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10 ways to visit vietnam You don’t need a reason to visit Vietnam, hugging the easternmost shore of Indochina. But if you’re looking for one...
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Published in the April-June 2011 issue. Think Singapore is all about business? You’ll change your mind after reading Natasha Dragun’s pick o...
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the great escape They’re steamy, spicy and tantalising, just like the distinctive cuisine: Rob Woodburn enjoys the best of Thailand’s hol...
Archive for 2014
10 ways to visit vietnam
You don’t need a reason to visit Vietnam, hugging the easternmost shore of Indochina. But if you’re looking for one – or 10 – you’ll find plenty of inspiration here.
Vietnam may be wishbone-thin, but it’s a country of remarkable variety. Steaming highlands drop into the endless plain of the Mekong Delta, while the limestone spires of Halong Bay form one of the world’s most instantly recognisable landscapes. The cities pulsate with traffic and activity, yet the people are gentle and the food is delicate. With such diversity comes a wealth of travel opportunities; here are our 10 favourite Vietnam experiences.
1. Dawn at Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi
At dawn, even Hanoi’s cacophonous Old Quarter is at rest, with activity having gravitated to Hoan Kiem Lake, the tranquil nucleus around which this 1,000-year-old city swirls. Here, in the dim light, you can witness timeless scenes of old Asia, as the city’s residents limber up for the day ahead. Groups move robotically through their daily tai chi rituals, while speakers blast out pop music for the occasional aerobics group. Elsewhere around the lake there will be badminton games and couples stepping out ballroom-dancing routines. It’s all rather incongruous for such an early hour.
When you’re done looking at the people, check out the lake itself, for it’s said that spotting one of its rare tortoises brings good fortune – surely the perfect start to a day.
2. Cycle through Vietnam
Bikes are an enduring image of Vietnam, making the country one of the finest cycling destinations in the world. The Mekong Delta, in the south, offers spirit-level-flat riding, but the most interesting cycling is through the centre of the country, between Hue and Nha Trang. Here, you can cling to the coast, passing through the likes of China Beach, Hoi An, My Lai and Quy Nhon, or you can venture up into the verdant highlands. Tracks weave through thick forest and a cornucopia of crops – visit after the harvest and you’ll be cycling around a sea of coffee beans spread across the roads to dry. Expect plenty of attention as you ride, with kids pouring onto the streets to wave and slap high fives.
3. Ho Chi Minh City war memories
Across the country, most people are at pains to assure you that the Vietnam War is forgiven and all but forgotten. In and around Ho Chi Minh City, however, there are plenty of physical reminders. The city’s most popular museum is the War Remnants Museum, known locally as the War Crimes Museum. There’s a courtyard filled with a collection of fighter jets, tanks and a Chinook helicopter, while displays inside document torture, massacres and the use of Agent Orange. Nearby, the Reunification Palace sits like its own museum piece, preserved just as it was on the day VC tanks overran it – and Saigon – in 1975.
Out of town are the inordinately popular Cu Chi tunnels, a subterranean wartime network spanning 250 kilometres in length, accessed through openings that seem little bigger than post-box slots – for most visitors it’s the tightest of squeezes to even enter the tunnels.
4. Climb Fansipan
In the northwest corner of the country, near the Chinese border, is 3,143-metre-high Fansipan, Vietnam’s highest mountain. Treks to the summit begin from the hill town of Sapa, where you can also organise lower treks to surrounding hill-tribe villages. It’s about a 20-kilometre hike from Sapa to the mountain peak, ascending around 1,500 metres, a return trip that all but the most hurried stretch over three days.
Expect muddy feet – much of the track is in deep, sun-starved forest – and there are no huts, so camping out is necessary. Treks can be easily organised in Sapa.
5. Cruise Halong Bay
Halong Bay is the Vietnam that you see on postcards, its limestone stacks and islands – about 2,000 of them – rising from the Gulf of Tonkin like a forest of rock. For most travellers to Vietnam, a visit to the bay is unmissable.
