we stayed at serenity resort and hotel on phuket. up until this point i've never experienced such a beautiful location and villa (that's not much to say since i haven't stayed in many villas and i still think this one is stunning)
we attempted to go to the beach as soon as we arrived and unfortunately it was low tide so going to the beach here wasn't an option. we ended up eating lunch at the resort. compared to what we were eating in chiang mai, this place was by that definition on the "pricier" side, although still affordable according to american prices.
side note - gratuity is included in the bill already for those pinching extra pennies
@brittnissx3 // lemon drop cocktail at serenity villas
DO NOT USE THE TAXI SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE RESORT.
literal rip off. the only time i've ever felt scammed. we asked their taxi drivers to take us to the beach (which was probably about 2 miles south of the resort we stayed at). he literally didn't even take us to the pier/actual area and told us to go walk. uhm what? i remember paying a ridiculous price for the drive that wasn't even equivalent to the distance. i think it was like 20 bucks to go 2 miles. literally what the fuck.
we ended up grabbing another cab to go to nai harn beach. so glad we picked up and decided to go here. the area was kind of enclosed so the waves weren't super aggressive and we were able to sit on the beach with as many coconuts as we could consume.
@brittnissx3 // sunset nai harn beach
@brittnissx3 // sunset nai harn beach
@brittnissx3 // sunset nai harn beach
walking up for sunrise was totally worth it. so much tranquility when the sun is rising. the time difference totally helped and allowed us to get up so early.
@brittnissx3 // sunrise at the villa from the room at serenity villas
@brittnissx3 // sunrise at the villa at serenity villas
@brittnissx3 // sunrise at the villa
@molly_velasco // pool in the villa
take in the moment. the earth is beautiful
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Where I stayed: Phi Phi Phu Chalet https://goo.gl/1eCtyM
just like most islands, people here are on island time. we were told that getting from phuket to koh phi phi would be a boat ride about half an hour long; and sure enough, it was an two hours later. whatever the tour people tell you, at a minimum add on another 30-45 minutes to consider from getting to point a to point b. i did not anticipate how miserable this boat ride would be.
first, you hand off your bag where they pile everyone else's bag onto - it has never been so imperative to put distinguishing on your bag otherwise it will take you forever to find it. secondly, there's not enough shade on the boat, people are literally laying on the deck in the baking sun. i was fortunate to pick a spot ride in the shade and i can definitely tell you that i would not want to be sitting anywhere near the unshaded area. all that to say - bring sunscreen and a wide brim hat. also if you're traveling in the middle of the day, it would be wise to bring food and snacks.
@brittnissx3 // boat ride to koh phi phi
we knew we had finally arrived nearby when we saw other islands. everyone had finally gotten up to walk around to see us arriving to the port.
@brittnissx3 // arriving to koh phi phi
@bearahlee // port at koh phi phi
once you arrive to koh phi phi you will have to pay an entry fee (the real name of the fee is escaping me and i will update this if i remember!) and from what i recall it was equivalent to $10 usd. from there, water taxis are waiting for you to take you to your chalets. our chalet ended up being at the northeast part of the island so it took us about 15 minutes to get from our port to our chalet. it was low tide so they had to stop the water taxi aways from the beach and we unloaded from there.
the location was so surreal and the water so clear. these pictures will not do this place justice.
@bearahlee // walking to the beach
@bearahlee // walking from the beach to the chalet
@brittnissx3 // sunset at dinner
there were local places to eat and it was one of those things where we were pretty baked from the boat ride that we didn't want to trek to find local locations to eat. i also stupidly thought that i wasn't going to get bit to find that the mosquitoes loved my feet. always keep your bug spray no kids.
the only way to get around the island is water taxis. or at least to see everything the most efficiently is getting around by water taxis. we ended up buying the tour through the chalet. it cost approximately $60.50 usd per person which came with lunch and our fare around the island and guaranteeing we'd make it back on time for our ferry to krabi. i think it's worth it - there may be other options that are cheaper so ensure to do your research.
@brittnissx3 // map of locations
we stopped at bamboo island, phak nam bay, pileh lagoon, loh samah bay and maya bay. we did drive by monkey beach and viking cave. the poor monkey appears to be stranded alone and feels in humane to leave it there for tourist viewing.
otherwise, all of the locations are so breathtaking. i have to say that visiting these places should be on a bucket list. the photos and videos can only capture so much of this beauty.
