Early Morning at Chalong Temple

Chalong temple is the largest temple in Phuket and I happen to pass by almost every morning (and evening) depending what route I take to work. The early morning light makes temples shine, and the early morning means no day visitors have arrived at the temple yet. For more about the temple (which I have blogged before) - see here: Chalong Temple.

One morning last week I stopped on the way to work to enjoy the temple in the morning light. There were already a large group of Thai tourists there at 8am, but they were watching a dance routine that had been put on for them, so I got the temple grounds more or less to myself and enjoyed wandering around in the sunshine. Hope you enjoy the photos, and hope that if you visit Phuket that you remember to visit a temple - it's not just beaches, you know!

• Temples in Phuket
• Chalong Temple on Google Earth

 

 

Phuket Big Buddha - Getting Bigger...

When the Big Buddha is finally finished, it is going to be magnificent. And I am pretty sure it will be on the tourist trail. When we first went up there a few years ago, the work was just starting and the road was hard work on our car. We've been up the mountain many times and I have blogged about it before (see Buddha Mountain 1 - Buddha Mountain 2). We realised that we'd not been up for about a year, and it's clear that the project has been making great strides in the last year. The Big Buddha is getting bigger. You can clearly see the shape of the Buddha now, despite it being covered in scaffolding. Looks like the major building work is almost done, and it's time to add the decorations.

 





The road up the mountain is being improved too. A concrete road now exists for much of the climb, though there are still some stretches of dirt. But it's not damaging our car any more! Having a good road will be essential once the Big Buddha is complete to allow the tours to include it in their itineraries.



 

The weather last week was great - I still wouldn't trust the road in wet conditions. The views were great (as always). We go up there for the views and the fresh air. The Big Buddha itself is nothing to look at just yet - a pile of concrete in the approximate shape of the Buddha, covered from top to toe in scaffolding. We'll be sure to drive up again when the project is complete.





 

Kathu Waterfall and Phuket Cable Ski

The Kathu area of Phuket is where I live. It's not far from Patong Beach (just over the hill on the way to Phuket town) and if you wish to get away from the most touristy beach in Thailand, get on a bike and ride over that hill past the temple on the hill, down to a quiet, largely residential area with a lot of history (Kathu was the center of the tin mining industry, and the famous Phuket Vegetarian Festival originated here). The daily Kathu market is worth a visit and you'll find temples in and around the village.

But there's more! If you turn left at the lights next to the Caltex gas station, you pass the market and are heading towards Loch Palm Golf Course and the old Kathu village when you will see a left turn to Kathu Waterfall (Nam Tok Kathu). There's actually a fair amount of new houses around this area - Kathu is getting quite popular! The road up to the waterfall winds along for several kilometers. It's all residential with houses old and new. Along the way you pass the entrance to the Cable Ski - more of that later...



We were lost for something to do last Saturday afternoon after a rainy morning had scuppered plans for the beach. We had not headed to the waterfall for ages, although we have several friends living up that road. There is nothing much AT the waterfall. There was an effort to make it nice about 10 or more years ago. The broken down and rather overgrown appearance of the area gives away the fact that nobody really cares any more. There are old tables and a stairway taking you up into the hills, but it's all old now. I guess the reason for this is simple... the waterfall is not exactly Niagara.. more of a trickle, though perhaps more impressive after a couple of days heavy rain.

• Kathu Waterfall on Google Earth





We just walked up the first section of stairs, took a few photos, got our 10 minutes exercise and headed down again... I guess I first went about 6 years ago. My wife remembers a few years before that and said it used to be very nice. The one thing you do get is a pumping heart as you climb the stairs and a chance to walk in the jungle and see lots of tropical flora. And it's quiet and the air is fresh.






Phuket Cable Ski (as was just mentioned) is along the road to Kathu Waterfall. It's quite a big set up, with a 400 meter long lake surrounded by hills and palm trees. You can try wakeboarding, water skiing, kneeboarding. Lessons are available but every time I have looked in there have been some more experienced folk too, doing flips, jumps and other fancy stuff. I admit to not being an adrenaline junkie, so have never tried, though I have been rafting on the Zambezi and raced bicycles downhill at 80 kph in the Pyrenees... My wife and a couple of her friends did try kneeboarding one time.





The prices are reasonable I guess - 500 Baht for an hour or 850 Baht for half a day. On Saturday there were plenty of kids there, but I don't think any were tourists! All local kids. My wife recognised a few from my daughters school. It's another quiet place to visit. If you never tried wakeboarding before... worth a go. You can also go running around the lake.





• More information: Phuket Cable Ski Website
• Phuket Cable Ski Location on Google Earth

• Update 2011 - new story and photos of Kathu Waterfall

Restaurant Tips: Mama Noi

I have probably eaten more at Mama Noi than any other single restaurant in the world. Why? Well, it's just round the corner from Sunrise Divers in Karon Beach, about 1 minutes walk from door to door. Sure, there are a few other nearby options such as a (very) local roadside restaurant that does great Phad Thai for 30 Baht, a place called "Red Chair" which is more or less next door to Mama Noi which does simple cheap Thai food, and the very good Sala Bua which is part of the Karon Place Hotel and only open in high season, but Mama Noi keeps me coming back.

You'll find Mama Noi next to the Siam Commercial Bank, just off the back road (Patak Road) - see location on Google Earth. It's easy enough to find and always looks clean and welcoming, with green plants and many colourful orchids hanging outside. There's nothing really fancy here, but it has many regular customers (myself included) - foreign and Thai alike. A restaurant with regular local customers is always a good sign.




Inside you may notice signs saying "Self Service", and indeed this is half true. You will need to place your order at the counter, then take your own cutlery and glass of water to your table. Drinks are in a large glass front fridge - again, self service. BUT, not all drinks are in there. I almost always order a banana milkshake (Kluay Pan) - the best I have found anywhere and only 20 Baht!

Food - the name Mama Noi suggests Italian connections and the original owner (as far as I know) used to live in Italy. The western menu includes pasta, lasagne, salads, sandwiches, chicken and chips and more, while the Thai menu includes basically any Thai dish you can think of. My current favourites - Yellow Vegetable Curry (Gaeng Garee Pak), Fried Pork in special sauce (Moo Phad Mama Noi), Chicken Penang Curry (Penang Gai)... The minestrone soup is not bad either and the sandwiches are decent.. the Massaman curry is good too.. in fact I don't really recall a duff meal here though the fried rice tends to be rather bland.



It's a popular place, price is OK (not super local cheap, but not expensive) - for example, the curries will be around 70 Baht, fried rice 40 Baht, and did I mention the excellent 20 Baht milkshakes...? In summary: I recommend Mama Noi!