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Published: March 5th 2015
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And we're back!!! Got a great "Getaway" deal with our timeshare back to Phuket to stay at the Marriot Beach Club which is the sister property to the JW Marriott Mai Khao where we stayed last year. It's literally within minutes walking distance but a bit more "timeshare" feeling vs. the resort. Each has its pros and cons, but we are totally happy. Our room (aka apartment) is amazing. We flew via Singapore air this time which in my book is our new favorite airline. Food and service was amazing, not to mention their movie on-demand system which has hundreds of movies to choose from vs. just the few most airlines have. It certainly helped me with not being able to sleep to have so many to choose from to pass the time.
We arrived after 24 hours of flying in Phuket at 9am on Friday and were pleasantly surprised to find no line at immigration unlike our 1am flight arrival last time. We were out the door in what felt like a New York minute. Arriving at the hotel they had our room ready within 20 minutes and I proudly practiced my "hello" and "thank you" in Thai. We
took a small nap and then walked along the beach and found a place to eat situated between resorts that was "local." It was so wonderful to be back beachside again, looking at the Indian Ocean drinking Chang and eating great food. We had a fried fish with 3 sauces, Papaya salad (spicy!), and a Tom Ga soup. I know we mentioned it last time but how quickly we forget their Kleenex napkins and how they literally dissenigrate with one sticky finger wipe, LOL. I also can't forget to mention their amazing peanuts here! Something about them is just so wonderful. They're roasted with chilis, lemongrass and some kind of dried fish and are so delightful. We're always so excited when they bring them after dinner or during happy hour. All and all it was a low-key day 1 and we ended up going to sleep around 11:30pm........and yikes.....slept until 1:42pm Saturday. I cite the exact time because when I looked at the clock i exclaimed "oh my God it's 2 o'clock!! What have we done?!?!?" I guess our bodies needed it??
So since half the day was shot, we decided to just hang by the pool which was
lovely. They had live music during happy hour and you can't resist singing along to all of the lounge hit favorites. People were dancing, and that's another thing I love about being here....everyone is so damn happy! Everywhere you look people are smiling, hugging, dancing, kissing....it's Zen! Thailand also brings such a diverse mix of people together with Americans being the minority. Not to slam my homeland, but we can be obnoxious...especially in large numbers! It's nice to get away and be surrounded by families from all over the world, and just brings a different feel than a Florida or Mexico where we are there in droves. Another wonderful thing to see is how women from all over the world embrace their figures as-is and have no qualms about wearing bikinis (it's either that or as Matt suspects they don't sell 1 piece swimsuits anywhere else but America??). Women of all shapes, sizes, and ages are proudly showing their skin and I love it!! We followed the lounge singer over to the JW Marriott bar we loved last time with the hanging beds and relaxed for the rest of the night.
Day 3 Sunday, was another day by the
pool, swimming off and on, reading, napping and just enjoying ourselves. We hit up the beach restaurant again and then had a cocktail at a neighboring resort bar (the Anantara which is so fabulous). Matt busted out a cigar which has become a new interest and we enjoyed the evening sound of the ocean next to fire lit torches 😊! I am a mosquito magnet and had sprayed myself with repellent but Matt has never had to worry (until now) and woke up Monday with about 10-15 bites around his ankles, legs and arms 😞
Day 4 Monday, we grabbed breakfast at the hotel cafe (amazing fresh pineapple juice & iced Thai coffee) and we set out in our rental car to explore some Phuket sites that were close that we had not visited last time. The driving on the wrong side of the road felt a little trickier this time for both Matt the driver, and me the passenger, but we made it. Siri is also pretty funny here in Thailand as when navigating every road name sounds exactly the same. Our first stop was Nai Yang beach about 30 min from us. It was really beautiful with
picturesque water and very quiet/laid back. We noticed a lot of seniors there so somehow they've uncovered this gem. We grabbed an appetizer and then hit two temples which were good. It was lunch time so we went to a restaurant recommended by the blog Phuket 101 called Thanson Seafood and had a fab lunch of what was called "double-sided snapper" which was fried snapper with two types of salad on each side. It was heaven! We also had deep fried tamarind prawns which were also exceptional.
Day 5 Tuesday, we hit the road again into the beautiful Phang Na area north of Phuket, and what truly makes you feel like you're in Thailand....picturesque hills/mountains filled with trees and jungle. It's such a pretty area with the landscape completely changing. We went back to Bain Riang because we loved it so much last time and the huge golden Buddha out there in the middle of the mountain seems so magical. I was prepared this time in having my knees and arms covered so didn't have to rent the lovely cover up outfit like last time 😊. We then set out for Koh Panyee which is a floating village in
the Phang Na bay. We drove to a pier and hired a long boat who took us to see a few sites like James Bond Island again (from the boat) before arriving at Koh Panyee. It's pretty neat looking as you approach and is home to appx 300 families (2000 people). However our recommendation would be to just look at it from a boat...not worth getting off at all and very surprising that this is a big tourist attraction?? There is a row with stalls all selling the same tourist garbage and then nothing but their homes which are poverished. Nothing Matt and I haven't been around before, but for an average tourist I think the living conditions, garbage, smells, etc could be a bit shocking. So, all in all that was a dud but we were still glad to get out on the water and enjoy Phang Na Bay. There's a small shopping center near our resort that has a British pub in it and Matt was craving a "real beer" so we headed there after our drive to find that "real beer" just means Heinikken or Guiness, lol. But it was happy hour and oh man was there
Chang ICE cold and lovely. Amazing when you actually have cold cold beer here!
Day 6 Wednesday, nothing to report except glorious relaxation again. We didn't feel like doing anything and ended the night back at the little place by the beach. We had a great soup again and fried fish with garlic which was fab.
Day 7 Thursday, we had a slow start and chilled by the pool till about noon before driving back to Nai Yang beach. We rented our mats by the ocean and just hung out, swam in the ocean, read, napped and enjoyed...great afternoon. To end our last day here we are in our favorite bar in the JW Marriott on their "bed" listening to the live music and eating good food. We head to Bangkok tomorrow for a quick 1.5 day tourist run so stay tuned!
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Tom lyle
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Thai. The sequel cont
Enjoyed your blog. This trip seemed to be more leisurely........