Scootering around Phuket

One week ago we decided to leave Bangkok finally behind and continue our journey to Phuket. We searched for the flights one day before flying (I use Skyscanner almost always) and got the tickets with Thai Airways for a reasonably good price. We also booked a hotel near the Phuket airport because the most popular beaches are still a long way from there and our flight landed after 9 pm.

In the hotel we searched for what would be the best place to stay in Phuket and decided to go with Kata Beach first. Patong is the most touristy one with all kinds of attractions (particularly for single men...), Karon is a bit smaller and Kata's the most quiet one. When we got to Kata next day we stayed at Little Mermaid Guesthouse & Restaurant. It was budget friendly but we had to change rooms because of a bad smell in the bathroom and some little bugs all around the room. Also it was located a little further away from the beach. No thumbs up.

Kata Beach in Phuket 

When it rains, it pours

Our next hotel, Pro Andaman Place, was in Karon and it was a way better place to stay. It had an excellent location near the beach and some good restaurants (nice live music at Two Chefs, good Thai dishes in Schlusslicht and Ying to name a few), and the two always smiling aunties who run the place made us feel very welcome. Only downside was the noise coming from the street outside but other than that it was a bargain being a thousand baht per night. There was also a temple within walking distance, Wat Suwan Khiri Khet, that we paid a visit on the second day in Karon. Later that night they held also a night market there in the temple grounds. You can find some good deals there, we bought some clothes and a couple of sunglasses 100 baht per piece.

Wat Suwan Khiri Khet

The best way to see around in Phuket and many other places is definitely renting a scooter. It's cheap, it's fun, and you easily bump into places you would never otherwise see. 24 hours rental cost us 200 baht (~5€) plus gasoline. Considering that the local Tuk Tuk drivers charge 300 baht just to go from Karon to Patong, it's a no-brainer. We drove to Patong Beach and had some lunch in Nicky's Handlebar (good memories there, cheers Darab if you're reading this!) and then continued towards north until we noticed some food stalls and people gathered around so we pulled over. The sun was getting low and it turned out to be a wonderful place to check out the sunset. Around Patong Beach the traffic can get somewhat crazy so remember to stay alert at all times if you decide to drive there.

Cheesy deliciousness at Nicky's

Kalim Beach sunset

We had rented the scooter around 4pm, so we still had plenty of time to use it on the next day. After a late breakfast we turned on the ignition, fired up the engine and rode our 125cc beast to Phuket's Big Buddha, which was about 16 km away from our hotel. The views were nice, the buddha statue was big standing 45 meters high, and the monkeys near one of the viewpoints were trying to steal everything they could including our water. We won that battle, at least this time.

The Big Buddha

A monkey and the view

A cup of joe on our way back

Our route so far

Bangkok (not so) dangerous

I guess it's my time to take the wheel now!

So this is my second time in Asia and for me too it felt good to be back in Bangkok :) It's a vibrant city with lots to do and see. Also it's more western, comfy but exotic :) A good way to start this big trip. Also I didn't see any cockroaches 👍

On Saturday we went to see Thor Ragnarok in an IMAX teather in the Toyota Quartier. It was a cool experience! First we made sure that movie "with soundtrack" meant that it's in English with thai subtitles so we could understand it.. the movie was ok, but the quality of the sound and image was astonishing! Really good experience so we didn't mind to pay 9€ per ticket!

On Sunday the fifth was a big day, the birthday of Matias! :)
I had already asked him months ago what he'd like to do on this day and the answer was then 'floating market'.. so what else is there to do than just go for it,  right :)
We hopped on a BTS and went to the Bang Wa station. From there we took a taxi to the market (Khlong Lat Mayom). It cost only 100tbh and it took around 15min to get there. It was packed with locals and few Western people. We strolled around and looked at all the wonderful things there was to eat there (I wasn't ready to eat anything.. I mean I didn't see any fridgerators anywhere...how could it be safe😅). Matias saw this one snakehead fish stall and we both remembered seeing this in an YouTube video by our favourite Mark Wiens. Matias was excited about the fish so of course I had to get his bday fish for him :) So we sat down and ate it :D "the fish and the sauce was a very good combination and a cool local experience" said Matias. I myself wouldn't say it was a feast but I am happy I tried it and experienced it too :)

Snakehead fish

After coming from the market we ended up at Nana station. Last time we were in Bkk Matias had a 200tbh haircut there and he was looking so scrubby already on day 5 so we went to find the familiar cheap salon :) Matias had his clean cool shave costing  200tbh and I figured that I need to ask how much would it be for my hair.. and it was only 300tbh! What the Hell i thought! Let's do this! So i sat down and now I have a quite short hair but luckily i don't think i need a haircut before the Philippines ;)

300tbh haircut 

In the evening we were in the area of On Nut and Matias had googled a beefy buffet nearby (Best Beef). So we went there and what an experience it was! It was 269tbh only with the meat but 439tbh including beer (separately 100tbh/bottle) and soft drinks.. "hmm we do have a flight tomorrow and had couple of Sang Som rum drinks already.. but if we have three beers in total.. we are winning!".. two Finns there so what do you expect?! Of course we had the whole package! It's celebration day so let's get the bacon and beer coming! :) We had so many sort of meat and got to cook it ourselves in our own hotpot. We stayed the whole two hours there and enjoyed  our stay until the place was closed. I cannot express how cool the best beef was but I definitely would like to experience it again! Maybe we have to start our own business in Turku or somewhere else :) Ai ai ai and nomnomnom!

