WoW 04: Phuket Paradise

Wrapping our heads around the wonder that was southern Thailand, including all the ups and downs that it came with has been quite the process! We wanted to narrate the week and all that the adventures and challenges it entailed but WOW are we thankful for another amazing experience.

We flew on AirAsia from Northern Thailand down to Southern Thailand and landed in Phuket (aka Crocodile Island). The big island base for most exploring of the other islands that line the shores of Thailand. We had to ride an hour to our place near the water of Karon Beach where we were based for the week. We were welcomed to our Airbnb Condo by many stray cats that called the property home and by an infinity pool that surrounded the condo building - heaven, yes please! In terms of Thailand space we were delighted to see that our AirBnb’s space had nearly doubled in size from where we were in Chiang Mai. The best feature? Our kitchen was outside on the terrace… and that actually worked! There was a little balcony that overlooked the pool and had a view of the ocean off in the distance where we could sit in the mornings and brew coffee, read a book, and cook some breakfast. For anyone who thinks Airbnb’s cannot be resort style nice for a fraction of the price, think again!

We started the week off by getting our bearings and exploring the surrounding area. We walked through a shopping street to get to the entrance to the beach each day. By day the street was peppered with multiple smoothie stands to satisfy the taste buds of beach goers who had spent hours on the beach baking in the sun and by night the street was littered with little market stands trying to sell the goods they had made to earn a living. At the start of the week, things were open, and business was a go. Though we kept hearing tourism numbers were dramatically down, we were thrilled to feel like we could breathe as we walked on the beach and were having troubles picturing it any busier than it already was. So in that sense, we were grateful for a little serenity.

We decided it would be a good idea to get a traditional Thai Massage since they were everywhere and the cost was close to nothing. What a scene! As our masseuses “massaged” us with their full bodies; which included elbows digging in with as much pressure as they could muster up or our masseuses holding on to piping on the ceiling to do acrobatic moves with their feet on our backs. We heard grunts of pain from one another as we were lying on tables side by side. As our two women left the room and we sat up and made eye contact with one another, there was a look of complete exhaustion in both of our faces. We agreed that was one of the most intense physical things we had ever participated in, and we were both sore for the next 4 days to follow.

We took a sunrise speedboat island hopping tour that was phenomenal. We were picked up at our Airbnb at the ungodly hour of 4:30am on vacation (which feels immensely different than 4:30am on normal week) with a promise that getting to these idyllic destinations before the crowds would be worth it. That promise did not disappoint. Samba Sea Trips led the way on a small boat delivering us and about 7 other people through crushing waves of the Andaman Sea which woke us up in an instant as we headed to our first island. We pulled up to Bamboo Beach to start our adventure and stepped off the boat into the knee deep water to wade to shore. On the island we took the time to explore our surroundings finding Giant Lizards searching for their breakfast among the tree lines. We then had a traditional Thai breakfast of cold spring rolls and fruit on the beach as we took in the sights around us. 

We then set off for our first snorkeling adventure of the day just off of the Phi Phi islands. We pulled up into an area of reef promised to give us lots of eye candy below and were given fins and equipment to dive into the open water. We both consider ourselves pretty adventurous but there’s something incredible yet terrifying all at once in the act of submerging yourself into that much vast openness of water AND seeing everything that lies beneath you. We spent time looking at all the colors of the creatures that were beneath us and getting stung by not 1, not 2 but many little jellyfish along the way. Apparently they loved to call this reef home. By the time we docked back on the boat we were breathless both from the sights below and from trying to figure out how to breath in a snorkel for the first time.

Then we were off to our second spot to snorkel of the day, Maya Bay. As we arrived in Maya bay and descended into the water for a second time we were taken back by how a slight change in location can bring a whole new marine life below. Tara even got the chance to hold a puffer fish in her hands! 

We then went off to find Pileh Lagoon! This breathtaking lagoon is normally absolutely packed to the brim with boats and people swimming in the perfectly warm turquoise blue waters but lucky for us and our early start time, we were one of the first boats there for the day. We took turns jumping off the front of our boat into the water below and floating and wading around while taking in the picturesque scenery around us. It was one of those moments where we truly had to take a step back and realize we weren’t looking at a picture, we were in a spot that truly looked too beautiful for it to be real. As we left Pileh Lagoon we pulled up along Monkey Beach in search of some mischievous friends, but they were nowhere to be found… apparently they were practicing social distancing. 

