The plan for today was to rent two bikes and ride all the way to Promthep Cape, a popular viewpoint at the southern tip of Phuket island. But after breakfast, we first walked towards Patong beach.
It wasn’t too crowded and we got our feet wet for a whileThe skies weren’t the brightest today, and we decided we would hit the waters when it got warmer
We then went around looking for bike rentals. I had already read up on scams in Phuket and one of the most common advice handed out were to avoid the vehicle rentals on Beach Road.
I don’t remember if it was originally ฿300 baht for 24 hours, but we ended up renting two of these Honda Click bikes at ฿150 each. We told them we would return them by 7pm-ish.
Be careful when you rent any vehicle in Thailand, especially Phuket. Vehicle rental scams are common here and don’t go by the cheapest rate being offered. The scammers make money by claiming you scratched the vehicle upon return, when in reality, the scratch was always there — you just didn’t notice it when you took it. The going rate for a Honda Click and like are around 200-300 baht a day. The place we rented from was right next to our hotel and she insisted I hand over my passport (original) as security. I usually never agree to that, but she gave me a form to fill up stating she would return it upon giving the bike back, and provided there are no damages/scratches on the bike. It’s an agreement I had to sign and she put my passport in a password-protected locker.
You may find other places that just request a passport copy, but we bargained it down to ฿150 because we didn’t need the bike for 24 hours. So handing over my passport was something I had to agree to as part of the bargain. I also took photos of the bike from all angles in front of her. Something I always do before even starting the engine.
I carried a map of Phuket and Ramesh had Google Maps on his Nexus. We drove down Walking Street, which is open to traffic during the day.Walking Street was awfully quiet as all the bars open lateWe were going across the hill over to Karon beachI hoped the skies would clear upAnd sure enough, it did
A short while later, we reached KaronYou have enough hotels (Ramada Southsea) on this beach as well, if quieter areas are what you seek instead of busy PatongWe decided to have our lunch from hereI ordered some prawns and rice; Ramesh ordered regular fried rice because there was barely anything vegetarian in the menu. I enjoyed my meal, Ramesh didn’t. He specifically asked not to put egg in it, but they put it in anyway.After lunch, we quickly checked out Karon beachMehA short ride from Karon beach is KataThis seemed like a better swimming beachA panorama I took. The water was warm and I felt like swimming for a bit.More hotels here as well (Kata Beach Resort & Spa)I quite liked the Kata areaThat’s RameshAnd this is me 🙂But we reached a dead end. We drove back and asked a passerby, who told we had to take an uphill road that was on our left while coming.It’s a pretty steep uphill climb, but the views were only starting to get betterBut I had to fill up on fuel first. Oddly enough, we barely found any petrol stations along the way. Instead, you find several businesses selling gasoline in 1 litre bottles.A panorama from Ramesh’s phoneWe were really enjoying this rideWe stopped at this viewpoint to take some photos (and yes, that is an elephant in back)You get nice view of both Karon and Kata beaches from up hereA panorama I tookAnd it’s a double-crescent shaped, like Om beach in Gokarna
Time to hit the road againTurns out elephants are common on this roadThis explains why; it’s some elephant village en route to RawaiWe had reached RawaiWhich also has a beach
This seemed like the closest beach to Promthep CapeWe decided to get back to the beach after seeing Promthep CapeWe couldn’t figure out the way to Promthep Cape, and Ramesh also couldn’t a strong enough signal on his phone for maps to workBut we eventually found our way after asking aroundThere is no entry fee
There is a lighthouse tower hereThis was a statue honouring a great Thai admiralBus loads of tourists are dropped off hereIt was nearing sunset
That stretch of land is Promthep Cape
We went inside the lighthouseAn old light beacon used in the lighthouseSome triviaThey have a small museum display of artifacts used in the early days of lighthousesWe can go up a level for a higher viewpointThis is a panorama of the other sideOne of the outlying islandsZoomed in to find out what that golden structure wasThat’s Promthep Cape, a stretch of land extending out in to the seaVisitors can walk all the way there if they wantI wanted to go there too. Unfortunately, Ramesh reminded me it’s getting late.So we leftWe left Promthep Cape and found ourselves at Promthep Alternate Energy Station. Why?Because of the viewsYou want a hill spot to watch the sun go down? Come here.A perfect setting for a wedding shoot even
Yeah, I like taking photos of cute animals. There’s something about their innocence that I find appealing.We took a few photos of ourselves with this backgroundIt was time to leave this spot as wellWe quickly drove to Rawai beach, got in to our swimming shorts and jumped in the water for a swimWhen the evening sky looked like this, I had to get my camera and take a few shotsLove the colours!The water on this side didn’t have any strong currents as the main beach did and it was warmRawai seemed like a nice, not-so-crowded place to beThis was a perfect way to end our journey across the southern beaches of Phuket island (or at least the popular ones)
Ramesh and I drove back once the sun had fully set. It got chilly for us because we were still wet. We drove carefully in the dark and finally reached our hotel. We returned the bikes within the stipulated time; she inspected the vehicles and then promptly gave back my passport as promised.
We ended our night with dinner at a Egyptian restaurant (not pictured). The good thing about being in an extremely commercial place like Phuket is that variety is great when it comes to food.
Tonight was our final night in Phuket. Tomorrow, we fly to Chiang Mai.
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4 Comments
Amith
17/10/2014
Hi Mithun
I am flying to Phuket on 1st week of Oct 2014. I am also planning to rent one bike for a day or two. What all documents are required to hire one?Is an international driving permit mandatory or just the passport is enough? Are there any frequent police checks on the road? Please help
You just need to present a copy of your passport (some may ask for the original) and need to show them your driver’s license. You will be asked to fill up a form which will ask you the other details, like where you are staying and such. But no matter what you rent, take photos of it from every angle — and do it in front of them — so that they cannot claim you scratched it upon return when that scratch was always there. That said, drive safely and follow the rules. There are enough people that don’t. Police checks can vary, I can’t say. And rent from places that have an office, and not from some random guy on the street.
Amith
17/10/2014Hi Mithun
I am flying to Phuket on 1st week of Oct 2014. I am also planning to rent one bike for a day or two. What all documents are required to hire one?Is an international driving permit mandatory or just the passport is enough? Are there any frequent police checks on the road? Please help
Mithun Divakaran Reply:
October 18th, 2014 at 2:23 AM
You just need to present a copy of your passport (some may ask for the original) and need to show them your driver’s license. You will be asked to fill up a form which will ask you the other details, like where you are staying and such. But no matter what you rent, take photos of it from every angle — and do it in front of them — so that they cannot claim you scratched it upon return when that scratch was always there. That said, drive safely and follow the rules. There are enough people that don’t. Police checks can vary, I can’t say. And rent from places that have an office, and not from some random guy on the street.
Amith Reply:
October 21st, 2014 at 3:14 PM
That’s great! All thanks for the info.
Amith
17/10/2014Sorry I meant Nov 2014