To begin our onward travels, we took a ferry from Langkawi, Malaysia to Satun, Thailand. We were pleased to receive a 30 day travel visa upon arrival because we had read conflicting information about the length of stay we would be permitted. We then hopped on a bus to Phuket Town. We immediately noticed things were different than Malaysia; there were less signs in English, less Muslims (or at least less women wearing veils), and a higher military presence (many checkpoints along the way and even had a heavily armed officer board the bus and search the bag of a fellow passenger). The other unusual part of the bus ride were the seemingly random stops along the way. Several times a pickup truck stopped on the side of the road and someone from the front of our double decker bus would meet it, grab a box, place it in the cargo compartment, and then we’d continue on. We also saw the same boxes leave the cargo compartment and be placed at various locations including a highway patrol station. Even with all the stops, we arrived in Phuket Town on schedule.

Phuket Town

Although the main reason for visiting Phuket was to tour the Phi Phi Islands, we found the town to be very enjoyable. We stayed at a nice little guesthouse in Chinatown adjacent to Old Town (Pacific Inn). For lunch on our first day in Thailand, we enjoyed some phat thai at Kopitiam and it was the best we’ve had! We then walked through the beautiful streets of Old Town.

Phi Phi Islands

We saw a travel agent to secure a day trip to the Phi Phi Islands and used Chureang Travel & Tour based on her recommendation. The tour included a boat ride to the islands, one hour snorkeling at Bamboo Island, one hour snorkeling at Maya Bay, and a visit to the main island of Phi Phi Don. The tour ended up being a great pick for us because we had plenty of room on the boat (unlike some of the smaller boats we saw) and they seemed to maximize the amount of time we could spend snorkeling. The waters were amazing! The clarity and visibility were incredible plus the coral and rock formations created a lively environment for aquatic wildlife. I don’t think our video or pictures can do it justice.

Patong Beach

We concluded our visit to Phuket with a stay at Patong Beach. Since we began our travels, we have been on the lookout for local breweries to visit and had found a brewpub in that neighboring town. We took advantage of the journey by spending some time relaxing on the beach. This too was a large contrast from Malaysia because this popular beach was full of westerners wearing as little bathing suits as possible. That night we sampled the beer at Full Moon Brewery which we will summarize on the new beer blog we’re developing.