The most evocative way to see Halong Bay is aboard a Chinese-style junk, its sails flaring almost in imitation of the rock towers that rise around you. Day trips are possible but the quintessential Halong experience is to overnight in the bay, sleeping aboard the boat – most tours offer one or two nights afloat. If you’re feeling more adventurous (and have stronger arms), you can also kayak through the bay, paddling into the tunnels and caves that pierce the karst landscape.
6. Full moon in Hoi An
Even at the most mundane of times, Hoi An is the most charming and relaxing city in Vietnam. The streets of the World Heritage-listed old quarter are almost literally sewn in silk, with tailors abounding – along one block I counted 27 of them – and cooking classes in full steam across the city. At night, the faintly lit streets of the old quarter close to cars, and the centuries-old yellow buildings seem to emit their own buttery light. But to see Hoi An at its romantic best, come when the moon is full. During nights of full moon, even motorbikes are banned and the streets are lit only by silk lanterns. It’s like the Oriental dream turned into reality one night a month.
7. Elephant ride at Lak Lake
Across Asia there are many places where you can ride an elephant, but perhaps only at Lak Lake, in the Vietnamese highlands, can you ride them straight through a lake. Far from the beaten tourist paths, Lak Lake is said to be the largest of its kind in the central highlands, though shallow enough in parts to allow pachyderms to trundle through it. From the M’nong village of Jun, gentle giants round the shores of the lake before returning through the water, the feet of their passengers almost skimming the surface, the elephants’ trunks raised like periscopes.
8. Hue Citadel
If you’ve ever visited Beijing’s Forbidden City you’ll have some idea about what to expect in Hue’s magnificent Citadel. Gift-wrapped inside 10 kilometres of protective walls, the Citadel was the royal palace during Hue’s 140-year tenure as the capital of the Nguyen dynasty, and was also the first site in Vietnam to be granted World Heritage status.
Stretching along the banks of the Perfume River – a dark, mud-coloured perfume – the Citadel crouches beneath Vietnam’s tallest flag tower. Inside, it’s a crumbling facsimile of its royal days, with three-quarters of the Citadel destroyed by U.S. bombing during the Vietnam War. Still, there’s more than enough here – from the koi pond to the elaborate wooden Queen Mothers’ residence – to grasp the enormity and regality of this Forbidden City.
9. Cruise Nha Trang’s islands
Nha Trang may be Vietnam’s brashest beach resort, but spending a day among the islands that puncture the horizon makes any visit here worthwhile. With more than half-a-dozen islands offshore, the town is the launch point for a variety of excursions, from snorkelling to visiting the outer island of Hon Yen, where swiftlet nests are sourced for bird’s-nest soup.
Closer to shore is the likeable Hon Mieu. On this island’s eastern side you can bask on the pebbles and sand at Bai Soai beach, though the greatest attraction is the island township of Tri Nguyen. Rowed ashore in a basket boat – a tiny vessel that looks like a floating hat – you can select your fish or octopus from the floating dock and have it cooked at one of the waterfront restaurants for a meal as fresh as the sea breeze. Walk it off by strolling from shore to shore through the town, checking out the large and colourful fishing fleet.
10. Pho for the President
What Vietnam journey would be complete without at least one meal of pho? The rice-noodle soup is ubiquitous across the country, but nowhere is it more famous than at Pho 2000 in Ho Chi Minh City. It was here, in 2000, that U.S. President Bill Clinton stopped by for a bowl of pho, a visit still spruiked large and loud by restaurant management. Signs outside the restaurant declare “Pho for the President,” while inside, portraits of Clinton and his staff cover the walls.
Despite this illustrious history, Pho 2000 is basic and simple – think American roadside diner meets Russian cafeteria – which was the owner’s intention when he opened the establishment in the late 1990s as Vietnam’s first privately owned food company. After you eat, you only have to cross the street for another truly Ho Chi Minh City experience: wading into the Ben Thanh Market for a bout of verbal wrestling with the touts and stallholders. •
Photography by Andrew Bain.
