We returned yesterday after spending a glorious week in Phuket. The lead up to the holiday was particularly exciting as I’d planned the trip without my partner Mike knowing. He’d been away for 3 months and this was to be our romantic, child-free reunion – it lived up to everything I’d expected and much much more. We arrived at the airport with Mike still none the wiser, he thought we were picking up a cousin, even when I pulled out our suitcases (that I’d secretly packed at 2am the previous morning) he still stared at me vacantly. It wasn’t until we were in the check-in queue and I showed him our tickets that he really clicked. He was jumping up and down like a big kid, the reaction was priceless.
Instead of a blow by blow account of our trip, I thought I’d write about the things that stood out on our holiday.
BIKE HIRE
Much has been written about the dangers and disasters of hiring a motorbike in Thailand and for the inexperienced, I definitely wouldn’t recommend it. The general rule of thumb would be; If you don’t ride a bike at home, don’t do it in Thailand. As we’d already hired a bike on our previous trip to Samui and as Mike is a regular rider, we decided to give it a go – a decision that definitely made our holiday the adventure it was. I’m a terrible passenger on a bike but even I managed to relax and enjoy the experience.
The best ride we found was heading north from Patong, the road hugs the sea so the scenery is beautiful and it gives you the opportunity to open the bike up on the open road. On one memorable trip we ended up at Bang Tao, just in time for lunch. We found a gorgeous eatery called the Andamen Beach Café (or something similar) that sits right on the beach. We had a swim in the ocean before eating, perfect! We did get lost on the way into Bang Tao and somehow managed to take the inland road, but eventually we found our way to the beach. On the way back it’s much easier to take the seaside road to Surin and to head back to Patong from there.
Riding in Patong is definitely an eye-opener, but after a day you can handle the chaos. Just beware that you get overtaken on the inside, that beeping the horn means “hey I’m coming thru” and to keep your wits about you at all times and be prepared to stop at a moments notice.
Mike’s a 6’2, 120kg tattooed Samoan and seeing him on a scooter had the locals rolling around in laughter, the Suzuki Steed 600cc Cruiser was a much better choice for us.
We hired it from the Big Bike Hire Company on Rat-U-Thit Road, up near Nicky’s Handlebar for 600bht per day – what a bargain! The couple are very friendly and the wife has a good grasp of English, they’re not at all dodgy. It’s general practice to hand over your passport when hiring but they were happy with a photocopy. They have a large selection of big bikes to choose from and are patient while you look around. I’d read a previous post about taking photos of any of the damage on the bike prior to hiring, we didn’t go this far but did point out a couple of dings to the owners. They noted them down on the hireage form. I’d also organized an international licence from the AA online for Mike although we were never asked for it. Our bike cost 200bht to fill for the big petrol stations out of Patong.
We found out about the Big Bike Hire Company from an expat Kiwi we met at the Anzac Bar, which brings me onto our next find…
THE ANZAC BAR
It’s one of the bars (apparently there’s 36 of them) found at the Otop markets and THE place to stop for a drink between rounds of shopping. The owner John is a great guy, a Kiwi who’s lived in Aussie for 20 years and who now calls Thailand home. He’s super-friendly and with a wealth of knowledge about all things Thai. He took us down to his mate who owned the Big Bike Hire Company and negotiated a good rate for us. On another night he took us and a couple of Aussie boys up to Bangla Rd to a mates bar. He had mates all over the show and all of them ended up being nice guys, not dodgy at all.
John’s friendliness and big heart made him a firm favourite of ours, please drop in for a Singa (60bht) or a Strongbow (100bht) if you need a place to re-fuel before hitting the shops again, you won’t regret it!
OYSTERS AT OTOP
There’s hundreds of carts selling food but the one that we loved was the “Oyster Man”, a red cart that comes around the Otop markets at night. If you love oysters, then these will knock your socks off and at 30bht a pop, you can eat as many as you like. They’re served in a polystyrene container on a bed of dried chilli %26amp; garlic with fresh limes, however they didn’t ever make it into the containers as we’d eat them before they got there. We’re adventurous eaters but even I was suspicious about eating oysters off a cart – they were a recommendation of John’s and once again he was spot on, delicious.
