I arrived in Phuket yesterday but did not go sightseeing anywhere as I ended up sleeping due to jet lag. Also, the skies were grey and it rained a bit too.
I woke up at 7am after a good night’s rest
I had just one full day in Phuket and fortunately, unlike yesterday, the sun was up and the skies were blue!
It’s like the rain gods went, “Hey, we don’t wish to waste your one day in Phuket… go out and have fun. You deserve it!”
This is the back side of the villa I was staying at; the main entrance is actually from the back
I walked towards the breakfast area
Breakfast buffet was exhaustive — from live counters, to Chinese, Thai, Japanese and Western dishes served
I piled on my plates and ate a nice, hearty breakfast while enjoying the view
I figured I’d take some photos of the beach area since the colours were better today
I would take one of these boats to get to the main island later
That over there is a mosque… the only other building on Coconut island besides the resort
Nice silhouette in the distance
The beaches by the resort are empty most of the time
Like I mentioned in the previous post, stay at The Village, Coconut Island if you wish to be away from the people that otherwise throng Phuket’s main beaches
This is Laem Hin Pier, the transfer boats drop off guests here
It was low tide and the shallow waters brought out fish that looked like they were struggling to survive or were easy catch for crabs
All the employees of The Village and residents on Coconut Island (Koh Maphrao) leave their bikes here
There are homes built on the shore and looks like they cannot use their boats this time of the day
I used the Grab app to hire a bike taxi to take me to Khao Rang Hill which has a popular viewpoint. For the uninitiated, Grab is the most popular Uber-like (ride hailing) service across South East Asia. You can use Grab to book bike taxis, cars and vans (you can also order food with it!). You can pay by cash upon arriving at your destination as well.
I took a lot of videos of my journey to the viewpoint and much of it, you can see in the vlog* (video blog) at the bottom of this post.
I was dropped off at the top of the hill
It was scorching hot up here!
Fortunately I carried my umbrella and opened it up as I set up my camera and tripod to shoot a timelapse sequence
The right side had more clouds so I could capture them moving
The left side, not so much cloud action going on
Here is a wider view so you have a better idea
The sea looked very blue today
If you’re wondering why it doesn’t look very crowded, it’s because visitors came, took a few photos and then left as it was too hot to stay out here for long
I stayed for more than 45 minutes under my umbrella and shot multiple photos just so I could make this:
Once I was done, I packed up my equipment, had a cold mango shake and then walked down the hill. Yes, I walked. The lady who sold me the mango shake said there is an easy path to walk downhill. I tried it but halfway down, the path didn’t look too safe (or I was at the wrong spot) so I played it safe and then chose to walk along the footpath so as to not get lost.
All that and more about my visit to Phuket Old Town area in the next post.
