I actually visited Thailand about 15 years ago while in college. Thailand was one of the places I always wanted to go back to. It is truly one of my favorite places on the entire planet so soon after I am done with Physician Assistant school I will be visiting Thailand again with the family.

OK, onto the places I visited in case any of you are venturing into that part of the world.

The major reason why I wanted to visit Phuket was to travel around the many islands this part of Thailand has to offer. Because we only spent 4 days in Phuket we didn’t have much time so if you ever come here I suggest you stay for at least one week.

Important pointers when visiting Thailand/Phuket:

• The perfect time to visit Thailand is right before May. This way you will avoid Monsoon weather which is July through October. Humidity will be fairly mild compared to the monsoon months. We visited Thailand in February and that was perfect. I visited Thailand once before around July-August and besides being extremely humid monsoons were a pain in the neck. Torrential rain at is finest!

• If visiting Phuket stay away from Patong. It is a horrific area were everything has been exploited in a bad way. It is dirty with lots of traffic, people and noise. Visiting that area for one evening was enough for me. To be honest, I wish I have never gone. It was a waste of time.
• If you are visiting Phuket and would like a reliable tour boat service in which you will be able to visit many of the islands around use Phuket Tours. I suggest taking the  speedboat options, which save you lots of time when traveling to the islands plus there is only about 20 people on board rather than 120 like on the other boats.  They will also provide lunch, which is really good. Their tours are fairly inexpensive, but then again, there is nothing expensive in Thailand.

• For us, Laguna beach was the best area to stay at. It is a bit more secluded but worth it because Phuket is becoming very populated, especially because of tourists. Their resorts and private accommodations maybe a bit more pricy but worth every penny. The beaches are not crowded at all and the shopping and restaurant area is superb. Transportation to and from the shopping area back to your hotel is free too.  If you can make it to this area of Phuket I highly suggest staying here!

James bond island was one of the places I wanted to visit first. While we weren’t able to stay there for long visiting this island was all that I wanted to do so I was fine with that!

Visiting Hong lagoon offers canoe service, which we did. This is a tour that I highly suggest because you will be able to go through the caves. Again, if you travel to this area of the globe you must do it before July or after October, otherwise you won’t be able to go to many of the islands around monsoon months.

Talu island comes right after Hong Lagoon. I highly recommend visiting this one as well, which is included in the James Bond Island Tour. These are truly breathtaking and unique!

The water is like nothing you have ever seen and going inside the many caves is just spectacular. An awesome experience to say the least!

This is Krabi. The first stop for the James Bond Island Tour. Here you will be able to spend at least an hour relaxing. Because there are many islands to see on each tour this would be the maximum time you will be able to spend on a given island. Worth it though!

This is also Krabi. Just right where the speed boat drops you off and picks you up. An amazing place, however, somewhat crowded.

Phi Phi Island was one of my favorite spots, however, extremely crowded. Here you will be able to also relax for a while. A place I would like to go again, however, this was the farthest island to travel to for us. The boat ride turned out to be 1 hour and 20 minutes and the ride itself was very bumpy!

Phi Phi Island again!

This was monkey beach. Monkeys are not always on site at the beach but to our surprise, when we arrived, monkeys were hanging out like nothing even mattered. Our captain was kind enough to take us at the end of the day, because according to him, during the day is packed with tourists and you have less of a chance to see monkeys.

This is floating island. Here you will be having lunch if you book the James bond Island tour. This village, as the name suggest, are houses above water. People actually live here. Very unique.

This is where you will have lunch if you book the James Bond Island tour. The food was superb and the place was very unique. The views are out of this world and so is the location. I truly loved this place and worth seeing at least once in a lifetime!

This is going towards floating island.

All in all this trip was nothing short of spectacular in many levels. Thailand is so far one of the only places I have been in the world that I have always wanted to go back to. In a couple of years I will be going back with the family, as this time I was able to go with my best friend. A more relaxing and fun experience!

We both had the time of our lives. Thailand is by far one of my favorite spots in the entire world! The food, the topography, the architecture, people, hospitality is nothing short of amazing!

The post Thailand adventure part II : Phuket appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

To tell you this trip was nothing but amazing was an understatement. The only negative part about it is that I only got to go for 12 days. You already waste at least 2 days traveling back and forth from the U.S since Asia is quite far from N.J. but at least I got to go right?

The trip was amazing in many regards:

• First of, the food. Thai food has always been one of my favorite cuisines so pretty much I was in heaven while there.
• Second, the culture, people and topography. Breathtaking to say the least and the people are most hospitable.
• Third, the places we got to stayed at, especially while in Phuket. It was luxury at is best! Staying at Banyan Tree Phuket is going to be hard to beat. The staff, the grounds, the location, the food was nothing short of espectacular!

