my last day in phuket was my favourite

welcome to introspection ft. harsehaj! ⭐️ i’m harsehaj, a 19 y/o always up to something in social good x tech.

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onto today’s topic: my last day in phuket was my favourite 🏖️

i spent 4 days in phuket, and the last was my favourite. i filled my short stay up with the must-do things while on the island: hanging out with elephant at an elephant reserve, touring maya bay and phiphi islands, and a whole lot of chilling at the beaches. i left my last day to just follow the vibes, because i was catching a flight in the evening.

those vibes were the best of my brief trip.

i started my day off by taking a taxi to devas’ lounge, a beautiful cake lounge hidden away in a resort. just for $17, i got 3 cakes and a whole pot of devas’ oolong tea. they were delicious and so meticulously crafted with hardened white chocolate encasing the blueberry cheesecake, an earl grey mousse coating another cake, and gold flecks sprinkled across the last. i spent two hours just reading and eating cake, bliss.

one thing i’ve fallen in love with in thailand is the motorbiking culture. 🏍️ the rushing wind cooling the summer heat on my skin and speeding down the streets, all while taking in phuket’s natural beauty was a highlight, and it’s not even a “tourist attraction.” it’s part of the lifestyle here and i’ve already mentioned before that i enjoy traveling most when i’m immersed in the daily life of the locals.

fortunately, i was able to leave my luggage at the resort i wasn’t even a guest at and searched google maps for the furthest feasible destination to call a motorbike to, just because i wanted to get another ride on one. i landed on banana beach, a pretty average looking beach, but the drive was along the coast and a few little towns, which i was looking forward to.

we zoomed past endless views of the sea, golf courses, little villages and so much of the beauty phuket has to offer. 🐚 once i got off and took a glance at the beach, i had to stop abruptly and think to myself, “wait a minute …. this beach is amazing.”

i was empty-handed, wearing jeans, a tank-top, and sneakers. there was no way i was getting in the water, but it was fine since i had no interest basking in the boiling heat at noon. this beach, unlike the others i had been to, had a huge rocky range of boulders and cliffs that i was immediately tempted to climb. 🧗‍♀️

and so i did. for hours, i scaled boulders and hopped from rock to rock, stopping to sit on a ledge and take in the endless ocean. i eventually stumbled onto an isolated area with no other person in sight, but the tide was super high and there was only water between the point i was standing, and the point i wanted to get up to. the sole way across was through the water and i was wearing my favourite pair of sneakers. 😨

i threw them across. i waded through the water barefoot and perched myself on the rock. i sat there for quite a while, enjoying the serenity in this new found silence.

by 2pm it was time for me to go back to get my luggage and make my way to the airport so i had to scale all of the rocks again. as i went to toss my sneakers, i decided to record the amusing process this time and i ended up throwing one right into the water. 😭 the recording wasn’t even good. truly a tragedy.

my shoe is fine though, i revived it afterwards.

it was such a fun day — i wish i had done it earlier so i’d have more time on that rocky, beach range.

daily opportunity + resource drops 🔍️