Phuket Things to Do Tips by zrim

Phuket is a very spiritual place and many Thais practice their religion in small ways all the time. Then there are the impressive temples. Very worthwhile to take the time to visit these places. But it is a must to do so in a respectful way because these are very active centers of religion and spirituality.

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Directions: On a hillside overlooking Phuket City

Take a cruise on the June Bahtra, the sail boats with the bright red sails. The excursion is pricey for Thailand, something like $40-50 American per person. But I felt that we got our money's worth. We were picked up at our Phuket hotel and brought to the marina on the far northeast corner of the island. We set sail around 10:00 a.m. and had a full day on Phang Nga Bay. We visited the amazing karst islands, including the James Bond Island; a floating muslim village; and took a late afternoon dip in the warm luxurious Andaman Sea.

We were provided snacks, lunch and drinks on the boat and were provided with a German guide who spoke English, German and Thai. The rest of the Thai crew were very friendly.

Really, there is nothing like visiting the exotic Thai seas under sail--a motorboat cannot hope to do this lovely place justice.

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The German guide on our Phang Nga cruise kept telling us not to have Thai people take our pictures. He said they are notorious for chopping off heads or placing subjects in ridiculous parts of the photo frame. Of course we listened to our good-natured guide and for the famous James Bond Island scene we handed over our camera to the German guide. This is the result. A portrait that appears as if Becky and I are wearing some sort of maniacal karst head-dress. Talk about ridiculous.

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The karsts are limestone formations and as you undoubtably know from your junior high science classes--limestone is a soft rock that is prone to erosion. When the limestone erodes from the inside out, caves are formed. When the karsts happen to be in the middle of the Andaman Sea, then the formations become sea caves accessible only by kayak or very low longtail boats. We were able to go into one karst cave, but we saw several kayakers who were making a day of it and exploring many of the hollow karsts.

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