Noodle Time (Kuay Tiaow) in Phuket

At a rough guess, I'd say Phuket has at least 2,000 Noodle stalls. I have not tried them all, and do not intend to. Noodle soup (Kuay Tiaow / Kway Teow, or however you wish to spell it in English) is just about the most common food in Thailand. Breakfast noodles, lunchtime, evening noodles..it's good any time of day. So simple and yet can be so tasty. Also cheap! Street food is one of the joys of traveling. Normally you can't get noodle soup in a...

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The temple on Patong Hill (Pun Tuao Kong Chinese Shrine)

Wherever you go temples, shrines and religious symbols are often built on hills for that "Closer to God" feeling. Either that or they have huge spires reaching up to the heavens. I'm not sure I have ever been in a temple in Thailand that can match some of the Christian cathedrals in terms of the feeling of reverence you get when you enter. That may be because Buddhism is not really a religion, more a way of life, and from what I see, it's just a...

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Radar Hill, Phuket

The second highest point in Phuket is what we call Radar Hill. Visible from large areas of Southern Phuket, it is unmistakable, as there is a radar dome on the top. Or as my daughter calls it "the hill with the ball on". The actual name is Khao Mai Thao Sip Song, and the hill is about 510m above sea level (about 1700 feet). You can see the hill from Patong, from Chalong and from Kathu. We can see it from our house. If you go up Buddha Mountain, you...

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Thai Beer

Living in Thailand, it's a bit hard to find a decent beer. Chang is my usual tipple. The new Chang Draught is not bad, indeed quite good, though quite how you make a real bottled draught beer is beyond me. For a bottled beer, I still prefer Chang. The restaurant Dairy Hut in Phuket Town serves good Draught Chang. I tried San Miguel recently - a Philippino beer (brewed under licence in Thailand). Also tasty, but quite a bit more expensive than Chang. I tried the Red Horse beer (also by San Miguel) one time - strong and scary. I swear I was not the...

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Rang Hill, Phuket (Khao Rang)

This is a very old (2006) blog post, I have written a new updated page about Rang Hill - see Rang Hill (Khao Rang).Another day, another hill..Phuket is quite hilly, with the highest point at more than 500 meters (1650 feet), and many of the hills have roads to the top. We have found most of these over the years and we do like a nice view. In previous blog entries, we have been up Buddha Mountain and Monkey Hill. A few days ago we went up Rang Hill...

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Koh Yao Noi

We have been meaning to take a trip to Koh Yao Noi for years, but you know how it is, when you live in a place you keep putting it off in favor of going shopping or having a lazy day at home. I had a couple of weeks holiday in April 2006 and with my parents visiting from the UK, we made an effort to be active. Too active - by the end of the holiday I needed a holiday! Koh Yao Noi was one of the many places we visited during their stay.Koh Yao actually...

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Cape Panwa - Phuket Aquarium (Marine Biological Centre)

One of our favourite areas of Phuket is Cape Panwa (Laem Panwa), located in the far southeast of Phuket. It's a quiet area, with a mostly Muslim population and it seems to us that everyone there keeps the place looking clean and neat. The main road down to the Aquarium at the tip of the island is quite pretty, which has not gone unnoticed by property developers. There are quite a few nice houses overlooking the sea, and several housing developments...

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Khao Sok - On the Lake - Ratchaprapha Dam

Update July 2012 - we did a new Khao Sok trip which is now blogged - Khao Sok - Fun and Relaxation - including a boat on the lake, canoeing and tubing. In 2006, we made a quick stop at Khao Sok National Park on the way from Phuket to Chumphon in order to take a boat out on the lake at Ratchaprapha Dam. The lake is huge, indeed much bigger than we realised, and a quick 2 hour boat ride is not enough! But all we had time for, and with my (not so young)...

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Monkey Hill, Phuket (Khao To Sae)

Update 2012 - I have a new post on the blog about Monkey Hill - see A walk up Monkey Hill in Phuket Town. We do like hills, and will head for this one again. For some reason, despite seeing this hill every day, we have never taken the time to explore. You can't miss this hill, it's the big one with lots of TV masts and aerials on the top (see photo below) - the tallest hill in the vicinity of Phuket Town (now officially called Phuket City, by the...

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Phuket Restaurant Tips: Leelawadee

One of the restaurants we visit most often is Leelawadee, situated on the road between Wat Chalong and Phuket Town, next to the Kajonkiet School, about 3km from the Central Festival Mall. Despite being by the main road, it is a quiet place, full of plants and flowers, with a pond outside full of fish. Service is friendly (note they do not speak much English), food is inexpensive. The menu has everything from Thai salads (the Yam Neua - Beef Salad...

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Buddha Mountain, Phuket

This post is from 2006 - I have written several more times about the Big Buddha - most recently in December 2010 : Big Buddha Phuket.One of the first places we took my parents on their recent 3 week trip was "Buddha Mountain". On the top of Nakkerd Hill (Khao Nakkerd) a huge Buddha statue is being built. It will be some 45m high and visible from miles away. At this point, after much wrangling over money and building rights, construction is going...

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