Phuket

Hi everyone!

A bit of a transition week for us this past week, moving from Koh Chang to Koh Lanta, via Bangkok and Phuket, so a lot of movement but not much to report on the blog and a short post from me this week.

We spent our first two days in Phuket in the pouring rain! To be fair it’s only the third day of rain we’ve experienced since leaving London in November, but it does come as a bit of a shock to the system! For us it meant the traffic was terrible so it took us three hours to get to our accommodation in Kata Beach (a journey which should have taken an hour or less), but on the plus side, we got to put our waterproof gear to good use, as up until now, it had been sat redundant in our rucksacks.

Kata Beach in the rain

Watching a storm roll in

Kata Beach in Phuket is supposedly the quieter, nicer end of Phuket island, though we still found it very touristy – a bit like being in Palma, Majorca in high season, with lots of British and Russian tourists. With the torrential rain, we were able to experience the beach with practically no one on it – which I don’t suppose is a common occurrence, but on a sunny day – as we discovered the following day - it’s another matter. There are nice big tides here though, so when the tide is out there’s a big beach and plenty of space to find a spot for your towel.

Kata Beach in the sunshine

Glad to finally see the sun come out after two solid days of rain, we – and all the other sun-starved tourists in Phuket – headed to the beach. The sea was a muddy brown colour from the rainfall, so not the picture postcard view you might associate with Phuket, but it was a nice beach nevertheless if a little busy.

We had originally wanted to travel to Koh Lanta sooner but the heavy rain and rough seas delayed us. Tour operators advised us against trying to make the four-hour ferry crossing from Phuket and a couple of days later, once the weather had cleared up and we finally arrived in Khlong Nin Beach, Koh Lanta we understood just how rough the sea had been -  a dive boat had been smashed up and washed ashore just two days before we arrived!

Shipwreck!

Fortunately, now the sun is out, there’s a light breeze and it’s perfect beach weather. Koh Lanta will be our home for the next ten days and we found ourselves a lovely bungalow (read: hut) right on the beach – so close to the shore we can hear the waves from our bed. 

Ours is the small apex in the middle of the photo

I hope that will make for a relaxing night’s sleep and not have us dreaming we’re about to be washed away!