How to see Phuket's sights by yourself?

Phuket is the largest island of the Kingdom of Thailand. Unlike Koh Samui and Koh Phangan, where interesting places for tourists are limited to natural beauties and monkeys or elephant nurseries, there are plenty of cultural and historical sights. If you are visiting Thailand for a tour, your tour operator will most likely offer you a selection of interesting excursions around the island. But they have one minus. This is expensive. Also, it may very well be that the visit to the sights will not be given much time, but the main attention of the tourists will be drawn to the shopping guide, moving the group along to various familiar merchants. He can be understood - he is a percentage of sales. But are you interested in shopping? In addition, it is very difficult for our tourists to inspect anything. A lot of time will be spent simply waiting for unconscious tourists. This article will be devoted to how to view Phuket's sights by yourself. This will save money, and time, and nerves, after all.

How to travel around Phuket

If you have already traveled to Bangkok, you will be able to make sure that the prices for tuk-tuki and taxis on the island differ from the capital cities in a disadvantageous way. To get to the beaches of Kamala Beach or Kata, you need to pay a substantial sum. Therefore, those tourists who have a driver's license, prefer to rent a vehicle. However, it is recommended to plow Phuket by car only to very experienced chauffeurs. In Thailand, left-hand traffic. In addition, the Asian way of driving turns the traffic flow on the roads into a kind of chaos. Therefore, in honor motorbike. Scooters are easier, dodgy, do not take up much parking space and consume little gasoline. Rent motobike can be anywhere for a symbolic price - 250 baht per day. But there is public transport on the island. Between Patong and Phuket Town shuttle buses run.

Wat Chalong

On the island there are many temples - Buddhist, Muslim and even Christian. But the most famous is Wat Chalong, who, according to the chronicles, is not less than one hundred and fifty years old. If you want to visit Phuket's religious sites on your own, then it's best to start with it. It is noteworthy that this temple is open around the clock. After all, they not only make sacrifices to God and pray, but they also guess at the future. Take care of proper clothing. As in Orthodox shrines, you need to enter decently cleaned here. No shorts, mini skirts and open-toped T-shirts. Before entering the temple, you must take off your shoes. Wat Chalong is the most beautiful shrine in Phuket. And it is understandable why: he keeps a part of the relics of the Buddha himself. In the main temple for prayers - Ubosot - only monks can enter. For the simple believers and tourists, the second building is available - Vihara. Do not forget to rub the abdomen of the elephant statue with your hand for good luck.

Phra Thong Temple

Suffice it to say to any taxi driver: "Big Buddha Phuket", and he will immediately understand where you need to drive. This landmark island is in the temple of Phra Thong. The name of the shrine is translated as "The Golden Buddha". Local legends say nothing about how the statue of Gautama the Enlightened man came to the island. But there is a story about her miraculous finding. One shepherd boy tied his cow to a peg sticking out of the ground. And the same night the boy died. In a dream his father was the cause of his son's death. He went to the peg and began to dig. As a result, it turned out that this was the top of the Buddha's cap. Many dashing people wanted to steal a statue poured from pure gold. They dug it up to half. But all the kidnappers had an unenviable fate - they died from snake bites, wasps and ants. In the end, one monk built a temple over the statue. It is believed that the statue of the Golden Buddha carries a powerful energy. A lot of believers from all over Thailand are flocking here.

Rank Hill and Phuket Town

It is necessary to see the capital of the island. This is a very picturesque town with Thai, Chinese and Portuguese architecture. At the same time you can not only see the sights of Phuket on your own, but also make a successful shopping - here the lowest prices on the island. In the main town there are quite a few resort hotels. Phuket Town lives its own life, which makes it very interesting from the cognitive point of view. On the way to or from the city, you should go to the highest point of the island - Rank Hill. The hill is located ten minutes drive from Phuket Town. The road is not difficult at all, motobike will overcome it with ease. On top of the hill there is an excellent observation deck, from where you can see an amazing view of the whole island. There you can see monkeys, who perceive visiting tourists as payers of tribute - be sure to take with them some treat for them.

