PORT OF CALL : PHUKET
ONE DAY IN THAILAND
PORT OF CALL
Most people would think of Phuket in Thailand as a destination, rather than a port of call. Somewhere with golden sands, warm temperatures, nightlife and a bit of history to fill a week or two on a beach holiday.
For me though I was going to Phuket for just one day.
I was sailing aboard Royal Caribbean’s cruise ship, Quantum of the Seas. Its currently the largest ship I have ever sailed on, though as cruise ships keep getting bigger there are more than a few larger ones.
The joy and curse of a cruise is you get to visit some amazing places, but more often than not only for a day. Two maybe at most.
That is enough to give you a taste of the place. The question is would you want to go back?
The cruise itinerary in my port of call, Phuket, was allowing me just a single day to answer that question.
PHUKET SHORE EXCURSION
Geography
Phuket was the final port of call on a 5 day cruise from Singapore, calling into Malaysia, and passing through the Strait of Malacca and up to the southern tip of Thailand.
That cruise made up part of a 4 week solo travel adventure, where I was exploring various parts of South East Asia.
Phuket refers to both an island belonging to the country of Thailand, and also a town on that island.
The cruise itinerary just called it Phuket. It was really referring to the whole wondrous place, which was fine, as that is what I wanted to explore.
I’m distinguishing port of call from a physical port in Phuket too, as we didn’t actually dock in a port. Instead we anchored offshore in idyllic Patong Bay, on the west coast of the island.
I liked it a lot.
Phuket, Thailand
วัดไชยธาราราม (วัดฉลอง) Wat Chaithararam (Wat Chalong), Luang Pho Chaem Rd, Mueang Phuket, Phuket 83130, Thailand
พระพุทธมิ่งมงคลเอกนาคคีรี (The Big Buddha), Yot Sane 1, Mueang Phuket, Phuket 83100, Thailand
Going ashore
Its fair to say I was truly spreading my wings exploring Asia as a solo traveller on this trip.
My only other visit to the “Far East”, as we think of this region in the UK, had been a week in Hong Kong. This was all going to be new.
Most of my Asian Adventure was on land and by default I would be exploring by myself, but that is not always straightforward in a port of call. Cruising offers its own considerations.
Yes, I could go ashore by myself and hopefully visit lots of great sites during the day. There were no end of Independent tour guides touting their trade too.
But, unlike my land based journey, here I only had a day to see everything and more importantly I had to be back on the ship on time. Whatever I did there was a clock to watch.
Solo traveller or not, I like the security of a cruise ship shore excursion. They guarantee among other things that the ship will not go without you if your tour is delayed. It may come with a price premium, but one I’m willing to pay.
In somewhere as exotic as Thailand I had no knowledge of how easy anything would be to do by myself. Phuket was a brand new port of call for me. Most things were not within walking distance from where we landed. Personally I don’t like taking the risk of an independent tour, though I know many cruisers don’t worry about that.
So I researched and booked my shore excursion through the Royal Caribbean website at home before I even boarded the ship.
Now I was in a tender boat, heading across the waters of Patong Bay, to set foot in Thailand for the very first time.
BUS NUMBER 15
I checked in for my shore excursion on the ship and was given a sticker, numbered 15, that put me in a group of 10 for our day trip. A very nice sized small group.
The reason for the small tour group became apparent as we got off the tender boat and set foot in Phuket.
The seafront road was lined with small minibuses. The roads were clearly not wide enough for anything like the more usual coach that is more common on one of these trips.
There seemed to be hundreds of people all gathered at the same place, on the relatively narrow pavements, with buses stretching out in the distance. At intervals between them someone would be holding up a numbered paddle.
I headed through the throng of people in search of number 15.
The Thai lady holding ours was also our tour guide. She took my ticket and gave me a small gold and blue woven fish to wear. I’m not sure if gift giving was a tradition, if we were the fish group, or if it was just a good way to market the tour company whose name was on the ribbon. Whatever the reason it still hangs on my souvenir shelf as a memory of that day.
Solos Tip: I make a point of introducing myself to the tour guide and often wear a bold coloured top, so they don’t forget me!
Then as the rest of the party found the bus we boarded our unremarkable silver minibus. The inside however was another story. Gold trimmings were everywhere. A mirrored roof claimed design by Louis Vuitton. The most “pimped up” ride I had ever been in!
It was however comfortable and more importantly air conditioned.
Our adventure was about to begin.
THINGS TO SEE IN PHUKET
I had chosen a tour that called in at several places. If you have read any of my other cruise posts you’ll know I prefer half day tours, and that was also the case here.
We set off through the bustling, narrow streets of our port of call to explore Phuket.
Phuket Thaihua Museum
In my opinion if you are going to visit a different country you should at least come home knowing something about its culture.
We stopped at this two storey museum, which looked from the outside like an old colonial house. It quite possibly was once upon a time.
Inside the rooms covered different parts of Thai culture and the history of Phuket.
One room covers the history of the local tin mining boom in the 19th century. Other subjects include Thai attire, local cuisine and the political and historic relations with China.
We didn’t have a long visit here. It wasn’t all that big. This was a good introduction to Phuket though.
Phuket Old Town
Next stop on the tour was Phuket Old Town.
The part we saw, Walking Street, really felt like one long colourful high street.
Old buildings, I saw one dating to 1889, lined the street. They are painted in bright and pastel colours, with shutters on the second floor windows.
