A last trip to Phuket before closure

Feb 28 my wife found some vouchers she had forgotten about. 3 nights at Anantara Pool Villas. We get a trip a year from AIA for having "too" much insurance.

So March 1 a Sunday with masks in hands and on face we left DM for Phuket. Arrived at the hotel just before noon and were quite please with the room. All nice villas with a private pool.

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Landing at Mai Khao where the Phuket Airport is located.

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Bedroom.


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Bath

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Living room and kitchen.

So went out to explore on bikes. Each villa comes with a bike, and the whole of Mai Khao is connected via inside hotel roads, bike paths and walkways to keep you off the road.

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The beach was pretty much deserted but still very nice.

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Hot as heck so headed back to the hotel for a swim

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More to come, great meals, and bike tours, found a cool lake to bike around that was a 20 kilometer ride with 3 laps around the lake

o up most mornings early to beat the heat and get a bike ride in before breakfast. Rode about 4k up the road to this little lake.


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Came back through the hotels. Unique hotel set up there. 6 big hotels. 2 Marriot's, 2 Annantara's, 1 Renaissance, and 1 called the Sala. 4 kilometer stretch of along both the beach side and other side of the hotel. All owned by the Minor Group and Bill Heinecke.

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Had a mate come over at Christmas and he brought us 12 jars of smoked wild Alaskan sockeye salmon. We took a couple of jars down for cocktail snacks. A big shout out to Villa market for having and delivering the Tequila we like.

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Picture size seems to have a mind of its own. Cocktails and then off on the bikes for some dinner. Pizza the first night.

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Very nice, AO. Thank you for the pics! I hope this virus ends so that we can all travel again. Stay safe & healthy. Cheers! :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aging one

The beach was pretty much deserted but still very nice.

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Wasn't it very nice simply because it was deserted? :)


Very cool, lovely pics, ao - that looks divine, good for you and thanks for sharing

Nice part of the world. Not a bad hotel room.

Road down to the beach one morning with an idea of riding along it towards the airport.

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Plan A did not work at all, the sand was just to fine and soft. After walking the bikes for say 20 minutes gave up and sent back to the lake.

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So we decided to fill the little tiny Nok Air water bottle with Patron and head out for a margarita we could "spice" up, it worked.

Nice place called the Tree House in our hotel. Was a tree house say 50 meters up. Nice sofas to lay on while you sipped your drink then switch to a table to eat. The place served pretty darn good Indian food. Had some samosas with the drinks. Then Chicken Tikka and Aloo Gobi, along with garlic nan for the main. Last meal in a very quick trip to Phuket. We had no idea what was coming the next week and were sure glad we got away.

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127 years old between us. I am 7 years older than her. We reckon we have a fair few good vacations left in us...:)

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...lovely: fortunately, the girls take after their mother...

Great pictures mate.

A real treat to behold in these tough times.

Nice looking trip, nice photos. Thanks for sharing, ao.

Looks like a nice spot AO. Thanks for sharing!

Looks bloody lovely. Many others around?

Hotel in Mai Khao were about 40% occupied, the flights surprisingly over 80%. Mai Khao is very different than the rest of Phuket. Sort of like a luxury Disneyland kind of theme. Not really for us. In 3 days we could only find one place that was older style bungalows. 30 baht for a cold coke or ice tea. These hotels damn do they charge. We had 3,000 baht credit as part of the deal. That a little better than okay Indian took all the credit with just a couple of drinks...:)

Nice break AO, very lucky to have got that in - gawd knows when most of us will get a chance.

Seems very nice and peaceful.

A self isolation, pre self isolation break.:)

It in reality was sublime. Reflecting on it we both really can't believe we were so spontaneous and just took off. Very short but sweet.

Champion gaff AO.

Nice pics.

whats the internet like down there ao?

:)

Perfect for us. Plus bluetooth speakers in both the bed and living rooms for your music. That was a nice little treat.

Looks great and not many people around even better.

This could be the last travel thread for ages.

That water at the beach looks surprisingly clear. Beautiful!

Ahh, travel. The good old days... :(

That hotel room looks huge.