First, I will talk about where we stayed at in South Thailand, Phuket, as well as the food we experienced while staying at the resort. Then, in another post, which I will complete next week, I will move onto the islands we visited, which is something you must do while in the area. We only stayed in Phuket for 4 days so we were a bit short for time. We tried to squeeze everything we could so all in all it was an intense experience but nevertheless, amazing!!

I found that after arriving in Phuket, Laguna area was one of the best places to stay. It was clean, pretty and shops and restaurants were just a few minutes away by taking the local trolly. This trolly is free of charge and complementary with your hotel.  If you stay in any of the Laguna area resorts this trolly will be at your service until 11 pm at night. Banyan Tree Phuket was just about 5-10 minute ride to the restaurants and shops. If you need public transportation after 11pm they have plenty of taxis to go around as well as Tuck Tucks at very affordable prices. About 200-300 Thai Bahts which is about $6 US dollars.

One of the places I would truly suggest for you to stay away from is the Patong Beach area. It is extremely exploited, full of people, noise, and traffic. Spending one evening in Patong was enough for us to experience the craziness of that area. We actually met people that booked their stay in one of Patong’s area hotels and hated it. They got stuck for their entire length of stay in a place they really didn’t like. Very unfortunate for them to say the least. I highly suggest staying away from that area. Very few people actually like it there!

The minute we arrived to Banyan Tree Phuket resort our jaws dropped….literally!! A beautiful open lobby with an spectacular view short of amazing. I knew we were in for a treat but I didn’t expected it to be so grand and fantastic.

We got escorted to our own pool villa. There are a total of 173 villas in the resort, however, you will find different types. They have:

• Banyan Lagoon Pool Villa
• Signature Pool Villa
• Grand Lagoon Pool Villa
• Signature Two Bedroom Pool Villa
• Grand Two Bedroom Pool Villa

You can choose whichever villa fits you best. All of them are just plain spectacular so I am sure you will be happy with whichever you choose.

The picture above corresponds to the Spa Sanctuary Villa which is actually one of the new concepts they want to introduce all throughout Banyan Tree Resorts worldwide. Some of its unique features is that it is designed to immerse guests on a wellbeing experience with unlimited treatments and thoughtfully-executed rituals to delight guests throughout their stay. These are exclusively designed for guests to enjoy unlimited spa treatments within the privacy of their own villa. Who wouldn’t want that?

Upon arrival, guests meet with the Sanctuary Hosts, alongside professional spa therapists, to create a bespoke itinerary to suit their preferences and goals for the visit, whether to relax and recharge as a couple or create a health and fitness getaway complemented by sporting activities.

Then, you can also stay at this Grand one bedroom villa with a infinity pool. This is just plain royalty status, which in our book was just perfect. I wish we could have just moved in here forever. What four days we had at Banyan Tree Phuket.

Then, there was breakfast. Holy smokes. I have never seen anything like it. They cater to anyone and everyone. Talk about having selections. I was so excited when eating time came around…I think for me this was the best part. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the villa was to die for but the food, well see for yourself!

All the pictures above were part of breakfast. They even had a sushi station, but my most favorite part was the natural juice section. I think I had one single bottle each time breakfast rolled around. Such exquisite combinations and refreshing healthy combos…

For dinner, which they actually have several restaurants on location, however, when we arrived it was grill theme night so to tell you we were excited it was just an understatement. In case you didn’t want to have grill food, which included different types of meat, chicken, fish and seafood there was plenty to choose from inside. You had access to it all so no one would ever go hungry or be bored with eating the same stuff!

Here I got to meet the executive chef Alfonso. He happened to be from Madrid, just like me, so to tell you that we connected instantly was not surprising at all. It was like we knew each other already. He was kind enough to let me tour all the kitchens at the resort, which they had a few, and learned how everything came to be. A lot of work I must say. After all, for this resort Alfonso had 120 people working under him to make sure that the food was nothing but top notch, which quite frankly, it was!

If you are in for cooking and trying authentic Thai food this is a recipe I learned from the Sous chef while staying at the resort. It is Thai chicken curry. It requires two steps that you must not skip to get the authentic concentrated flavor. A recipe that takes only 15 minutes to make that can also be made with fish or just veggies. Just click the link above for the full recipe!

Anyways, I think this was plenty for you to see thus far. Next week I will concentrate on showing you all the amazing islands we got to visit while in Phuket and then I will move onto Bangkok. Until next week,

Enjoy!!

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