Enchanting Thailand!
Visiting dream destination!? Wondering the best place to fit your budget while not compromising on breath taking view and some awesome activities and pleasure-filled holiday? Pack your bags while we take you to the best place in Thailand - PHUKET <-> KRABI
Trip Details:
Origin: DEL
Destination: HKT (Phuket)
PAX: 2
No. of days: 5N 6D
Estimated Cost: 90,000 INR (Round trip incl. all for couple)
To start with, we had our itinerary planned keeping in mind of the tight budget experiencing less of hassle and saving more time.
So, we went ahead booking our onward flight from DEL to HKT with 2 hops.
DEL -> CCU -> BKK -> HTK
You may want to book a direct flight to BKK from DEL. For that, keep looking at "skyscanner" for best deals.
PS: There is no flight directly to HKT (Phuket). You have to change a flight at BKK (Bangkok)
For Thailand's domestic flights, you may take Vietjet's service. Though they claim to be the cheapest, but there are very professional in being late!
Alternatively, you can look out for Thai Airways for better service and on-time flight schedules. (As they say, good things come with a price tag!)
When we arrived at HKT, it was a hectic and crowded airport. Zillions of tourist from across globe can be seen there.
Once you are out, you will find yourself in the middle of swamp full of taxi and shared bus drivers. Hunting for passengers at throat-slicing price and would not hesitate to make you feel an untouchable if the negotiations have failed!
After few gruesome battle, we finally managed to book a shared bus who charged us THB150/PAX. The distance from HKT to the hotel was about 40 minutes. Fortunately, we were the first to be dropped. The dropping point was close to 100 m from the hotel.
Airport transfer from HTK -> Hotel: 150THB/PAX
For the stay, we booked a standard room with Asprey Hotel, at Patong area. It was upgraded to deluxe room upon request. And what a room that was! Beach was 5 mins walking.
Hotel booking:
Site: Expedia
Room Cost: INR 8,786 (Including Breakfast)
We had our lunch at the hotel and went to explore the city streets that evening. Walked upto Bangla Road, Walking Street (famous place to see Strip dance, exotic services and plenty of place to booze).
That evening, we decided to book for a package deal from the hotel tourist desk. And what a deal we got hold of! A sweet charming lady named Koy (better search for her) made a deal that was hard to refuse after lots of discussions.
A complete 4 day tour package costed us 10800 THB.
The day-wise trip to island had lunch complimentary along with snacks.
Itinerary (Day wise)
Day 1:
We were picked up from our hotel to the pier. Ferry transfer to our first Island for swimming. We also had a cave exploration on a canoe. The ferry transfer to our first spot was an incredible experience passing through numerous small and big islands, hitting the waves and enjoying snacks and drinks. We had our lunch served on the boat itself which was pretty delicious. After the lunch, we sailed towards James bond Island. We spent about 40 mins there taking pictures and enjoying the scenic view. Nevertheless, the island was crowded with peoples from different nations. There were little shops for souvenirs, which were overpriced from obvious reasons.
The day was greatly spent as we headed back to the main land. We were transferred back to our hotel in a mini-van (shared). We took a little rest and again hit the roads to explore the streets and experience Thai food!
Day 2:
We had our mini-van waiting for us at the hotel after our breakfast. We were taken to another pier for a speed Boat transfer. The guide had us debriefed about the experience of a speed boat, and it is, a precautionary step, to take the anti-sea sickness pills along with us (1 for each) at the pier (provided free of cost). The guide had us take off our shoes and kept it in a sack and offered us to rent a rubber shoes (optional) to avoid getting our feet hurt by corals at the beach side. But we didn’t felt the need to take it and went ahead. Our plan were to visit
Phi-Phi Island for Snorkeling
Monkey Beach
Krabi Island (Maya Bay Island, LoSaMa Bay Island)
We had our lunch waiting for us at an island. The delicious buffet lunch was served with various options and tastes of Thai food. It was about 1 hr break for lunch at the island and then we set sail towards Krabi Island.
We were thrilled with the crystal clear water beneath the boat, beautiful corals and picturesque views of the islands and big rocks.
At the day’s end we sailed back to the pier from where we were picked up and then proceeded to our hotel via mini-van to explore the night life of Phuket!
Day 3:
Another mini-van was waiting for us at the hotel gates after we finished our breakfast. We were taken to a pier for our speed boat transfer for the day! We went to:
Raya Island (Scuba Diving)
Coral Island
The same anti-sea sickness pills were provided at the pier before we sailed towards our thrilling day ahead. As we reached Raya Island, we were taken to the other side on a super exotic bike transfer with a basket to sit. We got ourselves ready for the most awaited and thrilling activity of the trip ‘Scuba Diving’. We were given detailed instructions of ‘Do’s and Don’ts’ by the trainer before we hit the waters. It was a life-time experience under the sea getting close to awesome colorful fishes, corals and understanding the importance of every breath.
We were transferred back to the dock after this enthralling activity to enjoy the waves by ourselves.
The day end with etching the scuba memories in our mind as we were transferred back to the dock and then to the hotel.
We spent our evening exploring the markets of Phuket.
Day 4:
Our mini-van took us for a half-day City Tour. It included:
Karon view point
Elephant trekking
Tiger Kingdom
Cashew nut Factory
Honey Bee Factory
Ancient shrine
Big Buddha
As the half-day was coming to an end, we were dropped-off at our hotel for the rest of the day. We had our lunch and went for the beach. We had ourselves engaged with various water activities like jet-scooter ride, banana ride, para sailing, etc and indulged ourselves to the waves.
We completed our shopping-spree in the evening and had our last visit to walking street.
Day 5:
We had our checkout from the hotel and kept our luggage at the reception. After that, we had a pleasant walk at the Patong beach embracing the winds and waves. We had a late lunch and had our mini-van booked to pick us up from the hotel at 4:00 pm to the airport. Our return flight from Phuket to Bangkok was scheduled at 7:30 pm.
We had packed beautiful memories of the beaches, waves, city streets, food and lots more with us on our flight back to Delhi from Bangkok.