Our tour guide called them long shops. The front facing onto the street may be narrow, but the buildings are deceptively long and thin inside.
Shops sold all sorts, not just tourist souvenirs, although this was our chance to do the essential holiday shopping.
I am not averse to buying tacky souvenirs, so long as they are small enough not to impact on my baggage allowance on the flight home. There’s always the obligatory fridge magnet from a new country too.
The local currency is the Thai Baht. I just wanted a bit of cash for souvenirs and snacks so pre-ordered around £25, receiving a single 1,000 baht note in return.
Fortunately the shopkeepers were happy for me to spend it and I soon had a pocket full of change.
Wat Chalong
The real name of Wat Chalong is Wat Chaiyathararam, though they don’t even use the official name on the local road signs.
The complex of Buddhist temples is nothing less than spectacular.
Buildings include bright white temples, with red roofs and golden decoration. In fact gold is everywhere.
In one of the temples the devout visitors were adding gold leaf to statues as offerings.
Its a temple complex, so respect is quite rightly expected. You must leave your shoes at the door and should dress somewhat respectfully, though they don’t seem as strict about this as the churches of Italy or mosques of Istanbul.
That aside everyone is welcomed.
You can go into most of the temple buildings. The golden Buddhas are amazing to see. Colourful art and paintings decorate the walls.
The most sacred relic is a splinter of bone from the Buddha, which draws a crowd for such a small object.
This is one very impressive, and immensely popular, site to visit.
The Big Buddha
Phuket’s white marble Big Buddha is the third largest in Thailand.
This was the last major stop on our tour.
Apparently the complex is free to visit, although with a shore excursion we tourists were just waved into everywhere we visited.
You wander around an ornamental garden on the way to the main attraction. There are statues and few much smaller golden Buddhas to see too.
The Big Buddha is a wonderful monument. You can look up from a distance or climb the steps to the foot of the statue. I did both.
Of course these sorts of monuments are built to be seen, so its on top of a hill.
That meant from the top you also had amazing views out over Phuket.
Shopping Nuts
I’m wary of tours that include shopping time. On the one hand I do want to buy that fridge magnet. On the other you can have too much time in an place you wouldn’t choose to shop at.
For this tour we got two final shopping experiences. One good, one less so.
The first was the Cashew Nut Factory. Display boards explain the processes of baking and cracking the nuts.
A group of ladies are then seated in the entrance with their baskets of raw cashew nuts, where they demonstrate the art of shelling the nuts without breaking them.
Then you move on to the tasting sections. Here the nuts have been flavoured so you can try sweet, spicy or something in between, versions.
Finally you move into the gift shop. Here all the flavours you just tried are available to buy, in various sizes and combinations, along with a bunch of other souvenirs.
I must admit I parted with a few more of my Thai baht notes and I did enjoy the cashew nuts back at home.
We stopped at a much more modern shop as our final stop.
This included a display on geology and precious stones before you walked into an enormous store filled with display cabinets. Blue jewels, red ones, yellow ones, clear ones. Jewellery of every type from rings and bracelets to earrings and necklaces was designed in all of these coloured precious stones.
Sadly I wasn’t carrying enough Thai baht to afford to look, let alone buy. I don’t think the guides would be taking a commission from our party’s spend at this one.
PATONG BEACH
Our shore excursion ended up back at the sea front overlooking Patong Beach, where the Quantum of the Seas was still anchored in the bay.
It had been an excellent and very worthwhile trip.
Best of all it was only early afternoon. At this point I could see the ship and the pier where the tender boats were shuttling back and forth. That meant I could safely spare a couple of hours exploring the town nearby before returning to the ship.
A nice cold beer
I had a little bit of cash left to spend. In fact just enough for a couple of pints of lager in one of the outdoor bars in town, just off the seafront road. It had a great atmosphere that reminded me I was in a beach resort and on my holidays.
Free Wi-Fi was a bonus. When travelling on your own, on the other side of the World, it is nice to catch up with home and a bit of social media.
I enjoyed my beers, soaking up the holiday vibe of the place.
A walk on the beach
Its nice to get the sand between your toes too.
Patong Beach is long and golden.
I wandered along the waters edge, having a paddle and soaking up the sun.
Phuket is not just a port of call but, as I said at the start, an international tourist destination.
Here on the beach I noticed that there were flags from different countries around the World. They were on tall poles at intervals, and surrounded by people enjoying a day on the sand.
I had the impression they were almost a rallying point for the different nationalities. The Australian flag zone had a distinctly Aussie vibe. There were flags for Brits and Belgians and Brazilians amongst quite a few others. Perhaps foreign travellers meet their fellow countrymen here.
For me I was a lone wanderer, just passing by. But it piqued my curiosity to find out more.
ONE DAY IN PHUKET
That brings me back to my opening question.
Was one day in the port of call of Phuket enough?
Well, if I never return to Phuket I am happy that I have seen it. So it was enough to get a nice flavour of the place and the country.
But no, I don’t think it was enough. In fact I would definitely like to return for a land based holiday, even if only for a couple more days. To experience the lifestyle of a day on the beach. More beers in those lively bars. I’d go back to see the temples again.
The history I saw in the museum made me curious to learn more about Thai culture.
And Phuket is just the tip of the country. Tales of the islands of Ko Samui and the capital Bangkok intrigue me even more.
If ever I manage another Asian adventure I think Thailand would be a contender for a spot on the itinerary.