TRAVEL FACTS
getting there
Vietnam Airlines flies daily to Vietnam from Sydney and Melbourne. 61-2/9283-1355;vietnamairlines.com.vn
getting around
World Expeditions offers more than a dozen trips through Vietnam, including several cycling trips. 1300-720-000; worldexpeditions.com
Helen Wong’s Tours and Travel Indochina also offer small-group trips around Vietnam.helenwongstours.com and travelindochina.com
when to go
Such a long country – it’s 1,600 kilometres from north to south – makes for variable conditions. The dry season in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City is around November to March.
where to stay
A four-hour drive from Ho Chi Minh City, the new Anantara Miu Ne Resort & Spa offers 89 rooms on one of Vietnam’s prettiest stretches of sand. 84-62/374-1888; anantara.com
The Furama Resort Da Nang’s elegant rooms come with Vietnamese design flourishes. 84-511/384-7888; furamavietnam.com
Hotel Nikko Saigon. 84-8/3925-7777; hotelnikkosaigon.com.vn
Victoria Hotels & Resorts have five properties across Vietnam. victoriahotels-asia.com
The Vin Pearl group’s resorts include properties in Nha Trang, Hoi An and Da Nang.vinpearlland.com
The Hyatt Regency Danang Resort and Spa enjoys a beachfront location. 84-511/398-1234; danang.regency.hyatt.com
further information
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism website lists hotels and tour companies.vietnamtourism.com
Published in the April-June 2011 issue.
Think Singapore is all about business? You’ll change your mind after reading Natasha Dragun’s pick of the city-state’s hottest new attractions.
Not so long ago, Singapore was widely regarded as a great hub for finance and banking and an efficient stopover for travellers en route to their real holiday destinations. Indeed, the entertainment offered at the airport almost eclipsed that available in town. Today, the petite city-state has become one of the most alluring destinations in Asia, attracting record numbers of holidaymakers with its groundbreaking architecture, cutting-edge shops and clubs, and melting-pot cuisine. Next time you touch down at Changi International Airport, you’ll have plenty of reasons to leave.
1. Lofty Lounging
Marina Bay Sands – one of Singapore’s two integrated-resorts – has changed the city’s skyline dramatically since it opened in April 2010. The resort’s three hotel towers soar over Singapore Bay and are topped with one of the most gravity-defying architectural edifices in the world: the 57th-floor Sands SkyPark. Here, 200 metres above the ground, hotel guests lounge by a 150-metre-long infinity pool or at Ku Dé Ta, a restaurant-cum-lounge that serves fusion fare and cocktails to the beat of chill-out music. If you’re not checked in to one of Marina Bay’s 2,561 rooms, you can still enjoy a bird’s-eye view of the city from the observation deck, open to the public for a fee.
2. Boutique Bay Beds
Singapore’s gargantuan Marina Bay Sands may have stolen the spotlight over the past year but on the other side of the marina, the Fullerton Bay Hotel Singapore is proving you don’t need a gaming floor to be a sure bet. Part of the Fullerton Heritage entertainment complex, the waterfront property offers 106 rooms and individually themed suites, tastefully fitted out with balconies overlooking the bay and furnishings that nod to Singapore’s past. Hong Kong designer Andre Fu was called in to craft the public areas and three restaurants, which come with polished rosewood, latticed screens, mosaic floors and bespoke artwork.
3. A Date with André
Much-lauded young chef André Chiang left Jaan last year to open his own fine-dining restaurant, an eponymous establishment in the Bukit Pasoh district of Chinatown. If you can get a booking (there are only a handful of seats in the white dining room and even fewer around the chef’s table), you’ll be presented with a degustation of eight concept courses: a dining style Chiang dubs “octaphilosophy.” The idea is to serve dishes that highlight specific characteristics of the food: pure, salt, artisan, texture, terroir. What you get on any given night depends on what is fresh and available. But regardless of whether you’re eating a scallop carpaccio (one of the “pure” dishes) or foie gras jelly (a “memory” dish conceptualised by Chiang over the years he spent in Southern France), you can be sure it will look as good as it tastes.
