Day 1 Tiger Kingdom, Wat Chalong Temple
After breakfast at the hotel we met Chai from Phuketsrc travel at 9 am. We decided to start off with Tiger Kingdom as it was near to our hotel.
It was our first close encounter with Tigers. My husband AJ was quite thrilled and insisted on getting tickets for the big cat. Though I was scared I had to comply . We also took tickets for a photographer for 500 Baht. This is not really necessary as the staff would help you click pics from camera. Though we had our SLR with us, we were going to experience something for the first time in life so we decided to splurge a little more and get pics to save for a life time. It was a good decision as the photographer shot around 100 photos ( 50 is the norm) and also clicked around 20 pics using our own camera, totally worth it. My initial fear went away after a while and I got cool with the tiger. Surprisingly my husband looked shocked throughout especially after the tiger hit him on his face with its tail . 😛
Wat Chalong is the largest Buddhist temple in Phuket. Its a beautiful temple and a must visit if you are in Phuket. The walls and ceilings of the temple are decorated with beautiful paintings illustrating the life of Buddha and indoors are filled with many golden statues. It is a complex with many temples and the newest of them called Chedi is 3 storeys high. To get a nice bird view of the complex climb to the top floor terrace.
The central temple is where the prayers and offerings happen. Dressing in the premises was not that strict. I did find many wearing sleeveless shirts and shorts. Once in a while, you will hear loud explosions of firecrackers coming form a brick oven-like construction. For the Thai thats a way to show their gratitude when one of their wishes has been granted. Wat Chalong is a nice stop on the way to the famous interest point: the Big Buddha
The Big Buddha.
The first point is its visible from anywhere in the southern part of Phuket. Its a 45m tall white marble statue of Buddha mostly built on donation. At the entrance sarongs are provided for visitors. Views from here are truly breathtaking.
We were quite famished by then So Chai brought us to a lovely restaurant near to the Pier. The food and the view were amazing.
Promthep Cape
Perfect for sunset photography. We arrived a bit early, still had a good time here.There is a shrine near by with hundreds of colorful elephant statues which shouldn’t be missed.
We made our way back to the hotel and visited Karon View Point on e way.
.
Siam Niramit
We had booked the show for the same day though it was hectic. I initially wanted to go to Phuket fantasea, but we dropped it as some of the shows there were closed for renovation. Siam Niramit was the alternate show available, hence we booked it. I knew it was a cultural show but had doubts if I will enjoy it. The tickets included to and fro transport and dinner as well.
The moment we got down from the bus, beautifully dressed Thai women welcomed us with their beautiful smiles. It was not just a theatre, its a complex filled with sovereign stores , a traditional thai village , a Muay Thai Ring, and exhibition style game booths. We arrived at 5.30 pm so had ample time to walk around the complex. It rained in between so shows like Thai dance and Muay Thai boxing were transferred to an indoor theatre after which we were guided to wards the main 1000 seat theater. We had dinner at the buffet hall from a delicious spread of Thai and international cuisine. Infact we couldn’t try most of the dishes, there was just too many choices!
The show originally started at Bangkok and was later adapted to Phuket. It’s an excellent introduction for those unfamiliar with the country’s rich history and tradition. Cameras are not allowed inside the theatre and we had to deposit ours’ in the locker. But they did right as its an amazing show featuring around a hundred artists in rich epic costumes , which were a treat to our eyes. They had an amazing arts and sound team, we were completely taken to a different world.
WOW these photos are spectacular !! Phuket seems like such insanely beautifully enchanting tropical paradise
This write up is pretty interesting and apart from all the other travel blogs which i have read so far this seems to be the best. Appreciate Ananya’s keen observation which has helped her in detailing every single bit of their travel. Photos are magnificent and they added cherry to the icing. The perfect combo is here, a good writer and a beautiful photographer made the blog worth reading. Long way to go Anu and AJ.