Day 17 – Krabi to Phuket via Ferry
Since Phuket is Thailand’s only island province we decided that it would be a good idea to arrive by ferry. There is a bridge that connects Phuket to the mainland but we figured it would be more fun to take a ferry, not to mention that it would provide a much needed day off for our legs.
Our original plan was to get the ferry at 10:30am but we managed to catch it earlier at 9am. I never have liked ferries or other modes of transport where you have to rely on less-than-accurate information from others. I just did not know what to expect. I cycled all the way to the pier wondering about cost, whether bicycles were allowed on the ferry, and if the ferry would be running today.
Of course Natt rang the ferry operator’s office yesterday, and got some information, but one thing I have learned in Thailand is that information you get over the phone rarely matches with what actually happens.
For example, on the phone it was 400 Baht per person to Ko Phi Phi and then another 400 to Phuket each, plus 40-50 Baht for the bicycle, they did not have a fixed price. When we arrived it was 600 Baht each all the way to Phuket and 100 for the bicycle. I’m sitting on the ferry now and we’re not sure if that 100 Baht we paid for the bicycle is for half or all of the trip, as we still have to change boats in Ko Phi Phi.
This time it worked in our favor, the 100 Baht was for the whole trip, but it could have easily turned out to be the other way around. Sometimes I am truly amazed by the lack of knowledge of staff on the other end of the phone line. Why they bother listing the number if no one on the other end knows the correct information remains a mystery to me.
We will disembark in Ko Phi Phi, hopefully somewhere we can get a morning coffee and relax while we wait a couple of hours for the afternoon ferry to Phuket. Today is a non cycling day, I think we will do less than 20kms over the course of the day, which is fine because our legs and butts could use a rest.
After a short rest in Ko Phi Phi we rode the ferry to Phuket. After disembarking the ferry at Phuket we raced to the Tourism Authority of Thailand office before it closed to get our log book signed. We met the lady in charge of the region who was very helpful. She got on the phone and quickly arranged an interview with phuketwan.com and also asked if we would be interested in doing more interviews tomorrow morning. Thinking that we could use the opportunity to rest a bit longer in Phuket we said that we’d be happy to do more interviews.
We quickly headed to the hotel, which had been graciously pre-booked for us by a friend of Natt, to have a shower before meeting friends for dinner. We had a lovely meal roadside in Phuket town. Our friend Lincoln, who lives locally and was the celebrant at our wedding, brought a bottle of Aussie white wine to dinner which we enjoyed while relaxing and chatting about cycling, our tour, and also about his business as a wedding celebrant in Phuket.
It was good to see Lincoln and to meet Natt’s friend Gong for dinner on our first night in Phuket, but we really needed to get to bed after our ‘big’ day of cycling. Even though we didn’t cycle far at all the long ride on the ferry still took it out of us and we knew we had to get up early to be fresh for our morning interviews at 8:30am.
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