We arrived at the Rawai Palm at about 9pm after a drama free
pick up from the airport that took about half an hour. My review of the Rawai
Palm is on TripAdvisor in the hotels section, but we really liked it. After a quick change, we
headed to the Coconut bar for a beer and snack before bedtime. It’s a relaxed
place with lots of local ex-pats and friendly service.
Day 1, we simply walked from one end of Rawai beach to the
other, stopping along the way for refreshments. The pier offered a lovely view back to shore and over towards the near by island and cape.
The hotel ran a free shuttle to
Nai Harn beach that we took to have lunch. After a walk along the length of the
gorgeous, but crowded, beach, we had lunch at one of the cafes that are set up
just behind the rows of sunloungers (it may have been Yoma or Yama). The
service was prompt and friendly. My sandwich and lemon juice were lovely, but
J’s crab dish wasn’t the best. Nai Harn beach is truly stunning and would be so
nice in a quieter period. But when we were there, every sun longer was
occupied, side by side, with music and noisy people everywhere, it would not be
my idea of a relaxing afternoon on the beach. We caught a seong teaw back to
Rawai for 200 baht. It’s about 10 mins around a lagoon that’s between the two
beaches and the streets are lined with guesthouses and restaurants. We relaxed
by the hotel pool, happy for some peace and quiet.
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| Nai Harn Beach looking left |
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| Nai Harn Beach looking right |
On our trip 7 years ago, we ‘did’ the old Friday night BBQ
with Richard and the Sunshine bar. So it was a priority to check it was still
there. So after an uninspired dinner at Nikitas with terrible service in a
gorgeous setting, we headed straight to Sunshine bar, promptly downing a few
margaritas. To start with, we were nearly the only people there. But it wasn’t
long before the dancing and songs started, and a few more margaritas later, I
was up dancing with the lady boys (one thing that didn’t change after 7 years!)
By 10pm the place was jumping and full of fun songs, J and I had a great time
talking with others and drinking a bit too much. We left at close, like
everyone else, and had a great night. Needless to say, the next morning was a
little, um, what would you call it, ah - slow.
Day 2 we had our driver Lek and first stop was the Big
Buddha. 7 years ago it was only a frame without much else. Its still not
finished, but it looks awesome and the view still spectacular. We did see a lot
of other tourists arriving in singles and short shorts and were pleased to see
attendants at the entrance making them cover up. After all, it is a temple. We
spent a good half an hour walking around (feeling a little seedy) and were
happy to be back in the air conditioned car. 
The sign above says some Buddhist words of wisdom:
When time passes, and the man is older:
Thing which must be increased is 'maturity';
Thing which must be decreased is 'emotion';
Thing which must think about more is 'public';
Thing which must think about less is 'privacy';
Thing which must speak more is 'it's alright';
Thing which must speak less is 'what do you want''
Thing which must do more is 'to give'
Thing which must do less is 'to get'.
Next was the Gibbon project (also
reviewed under attractions), and I was thoroughly moved by the individual
gibbons’ stories. We read the boards and spent some quiet time sitting quietly
watching the gibbons as they played around and sang to each other. That haunting
‘whoop whoop’ is a delight! I sponsored ‘George’, a young male who they hope
may partner up with a female and start a family soon, and then later be
returned to the wild. Truly, a most worthwhile cause and I recommend a visit
and donation. We chatted with the young French volunteer for a while and learned
a lot about their great work and care for these beautiful and intelligent
animals. NEVER EVER have your photo taken with any wildlife on the street.
Report any traders with wildlife to the Department of National Parks, Wildlife
and Plants by filling in the form at: http://www.dnp.go.th/complain/index.asp
(just use your browsers translate function if you need). It’s a practise that
must be stopped.
We then had an average lunch at the Phuket town view
restaurant, after which we were ready to go back to our hotel to recover
further from our previous night out. Lek was fantastic, with excellent English,
new comfortable SUV, and he’s a very friendly guy. He suggested a few other
things for us to do, but we weren’t keen on shopping etc – not to mention our
little hangovers. We helped him with some English terminology and had a really
nice day with him.