@brittnissx3 // dining area with complimentary breakfast
this is the worst place for mosquitos. like literally the worst. the were signs in the hotel warning guests to not leave their children alone because of the mosquitos. i walked away from this entire trip with 66 mosquito bites. SIXTY SIX. i don't even think that's normal for a human to experience.
this is really terrible because this place is gorgeous, a great place for climbing and has the cheapest coconuts!! and that's the taker. coconut water. two times a day. every day.
@molly_velasco // being a hot mess in thailand. tried using toothpaste to soothe the itch..
which worked for a good 5 minutes
@brittnissx3 // morning sunrise
@brittnissx3 // breakfast area
@brittnissx3 // public pool
waiting to get picked up by Real Rocks Climbing and bug spraying
@brittnissx3 // boat ride to our climbing area in railey beach
@bearahlee // gearing up to do the route
@bearahlee // belayer at real rocks climbing
@bearahlee // caves at railey beach
@bearahlee // railey beach
@bearahlee // back in ao nang
@bearahlee // 30 baht ($1 USD) coconut!!!
@bearahlee // straight cuts it open for you so glorious!
I was told that this was a dirty city and to the extent that any major city may be "dirty" is what I found. Like any major city, Bangkok is bustling with people and cars and sky scrappers and metros and taxis and traffic. The traffic here at rush hour is probably the worse than Los Angeles, and that's something to say for a city that has a major traffic. When getting out of Bangkok to get to the airport, it took me about 30 minutes to travel less than a mile, and when we finally got out of the city, it was normal traffic from there.
A lot of the locals take the metro/Skytrain and probably the quickest/most efficient way to get around town aside from walking. The two places we ended up visiting were within both of these scopes aside from the floating market which was an hour outside of the city and did require transportation. Luckily, we escaped the city during a non-peak time.
Getting to the floating market
We had asked the hotel for a car and although it was nice to be in a luxury vehicle and in a comfortable space, we probably overpaid for this service. I do not recall the exact cost and the number coming to mind feels like $60 per person and a taxi would have been cheaper. Given that we didn't have cell service or a way to call a taxi - we stuck with the car service since he guaranteed he would wait for us while we explored the floating market.
@brittnissx3
The Floating Market
Just to ride the boat is about $20 USD per person. Pricey in my opinion compared to everything else that I had paid for up until this point and it was one of those things where the market was closing in an hour once we arrived so wasting time trying to bargain wasn't a plausible option. Thus, we paid our fee and away we went.
Food, art, souvenirs and entertainment lined the stalls. Our "driver"/whatever is equivalent to boat driver, took us to his folks that he was friends with.
@bearahlee
@bearahlee
Since I was making a goal to eat mango sticky rice every day in Thailand, the first thing I bought on our floating market adventure was mango sticky rice and I think someone else bought the coconut ice served in a coconut as shown in the image below.
@bearahlee
The one thing I had to get while on this trip was literal boat noodle and it was one of the best noodles I've ever eaten.
@bearahlee
Terminal 21 Bangkok
We also visited one of the largest malls I've ever seen, which isn't much to say since this is my first international trip. I think it was 5 floors tall and just absolutely massive. My favorite part was the food court because of the all the options that were available and each of us could get what we liked. The only downside is that you have to convert your money to their card system so that way it's an easier transaction at the stalls. If you don't end up spending everything on you card, you can get the cash back.
@brittnissx3
@bearahlee
Where I stayed //Novotel Bangkok Ploenchit Sukhumvit Hotel
I learned very quickly that you can't get away with excessive people in your hotel room the way you can usually get away with it in the States. They actually check your passports and cross reference the amount of people to the stay. I mean the do that to some extent in the States but American hotels do not ask for the passport/identification of every single person in your room. So when we originally booked a room for 4 (2 adults + 2 kids), we didn't realize that they would actually set an age limit on the "child" and thus cross reference against our passports. All that to say, make sure you're booking the correct room with the literal number of people in your party.
Nightlife // Sky on 20 Rooftop Bar
We didn't get to visit any of the "speakeasies" in the city and we got to experience the rooftop bar at our hotel. Drinks were alright and nothing too memorable here except for the view. I'd check it out if you're staying here and not something I'd make a "must do".
@brittnissx3
@brittnissx3 // these wedges were so good
@brittnissx3 // traffic in bangkok
@molly_velasco
If you have friends and locals to take you places, do it. They will provide the best experience for you. We ended up visiting Jae Koy Somtum and another rooftop bar (a name that is escaping me). It was great to get a local experience.
P L A C E S //
Terminal 21 Bangkok https://www.terminal21.co.th/
Damnoen Saduak Floating Market
Jae Koy Somtum https://bit.ly/2v2R96u
Novotel Bangkok Ploenchit Sukhumvit Hotel https://bit.ly/2UWDDQy
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