We then made our way back towards Phuket stopping at Koh Rang Yai. We were served a traditional Thai meal with our international friends at tables right on the beach overlooking the water. With full hearts and full bellies, we then waded into the waters one last time for the day and hung out with our new friends telling stories from our lives back home and our adventures so far in Asia, exchanging recommendations for one another.

As the week went on, the climate within Phuket continued to shift with the events that were consuming the world. Most of the visitors we were alongside were from Europe and Australia. Early on into our second week in Thailand most European countries were getting ready to close their borders and people on trips in Asia had to make swift changes in their plans to get back home quickly. It was us and Aussie’s left holding down the fort! Tourism in Thailand was already taking a huge hit as the vast majority of their tourists came from China, and they had been on lockdown for some time now. As the tourism numbers continued to dwindle down, things started to close around us. The street we walked through on our way to the beach that had been filled with restaurants, smoothie shops, night stands, and more were slowly started to fill with signs in the windows on hand written pieces of paper that read “closed until further notice”. 

The climate of things in the United States was growing increasingly tense as well. When we left for Thailand, the United States was pretty behind the curve in Coronavirus response and we were operating with business as usual. All the sudden, one night we went to bed in Thailand, and woke up the next morning when it was just mid afternoon back in the United States and it felt like the whole reaction the country was having to the virus changed overnight. Right about then was the time when we started to get panicked messages from people who loved us back home saying we needed to get back before there was a chance we couldn’t at all. Well, easier said than done! With no travel ban internationally to/from the United States nor Thailand, switching flights wasn’t an option for us. We tried to continue on and make the best of our time and not let our anxieties get the best of us.

We spent time exploring Kata beach and walking the shoreline. It was there that we realized stingray’s lay just under the sand on the shallow beach shores and it was there that we realized we were VERY afraid of stingray’s. It took some time to muster up the courage to get back in the water after our first stingray sighting just a couple feet away from us. 

As we laid on the beach one night watching the sun set, Tara even got the opportunity to hold a lemur. It was wild, and the lemur’s feet were SO soft.

We decided to fall into the tourist trap and see the famous Patong beach known to be bursting at the seams with people, and shops, and music, and sunkissed bodies, and more people. However, when we arrived that wasn’t what we found. Although there may have been more people than the beach we were staying on, it also made it overtly apparent seeing Patong how deserted things had become. As we walked down the famous street known for any knock off name brand item your heart could ever desire, we found that about two thirds of the things were shut down completely. It was really kind of an eerie scene. It felt like we were plopped into a real life remake of ‘I am legend’.

As our time was wrapping up and we had come to our final night in Phuket, we were sitting in our Airbnb talking about all of the crazy adventures the week had thrown our way and how thankful we were for our time together and with the Thai people. We started to check in for our flight home and as we loaded the screen our hearts sank as we saw in big red letters “cancelled”. We immediately shifted from keeping our cool to panic mode (it wasn’t our finest hour). But after hours and hours... and hours on line with Customer Support who told us they couldn’t find us a flight home for 4 more days and not taking that as an acceptable answer, we finally found an alternate flight into the United States Landing in Boston. We couldn’t get a connection through to Chicago or Michigan but, we could figure that part out. We checked the flight status about every 15 minutes for the next 20 hours until it left and we had peace of mind knowing we were on board and en route to home. Usually as we leave a place after a trip, all we hope for is extra time to not have to go home quite yet. It was a weird shift to feel the intensity of what was happening in the world around us and just feel that desire like no other to know we were able to make it home safe, before it wasn’t a possibility for who knows how long. Sparing you the details of the long trip home, we made it. Safe and sound! We are incredibly thankful for our time in Thailand, for the people we met, for the experiences we were able to partake in and we hope everyone is home and healthy!

Stay tuned for our upcoming blog posts where we are looking to share some itineraries from past trips, including Thailand. Happy to be a resource for anyone looking to navigate travel plans and not quite sure where to start.

Happy Travels (someday)!

The Starback’s