We chose Avis for two reasons, firstly, they were the cheapest at the time, secondly, I wanted a reputable car company where you knew what you were in for, and it was just that simple. I was told you could rent cars cheaply from people just outside the airport, but I had also read horror stories about those same people making you pay for ‘damages’ upon returning the car.

Before we left, I told friends that we were renting a car in Phuket. Their eyes went wide and I could see the disbelief on their faces, “Are you sure that’s what you want to do?” they asked. Their reaction got me a little scared, so I started doing some research. I left a message on a travel writer’s Facebook page (http://jamie-monk.blogspot.com), who blogs and lives in Phuket, and asked him what it was like driving over Christmas. He replied that it would be fine, rush hour is rush hour otherwise all is fine. I was still a bit worried, if you live in a place and are used to driving a certain way, then that way of driving becomes normal. Luckily I have a friend who also lived and worked there for three years. I called him up and asked him what it was like, and he simply said “Do you have a problem driving in Durban?” to which I replied “No”, “Then Phuket will be a breeze”. Turns out he had a car and a scooter and didn’t have a problem on either. He said it was harder to drive here at home. I still wasn’t convinced, but that was good enough for me.

While in Phuket, we ended up doing a lot of driving. We saw so much more than if we had just rented a scooter or only done tours. I feel as if we needed another two days, just to have a holiday with no itinerary. Although this part wasn’t as busy as Bangkok, it was still busy, but we managed to sneak in a bit of relaxation time

From the airport we made our way down the island. Phuket has one main road that splits into two and goes down either side, joins up at the bottom, and has connecting roads in-between.

Our day was spent visiting temples. Our first stop was Wat Phua Thong. A small beautiful temple that wasn’t too busy. We then made our way to Wat Chalong, which is a lot busier. A stunning temple complex with lots to see. By this stage in the journey I was getting tired of temples, it was time for a holiday.

Our next stop was the Big Buddha. It is amazing. We paid for a piece of marble to write on which they are supposed to use in the Buddha’s restoration process. I have since read that it could be a scam, as they are taking too long to restore it. I’m not sure how true that is, but if not, then it would be pretty cool, but if so, then I hope the money was at least used to pay for someone’s meal.

On our way back from the Buddha, down the hill, we stopped at one of the many restaurants that all claim to have the “best view”. I think they probably all have a stunning view, I can’t remember the one we stopped at, but the prawns were amazing and the beer was ice cold. Anywhere you stop will have a fantastic view. We kept driving down looking at all the stops, thinking wow, that would be an awesome place to have a beer, but sadly we only had time to stop at one place as it was time to check into our hotel.

We stayed at The Vijitt in Rawai. It is a beautiful resort. Truly five star, with everything you could hope for. We had a villa on the beach, just to the right of the pool. One of the days we were there, we went for an afternoon nap and woke up to a wedding outside between us and the sea. It is a beautiful resort, but be prepared to pay a little extra.

We cleaned up, had a lie down and then headed out to find some dinner. We parked in front of a fish placed called, Talay Zeb Seafood and Wine. The owner quickly came to usher us inside, we politely declined and went for a walk to see what other places the beachfront had to offer.

Rawai is a fishing village on the east coast of Phuket and not as touristy as Patong, or the other west coast beaches. All the fishing boats park on the beach at night and the view is spectacular. It has a pier that goes out to the ocean. We walked up and down the street looking at all the different restaurants and eventually made our way back to Talay Zeb, where we decided we would eat because I felt bad that I had parked in front of his store. We were not disappointed.

It was maybe 9 or 10pm in the evening when we sat down for dinner. The owner came over with menus. I chose the prawns and my wife chose the blue crab curry. We gave him our order but was told that if I wanted to look at the fresh fish in the front of the store, he had prawns bigger than king available. I laughed and told him that we were from Durban and king prawns are big. I’m sure I was the only one that got the joke because I was the only one laughing at the time, but I’m going to blame the language barrier and not the fact that he didn’t find me funny. To my surprise they weren’t only bigger than king prawns, they were almost the size of langoustines. They were huge. He grilled them on the braai at the front of the shop, and cooked the crab for my wife. The food was excellent and it’s definitely worth a stop!

The next morning we slept in, had some breakfast at the resort, and lounged around the pool for the morning. Then it was time to go find some lunch. We got into our car, and started making our way down to the southern end of the island.

Our first stop was Prompthep Cape which is the sunset viewpoint. They have a display of ornate elephants, and once again the views were amazing.

From there we drove to Ya Nui beach, where we took a walk around before driving up to the “After Beach Bar” for some lunch, which was once again prawns.

