Phuket Trip-Day 2

The next day, we went on our pre-booked trip to Raya and Coral Island. The one day trip cost us 900 baht per person (normal price is 1,200 baht per person, you'll need to negotiate with the agent). So, there will be a van to pick us up from our hotel around 8.30am to transfer us to Chalong pier. Remember to wake up and prepare yourself on time! The van probably still needs to fetch a few other tourists so you wouldn't want to keep everyone waiting, would you? When we reached the pier, we waited around 30 minutes before departing to Raya Island by speed boat.

We were given around 1 hour to enjoy ourselves on the white sandy beach at "Patok Beach". So, we took the chance to take as much photos as we can. :) There are also some beach activities provided on the beach, like the para-sailing that I've mentioned in the first post.  Prices vary according to each activity and again, as we're not really into these things we didn't try them out, sorry. If you do choose to go swimming or play around though, always keep an eye out for your belongings. There were quite a lot of people on the beach so its best to be wary of your surroundings.

After that, we went to Kon Kae Beach and Siam Bay to enjoy snorkeling. For those who do not wish to  snorkel, they were dropped off at Coral Island earlier beforehand. So, I went snorkeling but not many fishes or nice corals can be seen there. I'd say the snorkeling site was quite dangerous as there are many rocks with sharp edges near the side. Nevertheless, like other snorkeling packages, you are provided with a life jacket and a set of snorkeling goggles. The goggles, as you expected, are for "public use"... So if you really mind that, you can just go grab a snorkeling goggles set at around RM30 - RM40 at a shopping mall near your house and bring it to Phuket. Try not to buy these items there as they will cost a bomb :).

Around noon, we were sent to Coral Island for our lunch at Padthai restaurant. As usual, we were very hungry & thirsty after snorkeling for about an hour, I would seriously suggest that you bring your own supply of water no matter where you go; and plenty of it. We heard many horror stories about the consequences of drinking the beverages in restaurants; no one knows whether they use tap water or otherwise. But don't worry, you can still buy some bottled water at the shops like we did. We had to walk around 15 minutes to reach the restaurant, where a buffet lunch was provided for everyone, but how was the food? When you are hungry, you don't really care about the taste anymore. I wasn't expecting much from the buffet lunch for the price we paid, you know what I mean =).

This windmill caught our attention. Both men would move when the windmill turns. Very cute!

We were then given leisure time to spend on this beach before we leave this beautiful sandy beach. The skies were high, no clouds in sight. And boy it sure was really hot. Caucasians really love this weather and its a perfect time for you to get tanned at the beach. We however couldn't bear the sun so we found a shady spot near the rocks, spread our towels and laid down to rest. Oh by the way, we borrowed our beach towels from our hotel for free, just remember to return them back or they'll charge you.

Soon thereafter, everyone started to board the speed boat and prepare to go home. Suddenly, the captain was shouting around and the engines suddenly died. Guess what? The boat ran out of fuel! Can you believe that?! We were floating in the middle of the sea, everyone panicked and the boat started to shake so badly as the waves were quite high.

The boat really got quite a pounding and I got sea sick instantly. This is bad! We were stuck for more than 30 minutes in the boat before we got rescued by another mini boat. But that was not the end, they only refueled just enough so that we could go back to Coral beach. Boy, this was the first time in my life to be so happy to feel the earth beneath my feet!

As we were back on the beach, I felt the natural thing was to lie down flat, immediately. My head and stomach was really upset and I could have vomited anytime. I was okay around 15 minutes later and we rested for around 1 and half hours, before a second boat came and brought us back to Chalong pier.

By the time the van sent us back to our hotel, it was almost 5 p.m.. We took a quick shower and went to search for dinner. We had no idea what to eat so we asked for recommendations from our friendly travel agent, Luck. She was really friendly and we talked about the boat breaking down in the middle of the ocean, that really wasn't her fault as it was out of her control anyway. In case you would like to contact her for her packages, here are her details:

Ms. Luck

90 One Travel

Company Tel: 076-292196

Mobile:  0814154823

Email: meaw9_phuket@hotmail.com

We followed Luck's directions and went to Bangla road. We walked quite far nearing to the end of Bangla road and turned left into a small alley. I couldn't remember the directions properly, but we were lucky that night and we just walked straight towards the end of the alley and found a large food-court area where there are many stalls with different kinds of food. We sat at stall number 6 as suggested by Luck and went on to order our dinner, yay!

Fresh Coconut- 40 baht

One of my must-try items when visiting Phuket. It really cooled me down after a hot day at the beach. You will definitely enjoy this!

Watermelon Juice- 40 baht

Also another icy cold drink to cool you down. BF ordered this and it taste really fresh.

Seafood Tom Yum-120 baht

At first glance, it seems like curry soup. But don't be fooled by it, I think they added milk in the tom yam and it tastes really great! Authentic Thai tom yam finally, and it was very, very spicy. Must try if you're a spicy food lover and happen to be in Thailand.

Vegetables-80 baht

The Kang Kung are not bad, but they're still normal stir-fried Kang Kung.

Stir fried chicken- 120 baht

This was recommended by the waiter, its a special dish which is normally ordered by locals. Its quite hard to describe the taste, kind of like lontong flavour - stir fried soy sauce kam heong chicken... ^_^" Odd as it may seem, but it was really delicious, and spicy. Not bad overall, but I think it could have been cheaper. Nevertheless, Phuket is a tourism hot spot so I guess the prices of everything are higher than average everywhere.

After dinner we walked around the whole area. We walked to Jungcelon mall again, passed by Hard Rock Cafe and Holiday Villa. There were many people all around as the nightlife over here is quite happening. I saw these soap carvings near the street. It is very very beautiful but cost 250 baht for one. @.@

See other post:
Phuket Trip- Day 1