F***ing Phuket
It has been hard to sit down and capture our experience in Phuket. There were absolutely things we loved about our experience, but it also included some of the biggest challenges we have faced since setting off.
We have been sick on a few occasions. Mostly head colds and slight issues that resolved in a few days. Nothing compared to our experience in Phuket. About 3 days in, Ryan had the worst food poisoning either of us has EVER experienced that not only resulted in 4 days of suffering, but required us to extend our time in Phuket by 2 days because he was unable to travel.
Overall we were thankful for our flexibility (staying in the cheaper hotel meant our extended stay didn’t break the bank) and our experience (we knew how to handle sickness and isolation) but that didn’t make it suck any less.
In researching and planning for Thailand we decided to shorten our intended week in Phuket to 5 days because it’s such a heavily touristed area (not our vibe).. Joke was on us because we wound up having to stay the extra 2 days but we didn’t experience or see any more with those extra days so we will call it a wash.
Here is what we actually enjoyed in Phuket.
Nai Harn Beach: There are tons of huge, loud and fun beaches in Phuket with lots of activities and stuff to do (Karon, Kata, Patong to name a few). Again, not really our vibe. Ryans research pointed to Nai Harn beach as the most chill and relaxing of the main beaches. Our Bolt driver confirmed this when he said it was his favorite beach to take his family. So that was the beach we prioritized, and wound up being the only one we saw because of our circumstances. We did some swimming, people watching, and caught a beautiful sunset, followed by a great dinner.
Phuket Old Town and Night Market: We did one afternoon stroll through Phuket Old Town which has some beautiful and colorful old buildings. We wound up at a nice little night market that had all the snacks and goodies you could want. We did a smorgasbord of food for dinner and got to taste a variety of delightful foods.
Mango Salad: We came across a night market one evening outside the nearest grocery store to us. We had unfortunately just eaten, but a green mango salad caught our eye and we decided to get it for a snack later. This fresh, delicious, well balanced salad was the BEST salad Vivian has ever eaten (a known salad hater). This has now become a regular meal for us.
Random thing to know about Phuket. There is a HUGE Russian expat community in Phuket. To the point most signs are written in Thai, Russian, and English.. Not passing judgment, just something we observed that was not expected.
When we were in Barcelona a bartender we befriended who grew up in Thailand shared some of her tips and favorite spots throughout Thailand. Her greatest words of wisdom were to focus time in Krabi not Phuket because of the overtourism that has taken over Phuket. It was her advice + our research that drove us to spend more time in Krabi over Phuket. We couldn’t agree more, but more on that in our next post.
All and all Phuket was marred by an illness and overcrowding issues, but the beach lived up to the hype.