Flying East for Winter

While birds migrate South for the winter, we decided to fly South East in order to avoid the Winter season this year. Last year we wintered in the UK Lake District and the French Alps which meant we had our fair share of snow, ice and cold, so this year we wanted some warmth and sunshine.

First stop on our trip is Thailand and the holiday island of Phuket. After travelling all of last year we wanted a few weeks of relaxation and sunshine before heading back into full travel mode for 2024.

We flew from London Heathrow to Phuket on Etihad Airways with a stopover in Abu Dhabi on the way. We were only on the ground for a couple of hours which meant by the time you get off one plane and have to be at the gate to board the next, there was very little time to explore the new terminal, which only opened in November. It was nice and spacious but Singapore doesn’t have much to fear in terms of competition for the best airport in the world.

The flight on Etihad was very good with surprisingly good food, new airplanes and a decent amount of space.

We landed in Phuket early in the morning and after tackling the big queue for immigration we were through into Thailand. Rightly or wrongly we booked a cab from the transport window right opposite the arrivals and were given a fixed price of ฿650 (£14.50) which seemed reasonable to take us to Phuket Town where we had booked a hotel for a few nights.

Our hotel was about 200m from the main streets of the old town but far enough away to be close to some good local, non-touristy restaurants.

The old town of Phuket is composed of two main streets and a couple of cross roads so is pretty compact. The buildings in the old town are built in the Sino-Portuguese style which gives it a very colonial feel.

The streets are very busy and the buildings are an eclectic mix of cafes, bars, tourist shops and local shops. Instagram culture has very much taken hold with several spots swamped by selfie snapping tourists.

The streets around the old town are much less busy and there are hundreds of local restaurants with all types of specialities. Perhaps the strangest we tried is the puddings only restaurant that served very little of what I would describe as familiar food. We tried a honey soaked toast with ice cream dish which was really nice and definitely the tamest option on the menu.

What we quickly discovered is that Western food is more expensive but if you stick with Thai Food you can eat very cheaply. The going rate for a Phad Thai is around 80-100THB (approx. £2).

On Sunday nights the old town is pedestrianised for a large market called Phuket Walking Street. Three roads are taken over by market stalls which are split around 50:50 between food stalls and stalls selling souvenirs to tourists.

There is also entertainment with a selection of singers and bands spread around the streets.

We took the opportunity to try some of the street food and discovered that fried squid eggs are delicious. If there is one thing you do need to be careful about in Thailand though it is the hot dips and sauces as these can be blow-your-head-off hot.

A short walk from the heart of Phuket is a hill called Monkey Hill. I decided to walk up this from our hotel which was only around a 7.5km round trip. Although, in the 30c+ heat with humidity it was quite hard work.

The views up the top of the hill are not that spectacular but all the way up you run into families of monkeys who check you out for food.

In fact just at the foot of the hill I was mugged by a monkey for a small bottle of water that I was carrying. He ran off to a safe distance and then unscrewed the top much to my surprise and and enjoyed a refreshing drink!

From Phuket Town we visited Wat Chalong which is the biggest and most revered Buddhist temple on the island. The first temple here was built in 1837 but others have been added since.

There is a large 3 story Chedi which is said to contain a bone fragment from Buddha, which is housed at the very top in a glass case.

The whole place feels like a very active site with firecrackers being let off in a big oven to show gratitude for wishes coming true, monks chanting and lots of worshippers mixing with the tourists.

We enjoyed our first few days in Phuket town as we acclimatised to the heat and Asian culture and most importantly recovered from Jet Lag. It seems to me that Phuket is a very soft introduction to Asia with menus at restaurants in English (mostly) and signs in English everywhere.

Next stop is Phi Phi Island for a taste of backpacker culture !