The menu

Best beef! 

I have to say I feel lucky to be on this trip and also that I have had the opportunity to chat with my granny and my family few times already with WhatsApp.. thank God for the internet! :)

I am btw writing this from Karon beach, Phuket, but maybe i'll save something for the next time :)

- Sini




Our route so far

Bangkok vibes, peanuts and vaccinations

Our flight took only 9 hours but we were pretty tired for the first day. Not too much sleep in the plane. If you have only one-way ticket you might run into problems although it's not likely. I've been asked for onward ticket only one time when I was flying from Istanbul to Kuala Lumpur. That time the check-in agent had to make some calls but it was not a big issue and I could board the plane. This time we used an online service called bestonwardticket.com. I was a little hesitant about it because they don't have many reviews yet being a rather new site but it worked like a charm. They actually book you a real ticket which you can present if someone asks for it. Then they cancel the ticket 48 hours after purchasing.

Apart from being quite tired it felt good to be in Bangkok again, it felt a little like coming home after a long time. After taking the train from BKK airport to Sukhumvit we found our hotel pretty quickly. Staying close to Terminal 21 shopping mall we decided to make it our first stop. There's an excellent food court there where you have many tasty food options for less than 1€.

Made it! 

Loving street food and being allergic to peanuts is not always the best combination in Thailand. If you are in the same situation I recommend printing an allergy card translated in Thai. And actually using it if you're unsure about the dish which I didn't do so of course I got something peanutty :p I got away with an itch and somewhat swollen tongue but next time I might take my own advice.

Yesterday we took it easy because we still had some sleep debt. A little bit of walking in Lumpini park, strolling around in MBK mall and trying out some street snacks. Later at night we had some dinner at Cabbages and Condoms (that is really the name of the place, interesting concept and good food) It was also our anniversary few days ago so no better way to celebrate it than ordering some delicious pork neck!

Lumpini Park lizard

Suspicious pork balls put to the test 

Condom fashion

Today we headed to Hospital for Tropical Diseases after breakfast. There's a travel clinic (www.thaitravelclinic.com) where you can have all the vaccinations you need at a low cost. I booked an appointment there yesterday for my Japanese encephalitis vaccination. It cost me under 700 baht (less than 20€) whereas in Finland the cost would have been around 300€. So big savings here, I recommend!

Visiting Travel Clinic 

Our route so far

Starting a blog and empty rooms

I've traveled quite some bit and usually I just post some pictures on Facebook or Instagram. My work mate was asking if I was going to write a blog when we're on our next adventure (hyvä Vellu!), and back then I thought it's really not my thing. However on one weekend I started to think about it while driving a longer distance with my car and thought that what the hell it could be fun! If some like-minded travel bug bitten (there's no cure, you gradually turn into travel zombie and constantly think about the next adventure) travel addict gets some travel tips or inspiration out of it it's great. If not, some of our friends might be interested in reading this. Besides, I think it's gonna be fun for us later on to read some of this stuff and hit the memory lane so nothing to lose here :) So here we are!

We've been planning on our upcoming six month adventure for a long while now and it's finally on our doorstep. Our apartment is almost empty and all the stuff is either sold or packed in cardboard boxes.  On Tuesday we're going to fly to Bangkok and start our way from there towards south. We've booked only few first night in Bangkok and for Christmas week we have accommodation in Bali. Everything in between is still open and that's the way it's should be :)

Emptiness

                                                               

Sini has been panicking for months now but I haven't really even given the trip too much thought, I've just been concentrating on disc golf mostly :D Now the reality and the excitement is slowly creeping up on me also. We've been really busy the last few days with our stuff and everything we have to take into consideration, international driving licences, insurances, what to pack and not packing too much etc.. I managed quite good I think, 8.5kgs (18.7lbs for those of you who use weird units) for my backpack and 4kgs or so for my carry-on. Sini's being a girl and still struggling a bit with not taking everything she owns with her :P Actually I think she's doing fine and should be under 10kgs as well so we're all good and ready to go!

Special thanks to Henna and Kristo for storing our stuff, Maritta for taking care of our apartment, Vesku for taking care of my car and Marja, Anoora and Henri for helping out.

I think that's all for now, next post will be sent somewhere from Thailand. :)

- Matias




Our route so far