, but in a strange way it is located towards the beach. It's a long walk to the beach, it's kind of steep (a lot of loose sand). Did not impress!
The audience is mostly adult and 80% foreign. There are very few children. The beach is quiet and calm.
On the beach, without going beyond the stone fences that separate the hotel from the beach, sellers of everything from different delicious food to bedspreads walk. If you want to buy something, just look and the seller is right there. No obsession, but they sell with such love for the product that it is impossible not to buy)).
Immediately outside the hotel there is a street along which there are numerous restaurants of different cuisines, mini-supermarkets 7/11 and Familymart, various shops and massage parlors, several pharmacies and several ATMs. There are also macaroons and a tuk-tuk parking lot. In general, everything you need for a leisurely and relaxing holiday. In general, BangTao beach suggests just such a vacation - away from busy highways and streets, various entertainment venues. It takes about 30 minutes by taxi to Patong.
We once drove closer to the highway, where there is such a Shopping Area - various shops, a large pharmacy, several restaurants (including McDonald's and a chain pizzeria), as well as a large Tesco (for the sake of it we drove) with a large selection of different products. By tuk-tuk about 7-10 minutes (150 in both directions - the tuk-tuk was waiting for us).
Our stay included only breakfast (a great choice of dishes! ), you could immediately buy half-board, many guests had such a package, but it was much more interesting to dine every time in a new restaurant with a new cuisine. The average check for two without alcohol is 600-700 baht (I remind you that the baht against the dollar at that time was almost identical to the hryvnia). Not cheap!
We had very few days in Phuket, but we could not help but go on a sea excursion to the Phi Phi Islands! This is a day trip by speedboat. It is quite expensive, it cost us 5000 baht for two. When we drove by taxi to the hotel from the airport, we saw offices with inscriptions in Russian and that's where we went for a tour on the first day! On a boat with a Russian guide Olya (born in St. Petersburg), Lera and I were only one of the Russian speakers. All the rest were foreigners of different nationalities. It was a lot of fun when the "main" Thai guide spoke in English, and then the guides translated this to their wards in German and Portuguese. We did not need a translation into Russian, because everything is OK with English with my daughter. In general, there were about 20 people on the boats. Olya said that the flow of tourists has fallen a lot (by 80% compared to last season). The service on the boat also included constant light snacks (various cookies, cut into slices of mango, pineapples and watermelons), which the guides carefully prepared for their tourists. The fridge was always stocked with different juices and water.
First, we were taken to Bambu Bay, where the beach is white fine sand and the purest water. Here you can just swim and sunbathe. We were there for about an hour. Then we were taken a little from the island and gave us snorkeling (diving with a mask and snorkel). The water is clear, azure. After that, we were taken to lunch (buffet on Phi Phi Don), then we snorted again and saw a couple of sharks. The next point was the arrival at the island of monkeys, where monkeys ran up to the moored boats (along the trees) and they could be fed with bananas from their hands (bananas were stocked on the boat). The monkeys were absolutely not aggressive. After that, we were taken to a closed bay, where we could just swim in the emerald water around the boat, and only then we were taken to Maya Beach, where DiCaprio was filming in the movie "The Beach" - a local attraction. We spent another hour there and only then, happy, tired and, as it turned out, also burned (and we used creams with 100 and 50 SPF protection! ) drove to the port. In total, we left the hotel at 7:30, boarded the boat at about 9:00 and returned to the port at about 17:20. By 18:00 we were already at the hotel.
The trip left only the most pleasant impressions! !
It is interesting that on the way to and from the port we went through other beaches and even captured Patong Beach a little. Our hotel is in sufficient seclusion, and closer to Patong, real city life begins with many people, cars and hotels.
The rest of the days just enjoyed relaxing in a good hotel and on a great beach.
Our next destination was about. Samui.
The evening before departure, I booked a transfer from the hotel to the airport (a branded hotel minibus cost us the same 700 baht) and in the morning after a hearty breakfast we went to Phuket airport, where we waited for our plane in the Bangkok Airways Lounge and took off on a brand new ATR for meeting with Koh Samui.
To be continued…