BAGS GLORIOUS BAGS
At the top of my shopping wish-list was a bag and Patong certainly delivered. If there’s a particular bag that you’re after I’d suggest taking a photo of it as a number of the good sellers had photo albums of stock. Or if you can’t be bothered trawling thru the hundreds of shops and bags, just show the seller the photo.
In many instances they are only able to display a limited number of bags so quite possibly they had a secret room (a room hidden away from the counterfeit police) with additional stock. The secret rooms sound all very dodgy but I found them to be an oasis amongst the chaos. They are mostly all air conditioned, very clean, with comfy seats and away from the constant ‘you buy, you buy’. A comfortable and easy place to purchase.
There are 3 types of bags and the best way to judge them is by the quality of their leather, buckles and latches and stitching. I recommend having a good look around before buying as after a day or so you can start to judge the difference. On speaking with a number of sellers they’d describe them as 50% knock off, 75% knock off and 100% knock off. I have some photos of the bags I’ve brought but no idea how to attach them to this JBR, so if you’re interested in seeing them, plus info of how much they cost and where I got them, flick me a message. Alternatively, if anyone knows how to attach photos, let me know.
50% BAGS – have average leather, average latches and average stitching. They don’t look real and you can tell they’re a knock off. The leather feels like vinyl, the latches are possibly tarnished or are scratched and the stitching often doesn’t match up. This is a gross generalization as I’m sure there’s some great bags to be found, I just didn’t find any. These were priced between 300bht – 750bht. These bags were everywhere.
75% BAGS – Not real leather, but not vinyl somewhere in between. The buckles are good and the stitching is good. They’re note quite real, but they’re damn close. The inside of the bag looks like poor quality but the outside looks good. These ranged from 1200bht to 1800bht. Once again, this is my gross generalization. I originally bought 2 of these bags for myself but once I found some 100% knockoffs, these 2 became gifts – and great gifts as my Mum and Sister love them.
100% BAGS – I’ve died and gone to bag heaven!
These are rare but you can definitely find them and the best way to do so is to feel the bags, the real ones feel like leather. The buckles are of a better quality steel than the other bags and the zips were thoroughly sewn. I also found that the same attention to detail on the outside was also found on the inside of the bag and if you bought a bag with writing on the material, the writing matches up at the seams. These bags ranged from 2000bht to 4000bht. I tried to buy my Chloe bag three times from the same shop at the Otop markets, on two occasions (on separate days) he let me walk away. He started at 6500bht, I started at 1500bht and in the end I managed to buy if for 3600bht. I love it!
I guess the general rule of thumb when buying anything would have to be ”pay what you’re comfortable with” my guidelines and prices are only that, guides.
A GREAT LITTLE SHOP
I had to mention this place as it was a real find. After a few days of constantly having tailors and sellers in your face you just want to find a place with a bit of peace and quiet to shop. You want to say to the sellers “if you’d just stop hounding me and give me a bit of space, I’d happily spend up large in your store”. We found such a store, the owners are a delightful older couple who are deaf. They don’t speak but they communicate by hand gestures and always with a smile. They wait for you to hold up what you want then you start trying to communicate your colour, size etc. It’s great fun and so so peaceful. We decided to buy the majority of our t-shirts, shorts, sarongs etc from here. Their product is the same as most of the touristy stalls so you can buy in bulk for a good price. I can’t remember what we bought (or paid) but we were happy with what we got and there were 2 big plastic bags full gifts.
This shop is opposite Dolphin World or Chez Bernards on Beach Road about 200m up (north) from Bangla Road. It’s in between Micro Tattoo %26amp; President Tailors a big shop with different sellers in it, they are located on the left hand side near the front.
A LITTLE TIP
We brought a bottle of bubbles and white wine in our luggage plus a couple of plastic glasses on the way over. Our hotel pool-bar shut at 6pm so these were great to have in the pool before heading out to dinner. We figured that if we had to pay the duty on them, they’d be a lot cheaper than having to buy them in Phuket. We didn’t have to pay so even better!
