Day 6 in Phuket

This morning we went to the Gibbon Rehab Project & Bang Pae Waterfalls. The Gibbon Rehab Project is where gibbons that have been kept as pets or being used by photographers/bar owners as a tourist attraction are successfully rehabilitated back into their natural habitat. We chatted to one of the volunteers who told us that for every gibbon in captivity around about 8 would have been shot to get the baby - we could see some of the gibbons playing in their cages.

We then walked on to the Bang Pae Waterfall which we thought was just up the road but it turned out to be quite a trek through the jungle, climbing up and down a rocky path. It was so hot and humid that we had sweat pouring of us by the time we got there - and after all that hard work it wasn't really worth it!

In the afternoon we went in to Phuket Town and stopped for lunch at Tung Ka Cafe which is perched high above Phuket Town on a hill.  We were eating our lunch when we suddenly heard a load thud - a lady on the table next to us started screaming 'snake, snake' and beside Peter was this massive green snake that had fallen out of the tree canopy in to the restaurant - I was up on my feet ready to run for my life but Peter didn't seem at all bothered and didn't even move as the snake slithered out of the restaurant - you don't get that every day!

We had a look round Phuket Town, checking out the large mansions and sino-portuguese architecture.  We were able to have a look inside one of the houses which had been opened up to the public as a museum which was very interesting.  The lady had already locked up the place for the day but we looked forlornly through the gate at her and she let us in.

One of the streets in Phuket town

Mansion in Phuket Town

Chinparcha House (the museum that we toured)

Day 5 in Phuket

Today we hired a driver for the day to take us around the sights of Phuket (this might sound a bit swish but it is very cheap to do and only cost us £40 for the day).  Our first stop of the day was an elephant trek around the jungle!  When we first got there I wasn't sure if I was going to be brave enough - it is a long way up sitting on the back of an elephant and it didn't help when Peter said to me we would break our backs if we fell off! 

Peter feeding one of the elephants

"How do I get on?"

Us admiring the views - the poor elephant looks knackered!



After our elephant trek we went to Kata view point where you can see the beaches of Kata, Karon and Patong.

View from Kata Viewpoint

We also visited Wat Chalong, which is the most important of the 29 Buddhist temples in Phuket.  Our driver Pele took us through how to make an offering to the Buddha - we had to light two yellow candles and some incense sticks and offer them to the Buddha - Peter managed to get wax all down his shorts and I burnt myself on the ash falling from the incense stick so it wasn't the most serene moment for us! 

Temples at Wat Chalong

We also visited the Big Buddha which is perched on top of one of the hills in Phuket - you can see it from most points in Phuket.

Big Buddha in the distance

And close up!



After a hard day sightseeing I decided to have a massage in one of many massage places down the street near our hotel. Who can resist a 1 hour massage for £7!  I asked for a shoulder and back massage but this somehow got lost in translation.......Now I like a firm massage at the best of times but not with your full body weight and elbows! I worked out quite quickly that I was actually getting was a full body Thai massage and that I was in for a pretty brutal hour! Not only did she massage my back so hard that at one point I had to ask her to stop massaging my lower back because it was hurting so much (she asked if I had problems in that area - I thought I do now!), she twisted and contorted me in to all these different shapes, pulling my legs right back, pulling my upper body off the bed etc but at one point I thought she was feeling really heavy and I looked over my shoulder to find her walking on me........In the end I thought I am at this woman's mercy and I was just waiting to see what she was going to do next. I staggered back to the hotel and Peter asked me if I had a nice massage "no I haven't, I have just been brutalized for an hour" and he couldn't believe some of the things I was saying - we looked up Thai massage on the internet and it pretty much described what I had been through.  I am either going to feel like a new woman tomorrow or hardly be able to move - I fear it will be the latter! 

My bruised back from my massage!

Day 4 in Phuket

Today we had another lazy day around the villa.  Whilst Peter was playing his new computer game on his laptop I went swimming in the pool or floated on a lilo reading my book - it was nice just to relax.

In the afternoon we headed over to Patong, which is one of the main resorts in Phuket, known for its wild nightlife (!).  After looking round the shops we thought we would have a look down Bangla Road - it was like a madhouse down there with lots of lady boys parading around!  Every few yards we were approached and asked if we would like to see a ping pong show or go to a go-go bar - we politely declined!

We didn't like Patong much and were glad we weren't staying there - it is very full on and fine if you like to go out and party every night but it wasn't our scene at all!