On Tuesday nights, the hotel ran a free shuttle over to
Kata, 6:45pm pick up from Rawai and 10pm pick up from Kata. So we took the
opportunity (instead of paying 600 baht each way). As soon as we got to Kata,
we were so glad we didn’t stay there. The sidewalks were full of people,
hawkers trying to get you into their restaurant or shops, traffic and noise. So
much busier than quaint, quiet Rawai. We had dinner at an Italian place (can’t
recall the name – but it’s off the main road down a small side alley with a
silver shop directly across the lane). Pizza was delicious and service was
great. The Italian owner (may have been Tony) came and talked to the guests –
he had a broken arm so wasn’t in the kitchen. It was a really good meal.
After dinner, we walked the street and hit the shops to see
if we could find Mr J some flippers and me some ‘stuff’. I bought some cotton, ‘hippy’
style shorts form one of the shops in the little ‘mall’. So much of the tees
and pants were nylon/rayon even though the sellers tell you that they are Thai
cotton, the labels show otherwise. You really don’t want to be wearing rayon
long pants in the Thai heat… so do check the labels… Many of the sellers were
from Myanmar, and we said “Mingalabar” and chatted to them about our visit
there in May last year while we finished our purchases. They were surprised
that we had visited their country and we caused a little buzz in the complex. J
also found his flippers. The other shop we visited was ‘The Asian Collection’,
a air-conditioned store on the main street full of goods from around Asia,
mostly hand made textiles and crafts. I loved many of their carpets and wall
hangings, finally paying, um, let’s call it a lot, for a stunning ‘jewelled
carpet’ wall hanging. It’s a colourful, Indian (I think Kashmiri) traditional
woven / embroidered piece set with semi-precious stones. Each one is unique.
Though not Thai, it was my arty
purchase of the trip. We had a beer at one of the street front cafes before our
10pm pick up and had an early night back at peaceful Rawai.
Day 3 we spent the morning over at Yu Nui beach (via the
hotel shuttle) and enjoyed seeing the fish right off the beach in the crystal
clear water. Sure, there were rows of sunloungers, but it was quieter than Nai
Harn and much smaller.
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| Yu Nui Beach looking over towards Nai Harn |
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| Yu Nui looking out to sea - crystal clear blue water |
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| Yu Nui beach - small but lovely |
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| Yu Nui Beach |
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| Yu Nui Beach - white sands |
After a couple of hours swimming and relaxing, we went back to Rawai for a late lunch at a French bakery (can’t seem to find it in the restaurant section but it was near the coconut beach bar), which was delicious. Another walk up and down the palm lined road of Rawai beach in the afternoon,
with a stroll down the little street to friendship beach, before returning to
the hotel for some more swimming and relaxing. Dinner was at Monsoon restaurant
that was the best meal we had in Phuket. Yummy Thai dishes, good service, and
not hard on the wallet.
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| Rawai main street |
Our last night was pretty early as we had a 7am pick up for
the ferry over to Krabi the next morning. Lek had booked ‘Ao Nang Travel &
Tour’ on the Ao Nang Princess for us during our day trip and the pick up was
prompt in an air conditioned van. The guys carried our bags on/off the boat
which was great, as you do have to ‘jump’ across a few boats’ to get to the one
you need. We took a seat inside where it was cool and shady for the 1.5-2 hour
trip across the Andaman Sea to Krabi. The trip was smooth and uneventful. At
Krabi, the boat stopped in a few places where it was met by longtail boats to
ferry passengers to Railay beach, Lanta or other day trips, but for Ao Nang,
the boat docked at a solid pier and we got a seong teaw to our hotel.
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| View from Nikitas to Rawai pier |
We mused about how much Phuket had been developed since our
previous visit. As mentioned, I was very happy with staying in Rawai, heaps of
restaurants and a few shops along the lovely tree-lined road. Relaxed
atmosphere and quick and easy to get to the other beaches. And it’s not that
much further from the airport and close to Kata etc if you really want to do
some serious shopping. In summary, we still love Phuket, but will probably not
return unless it’s a transit stop to return to Krabi or Khoa Lak. If we do come
back, we will stay in Rawai again for sure.
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| Bell offerings at the Big Buddha |
- K
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