Travel — call it a couple’s goal or not but it has always been something to look forward to, since the time we got married. Taking some time out for “ourselves” from our daily hectic routine, packing our bags and starting the exciting trip has become one of the major things in our bucket list!
This is my first article here, though not the 1st trip but let’s begin from here. You can call this an itinerary for couples who are planning their honeymoon or an amateur couple’s guide to Thailand or the best way for a husband to win a wife’s heart !
We planned this trip for November -2017 and made our bookings through MakeMyTrip 3 months prior. Our air travel , transfers and stay were included in the bookings. We decided to check out local places for sight seeing by ourselves.
We customised our travel in a way that it focused on —
Travel
Food
Leisure
Bit Of An Adventure
Preparations — Travel Light !
Currency Exchange
The 1st thing to do is to get an idea of your overall budget. You can’t carry more than ฿50,000 cash with you. We resorted to using credit card for local sightseeing so that we saved on our cash.
Personal Care
Sunscreen — Should be on top of your list while travelling here.
FirstAid — You never know what kind of emergencies you will come across.
Visa
Thailand offers visa on arrival and in advance both. We decided to proceed with VOA. If you are going for VOA, then you have to go through an immigration process at the 1st hopping point of your destination. For us it was Bangkok. (Will talk about it soon…)
Travel Begins
And the day came — 7th November 2017!
We had our flights from Kempegowda International Airport , Bengaluru to Phuket Via Bangkok.
Fun begun at Bengaluru airport immigration itself !
I had all the 4 boarding passes Bangalore — Bangkok , Bangkok — Phuket of both of us. After we passed through the immigration process, we were getting security checked and I held onto the wrong flight ticket stamped by the immigration officer. I think I went through all possible wrong combinations of flight tickets . It was a hilarious experience since the security officers had to send me back to the immigration officer again and again to get the right flight ticket stamped and quite embarrassing for me for obvious reasons !
Bangkok : 1st Hop
The next disaster happened with us here. Yes, another immigration ! Suvarnabhumi Airport is humongous and if you have connecting flight with immigration procedures to complete then you have to run ! I repeat RUN !!
After our arrival at Bangkok, we had just an hour to board the next flight to Phuket. After wasting 10 -12 mins in a wrong queue, we realised that immigration counter was around 400m away. With all our heavy hand bags we ran as fast as we could. Since the immigration queue was long and we had a flight to catch, we had to request people to let us go first. By the time we reached the counter, we had wasted substantial amount of time. The immigration officer looked at us shockingly and exclaimed — “you guys have flight in next 15 mins ?!!” we yelled back synchronously “YES !!!”. In the next 5 mins we were done with the process and ran a 500m marathon to the boarding gate. We made it ! Such a victory !
Phuket — Kamala Beach !
After we arrived at Phuket Airport, 1st thing we did is get a new local SIM within airport premises. MMT cab driver was waiting to pick us up from airport. He dropped us to our hotel — Novotel Phuket Kamala Beach.
Such a lovely place it was ! Ultimate luxury ! We had our own Jacuzzi villa there.
While browsing MakeMyTrip app or website you can find different types of rooms. To check more reviews for the hotel and its rooms, you can checkout TripAdvisor.
The day we arrived, we lazed around in the jacuzzi and had an evening walk at the beach.
followed by lovely dinner…
We tried Thai, Chinese and Continental food mostly.
Day 2 !
The hotel reception had a stall nearby for local tourist sightseeing. We explored multiple options, did some quick research on the internet and settled down to this after bargaining
Phuket to James Bond Island, Ko Hang through boat. ฿3500/- ฿5200/- for 2 people. Including Pick Up and Drop + Lunch.
CAUTION : You need a lot of sunscreen to save yourselves from sunburns.
After crusing the whole day, all we needed was a romantic dinner and a nice authentic Thai foot massage. You can find lots of good restaurants and massage parlours across the long coastline of Kamala beach.
We were lucky to find a place right next to the beach. It was calm and serene to have a late evening walk with not too many people around. That was one of the best parts of this place.
Day 3 !
We were all set for our next destination, Krabi. Well, not exactly Krabi, we booked our stay at Koh Jum Beach villas, located on a beautiful secluded island.
We were transferred from Novotel, Phuket to Krabi. The road travel to Krabi had breathtaking scenery. We took a 45 mins boat ride from Krabi to Koh Jum Island.
We made a deal with same cab driver who dropped us to Novotel from Phuket Airport. Novotel Phuket Kamala Beach to Koh Jum Island: ฿ 4,700/- by Road Toyota Camry
This was the most awaited part of our trip. There was nothing more we could have asked for.
The day we arrived, we spent time enjoying the beautiful sunset and the mesmerising view of Phi Phi Islands.
Day 4 !
After enquiring about places to visit from Koh Jum, we got the hotel to book a private speed boat for ourselves.
Koh Jum Beach to Phi Phi Island + Maya Bay + Bamboo Island. Snorkeling + Personal Speed Boat + Lunch : ฿ 10,000/- for 2 people
I have always been a fan of scrumptious breakfast at scenic places ! This was such a perfect place and menu we could have imagined !
After having breakfast and exploring beautiful resort in the morning we were ready to start our day for adventures ahead !
We had truly LIVED that day !
Day 5 !
We had a boat ride back to Krabi at 06:00 am. Our host at Koh Jum was generous enough to make sure that we don’t leave empty stomach. They packed breakfast for us.
We took a flight from Krabi to Bangkok. We were greeted with heavy rains after we landed. Cab driver who was assigned by MMT, dropped us to— Rembrandt Hotel Bangkok.
This hotel has an amazing view of the city, especially form Rang Mahal Restaurant at the rooftop!
After a tiresome journey from Krabi, we decided to rest and explore nearby places — SEA LIFE Bangkok Ocean World, Chatuchak Weekend Market. Visiting SEA LIFE was an amazing experience but Chatuchak was huge disappointment. We could have visited the Indira Market instead.
We booked an Uber from our hotel to Siam Paragon Mall which was another mistake indeed. Taking a metro from nearby metro station, could have avoided bad traffic during evening office hours. For a moment we forgot, it’s just another city!
Rembrandt Hotel to Sea Life Ocean World — Siam Paragon Mall BTS(Metro) : ฿ 44 / person by BTS (Metro) Basic Show : ฿ 100/ person
Day 6 !
Next day we planned to visit Safari World. It was located away from the city and didn’t have an option to commute by metro as well. We had to book an Uber again. Safari World has advanced online booking options but we decided to book the traditional way, after reaching there. You need to reach there within time if you want to avoid traffic and don’t want to miss any shows.
Rembrandt Hotel to Safari World Uber : ฿ 400/-
Timing :09:00–05:00
Entry Fees ฿ 3,090–2 people
It was an incredible experience to see all these wild animals and birds from very close distance.
Last Day !
Since we had an early evening flight to board , we decided to cover few more places in the city. We took an Uber to the Temple of the Reclining Buddha (Wat Pho) and Chao Phraya River. Wat Pho is a fascinating temple and we loved its architecture, design and the magnificent statue of the Reclining Buddha. Chao Phraya wasn’t really great experience though. You can totally consider avoiding that.
Back To Bangalore !
We returned to Bangalore on 13th November, 2017. It was one of the best trips we have ever had so far! While we are looking forward to our next trips but nevertheless, this is going to be cherished as the most special one!
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