Bangla Road in Patong

Day 3 in Phuket

After such an active day yesterday we had a more relaxed one today! After a leisurely breakfast we made our way down to Kata beach - it was already packed with people by the time we got there around 10am and we had to walk down the beach to try and find a couple of spare loungers.

Just a few sun loungers on Kata beach!

Kata Beach

We relaxed on the beach reading our books, went out for a swim in the sea and then on to lunch at one of the beach cafes - Peter had a beefburger and I had squid with pineapple which was 'interesting' - I won't be having it again!

In the afternoon we relaxed back at the villa for a couple of hours and then made our way to the Night Market in Phuket Town.  The market was really buzzy and there were bargains to be had - Peter managed to barter a computer game down to £3 so he was a happy man..... and then there was no stopping him!  We ended up buying a few things and probably only spent about £20. We tried some of the market food which was very nice.

Day 2 in Phuket

What a day we have had!  We went on a day trip to Phang Nga Bay which is known for its sheer limestone cliffs that jut vertically out of the sea.

Our speed boat with limestone cliffs in the background

We were picked up from our hotel and taken to the marina where we jumped on a speedboat to take us around Phang Nga bay.  The best way to see the bay with all its caves and 'hongs' (lagoons inside the limestone cliffs) is by sea canoe and that was our first stop.  It was two people to a canoe, along with the guide, and once I had managed to clamber in to the inflatable canoe without capsizing it we were off - luckily the guide did all the paddling otherwise me and Peter would have just been going round in circles!!

We managed to get in to the canoe (apologies for the close up!)

Inside one of the hongs

Apart from the 9 canoes from our group there was no one else around and it was so calm and peaceful especially when we were inside the hongs. Our guide was very good pointing out lizards, crabs and monkeys!!  One of the monkeys got a bit close for my liking and I was a bit worried that it might jump in!

Inside one of the hongs - you can see some of our group (and monkeys) in the background

Monkeys (there was loads of them!)

Me and another monkey (oh sorry, its Peter - easy mistake!)

After our sea canoe tour we got back in to the speedboat and they took us to a secluded bay so that we could jump off the boat for a swim to cool down (I, of course, didn't jump but more like hung on the back and flopped in to the water - very graceful). It was lovely swimming in the sea - the water was so warm it was like swimming in a bath! I have never been in a speed boat before so hadn't really thought of the logistics of getting on and off the boat, especially when we are docked in deep water so you can't touch the ground.....you have to get your feet on the step and then haul your body up and I didn't have the strength to pull myself up so one of the Thai crew had to yank me out (it was the first of many times the poor guy had to help me but for the record I wasn't the only one!!).

We had a brief stop at Koh Ping-gan, otherwise known as James Bond Island as they used the Island for the movie 'the man with the golden gun' and then on to Koh Panyee for lunch and a tour around the sea gypsy village.  The food was absolutely delicious with amazing views and it was a good chance to chat to others who were on our the tour.

View from Koh Ping-gan (James Bond Island)

Koh Panyee - the sea gypsy village

Two ladies working in the Sea Gypsy village

On the way back to the Marina we stopped off at another secluded beach to do some snorkeling - it started to rain but only for about 10 mins and not that it mattered as we were wet anyway!

The day was very active (and the words 'Jeannine' and 'active' are not usually found in the same sentence!) but we both agreed it was one of the best trips we have ever been on - a real once in a lifetime experience.  In the evening we decided to have dinner at the hotel and we had one of the spiciest meals we have ever had - it was so spicy that Peter lost his voice the first time he took a bite!

Goodbye Phang Nga Bay......

We have arrived in Phuket

Today we flew from Hong Kong to Phuket - arriving around 11:30 local time, and we were at the hotel by 12:30.  In the afternoon we have a look round the local area and then spent time in the splash pool and main pool.

Our villa is lovely and we are about a 10 minute walk from the beach.  The weather is hot but not too humid at the moment.

Living room

Living room with door out to splash pool

Bedroom

Day 5 in Hong Kong

Our last day in Hong Kong!  The weather forecast for today was not good as it was predicting thundery showers - oh great!  It was still dry when we left the hotel so we jumped on the metro to Chi Lin Nunnery & Nan Lian Gardens - I said to Peter "won't it be annoying if we get off the metro and its raining" and guess what, it was! We decided it wouldn't be much fun walking around in the wet so we went in to the shopping mall at the metro station to find that the shops didn't open for another half hour! 

Once the rain went down to a drizzle we decided to brave the weather and walked to Nan Lian Gardens. The gardens, built in the style of the Tang Dynasty, were beautiful and very serene and you would never believe it was in the middle of a busy city.

