Welcome back everyone!
Day 5 was a bit different as I had opted to go on a “full day” guided tour. As such, much of this entry could be read as a review. I first discovered the GetYourGuide app in Barcelona, but have since then referred to it several times. The app itself seems to be an aggregate of quality tours from different local providers in a given location. The prices there are always comparable or a bit less to those found elsewhere. I paid $58.50 USD for the From Phuket: Khao Lak Highlights Full-Day Tour and it was definitely worth that and more. I think the actual company that did the tour was TripGuru and my guide was Maria Wanpen Ngan-khang.
I was picked up at Elisabet’s house in Koh Kaew at 7:20 AM (10 minutes ahead of schedule) in a full-sized tourism van. I’m afraid that I neglected to write his name, but Maria said his name would translate as “chicken”. After about 5 minutes we picked up Maria, and that was when I discovered that I was actually going to be the only one on the tour; I had known that this was a maximum 10 person tour, but I was surprised (yet gratified) that they would still run it with only one person. The first stop en route was the Sarasin bridge which connects Phuket to Phang Nga province on the mainland.
We were fully across by 8:35 AM and continued on our way. The roads were excellent and the scenery beautiful. At 9:20 AM we arrived to the Royal Thai Navy Sea Turtle Conservation Center Phang Nga.
I looked around at the conservation center until 10:03, and then we had a short trip to a Tsunami memorial center, arriving at 10:20 AM.
It was a sobering experience to read some of the experiences of the survivors, including my guide Maria who had been on Phi Phi island that day. Now she is able to happily appreciate the beauty of today day as a survivor, but she remembers fleeing to the hills with her young son and the horror at knowing that so many others would not make it to high land on time. There wasn’t that much to actually see there, so by 10:40 we departed for the rafting center, arriving at about 11:15
The bamboo rafting experience was basically just me sitting while a very nice man pushed us along with a pole. Certainly the water was very clean looking, and the trees along the bank were pretty. The man managing the pole also kept an eye out for snakes etc in the trees and tried to point them out to me so I could take pictures, but with the distance and how well they were concealed, it was hard to capture them with my camera.
I was finished with the rafting by 11:50 AM, and Maria was waiting for me with coconut ice cream and an assortment of tasty toppings.
After eating my ice-cream with toppings I decided to go back to the restroom to change since I wasn’t planning on getting wet again that day. The bathrooms were very clean, and anyone would find them to be more than adequate.
By 12:25 we were back on the road headed towards Lampi waterfall, arriving at 12:50 PM. There were crystal clear pools of water around the waterfall where one could safely swim, but as I was traveling on my own, I didn’t see the point of getting in the water. Regardless, the area was very beautiful.
I could have stayed longer and no doubt would have had I been accompanied by a friend or even just some other traveling partners, but by 1:30 PM I decided I was finished. Maria and the driver asked if I would like to go get something to eat, as they estimated that it would otherwise be 3:20 by the time I was back to the house. I told them that unless they were hungry, I would prefer to just head back and get something to eat at the house. They both agreed that it was fine to head back, and due to extremely favorable travel conditions, I was actually back at the house right at 2:40 PM.
Upon arrival I prepared a simple snack and wait for Elisabet to get back from work. I completely forgot to take down notes about times etc, but she suggested that we go check out Bang Tao beach which was relatively close by.
We had originally thought to have dinner at one of the beachfront restaurants there, but it started raining fairly heavily, so we opted instead to head back to the the house and eat something simple there. It was an absolutely wonderful day, and I was looking forward to all of the great experiences I would have during my remaining time visiting with Elisabet in Phuket.
I hope this entry has helped you see more of the outstanding adventures you can have while visiting Phuket. If you would like more information about anything I’ve mentioned just let me know in the comments section, and I will do my best to fill in any gaps.
See you next time!
Travels with Jay 