4. Weird Science
Designed to resemble a white lotus, the freshly minted ArtScience Museum offers a striking architectural contrast to the trinity of glass towers that soar above it at Marina Bay Sands. The 6,000-square-metre space houses a vast array of galleries, each unique in its layout and concept. One gallery, for example, encourages visitors to explore the history of art and science and produce their own creative expression of the nascent field; others host exhibitions curated by leading museums including a collection of Tang-era treasures salvaged from shipwrecks (on display until July 31) and artefacts from the Mongol Empire (until April 10).
5. Celebrity Chow Down
Singapore has never been short of fabulous food, but half-a-dozen new restaurants in the Marina Bay Sands complex have taken the city’s dining scene to a new level. Sydneysider Tetsuya Wakuda’s intimate Waku Ghin has tongues wagging with its creative Japanese cuisine; Santi, opened by the late chef Santi Santamaria, serves impeccable Spanish fare; while Michelin-starred Guy Savoy’s eponymous restaurant has already developed a reputation for its classic French food. Newer still are a steakhouse by Wolfgang Puck (Cut), a contemporary French-American eatery by Daniel Boulud (DB Bistro Moderne) and Mario Batali’s adjoining Osteria Mozza and Pizzeria Mozza. Phew!
6. Island Hopping
Sentosa, Singapore’s resort isle, has enjoyed a renaissance of late thanks in part to the recent opening of Resorts World Sentosa. The sprawling complex is home to six hotels, a casino, dozens of restaurants and shops and a soon-to-open waterpark and oceanarium, slated to be the largest of its kind in the world. And then there’s Universal Studios. The theme park is tiny by international standards but it draws crowds with its recently re-opened headlining attraction: Battlestar Galactica, the world’s tallest pair of duelling rollercoasters. Moreover, revamped and new hotels (including Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort and Capella Singapore) and an increasingly polished infrastructure make it easier to get to the island and stay there.
7. Retail Therapy
Singapore offers shoppers plenty of opportunities to spend their money, from the upscale boutiques in Marina Bay Sands to the malls and markets that line Orchard Road. The newest kid on the shopping block is ION Orchard, some 400 retail outlets sprawling over endless levels and underground passages. Still, the mall is not all about shopping – it’s also home to an art gallery and an observation deck, ION Sky, set 218 metres above the ground. Serious shoppers will want to time their visit to coincide with the Great Singapore Sale (May 27 to July 24): two months of discounts and bargains across the city-state.
8. High Flyers
The tallest Ferris wheel in the world, the Singapore Flyer offers yet another opportunity to ogle the city-state from above. When you’re at the top of the 165-metre-high ride, you’ll even glimpse the Indonesian islands of Batam and Bintan, as well as Johor, Malaysia, in the distance. For those looking for more of a rush, make a beeline for the just-opened iFly, claiming to be the world’s largest indoor skydiving simulator. The 18-metre-high wind tunnel comes with a glass wall so that when you’re airborne you’ll feel like you’re drifting over the South China Sea.
9. A New Beat
For a city of just over 4.7 million people, Singapore punches well above its weight when it comes to world-class clubs. And party people will soon have two new spaces in which to bump and grind with the 2011 opening of venues Avalon and Pangaea, both to be set in a glass pavilion on Singapore Bay and both with illustrious older sisters (Pangaea in London, New York and Miami; Avalon in Hollywood). Expect bottles of top-shelf alcohol, international DJs and celebrities galore.
10. Going Green
The vista from the top of the Singapore Flyer is about to get much greener thanks to Gardens by the Bay, a trio of waterfront parks due to open in stages over the next year. The first phase, Bay South, is scheduled to welcome guests in November and will feature chilled conservatories for cool-climate plants, floral displays, a cluster of “supertrees” from 25 to 50 metres tall, and areas for garden festivals and concerts. Particularly interesting are the Food Gardens in Bay East: beds dedicated to plants and herbs commonly used in Singaporean and Southeast Asian cuisine, paired with food outlets that incorporate some of the produce. •
Photographs courtesy of the Singapore Tourism Bureau and respective hotels and restaurants.
