Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Tuesday May 19th East and West Phuket
On Tuesday 19th May, Bill and I set out to explore some more of Phuket.
We looked at spots on the east and the west coast.
I guess few people have ever bothered to stop where we did on the east coast and on the day we visited, there were almost no people on the long west coast beach of Mai Kao.
The pictures show the contrast between the two sides of the island.
I can't tell you exactly where we were on the east coast - the little map we used had only main roads and places of interest to normal tourists marked.
We passed little villages until we reached a point by the sea.
We parked in what was once a restaurant car park.
Maybe it still is and they had closed because the main season was over - but it did look extremely ramshackle and deserted.
The people of the locality were farmers and fisherman.
The long lines of fishing net stretched way out into the water.
I enjoyed wandering along the mud flat beach and found some pretty stones and shells.
Then we drove across the island - only a few miles at that point, to explore Mai Kao beach.
We drove along little roads in the rubber plantations.
Look! Where are the tourists?
We looked at spots on the east and the west coast.
I guess few people have ever bothered to stop where we did on the east coast and on the day we visited, there were almost no people on the long west coast beach of Mai Kao.
The pictures show the contrast between the two sides of the island.
I can't tell you exactly where we were on the east coast - the little map we used had only main roads and places of interest to normal tourists marked.
We passed little villages until we reached a point by the sea.
We parked in what was once a restaurant car park.
Maybe it still is and they had closed because the main season was over - but it did look extremely ramshackle and deserted.
The people of the locality were farmers and fisherman.
The long lines of fishing net stretched way out into the water.
I enjoyed wandering along the mud flat beach and found some pretty stones and shells.
Then we drove across the island - only a few miles at that point, to explore Mai Kao beach.
We drove along little roads in the rubber plantations.
There was one small cafe open at Mai Kao Beach on the west coast.
Well, we only found one.
Of course we could have dropped in at The Marriots Hotel, which seemed to be a grand place to stay. That was a little to the north of where we stopped.
But we were satisfied with some rice and a drink and friendly cafe owners, who thought I could speak Thai very well because I gestured past the nick nacks and said we wanted to "Ging Kow" - literally "Eat Rice", but means to have a meal.
The beach was just beautiful.
The sea was quite lively - in the low season waves grow bigger and currents can be dangerous.
Look! Where are the tourists?
People who think that Phuket beaches are all shops and bars and crowds should see pictures like these.
Some of the beaches in the south are certainly a bit more crowded than this one, but there is only one place to please those wanting lots of clubbing and noise.