We drove along to Karon viewpoint and pretty much stopped at every market we saw along the way. One of our lasts stops before heading back to the hotel was Chalong pier. We took a walk around, and down to the lighthouse. You can get some nice pictures of longboats here. It was fairly busy as you can catch ferries and longboats out to other islands from here, but nothing too crazy.

For dinner that night we headed back out to the Rawai waterfront and ate at Nikita’s, it’s on the left as you come into town past the pier. You can’t miss it. The restaurant is pretty much on the edge of the water, and like the rest of Phuket, the view is pretty pleasant. We felt like pizza and wine, and once again, the food was wonderful. We ended the evening with a short walk along Rawai pier.

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all was quiet… We were up early and on our way just after breakfast. We drove past a Thai silk shop and a pearl shop next to each other and decided to stop. Be careful where you get pearls from, make sure you go to a reputable shop as it’s easy to get ripped off. Needless to say we walked out with silk goodies and a pearl pendant for my wife.

Our next stop was the Fish Market in Phuket town. It smells like fish, but once again they have loads of other stuff. Take a walk around and get a little lost. You won’t regret it.

Shortly after we started a walking tour of Phuket town, how else but by stopping at a coffee shop called Café’in, for coffee. Nice place, good coffee, and free Wi-Fi. My thoughts on the walking tour were as follows… Boring. I was tired of being a tourist, but our itinerary was as follows:

From Café’in we walked along to the Phuket Thai Hua Museum and the Blue Elephant governor’s mansion. We saw lots of old buildings, lots and lots of photo ops. We walked to Wat Puttamongkon, from there we went down Soi Romannee, and Thalang Road looking at all the old shops. Then it was onto the statue of The Golden Dragon and finally, Promthep clock tower. There is far more to see, and I think I may have left out a few things but I had had enough sightseeing by now.

Christmas Eve dinner at The Vijitt was a buffet. The food was great, and despite not being Christians, the staff sung Christmas carols, and put on show for us complete with a reindeer backdrop and Santa paddling in on a canoe across the pool, bearing sacks of gifts for the children!

We were up early on Christmas Day for our tour to the Phi Phi islands by speed boat. We once again booked our tour on Viator. The tour operator was Tour East and they were about an hour late for pickup, which on a busy day, running around picking up people is not too bad. Thailand prides itself on being known as the land of smiles, and after sitting in reception for about 40 min, the lady at reception asked us for the contact number we had. She called it and although we couldn’t understand a word she was saying, and she had a smile on her face through the entire conversation, her tone said it all. She politely informed us that the pickup would be there shortly. They arrived and apologised, Phuket was busy and they were delayed picking up other passengers. It’s December after all, and we were in no rush. Shit happens.

We got to the pier and realised we forgot to take towels. Here’s a handy tip, take towels, sunscreen, and a hat. We ended up buying towels at the pier. Nice souvenirs, but you know you getting ripped off for the branded towels. So smile, take a deep breath, and simply hand them your money. We boarded our speed boat and it was an hour or so until we got to our first stop. Koh Phi Phi, is breath-taking. We snorkelled straight off the boat, swam, took plenty of photos and just enjoyed ourselves. The water is blue, and warm. There were a few tiny jellyfish floating around, and you could feel a sting every now and again, but probably no worse than a mosquito bite. You can’t ask for much more.

Traveling by speed boat is a lot better than travelling by ferry. We got everywhere sooner, and faster, and I think we got to see more places. By the time the ferries started coming into the bay, it was already time to move on. Everywhere we went was less crowded. It’s a little bumpy at times, but they have some smelling herbs that settle your stomach if you feel queasy.

We stopped for lunch on what I think was Koh Phi Phi Don. The buffet lunch was nice, but it’s what you can expect from any buffet lunch organized for a tour group. Nothing special, but it hits the spot. We got a few good pictures here as well. I got a nice one of the ocean which I took on my cell phone. All of the islands are geared for awesome photos, whether you are a novice like myself, or a pro.

There is a definite reminder of the Tsunami that hit Thailand on the island with evacuation signs posted all over, as well as a board of remembrance. It’s amazing how fast Phuket bounced back from a devastating disaster, and came back stronger. Everyone on the island has a story about, or know of friends and family members affected by the disaster. Some of them recount how they can still remember the smell after, what they did to help out, and through it all you can sense their spirit of hope and survival, and the sense of community standing together to rebuild their future.

We left for Viking Island, and Monkey Island as the bulk of the ferry’s started coming in for lunch. We and then headed on to Pileh cove. The cove is stunning, you come through a rock face on either side and it opens out into the cove. I call it my pirate moment. It’s pretty nice. We jumped off the boat and swam around for a bit. It’s a really nice place to see.