TRAVEL FACTS
getting there
Jetstar, Singapore Airlines and Qantas all offer regular direct flights from Australian capital cities to Singapore.
• Jetstar. 131-538; jetstar.com.au
• Singapore Airlines. 131-011; singaporeairlines.com.au
• Qantas. 131-313; qantas.com.au
getting around
• Creative Holidays. creativeholidays.com
• Singapore Airlines Holidays. 1300-666-722; siaholidays.com.au
where to eat & drink
• Ku Dé Ta. 65/6688-7688; kudeta.com.sg
• Restaurant André. 65/6534-8880; restaurantandre.com
• Waku Ghin. 65/6688-8507; wakughin.com
• Santi Restaurant. 65/6688-8501; marinabaysands.com
• Cut. 65/6688-8517; wolfgangpuck.com
• Osteria Mozza and Pizzeria Mozza. 65/6688-8868; mozzarestaurantgroup.com
• DB Bistro Moderne. 65/6688-8525; marinabaysands.com
• Guy Savoy. 65/6688-8513; marinabaysands.com
• Avalon & Pangaea. marinabaysands.com
where to sleep
• Fullerton Bay. 65/6333-8388; fullertonbayhotel.com
• Marina Bay Sands. 65/6688-8868; marinabaysands.com
• Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort. 65/6275-0100; shangri-la.com
• Capella Singapore. 65/6377-8888; capellahotels.com
what to do
• Gardens by the Bay. gardensbythebay.org.sg
• Resorts World Sentosa. 65/6577-8888; rwsentosa.com
• ION Orchard. 65/6238-8228; ionorchard.com
• Great Singapore Sale. greatsingaporesale.com.sg
• iFly Singapore. iflysingapore.com
• Singapore Flyer. 65/6734-8829; singaporeflyer.com
further information
The Singapore Tourism Board is one of the best of its kind in the world. 1800-736-2000;yoursingapore.com
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the great escape
They’re steamy, spicy and tantalising, just like the distinctive cuisine: Rob Woodburn enjoys the best of Thailand’s holiday islands.
The beguiling islands of Thailand are sprinkled across the Andaman Sea and along the coast of the Gulf of Thailand.
With sandy coves washed by a limpid turquoise sea and misty interiors, mountainous and jungle-strewn, these dreamy isles are dazzling to the imagination and promise affordable tropical indulgence.
Linked to the mainland by causeway, Phuket is not only its largest island but also Thailand’s most popular offshore destination and one of the world’s top scuba-diving spots. More than a third of all tourists to Thailand spend some time here. The international airport is in the island’s north, 32 kilometres from the main tourist area.
Phuket is similar in size to Singapore and, although rugged and forested, can be spectacularly crowded at times, particularly from December to March and in August, when its west-coast beaches are often packed to capacity. Given this popularity, you can expect accommodation options that span the spectrum, from simple bungalows to five-star, luxury spa resorts.
Many beaches and properties on the island’s west coast, facing the Andaman Sea, were devastated by the tsunami of 26 December 2004. All Phuket’s main tourist areas have since recovered. Today, the three main holiday havens are the southern beaches of Patong, Karon and Kata.
Beaches to the north of Patong are more tranquil. Some of Thailand’s top luxury resorts are found here, in particular along Bang Tao beach, where such silken exclusivity commands prices to match.
A 4WD tour into the interior reveals Phuket to be a mix of wilderness and rainforest, with intriguing limestone caves and a patchwork of fruit and spice plantations. Tours can include jungle hiking and elephant trekking on creatures rescued from logging camps. A day-tour to the Asia Safari and Elephant Camp at Khao Lak, north of Phuket, may also include an elephant ride and river rafting.
The town of Phuket, on the island’s south-east coast, has fine restaurants and excellent markets. Increase your knowledge of local culture on a tour to some of Phuket’s 29 temples and absorb further local flavour wandering through open-air food markets in Patong, Kata, Rawai and Phuket town.