Rawai Market

Go to this landmark best of the Temple of the Golden Buddha. The road to the south will take about half an hour. No signage and signage, but Rawai's market is still not to be missed, as here is really the best shopping in Phuket. It is located on the shore. At the entrance grew a whole town, where they sell pearls, mother of pearl and products made of them, stuffed sharks and different fish, shells and other things. Next come the ranks of seafood. It can be seen how the chalets come to the pier, and the fishermen dump their catch directly to the counters. What is noteworthy: restaurants are located opposite the trays of merchants of seafood. They have a unique method of customer service. You buy fish or seafood from traders, put them in a restaurant and say how you want to cook it all. A cook for a hundred baht gutted and cleaned the catch, fry it on the grill or put out in sauce.

Cape Promtep

Reviews of tourists are advised to purchase a souvenir in the market of Rawai - a small figure of an elephant. It is necessary to do this if you go to Cape Promtep. It is a ten minute drive from the market. Many excursions to Phuket include in their program a visit to this very southern point of the island. Try to arrive here no later than half past five. There is a lighthouse here. It is open for visits until six in the evening. But the biggest attraction of Cape Promtep is the altar of Elephants. It is difficult to recognize him. He is all filled with figures of elephants of various shapes and sizes. Make a wish and place the purchased statuette on the altar - your dream will come true. But do not rush to leave the cape. Moreover, closer to six in the evening, a lot of sightseeing buses come here. A grand spectacle awaits you - sunset.

Gibbon Cattery and Bang Pa Waterfall

You can visit the natural attractions of Phuket yourself - Orchid Park, Butterflies. On the island there is no shortage of elephant nurseries and schools, where monkeys are taught to collect coconuts. There is even a recently opened Tigers Park, where striped handsome men live in natural conditions. But many independent tourists are advised to visit places where sightseeing buses rarely visit. The Bang Pa waterfall and the gibbon nursery are located in the agricultural area of Talang. Here, one can also pacify the sins committed on Bangla Road Patong. The road goes between plantations of rubber trees and pineapples, among coconut groves. The entrance to the national park is paid for - two hundred baht from an adult and one hundred from a child. The Bang Pa waterfall is the largest on the island. The jet rushes from a height of fifteen meters. Take care of comfortable shoes - the stones around the attractions are wet and slippery. For safety, the ropes are tightened here, for which you should hold. In natural baths under the waterfall, you can and should swim. In the kennel there are orphaned for any reason cubs of gibbons. They can be fed.

The house-changer

Phuket since 2014 has acquired a new tourist attraction. This landmark is located along Bypass Road, between the Premium Outlet shopping center and the Siam Niramit Park. Many people think that there is no need to pay two hundred baht for the entrance - the house standing on the roof, you can admire and the street. But all is not so unambiguous. The utensils in the house are also upside down. And this makes it possible to make an unforgettable photo. Particularly shocking visitors is the bathroom, where the toilet is located above the head. Near the house is a telephone booth-changer and car wheels to the sky. And in the basement (which is located at the top) is glued to the ceiling tuk-tuk. The house-pivot includes two more tourist attractions - the Labyrinth and Quest for the search for the "Secret Room". It's nice to come here with the whole family.

Fantastic view

Many excursions to Phuket offer to visit the show "Fantasy". A real Thai fairy tale based on the epic about Prince Kamal is played out before astonished tourists. Why not go to this show yourself? This amusement park is located on the beach of Kamala Beach, ten kilometers from Patong. Tourists recommend buying a combined ticket, which includes dinner at the Kinnari restaurant and show. "Fantasy" (Phuket) is actually written as Fantasea, which can be translated as "The sea of the most unimaginable". Do not rush to a restaurant or theater. Walk along the streets of this amusement park. Here, children can not only ride on the merry-go-round, but also see different albino animals. On the square between the theater and the restaurant elephants with palanquins on their backs walk.

Splash Jungle Water Park

There is a town of water entertainment, whose name translates as "Jungle Splash", a few kilometers from the international airport, at the hotel "Centar Grand West Sands". Visiting the water park will be an exciting event for you and your children. There is everything: huge slides, a pool with an artificial ocean wave, tunnels and other breathtaking attractions. If you do not like extreme sports, you can raft on a raft on a lazy river or sit in relaxing geysers.