There are loads of things to do on Phuket Island and there are just as many exciting opportunities off the island as well. If you’re in Phuket, I recommend booking a tour to James Bond Island and breathtaking Phang-Nga Bay. We spent an evening strolling down Rat U-Thit Road in Patong Beach and found countless travel agencies. It’s as easy as walking through the front door. I’m sure that most places are reputable, but we still took a little guidance from our travel bible, Lonely Planet. Lonely Planet is like American Express – I never leave home without one. Their 2001 South East Asia on a Shoestring has been invaluable to me over the past three years, although my beloved copy is looking a little dog-eared and may be retired for a newer edition soon. With over 171 maps, there’s never a shortage of places to go.
Our half-day excursion with Sim’s Tour included a stop at James Bond Island in beautiful Phang-Nga Bay, Thailand. Phone 076 263 177 or 076 26 3855. You can contact any tour agency in Phuket for details.
We decided to go with Sims Tours and booked a half day tour to see James Bond Island and beautiful Phang-Nga Bay National Park just before the sun sets – the absolute best time of day to be out on the water. We paid 800 Baht for our tour and were picked up in front of our hotel at noon the next day by a luxury coach bus. We had a rather long journey overland to our next destination, but the hour and a half gave us time to plan our activities for the next week. I also caught up on some local history, which is one of my favorite past times.
Our tour included a stop at Monkey Cave Temple, (Wat Tham Suwankuha) which is the first underground temple I’ve been to in Asia. This temple is rather unique as it is home to hundreds of long-tailed macaques that are more than eager to share your lunch with you. Unlike the temple monkeys of Bali, these monkeys are much more aggressive and I was a little more fearful of approaching them as our guide said they had been known to bite! When I got a look at their sharp teeth, I heeded his advice and didn’t venture too close. Nevertheless, they are an integral part of this place. They’re everywhere!
We entered the underground temple after passing through a monkey sanctuary and stopped to marvel at the 200 year old reclining gold Buddha before emerging into a natural limestone cave with thousands of fruit bats hanging from overhead! From the temple, we were transported a short way to the pier, where we boarded a long tail boat to begin our excursion through Phang-Nga Bay.
We admired miles of unspoilt mangrove forest before entering the bay area. I’ve never seen anything as magically beautiful as Phang-Nga Bay. The 1 million year old limestone cliffs jutted from the water like strange appendanges and the green-blue water seemed otherworldly. We couldn’t get enough of the scenery and sat quietly in the boat, trying to capture every moment. The upcoming attraction turned out to be a small piece of pleasure in the magnificent scenery of Phang-Nga Bay.
This long-tailed boat slipped silently through the water behind us. Sea-kayaking is also another spectacular way to see Phang-Nga Bay.
We dropped anchor at Ko Ping Kan where Roger Moore and Christopher Lee filmed “The Man With The Golden Gun.” We thought our trip was worthwhile but we had some experiences that might be a turn off to some folks. The island is really cool, but it’s overcrowded with tourists – all wanting to take the perfect picture. Can’t say I blame them. We were there for the same thing. We weren’t expecting to be dumped off with quite so many tourists.
The island is compromised of two huge stone outcrops joined by a beach. We were a little disappointed to see rows of vendors selling overpriced souvenirs. Be aware that most of the seashell trinkets for sale are imported from the Phillipines and Indonesia. Phuket and surrounding areas were stripped bare of shell life long ago to meet consumer demands. Even on a tiny beautiful island out in the middle of nowhere, we were still chased by blatant consumerism!
We treated ourselves to a couple of cold drinks and got down to exploring the island. At one point, we actually had to wait in line to get photos of the beach from a higher vantage point! I found that our photos were spoiled because there were so many tourists in it. It was a little frustrating, but we dealt with it. Despite some lost photo opportunities, we were still pleased with our time on James Bond Island. We enjoyed forty-five minutes on the island and were more than happy to move onto to our next destination.
Koh Pannyi
Our last stop of the day was at Koh Pannyi, a Muslim ’sea gypsy’ fishing village, to sample the fresh catch of the day. We took a stroll around this amazing village built on stilts over the water. Over 1700 people live in the village, which has been there for over 300 years. They live on what they can make and catch with their own hands and, of course, the money they make from tourist who are brought here to enjoy the fabulous fresh seafood and textile shops. I didn’t feel comfortable taking pictures here and felt very much like an intruder, especially as we weren’t taking advantage of the souvenir shopping.
We returned to our room later in the evening and went for a quick dip in the warm Andaman sea before grabbing a slice of pizza and heading to bed after our long tiring day. The tour was the best part of our stay in Phuket. Despite the crowds at James Bond Island and the far-reaching fingers of consumerism, we really enjoyed the magnificent view of Phang-Nga Bay National Park and found it all culminated in an unforgettable day.
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Hi Carrie,
Your description of Puket is inspiring and very informative. Needless to say I am going to print out your post and carry it with me on the island.
Happy Days,
Jo
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