OUR FAVOURITE PLACES TO EAT.
Whilst many people recommended places like Sabai Sabai and Sweets, we found the thai food there to be too westernised and a little bland. Once again, this is just out opinion as everyone has different palates, we found the following places combined local traditional food, friendly staff and in Chez Bernards case, perfect location.
CHEZ BERNARDS - The perfect place for that romantic dinner on the beach while watching the sun go down and so so cheap. An example of one of our meals is;
Prawn pad thai, steamed rice, chilli crab, fish curry, 1 x singa, 1 x breezer, 2 x pineapple juice all for 610bht
You can find this place by walking north along the beach, you’ll firstly come across the tipsy prawn, keep walking until you find a group of restaurants. Chez Bernards is the 2nd one you come across.
MOREMA’S - Another recommendation from Anzac John.
A whole crispy fried chilli fish, spicy seafood salad, steamed rice, prawn fried rice, spring rolls, 2 x singa – 650bht
If you’re standing at the front of the Otop markets facing the markets, walk left until there’s no more markets, you’ll come to a street. Turn right and you’ll see a row of restaurants, Moremas is somewhere in the middle
AROOM SOOM – This is one of those places that you’d probably walk past but we stopped as the place was packed with locals and tourists alike. It’s under a big roof, in the open with plastic tables and chairs. The kitchen is also under the roof, but in the open so you can check it out. The cooks and kitchen were immaculate.
BBQ king prawns, garlic fish pieces, vegetable rice, prawn pad thai, chicken fried rice, 4 x singa – 1100bht. This was probably the tastiest meal we had.
It’s located on Rat u Thit road heading north up from Bangla road. It’s the last block of restaurants in the road on the left and Aroom Soom is the last restaurant in that block.
WAFFLES – At the end of a long day, the 40bht banana waffles with maple syrup were just the ticket. There was a particularly tasty cart that sold them on Beach Rd near the entrance to the Banthai.
OUR ONE BAD EXPERIENCE – THE HIDEAWAY SPA.
The Hideaway Spa in Patong is an absolute dive and something I feel the need to warn people about as it’s not cheap. We wasted 2400bht on 2 luxury treatments, harrumph!
The website describes the spa as being the first luxurious spa in Phuket, royalty regularly visit, it’s a favourite of celebrities, treatments are exquisite etc. I don’t doubt any of this the only thing they fail to mention is the fact that all this probably happened in the early 70’s as not a dime has been spent on it since.
On arrival the first thing you notice is that the pamphlet description of ‘tranquil bush setting’ is in fact ‘barren, mosquito ridden tip’. We walked into the open reception area and ended up hollering for some assistance, a bedraggled teenage boy sauntered out and looked genuinely surprised to have customers. He grunted for us to have a seat and while we did we took in the surroundings, there was dust everywhere….the place looked like it hadn’t had customers in years.
With alarm bells ringing, we thought we’d slink on out of there but a lovely young lady arrived to assist. Like the complete dorks that we were, we stayed. We paid our monies for our massage but declined the stream room and sauna, we were then ushered up to our changing rooms. From there we waited for 30 mins (I kid you not) until our masseuse’s arrived – they obviously don’t have regular customers as they don’t have masseuse’s on site. In the meantime Mike checked out the plunge pool, a small round para pool complete with algae (possibly stagnant) and I checked out the locker rooms complete with mouse poo.
Ok so it’s a dump and certainly not worth the money. Also, as there’s so much stagnant water around, we both came out with a sizeable number of mozzie bites. The positive though was that the massages were lovely, well in between swatting away the mozzies. The girls were also sweet and seemed genuinely apologetic about the venue.
Did I mention the dead mouse?
IN SUMMARY
A special thanks goes to Cathy %26amp; Gary whos price list I carried around like a bible. It makes the haggling so much easier as you have an idea of what to pay. A simple ‘no thanks’ when asked to buy goes a long way and smiling (sometimes thru gritted teeth) also makes the shopping experience easier.
