Thailand (Lonely Planet, 13th Edition) - China Williams [546]
There’s a small, clean restaurant in front of the bungalow office with views over the mangroves.
GETTING THERE & AROUND
From the centre of Phang-Nga, drive south on Hwy 4 about 6km, then turn left onto Rte 4144 and go 2.6km to the park headquarters; the visitors centre sits 400m beyond the ‘gate’. Click here for tour operators on Phuket that run day trips to the park.
Sa Nang Manora Forest Park
The fairyland setting at this beautiful and little-visited park (admission free) is nothing short of fantastic. Moss-encrusted roots and rocks, dense rainforest and rattan vines provide a delicious backdrop for swimming in pools beneath multilevel waterfalls. The park’s name comes from a local folk belief that the mythical Princess Manora bathes in the pools when no one else is around.
Primitive trails meander along (and at times through) the falls, climbing level after level, and seem to go on forever – you could easily get a full day’s hiking in without walking along the same path twice. Bring plenty of drinking water – although the shade and the falls moderate the temperature, the humidity in the park is quite high. Facilities include some picnic tables, plus a small restaurant.
To get here, catch a motorcycle taxi from Phang-Nga (50B). If you have your own wheels, head north out of town on Hwy 4, go 3.2km past the Shell petrol station, then turn left and go down a curvy road another 4km.
PHUKET PROVINCE
The reigning granddaddy of Thailand beach vacations, Phuket Province features one giant island – the Andaman’s drop zone of quintessential tropical fun.
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PHUKET
pop 83,800
The island of Phuket has long been misunderstood. First of all, the ‘h’ is silent. Ahem. And second, Phuket doesn’t feel like an island at all. It’s so huge (it’s the biggest in the country) that you never really get the sense that you’re surrounded by water, which is probably the reason why the ‘Ko’ (meaning ‘island’) was dropped from its name. Dubbed the ‘pearl of the Andaman’ by savvy marketing execs, this is Thailand’s original flavour of tailor-made fun in the sun.
Phuket’s beating heart can be found in Patong. Located halfway down the western coast, Thailand’s ‘sin city’ is the ultimate gong show where podgy beach-aholics sizzle like rotisserie chickens and gogo girls play ping-pong…without paddles…
These days, however, Phuket’s affinity to luxury far outshines any of the island’s other stereotypes; jet-setters come through in droves, getting pummelled during swanky spa sessions and swigging sundowners at one of the many fashion-forward nightspots. But you don’t have to be an heiress or an Oscar-winner to tap into Phuket’s trendy to-do list. There’s deep-sea diving, high-end dining, soda-white beaches that beckon your book and blanket – whatever your heart desires. Visitors never say phuket to Phuket.
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History
Phuket has always had a reputation for welcoming foreigners. After all, Indian merchants founded Phuket Town in the 1st century BC. Ptolemy, a Greek geographer who visited in the 3rd century AD, tabbed it ‘Jang Si Lang’, which later became ‘Jung Ceylon’, the name you’ll find on ancient maps of Thailand (it’s also the name of the unavoidably massive shopping complex in Patong, Click here).
Among Phuket’s original locals were now-extinct primitive tribes similar to Malaysia’s surviving Semang pygmies. They lived in triple-canopy virgin rainforest and survived by hunting and eating jungle fruits and roots. Meanwhile, the nomadic chow lair populated the coastal areas of Phuket, living off the sea’s spoils.
In the 16th century, copious lodes of tin inspired Portuguese, French and British traders to set up makeshift colonies. A century later the