Smith's Journeys

With the arrival of winter, we decided to head to the warmth of Thailand for a bit of sand and sun.

(Click on any image to enlarge it)

We flew from Taupō to Auckland to save a 3.5 hour drive, and the parking cost for the month we planned to be away. The flight to Thailand went via Singapore and arrived at Phuket airport just before 10.00 am, which was the about same time as a heavy monsoon rain shower. So rather trying to negotiate buses or Tuk Tuks, we grabbed a taxi to take us the 40 minute to Pa Tong Beach where we had booked for the first 4 days of our time away. The plan was to visit the dentist (with a pre-arranged appointment) then decided where to go next, and for how long.

By the time we arrived at Pa Tong the sun was out and the temperature (and humidity ) were up.

It was nice to get out onto the beach and stretch our legs after the flight

It was refreshing to get back to the Pa Tong Resort Hotel and try out a cold Chang Beer

Then it was down to the poolside bistro for a bite to eat.

The beach was a hive of activitily, but the para gliders really caught your attention. Each chute that went up had a staff member holding on to the ropes guiding the chute in the air. These guys were not strapped in and jumped off just as the passengers were about to hit the ground to ensure a safe landing. I counted six of these up at one time, all in close proximity to each other.

The first couple of days we had intermittent monsoon showers, so it was out with the large umbrella in shorts and tee shirts.

We decided to move down the coast to Karon Beach as Ann was finding the party noise that went on until the early hours a bit much.

We found a Barbie Pink Tuk Tuk and managed to barter the cost down from ฿500.00 to ฿300.00. ($24 down to $15)

We used Booking.com for a 5 day stay at the Karon Sea Sands Resort & Spa.

We enjoyed late breakfasts and exploring the surrounding beaches then coming back to lounge by the pool.

After a shuttle ride from Karon Beach, we took the 2 hour ferry across the Andaman Sea from Rassada Pier to Ton Sai Pier on Phi Phi Island. This was to be a 4 day stay, but we enjoyed the island so much we ended up staying 9 days.

We arrived at Ton Sai Pier and were met by a porter who loaded our bags onto a trolly and headed off to the hotel at the end of the beach.

Our room had the rooftop pool just outside the door

Phi Phi was a visual feast, with the high cliffs, sandy beaches and colourful “long Tail” boats.

The evenings were fabulous.

Once the day trippers left you could walk from the end of Ton Sai Beach where all the shops, bars & restaurants were situated. You then walked past the moored long tail boats to reach the other end of the beach. This was where the beach bars were located.

The food was great with numerous choices of places to eat.

You cannot visit Phi Phi Island without a day trip to Ko Phi Phi Lee. This is the little island where the movie “the Beach” was filmed.

Our excusion took us to Monkey Bay, Pi Leh Lagoon, the Viking cave and Maya Bay. This was on a “fast Boat” with 3 x 250HP outboard motors on the back.

We got to swim in Phi Leh Lagoon

We even got to snorkel with the sharks

The last stop before heading back was to be dropped off on a little national park called Bamboo Island where, along with the other passengers, we watched the sunset.

We climbed up to the Phi Phi Island lookout for a stunning view.

This was a Muslim part of the Island with large signs saying no alcohol can be sold or consumed past this point. This was of no concern, but when we got to the lookout there was a nice air-condition café that sold food, tea, coffee and cold soft drinks. Sitting on the counter was a display case stocked with cannabis for sale.

We left Phi Phi Island on the ferry and headed back to Phuket to a Resort on Thavorn Beach.

This resort called Thavorn Village and Beach Resort is situated with in 14 acres of gardens that were first established in the 1940’s. There are small Beach front units, pool side appartments and the appartments we stayed in situated on the hillside above the resort complex. These were accessed via a travelator much the same as the Wellington cable car.

The resort features one of the largest pool in South Asia. It has an area of 4,000 square metres. It winds its way around the gardens and outside bar and dining area.

There was even a small petting zoo

We celebrated our 48th wedding anniversary with a very nice meal by the pool

Followed by a walk on the beach

This signpost on the beach really summed up our time in Thailand .

Cheers