Journeys From A Small Room

Chillva Market Phuket is a cool, trendy night market with a somewhat bohemian vibe and an impressive selection of food and fashion stalls. Hard to miss by the side of Yaowarat Road (which runs by Tesco Lotus, on the way towards Phuket Town), the market has a distinctive look created by the use of colourful shipping containers as shopfronts.

So i went during the day when all was quiet and saw lots of the style that gives this place such a bohemian feel to it.

At the heart of the market is a small stage with a pond behind and amphitheatre in front, both of which host live performances when the market is in full swing. There’s even a full size go Kart track!

Chillva Market Phuket is more popular among locals than tourists. Everything happening on stage is often completely incomprehensible to anyone not fluent in Thai.

Food vendors make up around more than half of the stalls and permanent stores at Chillva Market Phuket. You’ll find funky pubs, cafes, ice cream parlours, and a wide selection of street foods. Prices are generally very low. Large servings from the market’s more popular shops rarely exceed a couple of hundred baht.

Being quite small, taking a leisurely walk around Chillva Market Phuket won’t tire you out or take you half the night to explore.

12.11.2020

Nai Harn beach is located on the southernmost tip of Phuket, to the west of Promthep Cape facing the Andaman Sea. This is one of the best and most beautiful beaches on the southern coast.

The actual area is an open front beach but surrounded by hillside on both sides.The surface of the beach under the shallow waters is pure soft sand and feels luscious to walk on. From around 11 am – 5 pm, the water can become very warm due to the sun shining on it.

It is extremely popular with the locals, but not so much commercialised with tourists. The sea is absolutely fantastic to swim in between November and April. In the low season, it can still be nice, but the sea is much more unpredictable.

Nai Harn has some great surf, and lovely clear waters to swim in. There are no rocks on the bay, it’s pure sand that so it makes it perfect for a beautiful swim. The rip currents can get very strong at times depending on the time of day and sea behaviour. Because of this there are always life guards.

A lovely atmosphere, great for families, children, and in general people who appreciate a beautiful beach. Another part of the beach to the eastern side is a very shallow pool set about 50 metres from the actual sea. There is a stream of water that runs from this small pool to the sea. The pool is only knee deep, and perfect for small children to swim in and play. It has no current as it is not the actual sea itself, but joins on to it.

In either high season or low season, the beach never seems overcrowded, as you can see from my photos.

The beach part of Laem Ka Noi is minuscule, so tiny that one hesitates to call it a beach. The focus of Laem Ka Noi is its restaurant which attracts many Thai people on weekends with good seafood and local delicacies at fair rates.

On my very recent visit it was shared by some locals fishing, and gave a stunning view of Chalong Bay and the elephant shaped Island of Koh Lone is also known as Koh Lohn or Lon Island, and is mainly populated by friendly Muslim communities that make a living from fishing, rubber tree plantations and coconut planting.

Laem Ka Noi, a place to find your inner peace…………even if it is only for a few hours.

So finally able to get out and abut again, after heavy monsoon rains. I wander around the off beach road in Rawai to find a collection of street art and the Art Village.

I think all types of street art are Art, so there will be a variety of “wall art shown in this video.

Phuket Art Village is a creative community tucked away down a small lane in Nai Harn at the southern end of Phuket. Home to a diverse and growing collection of home studios and galleries, the village was built from the ground up by the artists themselves.

The village is set on a small plot of land on Soi Naya 2 off Saiyuan Road, not far from Wilson’s restaurant about two kilometres from Nai Harn beach. A large banyan tree shades a central courtyard, while the artists’ studios are set around the perimeter. The galleries are all open all day and visitors are welcome. There are usually at least one or two artists around to greet you, though you may need to wander around for a bit before you find them. Overall, the atmosphere is relaxed. friendly and welcoming.

The village artists, currently all Thai, work in a range of mediums, mostly contemporary works of art.

I know I have been quiet of late, down to a busy summer trying to get a holiday and moving house.
Todays video is taken from my first day of my two week holiday! As you can see it was fighting between, shall i rain? shall I not rain? overcast and windy was not the best way to visit the Sarasin Bridge, but it has been in my sights for some while now. I could not miss the opportunity on my way off the Island. I have always looked at it and thought “how Victorian”, but actually it isn not at all, but quite modern.

Unable to cope with the ever growing traffic, and the need to open up mainland Thailand to the Island, a second bridge/highway was built to take the traffic. In keeping with the Thais love of leisure, the bridge has been kept as a tourist attraction as well as servicing motorcycle crossing for locals and anyone who wants to walk it.
I loved my whole experience of the Bridge and the views are outstanding! along with the busy fishing boats. I hope you enjoy my view of the Sarasin Bridge?

Sarasin Bridge, Phuket
Coming from the Thailand mainland in Phang Nga province on Highway 402, you will need to cross a long bridge to reach the famous island of Phuket.
The bridge that originally took everyone over the ocean is named the Sarasin Bridge. It is 660 meters (722 yards) in length and was finished in 1967.
This bridge was in service as the only bridge to Phuket until 2011 when two new bridges were erected beside Sarasin Bridge on the West Side – one going south, one north.

After the new bridge was built, the Sarasin Bridge was then turned into a fishing pier and a place to walk around over the water. The old bridge still stands as a memorial to Phuket history.

Music free under creative commons licence from YouTube music library

Bang Neaw Dam reservoir project (constructed in 2006) Another nice dam, inland from Kamala Beach is the Ban Bang Niew Reservoir, just south of the Anthem Wakeboard Park.

This dam is larger than Bang Wad Dam I recently visited, and a whole lot emptier. This is due to an enlargement project due to finish next year to increase the Reservoirs capacity.

The vegetation surrounding it,  is particularly lush, and there is good shade. There are water views in quite a few view point spots. A full 6k rive round this reservoir makes for a great days Photography. Phuket is not just beaches and sea, beautiful green interior awaits those who like walking.

Music free under creative commons licence from you tube music library Credits to : Parzival by William Rosati

You’d be forgiven for thinking that living on a tropical island where we’re surrounded by water, and with plenty of monsoonal rain falling on the island every year, it’s hard to imagine we could possibly ever be facing a water shortages. Phuket does, either to over usage, not enough rain fall, or poor maintenance of the reservoirs.

Bang Wad Dam and reservoir, is from the three main water management areas I have visited so far on the Island, the best stocked one so far .

Bang Wad reservoir is Phuket’s largest source of fresh water, a large artificial lake in the hills in the Kathu. The dam is about 800m long and there’s a small road winding for a total of 6.5km around the reservoir.

Not really a tourist destination you might think, but if you want to “mix with the locals” then Bang Wad is a good place to come in. Many people come up here to get some fresh air and exercise, walking or jogging along the dam, or even doing a loop around the reservoir. It’s quiet and green up here, making a nice spot for a picnic too, and there’s a large grassy area at one end of the dam which is made for just that! During my visit in daytime, there were few people around though.

I drove round the 6.5km road, it was way to hot, and I am way to unfit to walk it, but I was able to walk the length of the dam itself and back to my car. Just under 2 km, not bad for me! I hope you enjoy the stunning views of the interior of Phuket, I just had to share….

Music is free under creative commons licence from You tube Music Library Title; Pure Potentiality by Benjamin Martins