T
Tourist attractions include the Phuket Aquarium, a butterfly and insect garden, and Phuket Orchid Garden & Thai Village, where you can watch folk-dancing, Thai boxing demonstrations and an elephant show. Many holidaymakers enjoy a big night out at Phuket FantaSea’s 5,000-seat restaurant, with its Las Vegas-style floorshow.
Outdoor island activities include golf, tennis, horse-riding, go-karting and sports fishing. And as befits a leading dive destination, Phuket offers all manner of recreational diving options, from novice ‘holiday’ dives to Open Water and Advanced certification courses.
Popular daily boat excursions visit beautiful Phang Nga Bay in the north-east, renowned for limestone outcrops that rise vertically from the sea like towering sentinels. One of the top attractions is ‘James Bond Island’, which featured in 1974’s The Man with the Golden Gun. Nearby Koh Panyi has a fascinating stilt village. You can also kayak in the bay.
Koh Yao Noi and Koh Yao Yai are two large islands in Phang Nga Bay lying between Phuket and Krabi on the mainland. Both are becoming more popular for walking, kayaking and snorkelling, yet still offer a more rural and relaxed experience than Phuket. Ko Lanta Yai is the largest island in the Lanta archipelago, off Krabi. It’s intensively developed along its west coast – though as it bears the brunt of the monsoon, the place can be practically deserted from April until November.
Koh Phi Phi Don and Koh Phi Phi Leh are neighbouring islands that lure thousands of tourists each year. Most visitors stay in the central village on Phi Phi Don, sandwiched between two bays, Lo Dalam and Ton Sai: much of the village was swept away by the 2004 tsunami but has since been extensively rebuilt. Along its narrow lanes of bars, snack joints, dive outlets, cafés and shops, you can find cheap clothing and food, Internet access, bottled water and laundry facilities plus tickets for excursions to Maya Beach on neighbouring Phi Phi Leh, made famous in the film version of The Beach. Avoid visiting here over Christmas and Easter holiday periods, when the local infrastructure is sorely strained.
To escape Phi Phi’s sun-worship crush, take a long-tailed boat to the island’s north, home to sea gypsies and a smattering of small, quiet resorts. A beach stroll along the sand at dawn, as the sun’s rays gleam on golden shrines, will impart a feeling of heaven on Earth.
The Similan Islands, a tiny archipelago of nine isles around 80 kilometres north-west of Phuket, are considered Thailand’s top dive region, renowned for their fine coral reefs and huge array of reef fish. Typically, the Similans are visited by live-aboard dive cruises, though day-trips from Khao Lak are possible between November and May.
Still farther north lie the Surin Islands, a quintet of isles boasting beautiful bays and dense jungle along with diving, snorkelling and game-fishing. A dive site known as Richelieu Rock (or Hin Bonam) is famous for attracting whale sharks, particularly between February and April. The national park office is on the main island of Surin Nuea. Between November and April, ferries make the four-hour crossing to the Surins from Khura Buri Pier, about 125 kilometres from the town of Phang Nga.
Thailand’s second biggest island is Ko Chang, also known as Elephant Island, one of 47 in a national marine park off the eastern gulf coast, which extends south-east of Bangkok from Chonburi to Trat, close to Thailand’s border with Cambodia.
Ko Chang is mostly covered in undisturbed rainforest, which is home to an astounding variety of exotic wildlife. There are waterfalls, fishing villages and secluded bays, dive schools at the four large beaches on the west coast, and an abundance of fresh seafood. Access is by ferry from Laem Ngop on the mainland.
Boats can be taken from Ko Chang to nearby Koh Kut, another peaceful island with coconut and rubber plantations and a growing tourist infrastructure, much like nearby Koh Mak.
Located midway off the eastern gulf coast, Koh Samet’s silky white-sand beaches are within much easier reach of Bangkok and hence are extremely popular with locals and foreigners: the island is crowded at weekends and on public holidays. There’s no shortage of simple bungalow accommodation or places to eat, however, and camping is allowed. The island’s south is much quieter than its north.