Our last stop was Maya Bay, at Koh Phi Phi Lae. It’s the same beach from the movie, The Beach starring Leonardo DiCaprio. We chilled and once again had a swim. It’s a beautiful place with a small shop and not much else to do but relax.

That evening we had dinner at the Friendship Beach Resort, next door to the Vijitt. Christmas consisted of ribs for myself and pork with apple sauce and mashed potatoes for the wife. We were feeling a little homesick and wanted something more traditional for Christmas. We got to meet the chef, turns out he is from the States and he was pretty stoked that we came to try his food. By the end of the evening he was inviting us to come spend the day in the hotel pool. It’s a friendly place and the food is really nice, but it would be a lie if I didn’t say, that a Christmas roast would have gone down a treat.

December 26, the day before we left to come home, was once again a beautiful sunny day. We had spoken to another couple that were staying at the hotel with us, and also went on the tour we had booked the day before. On their advice we booked a free transfer from the hotel to Patong Beach for 11am. It was scheduled to come back at 4pm. They said that Patong was just too busy to drive in and that we would never find parking. So, by 8:30 that morning, we had eaten breakfast and were lounging at the pool, but 11am felt like a long way away. We decided to take a drive to Patong and if we couldn’t find parking, then we would just drive back and catch the transfer. Thirty minutes or so later, we drove straight into a parking in front of the beach in Patong. ‘Twas the day after Christmas, and all holiday makers had either left, or were sleeping off their hangovers. Well not all, but the beach was empty and there was plenty to do.

We took a walk along Patong beach, checked out Bangla Road, which is a bit different by day than it is by night. With lots of bars and shops it’s a bustling place. I had a touristy moment and bought a Thailand hat which is a must, and also confirms to all the other venders that you are not a local, and that they should be sure to charge you a higher price.

We had a walk around Jungceylon Mall for a bit and found a place to have a foot massage. The whole time we were in Thailand, we only came across one massage parlour that had the sign “No Sex”, which makes you wonder! While we were having a foot massage, we had a westerner come into the massage parlour for a massage. The lady at the counter simply looked at him up and down, with his hands holding the straps of the backpack on his back, and said “Upstairs!” without missing a beat.

We explored the markets and had a walk along the streets. The prices are a little more expensive than Bangkok, but it’s still pretty cheap. We took a drive to Central Festival Mall, had some lunch, and then drove to Cape Panwa where we went to the Phuket Aquarium.

The Aquarium’s 10m glass tunnel is the main attraction and it’s nice but there is not much else to see. That evening we ate at a little restaurant in Rawai. I’m not sure what it was called but when I posted an Instagram image someone commented that they had just been there. The internet is amazing.

Our last day in Phuket was sad. We had the James Bond tour booked, but they upgraded us to the James Bond and Beyond tour. We checked out and left our bags in the car. We were the first people to be picked up by the tour bus, and we were on our way.

We did the Phang Nga Bay Day Trip from Phuket by Speedboat. I think at the time it was called James Bond and Beyond, but I can’t find it anymore. The tour I’ve listed, is exactly the same. We once again had booked it through Viator, but this time we brought our towels.

We started the tour with a stop off on an island and went Spelunking in what I think was Mangrove cave. They give you a hard hat with a light, and you wade through knee high water, down a dark tunnel until you arrive in an enclosed clearing. It’s filled with huge rock formations and trees, all round amazing scenery.

Next up was sea canoeing at Talu Island. You have a guide that paddles you around, and chats to you, shows you all the caves. All you have to do is just chill, relax and let him do all the work.

We then stopped for lunch at Koh Panyee, a Muslim village build on stilts in the ocean. Our guide called it the Sea Gypsy village. There are markets all over the village, and it’s a virtual maze. We did see a child running around in nappies clutching his iPad though, so they can’t be too remote! The food was good and all included in the tour.

James Bond Island is nice. It wasn’t as busy as I thought it would be. The whole tour is a definite must and you won’t be disappointed.

From there we moved on to Rang Yai Island where we swam, relaxed and had a beer at the bar.

I’m sure there is more in the tour that we saw and I didn’t write about. With so much crammed into such a small space of time, as well as trying to keep this short I know I have missed a lot. I’m sure it’s nothing that another trip won’t fix.

We returned the rental car at about 8pm I think. Our flight was at 00:35am the following day. Phuket international departures is pretty small, but you can get a bite to eat as you wait for the impending journey home.

Phuket was awesome. I will be going back and once again, we should have stayed those two extra days.