06.21.08: Our boat came from Ko Tao back to Ko Samui late in the afternoon, we ate take-out dinner in our room (including some wonderful banana fritters!) and headed to the airport at the crack of dawn. Our flight to Phuket was actually on time this time. It was again on Bangkok Airways, “Thailand’s Boutique Airlines”. I’ve come to the conclusion that Thailand has completely over exploited the word “boutique”. Yes, “boutique hotel” is a common title. “Boutique living quarters or spas”…OK. But, “boutique airlines”?!? Come on!
We decided that taking a mini-van to our beach/hotel would be a convenient, inexpensive means. We jumped in and I was thinking that they must make some good money considering they can stuff at least 10 tourists in there for 350 baht (~$11 USD) each. Halfway there, the van pulls off the road and a woman opens the door telling everyone that they need to get out, go into the office and show their tickets. I stayed in the van, but Sean and Kailani went in. There, they tried to sell all the passengers all these tour packages: elephant rides, island hopping, snorkeling/scuba diving, etc. Sean said it was like sitting in a timeshare presentation. He had to say “no” a hundred times. I’m glad that he did. Personally, I wouldn’t have bought anything out of principle, considering we were essentially hijacked.
We were the last passengers to be dropped off because we were going to Kata Beach. Most were going to Phuket’s most popular beach, Patong, which seemed as crowded and congested as Bangkok, only next to the beach. There, Sean and I looked for signs of tsunami damage but only saw a bunch of fairly new shops and hotels near the beach. We finally made it to our hotel, Kata Poolside, where we were stoked when we found that our room was literally poolside. We got one of the two rooms there where, out the back door there was a deck with a ladder going down into water, into the pool. Yes, RIGHT into the pool! So of course, we had a good session playing in the pool. Later, we headed a block down to the beach to find that it is, although not as popular as Patong, still a fairly developed beach, similar to Hawaii. But, that’s OK with us because there’s surf! We had some lunch, checked out the board rental options and it started raining. We headed back to the hotel just in time for Kailani’s nap. Later in the afternoon, we went back to the beach to pick up a board. Sean and I switched off surfing and making sandcastles with Kailani. The waves on this beach break were not that particularly huge. But, after not surfing in a while now, it’s nice to start out slow. And, who cares when the water’s this warm! Anyway, the swell is supposed to pick up in the next few days. We also ran into our friend, Strick, who we ended up having dinner with that night. Afterwards, we tried an outstanding banana pancake from a cart outside our hotel. Either we have the same taste in places to visit or Lonely Planet has quite an influence on their readers. Whatever the case, even though we just met him a week ago, it was nice to see a familiar face.
On Sunday, we woke up, ate breakfast and…of course, went directly to the beach. And, the waves did pick up a bit. We did more switching off, surfing and playing in the sand with Kailani. Everyone at Phuket Surf, aka “The Kata Krew”, in true Thai style, are all really friendly and laidback. Although not nearly as bad as Boracay, I did see some trash wash up on the shores. While out in the water, I ended up fishing out a large plastic bag. I decided to take it ashore and fill it up with trash on the beach. It was nice to see that the guys that worked on the beach renting out lounge chairs threw it away for me. It was also nice to see that my surfing legs came back to me! We’re also seeing some color change to our skin. Unfortunately, I lost my sunglasses to a wave while taking Kailani out there. But, there are lots of cheap knock-off replacements. So, I picked up a pair of cheap (but not nearly as cheap if I weren’t so desperate for some) “Channel” ones. Early afternoon, we took a break to eat lunch and put Kailani down for a nap. Unfortunately, when she woke up, it started raining again. Considering that we are here during rainy season, I guess we have really lucked out with the weather so far. We really can’t complain over an hour or two of rain as it’s no problem to go back to the beach for a late afternoon surf session.
We decided that taking a mini-van to our beach/hotel would be a convenient, inexpensive means. We jumped in and I was thinking that they must make some good money considering they can stuff at least 10 tourists in there for 350 baht (~$11 USD) each. Halfway there, the van pulls off the road and a woman opens the door telling everyone that they need to get out, go into the office and show their tickets. I stayed in the van, but Sean and Kailani went in. There, they tried to sell all the passengers all these tour packages: elephant rides, island hopping, snorkeling/scuba diving, etc. Sean said it was like sitting in a timeshare presentation. He had to say “no” a hundred times. I’m glad that he did. Personally, I wouldn’t have bought anything out of principle, considering we were essentially hijacked.
We were the last passengers to be dropped off because we were going to Kata Beach. Most were going to Phuket’s most popular beach, Patong, which seemed as crowded and congested as Bangkok, only next to the beach. There, Sean and I looked for signs of tsunami damage but only saw a bunch of fairly new shops and hotels near the beach. We finally made it to our hotel, Kata Poolside, where we were stoked when we found that our room was literally poolside. We got one of the two rooms there where, out the back door there was a deck with a ladder going down into water, into the pool. Yes, RIGHT into the pool! So of course, we had a good session playing in the pool. Later, we headed a block down to the beach to find that it is, although not as popular as Patong, still a fairly developed beach, similar to Hawaii. But, that’s OK with us because there’s surf! We had some lunch, checked out the board rental options and it started raining. We headed back to the hotel just in time for Kailani’s nap. Later in the afternoon, we went back to the beach to pick up a board. Sean and I switched off surfing and making sandcastles with Kailani. The waves on this beach break were not that particularly huge. But, after not surfing in a while now, it’s nice to start out slow. And, who cares when the water’s this warm! Anyway, the swell is supposed to pick up in the next few days. We also ran into our friend, Strick, who we ended up having dinner with that night. Afterwards, we tried an outstanding banana pancake from a cart outside our hotel. Either we have the same taste in places to visit or Lonely Planet has quite an influence on their readers. Whatever the case, even though we just met him a week ago, it was nice to see a familiar face.
On Sunday, we woke up, ate breakfast and…of course, went directly to the beach. And, the waves did pick up a bit. We did more switching off, surfing and playing in the sand with Kailani. Everyone at Phuket Surf, aka “The Kata Krew”, in true Thai style, are all really friendly and laidback. Although not nearly as bad as Boracay, I did see some trash wash up on the shores. While out in the water, I ended up fishing out a large plastic bag. I decided to take it ashore and fill it up with trash on the beach. It was nice to see that the guys that worked on the beach renting out lounge chairs threw it away for me. It was also nice to see that my surfing legs came back to me! We’re also seeing some color change to our skin. Unfortunately, I lost my sunglasses to a wave while taking Kailani out there. But, there are lots of cheap knock-off replacements. So, I picked up a pair of cheap (but not nearly as cheap if I weren’t so desperate for some) “Channel” ones. Early afternoon, we took a break to eat lunch and put Kailani down for a nap. Unfortunately, when she woke up, it started raining again. Considering that we are here during rainy season, I guess we have really lucked out with the weather so far. We really can’t complain over an hour or two of rain as it’s no problem to go back to the beach for a late afternoon surf session.
3 comments:
Woohoo! Hope you got tons of wave time in! I just got your postcard - thank you thank you! Sorry I've been so out-of-the-loop... Was a bit overwhelmed with this tiny little event (ummm, our WEDDING! EEK!) Hope you are all having a fantastic time! XOXO!
PS - we MOVED! New street is 4747 Portola Drive. Same city, state & zip!
mmmmm, banana pancake.
I will plan my next trip on Phuket. My destination is the beach. I knew that beaches in Phuket is very beautiful during Nov till March. If i go there, i will share my traveling picture and blog as well. I like your story so much....
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