The country’s third-largest island is Koh Samui, off the Kra Isthmus in the Gulf of Thailand. It was virtually ‘undiscovered’ by westerners until the late 1970s, when the first guest huts began sprouting beside the east-coast beaches at Chaweng and Lamai. Development has not ceased since.
Koh Samui is now Thailand’s second most popular island destination, with a busy airport, upmarket resorts and a golf course. Chaweng and Lamai have become bustling beach towns with fast-food outlets, shopping strips, bars, nightclubs, souvenir stalls and hawkers.
A round-island road takes in the sights, including the famous Big Buddha in the north. This road also makes it easy to eschew the east side of the island for less exploited and more tranquil sections along its west coast.
Nearby Koh Pha Ngan is best known for hedonistic full-moon beach parties, events that lure thousands of young travellers, who dance all night to pulsating beats at various venues along Hat Rin Beach.
Don’t let this frenetic image deter you from discovering the quiet coves and calm beaches that fringe the island’s north-east coast. Pha Ngan is quite large, with lots of forest and plenty of tranquil areas. It’s still less developed than Koh Samui, yet has accommodation to suit all budgets.
Mu Ko Ang Thong National (Marine) Park, west of Koh Samui, encompasses more than 40 islets and includes marvellous beaches, lagoons, caves and limestone formations. There’s great snorkelling and scuba-diving here, though true underwater aficionados steer further north, to Kho Tao, one of the Gulf of Thailand’s best dive sites.
Koh Tarutao lies within a national marine park in Thailand’s far south: Survivor Thailand was filmed here. In addition to clean white sands, waterfalls, hiking trails and reef snorkelling, the island is home to the dusky langur, mouse deer, a fishing cat and a crab-eating macaque. Tarutao can be reached by ferry or speedboat from Pak Bara jetty, with a park fee payable on arrival. The park is officially closed for the monsoon season from mid-May until mid-November.
Tarutao and nearby Koh Adang, Koh Lipe and Koh Rawi remain relatively undeveloped but are become increasing popular with adventurous travellers. It’s recommended that visitors step lightly here and expect to be self-sufficient, as facilities are minimal.
Thailand’s southern province of Trang has a typically Andaman coastline: sandy beaches washed by a celadon sea, remote and practically deserted islands, and a maze of limestone formations equal to those distinguishing Phang Nga Bay. Boats from Pak Meng visit islets with romantic names like Koh Mook and Koh Kradan that evoke a sense of what Koh Samui and Koh Phi Phi might have been like, before tourism changed them forever.
Photography courtesy Tourism Authority of Thailand.
TRAVEL FACTS
getting there
- Thai Airways flies to Bangkok, with onward connections to Phuket, the Krabi coast, Trang and Koh Samui. For bookings, phone 1300 651 960 or visit www.thaiairways.com.au
- British Airways, phone 1300 767 177 or visit www.britishairways.com.au
- Emirates, phone 03 9940 7807 or visit www.emirates.com/au
- Jetstar, phone 13 1538 or visit www.jetstar.com
- Qantas, phone 13 1313 or visit www.qantas.com.au
- Singapore Airlines, phone 13 1011 or visit www.singaporeair.com.au
getting around
- Creative Holidays, phone 1300 747 400 or visit www.creativeholidays.com.au
- Essence of Asia, phone 1300 365 355 or visit www.essenceofasia.com.au
- Explore Holidays, phone 02 9423 8080 or visit www.exploreholidays.com.au
- GAP Adventures, phone 1300 796 618 or visit www.gapadventures.com/v&t
- Infinity Holidays, phone 13 3133 or visit www.flightcentre.com.au
- Intrepid Travel, phone 1300 364 512 or visit www.intrepidtravel.com
- Jetstar Holidays, phone 13 1538 or visit www.jetstar.com.au/holidays
- Qantas Holidays, phone 13 1415 or visit www.qantas.com/holidays
- Royal Orchid Holidays, phone 1300 369 750 or visit www.thaiairways.com.au
- Travel Indochina, phone 1300 138 755 or visit www.travelindochina.com.au
further information
- Tourism Authority of Thailand, phone 02 9247 7549 or visit www.tourismthailand.org