Prices were all very similar where ever you shopped but Otop definitely had more selection and in some cases things that we didn’t see anywhere else.
Simba Tours is brilliant, but I’ll write a separate review on the ‘Things to Do’ site. Apparently they%26#39;ve been knocked off number one, Geoff said the fault is at their end, when they tried to load the recommendation link onto their own website, they inadvertantly deleted their whole reviews off trip advisor.
Likewise, the Banthai rocked so I’ll be writing another hotel review for them.
We had a spa treatment everyday and in some cases two. Prices were generally around 250bht for a foot massage or a thai massage but some places like Let’s Relax or 5 Star Massage on Rat U Thit Rd were more expensive. It’s worth paying the extra money as you’re paying for the surroundings which are devine. In saying that, we enjoyed stopping for an el-cheapo massage as the actual massage was just as good. No one particularly stood out.
Phuket has everything you’d want and a lot of what you don’t want but as long as you head into your holiday with an open mind and a sense of adventure then the positives will greatly outweigh the negatives.
Would we go back – hell yes!
Becky %26amp; Mike x x x
Our Trip Report - or JBR
Wow Bec and Mike, that was a fantastic report so much helpful info, Hideaway Spa was certainly a different experience yuk will not go there lol.
We have still never been to Sabai or Sweets and probably never will, but do like Chez Bernards and the other couple next to them. Thanks again for such a good read.
Cathy
Our Trip Report - or JBR
Thanks Becky for such a great report, how sweet to organise this trip without your partner knowing. Sure sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for the heads up re Hideaway spa, I was only saying today I%26#39;m doing more of the spa/massage thing next year, so good to get some feedback. Will look forward to your review of the Banthai, which type of room did you stay in?
Lee
Oh I forgot to say Bec, well done on keeping the secret for so long, amazing I could never do that lol.
Cathy
Great review!
Some interesting new food snippets too, yummmmmm. Enjoyed reading about your experiences good and bad! takes me right back there in my mind...thanks
Bec to post photos go to ';My Trip Advisor'; then ';Contributions'; then ';Photos'; and click on Add Photos. Four catagories come up Hotels, Attractions, Restaurants and Location. Or you can use one of the many free photo sharing sites like Picasa etc.
Cathy
A great spa is Tarn Tara, near Wat Chalong. Mr Mor took me there (his girlfriend goes there, which was a good recommendation) and negotiated a Thai price of 2000 baht for an hour%26#39;s aroma massage, 50 min body scrub, 30 min facial and 30 minute reflexology in clean, tranquil, luxurious surroundings. It%26#39;s only been open for about eight months. Usual price for this three hour treat would be a mere 3000 baht...
OooooOOOh Sounds DVine it%26#39;s on my list for next year. TeRRRRRRRRific Deal.
Hi Cathy, yes it was definately hard keeping a secret but so worth it in the end.
Lee - We had a deluxe room the one where it%26#39;s 5 steps into the pool. I%26#39;m so pleased we didn%26#39;t choose the pool access room which offer little or no privacy. Due to the location of the pool rooms, anyone in the pool, at the bar or even anyone walking to their rooms can see in.
The deluxe room has great privacy with foliage at the front of your deck, whilst still giving you a view of the pool. We had room 1157 which in my opinion was one of the best, it%26#39;s right on the end of a wing so really close to the breastfast bar, reception, road etc. Noise was never an issue as all you had to do was close the ranchslider and its gone.
Staff were also super friendly. Would definately stay there again.
Becks
Thanks Bec, great review and very handy. We%26#39;re back next May/June for a month and as an experienced rider will certainly check out the Big Bike Hire Company.
Many thanks
Bob
Becks, thank you for all the details about the Banthai, I might try and request the same room number, could be lucky. Hope you get your photos on here, you have to reduce the size of the photo to about 600x400 for them to be accepted, so I just copied each photo and played around with it till I got it right. I must show my hubby your report in regard to the ';big'; bike, he rides a 1000cc home here and struggled with the idea of riding a scooter over there especially around Patong and up some of those hills. Lee
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