Ninety seven days. While catching up over coffee, my Korean friend told me a couple should at least be 100 days in the relationship before they travel together. I counted the days Jon and I have been together until our trip to Phuket, Thailand – barely a hundred. Was that enough?
The passion for travel was one of the things that attracted me to Jon. I only heard (and read) a few of his travel stories but I always find them fascinating. We share that curiosity to go out and see the world (although, at different extents). I wondered, what would it be like to be there with him? Who was he as a traveller?
RELATED POST: Chasing Paradise: Where are the Best Beaches on Koh Kood, Thailand?
It was quite late when we arrived at Phuket, maybe 9pm. We didn’t have a hard time getting transport since there were drivers waiting by the arrival area and the rates were pretty standard. Although I was expecting to see the country side on our way to the guest house, our taxi passed by busy streets. It could have been any other city but those billboards with the worm-like Thai characters (I have no idea how to read) reminded me that we were in Thailand. It was late, we were tired and it was still a long drive to Nai Harn, located at the southern part of Phuket. Where is the beach?
Nai Harn Beach
The long trip the night before did not keep us from getting up to an early start. We originally planned to have a boat tour on the first day but decided later on that a relaxing day at the beach was a better choice. After a few minutes’ walk from the guest house where we stayed, we reached Nai Harn beach. I have yet to visit the white sand beaches of my country, but I would have to say Nai Harn was pretty good. Some of my friends complained about the crowd and the unkempt beach of the main island when they went to Phuket but Nai Harn beach was not like that. I think Jon made a good choice for this one. We wanted a place where we could relax and not too busy, I think Nai Harn just fit the bill.
We stayed at the beach most of the day. Later in the afternoon we went to find a good viewpoint to catch the sunset. From the advice given by the people at our guest house, there was some sort of hill close to the beach but it was a bit of a hike. Well, it shouldn’t be that far so we headed towards that location. Little did we know that we had to walk at some curvy roads and it was actually a few kilometers away – that and I was wearing a sundress and flip-flops! I was not really complaining about comfort I simply wished I had better speed going up. We had to walk fast or else we’d miss the sunset! I didn’t mind that Jon walked a few steps ahead of me (He had the camera) but we thought it was quite funny since other people passing by may think we just had an argument because of the gap in pace! Although tiring, the hike to the top was worth the effort, the sunset was indeed beautiful from that point.
Phang Nga Bay
We arranged for a tour to Phang Nga Bay the following day. A shuttle picked us up from our guest house and took us to the pier where we boarded the boat and joined several other people.
The odd shaped limestone islands and greenish waters of Phang Nga bay were indeed camera-worthy. But just when Jon was about to start taking photos, there was a problem with the camera. There were some specks of dust stuck on the lens which we tried to take out for quite a while. It was a test of patience! Though not too happy with mishap, we somehow still managed to take a few photos of the scattered islands before we left the boat.
RELATED POST: El Nido, Palawan: Paradise in the Philippines
Our first stop for the tour was James Bond Island. The island may have been popular to visitors of Phuket but the intrinsic beauty of the place somehow diminished because it was crammed with tourists and those souvenir shops set up there seemed a little out of place. Photo ops were still quite good, though. We simply had to wait up for every other tourist who wanted to get a shot of the popular scenery.
The next part of the tour was some private canoeing. We each had our own canoe and boat driver then went across some of the islands of Phang Nga bay. It was a bit awkward when the drivers asked if we were honeymooners, but we just gave it a laugh and politely said no after they asked. I was even mistaken for a local. Do I look Thai? The boat drivers were quite nice. They gave us a chance to try canoeing a bit (although I didn’t do a fine job on this) and even helped take some of our photos every now and then.
I really enjoyed the canoeing part of the tour since that was a good time for us to really have some alone time from the big group we were with at the tour. The scenery was good and it was indeed very relaxing (except for the low headroom caves part where it’s likely to hit some stone walls! Keep your head down.)
RELATED POST: A Mid-Range Maldives Resort Experience: Asdu Sun Island
The end of the tour was a free swimming thing which I thought was in some pleasant island somewhere. It wasn’t. (Disappointed) Instead they stopped the boat at one area and allowed the passengers to jump off the boat. I was like- seriously? I would have done it, but I just didn’t trust the waters there-too green and can’t see where I may hit. It was fun watching the rest do it, though. Pretty cool sight.
We had a rough trip back and were exhausted from the Phang Nga bay tour so we didn’t want that to be the last thing we did for the trip. So on our last day, we capped our trip to Phuket with a quick swim, as early as 6am at Nai Harn beach. Now, that’s a good a finale.
RELATED POST:
People had different opinions when they knew I travelled with Jon. Maybe I was naïve when it came to relationships. Perhaps, I just didn’t want to bother with those trivial things.
If I cared too much about what other people think, I wouldn’t have been happy then. I would have missed those good memories that Jon and I shared in Phuket.
I realized, it does take a certain level of trust to travel with someone and maybe that was the reason for the 100 days thing or maybe not. There may have been some uncertainties when we travelled together, but I think we pulled it off pretty well. Somehow, I feel that the trip gave us the chance to know each other better and it drew us closer to one another.
When was the first time you travelled as a couple? Where did you go? Let us know.
Have you been to Phuket? Did you like it? Let us know.
[…] Singapore. During the course of our relationship, we went to several trips together which included Phuket (Thailand), Koh Rong Samloem (Cambodia), Maldives and El Nido (Philippines). Travel was a shared passion and […]