Nan Lian Gardens

We then crossed the road to visit the Chi Lin Nunnery, which is a wooden complex built without a single nail, where silent nuns deliver offerings to Buddha (although it must have been there day off as we didn't see any nuns!!).

Chi Lin Nunnery

We then got back on to the metro to the Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple which is one of the bigger temples we have visited - there were lots of people there burning incense sticks and praying!

Sik Sil Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple

The rain kept stopping and starting so took our chances and went to the Kowloon Walled City Park which was close by - as soon as we got there it started to rain quite hard so we sat on a bench under a big tree to get some shelter.  We had picked up some food from the supermarket earlier in the day so decided it was a good time to have lunch whilst waiting for the rain to stop - nothing like having a picnic in the rain!

The Kowloon Walled City Park has a very interesting history - the area was once a densely populated slum area in Kowloon which was largely ungoverned.  From the 1950s to 1980s it was pretty much controlled by the triads and had high rates of prostitution, gambling and drug use.  From 1987 to 1995 the city was demolished and the area was made in to a Qing Dynasty style park.

The rain really wasn't letting up but as it was our last day in Hong Kong we just kept on going!  The last two stops for the day was the flower market (which was lovely even in the rain) and the bird market (Freaked me out big time - although most of the birds were in cages it also attracted the local wildlife and there were birds flying all over the place - I couldn't stand it and had to run off to the edge of the market whilst Peter had a look round). Our final destination was the goldfish market - we checked out the map and it wasn't far, and then saw lots of people walking up a hill so we thought it must be that way (I thought wow goldfish must be popular!).  We walked through some big gates and there was no goldfish to be found - we then realised we had walked in to a school playground and it was all the parents picking up their kids!  At this point, we thought the goldfish are just not worth it as we were wet and tired so we made our way back to the hotel.

We have had a great time in Hong Kong and have crammed in a lot in the time we have been here.  We are off to Phuket tomorrow so we should get a bit more time to relax over the next week.

Day 4 in Hong Kong

Our jet lag is getting better - we slept in until 7:30am!  We spent the day on Hong Kong Island.  We caught the Star Ferry from Kowloon and then walked past all the skyscrapers to get to Hong Kong Park.

We then took the Tram up to The Peak - the tram is a funicular tramway from the Central district in Hong Kong up to Victoria Peak. Although it was quite hazy we still had nice views from the top.

Tram up to Victoria Peak



Views from The Peak



When we came back down from The Peak we jumped on a ding ding tram to take us to the Sheung Wan area of Hong Kong.   

Ding Ding trams in Hong Kong

We had a self guided walking tour of Sheung Wan which is the historic area of Hong Kong with lots of small alleys and roads with local shops selling dried seafood (which stunk!), Chinese medicines and antiques. There was a lot of hustle and bustle with people going about their every day lives and it was very interesting to see.  We stopped at a couple of temples and then moved on the the SoHo district where all the bars and restaurants are and stopped to have a well deserved drink as we had been on our feet all day!

Day 3 in Hong Kong

The jet lag is getting better  - we managed to sleep in to 5am today! We left the hotel at 7:30am and jumped on the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island.  

On the Star Ferry



Star Ferry coming in to dock

As today looks like it will be our last sunny day we decided to visit the Big Buddha.  From Hong Kong Island we caught another ferry to Mui Wo on Lantau Island, and from there took a 40 minute bus journey through a number of small villages to a fishing village called Tai O - it was very interesting to see all the small villages and how people live outside of Central Hong Kong.  Tai O is the last settlement in Hong Kong that still has a large number of stilt houses.  

Another bus journey took us to the Giant Buddha and the Po Lin Monastery. The Giant Buddha is a large bronze statue on top of a hill and you have to climb 240 steps to reach it - that would be bad enough on a cold day but as it was about 27 degrees and humid we were knackered by the time we got to the top (Peter had to have an ice cream to recover!).  The views were worth it and it was nice to see the Buddha up close.



Big Buddha



Only another 200 steps to go.....!!



Peter pretending to pose for a picture but really having a rest from walking up all the steps!



To get back home we went on a 25 minute cable car ride which took us back to the Metro station - the views were amazing and we could even see the planes taking off from Hong Kong International Airport. 

We were enjoying the views when suddenly the cable cars stopped and we were left swinging above a massive drop - Peter was saying why have we stopped and I was just trying to stay calm.... it was only for about 5 mins but it was the longest 5 mins of our lives.  When we got off we were talking about it and we had both been thinking if there has been a power cut how are we going to get off!!