Day 6 and 7 in Phuket

A very nice taxi driver took me to the small, manageable airport in Chiang Mai in the morning to fly to Phuket. I checked in online and had a relaxed breakfast there before boarding the plane.

It was a pleasant flight and only took about 2 hours. When I arrived in Phuket and had my backpack on my back, I left the airport building to see how I could get to my hotel. It was relatively far south on the eastern side. I decided to do this because I had actually only chosen Phuket as a stopover for the next islands. I looked for a place to visit and the departure point for the islands and therefore a nearby hotel.

Buses went from the airport in all sorts of directions. There are lots of very friendly staff outside the building who ask you where you want to go and whether you want to take a bus or a taxi. Basically, you show them your hotel and location reservation and they help you. It's a great service.

Since I wanted to travel most of the way by bus, she sent me to the nearby stop. The ladies who buy tickets on the buses and tell you when to get off were already waiting there.

Taking the bus in Thailand is so easy. You get on and look for a seat. Then a lady comes and asks where you are going and you pay her directly for your ticket. She even tells you when you have to get off.

The bus went to the nearest larger town and from there I took a taxi.

I was welcomed so warmly at the hotel. They spoke very good English and carried my backpack to my room. It was a modern hotel with a great view of the sea

It was now late afternoon. I treated myself to a little break and simply enjoyed the view of the sea from my bed.

It was a fantastic view. Later I went and explored the area a bit. There was a large pier nearby and a few small streets with shops and restaurants. It was relatively quiet here. The hustle and bustle takes place on the other side of the island. I enjoyed it here. On the way back to the hotel I found a nice little restaurant. I decided to sit down here. You could look directly at the sea and relax. I had a great time.

I wanted to use the next day to enjoy the pool and the sea a bit and to at least visit the large Buddha statue later in the afternoon.

I ordered a motorbike taxi via the Grab app and had it take me to the Big Buddha.

It was an adventurous ride. You just sit on the back of the motorbike and it speeds off. You have to hold on tight. The riders squeeze through the lines of cars at the traffic lights, past everything that is stuck in traffic. It's very easy, quick and costs almost nothing.

When I got up there, I threw myself into the hustle and bustle. It was very busy. Entry was free and some tourists had to be reminded to cover their bare shoulders and their super-skinny skirts and bare legs. You start to wonder whether they hadn't researched the country they were visiting beforehand. Entry was not possible without appropriate clothing.

It was a beautiful view. The evening atmosphere and the sunlight were magnificent.

You could walk around the Buddha statue and walk to a small viewing point. From here you had a view of the entire southern island

I stayed here for quite some time, actually until the whole complex closed. I took countless photos as the light and clouds were constantly changing. I went back to the viewing point. There were monkeys there who seemed to be enjoying the crowd.

It was questionable who was the monkey here and who was more interested in whom...

The day was drawing to a close, I went to the exit and wanted to go back in a motorbike taxi. That wasn't so easy. Everyone wanted to go back to their hotels and I seemed to be the only one who wanted to go to the quiet side of the island. The taxi drivers took as many tourists as they could... all those who wanted to go in one direction or another. It took quite a while until a taxi driver found other tourists who wanted to go in my direction. It turned out that the driver was the boss of a taxi company with several vehicles and ended up driving me and the other two tourists in his taxi himself. We had a great chat. The other two tourists were from Russia and were not very talkative. But since we had a journey of about half an hour, he gave me lots of tips for Phuket. I had to confess to him that I was leaving again tomorrow. He was really excited when I told him about my travel route and that I was traveling alone. And I had to promise to spend more time in Phuket on my next Thailand vacation. Not in the touristy places, but in the beautiful and quiet places that hardly anyone knew about and that he of course told me in confidence! We both had to laugh so much!

Finally back at the hotel, I set out to get something nice to eat. I walked along the beautiful beach promenade and wanted to go to one of the nice restaurants here. Unfortunately, some were closed. So I kept walking and came to one that perhaps lived up to Phuket's reputation a little. Lots of German men with their Thai wives. But hey, I was here to eat and I didn't feel like going any further. I decided to eat here and it wasn't a mistake! It was very tasty. I ordered a red Thai curry with chicken. It was much hotter than in Chiang Mai. You could tell you were further south. The further south you are, the hotter the food.

It was late now and I went back to the hotel to pack my things. The next day I'll have a nice breakfast here in the hotel and then I'll take the boat to the next island.

Kho Phi Phi

Conclusion of the day:

That's difficult today. I saw a beautiful island that certainly has even more beautiful sides than I saw in this very short time. But what you immediately notice here are uninformed tourists who don't care about appropriate behavior or are really interested in the beauty of the country. That was sad. But that's probably the case everywhere, no matter where you travel.

Let us be the tourists who value and respect their destination