Phuket by Land — Myriad Misadventures

Phuket is an island in the southwest of Thailand near Malaysia and a popular tourist location due to its pristine beaches and smattering of islands just begging to be visited. It has its own airport in the northern part of the island so theres no need to hop a train or bus from another location, like Bangkok. That being said, the airport is unexpectedly far from all of the beaches and city, although I suppose that's to be expected. Airports need a lot of space. Just don't be like me at 2:30 in the morning expecting a quick ride from the airport to the hotel and wondering what's going on as you're driven through the night. That ride is worth it though, with Phuket deserving of the reputation that brings people out to its beaches every year. In this post I'll be focusing on the island and some things to do there. In the next post I'll talk more about the beaches and islands and...watery things.

Buddhism

The main religion in Phuket is Buddhism, and its influence can be seen in any of the temples dotting the island. One of the bigger temples, Wat Chalong, is a complex full of temples so colorful they almost seem out of a storybook. Some of them allow you to enter and pray and sometimes you'll be interrupted by someone setting off very loud firecrackers. I suspect they aren't actually firecrackers and that both them and the structure they're set off in have religious significance, but they can be quite startling if you don't expect them. The grounds of the temple are well kept and surrounded by trees and everything is nice and clean. It's a great spot to escape the expected beaches and parties of the island and see something different. Another popular spot is the Giant Buddha, up a pretty steep hill not terribly far from Chalong. We had hired a car to bring us there and some of the hills were surprisingly steep, although the road was plenty wide and well constructed. At the top you walk from the parking lot to the entrance and you're greeted by a staircase leading up to a gleaming, white seated Buddha. You can walk around the base of this Buddha or straight under him and at the back you come face to face with another Buddha, this one golden and not quite so large. Around the area are a number of other statues, but they aren't quite as impressive as the two large Buddhas. From the platform around the large seated Buddha you get a spectacular view of the island. You can see the city spread out below you as well as the calming blue of the ocean. In order to enter some of the temples at the various religious sites you may be required to take you shoes off and enter barefoot or in your socks. Keep this in mind and maybe don't wear your favorite or most expensive pair of shoes. Some of the spots also frown upon showing too much skin, and will require you to wear something over your exposed skin. This is obviously a problem with the heat of Phuket, but when I encountered it at the great Buddha, the shawl was provided.

Great Views

The island of Phuket is surprisingly hilly, like on the way up to the giant Buddha (or maybe islands tend to be and I just never knew). This creates a number of spectacular views of the island if you care to make the trek to any of them. Aside from the Buddha you can get a great view of the city at the Khao Rang, or Rang Hill, Viewpoint and at the Karon Viewpoint, which used to be called Kata Viewpoint. Khao Rang viewpoint juts out of a small park area at the top of a hill. You pass under a pagoda and walk out onto the viewpoint, which is built a little off the hill overlooking the city. Around the viewpoint are some restaurants and stores in case you need something to eat or drink, and monkeys. So many monkeys. They don't seem to mind people too much, and will let you watch them, but they'll run away if you get too close, which you obviously shouldn't do. The monkeys here are wild and should be respected as such. Make sure to keep your things close so that the monkeys don't try to make off with anything. As long as you're careful they're very fun to watch, jumping from branch to branch and chasing each other around. Karon Viewpoint is on the western part of the island and looks out over some of the more well known beaches north of it, including both Kata and Karon Beaches. The sweeping arcs of the beaches as you look up the coast are beautiful. The building at the top provides plenty of shade to escape the heat and paths around it let you look out over the northern beaches, as well we south and west. The best part of theses spots is that neither requires a ton of time to see. You can stop there on your way to somewhere else, take a break, quench your thirst, snap some photos, take in the incredible view, and be on your way.

Muay Thai

Would it really be a trip to Thailand without taking in some Muay Thai fights? I'd wager the answer is 'no' but it depends on your tastes in sports. There is no shortage of fights on the island and as you walk around you're accosted by posters full of fighters with their hands up in, well, the stereotypical fighting pose stance. There seem to be fights almost every day, and if you aren't staying close to where the fights are held, most of the booths and stores peddling tours can book you tickets and arrange your ride to the ring. As a martial artist and fight fan I was really looking forward to spending a couple hours one evening taking in some fights but to be honest I was quite disappointed. I do not doubt for a minute that there are some venues that put on spectacular fights in Thailand and in Phuket. I would honestly be surprised if there weren't any. But the fights we saw at the Patong Boxing Arena were underwhelming at best and downright disappointing at worst. The night started out with a fight between two children and then two sets of teenage fights. While I'm not necessarily opposed to children competing (I sparred as a kid, albeit with much more gear) it felt very weird to have paid to get into an event that included the kids' fights. After those three fights there was a full slate of adult fights, which was more comforting. The problem was these fights...really weren't great. I remember one fight with an extremely short fighter who wasn't just outclassed, but really didn't seem to know what he was doing. Another fight had an extremely tall fighter and an opponent that seemed a little overweight and out of shape. The tall fighter won, but he fought very cautiously and it took him much longer than it should have, considering the matchup. Finally there was one fight that started out really well but by the end both fighters believed they had won, and instead of fighting spent almost an entire round gloating and celebrating instead of, you know, fighting. It ended in a draw. Is there anything more anticlimactic? There were more fights than just these three, and some were good, but those were the ones that stood out if for no other reason than because they let me down. On the one hand this was a little upsetting since I had been excited to watch them, but I suppose it isn't so different than watching a farm team in a team sport. You pay less and you get players that, while maybe having the potential to be big later, aren't there yet. On top of that it seems that a lot of these places are putting on fights all the time - multiple times a week, maybe even almost daily. In order to have enough fighters to put on so many fights, you need to accept a lower standard. There probably simply aren't enough great fighters to put on great fights every day. If you enjoy watching the fights, give it a chance. If it's not really your thing but you're considering watching them because you're there, maybe do some research to find the best spots.

The Food

What would vacation be without food? For some reason I remember the food from this trip far more vividly than I do the food from most of the trips I've taken. Maybe because it was incredible. First, the seafood. This is pretty obvious. Phuket is an island. Islands are surrounded by the ocean. Seafood lives in the ocean. But obvious isn't always bad, as proven by Phuket's seafood. We had fish and an assortment of crustaceans and they were all excellent. The rice and noodle dishes were top notch as well. They had a variety of flavors, lots of vegetables, and often snuck in even more delicious seafood. Don't miss the pineapple rice, which was some of the best that I've ever had.

Of course there's much more to do on the island, like party on Patong beach or explore Phuket the city, but there's never enough time for everything. Stop by next time when I talk about Phuket's beaches and ocean vistas and don't miss the videos (beaches, the island, and Promthep Cape).

Thanks for reading and I'll see you on my next trip. Don't forget to click the links below and follow to stay up to date on what I'm doing and where I am and to see all the pictures and videos from the trips.