Uncovering the Land of Phuket

Bangkok to Phuket by Air

After spending three days in the lively city of Bangkok, we then went to the pleasant land of Phuket by air. If it wasn’t for the seat sale months ago then I guess our butts have to endure a long land travel again. I’ve read that bus ride from Bangkok to Phuket takes about 10 to 12 hours.

We took a van from our guesthouse going to the airport which costs about THB 150.00 per person. We were fetched at the guesthouse at around 7:30 AM (ICT). Our flight is at 10:30 AM (ICT) but we arrived at the airport 2 hours earlier from our departure time.

Suvarnabhumi International Airport

Suvarnabhumi which means ‘The Golden Land’ is situated on Bangna-Trad Road, Km 15 which is 25 km. far from the city of Bangkok. The airport has an area of 8,000 acres which can accommodate 45 million passengers per year and can support 76 flights per hour.

I must say Thailand’s main airport has also its refined terminal to boast about. Its design is very impressive. I like how the facility was. There’s a drinking station, a free usage of computers if you want to go online, every gate area has its own washroom. The terminal is so spacious which is also very apparent with the numbers of check in counters. Because we still have much time to spend before our departure time, we strolled within the vicinity subsequently had our early lunch.

Flying to Phuket via AirAsia

Before AirAsia transferred its flight to and from Bangkok to the old Don Mueang International Airport, it was good that we were able to experience Suvarnabhumi International Airport.

We left Bangkok at around 10:30 AM (ICT).

I was seated in the window seat. I planned to take a snooze but the view of the sea, the sky and the clouds is so appealing which made me fully awake half of the flight.

And when I saw those little islands, I know we were already nearing to our destination.

Phuket

Patong Rose Guesthouse

We arrived at Phuket International Airport at around 12:15 PM (ICT). We were fetched by our pick up from the guesthouse which I requested by the way so to avoid hassles. The pick up service costs THB 600.00 per way. We were welcomed by a European lady who was waiting for us at the arrival area with my name on her placard which she was handling. The lady is the wife of the guesthouse’s owner.

We had Patong Rose Guesthouse as our accommodation for our short stay in Phuket. The guesthouse is situated 50 meters away from the fabulous sand of Patong Beach. We had two standard rooms for the four of us, which each costs THB 600.00 per night. Each room consists of one double bed which can accommodate 2 persons. It also have mini-fridge, TV and private bathroom. With all these factors, I found this guesthouse very affordable compared to other guesthouses and hotels situated in Pa Tong.

How cute it is to be welcomed with this tiny elephant towel.

At 3:00 PM (ICT), we prepared ourselves and went out for a tour around Phuket island.

Phuket Island Tour

Phuket is well-known because of its beaches but there are still bunch of places to uncover on this island. One can hire a Tuktuk or rent a motorbike to wander the entire island. When we got into the main road, we looked for a multi-cab or Tuktuk that we can hire to get us around. Actually, there are bunch of multi-cab lining up along the road waiting for tourists to get their service. You just have to look for someone who you can trust with your tours.

I don’t have plans to get to all the places in this land so I just listed down those important ones that we have to visit. We laid down my list to our Tuktuk driver and he charged us THB 1,500 for the tour service.

Central Festival

We started the tour by going to Central Festival, an air-conditioned and fully equipped shopping mall situated just outside of Phuket Town.

Wat Naka Temple

After a while, we went out of the mall and moved on to our next destination, Wat Naka Temple. This is not a much known temple in the land. In fact, we were the only ones in the area when we had our visit.

The temple is just situated opposite of the Phuket Market. Actually, we planned to go to the Phuket Weekend Market but since it wasn’t weekend when we went there, it was close so we just visited the nearby temple.

Karon Viewpoint

There are numerous viewpoints in Phuket wherein you can have an overview of the town, the sea or the beaches of Phuket. There’s the Khao Rang Viewpoint (Rang Hill), the Windmill Viewpoint (Ya Nui Viewpoint) and the Kata/Karon Viewpoint. We went to the latter.

Promthep Cape

As the saying goes, save the best for last. And it was true during our island tour in Phuket. According to our guide who took care of the line up of the places we had visited, it’s better to visit the cape during sunset as we’ll have a magnificent bird’s eye view of it and of the scenery from the cape.

The cape is known to be the island’s most picturesque and maybe best-known location in the island. 



We were just in time when we arrived at the famous landmark. People were starting to crowd looking for a perfect place to see the sun go down. There were group of families, friends and lovers. All having the moments of nothing but fun, excitement and contemplation. 

And the sun is peeking behind the trees. One moment and it will go down to the horizon.

We went farther. I saw a path down to the edge of the cape where only few tourists go.

The girls were too tired to hike so they’ve just decided to stay put and waited for us. Me and Win hiked down until we reached the end of the land.

The setting just reminded me of where the movie ‘Mama Mia’ took place.

Absolutely, the 30 minutes hiked down was worth it. A better scenery than those in the uphill.

And the sun started to go down.

Not that spectacular compared to what I’ve already seen before here in the Philippines but still a sunset is always lovely as it is.

It was getting dark so me and my friend decided to go up and went to the rest of our companions.

Before going back to Patong, we passed by the store and bought some souvenirs and shirts to take home. At around 7:00 PM (ICT), we boarded the Tuktuk and traversed the road back to our guesthouse.

Getting to different places in Phuket gave us insights and added up to our perspectives on how appealing this island is. We haven’t experienced ‘The Beach’ yet but the tour that we had already on our first day was simply striking.