After a few days in very smoky Chiang Rai, it was great to land in Phuket and actually see some blue (still a bit hazy, but we’ll take it) sky. Only about a 10 minute ride from the airport to our home for the next 12 days in Mai Khao at the JW Marriott and Vacation Club - yes, more Vacation Club points to use up. This property is absolutely beautiful. It is a huge property, with a JW hotel in the middle surrounded by maybe 15 or so buildings that make up the vacation club. Three giant pools, and grounds that are incredibly gorgeous - designed by Bill Bensley, evidently a very famous architect in Thailand. And of course we were greeted (because it’s us) with a fire show and a concert to start our visit - yes, a couple of “private events” were taking place, and we could sit outside and enjoy!
Since we had all the facilities available here, “the plan” was to mostly hang around and use the pools and relax, and we were extremely successful! We swam our laps each morning, taking our coffee with us to enjoy after. Our room - a two bedroom / two bath unit - had a full kitchen, washer and dryer, etc., and was lovely. Our two housekeepers - Benz and Lena - would come each day always providing another dozen or so bottles of water and always leaving a new towel creation (so talented). A 7-Eleven across the street and a small grocery store nearby were all we needed here. And of course several well placed restaurants, but we’ll get to that later.
We only booked one tour this time, and it was a good one for seeing many sights in one day. The “James Bond Island” tour was great. About a 30 minute drive to the port to board our boat and then off to the islands. These limestone islands seem to just rise out of the sea. The sea wears down the rock leaving overhangs around the islands until at some point gravity does it’s thing (hopefully not today). Our first stop was to go deep into a cave on one of the islands, donning hard hats and walking in knee deep water…no thanks. But waiting for the group to return, we had a visitor - there are monkeys on these islands. They can be aggressive, so we kept our distance from this guy.
The next stop was Ko Hong Island. Made up of several islands, there is a lagoon to kayak into - through a cave. Beautiful, but traffic jams as this is on every tour. There are guides to take you on the kayaks which was actually nice as it allowed you the ability to just take in the scenery. Our guide was great, showing us formations and even the heart in the sky at one point. After this, we headed to lunch on the small island of Ko Panyi. The island itself is small - but the wharf built out from it is enormous (seriously - go to maps and look at this from the satellite view). The island is Muslim so no alcohol, but it was a great lunch and fun to walk around for a bit.
Finally, on to James Bond Island. Made famous from “The Man with the Golden Gun”, it was a beautiful spot, but just a 30 minute stop so everyone could take a short hike and take all the selfies they wanted - I took one “us-ie” but found the lens was cloudy so I deleted it. Time to head back to the hotel to relax for a few more days.
Sundays in Phuket are when they have the night market, so we headed in to explore. It was only 88 degrees with 60% humidity, so our first stop was for a cold beer! We sat inside a cafe minding our own business (and beers), but couldn’t help noticing that out front they had set up and were grilling lobster and king prawns. I got up with beer in hand and…yes, ended up with both - and they were great! The street market was crowded - even before dark - with some great music and an unbelievable amount of food. everything on a stick you could imagine! After wandering for a bit, we found a good place for a foot massage (AC most importantly), and then headed back to the hotel.
One thing is consistent no matter where we go - resort food and drinks are way too expensive. It took us a couple days to find the good spots away from the resort, but once we did…wow! On either end of the resort you could walk a little sandy trail and once outside there were a few little local restaurants just in the sand - they don’t look like much, but the food is incredible. And we also enjoyed the local Sangsom Thai Whiskey - a bit of a cross between whiskey and rum. Full dinner - Lobster, pineapple fried rice with shrimp, mango salad, and drinks - about $50. And they’ll drive you back to your hotel!
We really enjoyed our time in Phuket - especially the staff at the Marriott property. They were always smiling and there to assist in any way possible. And the grounds here were incredible as well - probably one of the most beautiful properties we have visited. We’ll be back to this one for sure!
All the best,
Tim & Eileen
