I realize that all my posts so far are just about work work work. I love my time off and although my work does take up much of my life I still find time to enjoy the weekends and recently I joined my friends for a hike in the mountains of Phuket. This was something new for me as Phuket is mostly about beaches.
Phuket has a mountain range that runs the length of the island and its an area that is never really seen by tourists or even locals. The hills are criss-crossed with narrow paths that are mostly for farmers to get to their crops and to connect the communities that live up there. They are too narrow for cars but perfect for motorcycle or in our case for a cool hike.
We did a three hour hike and it was amazing. I had no idea just how much small scale farming is going on in the hills of Phuket Island, and I have been living here since I was a teenager in college. Every few hundred meters we encountered a different small farm growing different fruits or vegetables. Look at this breadfruit! I honestly had no idea this is how they grow.
Of course there are rubber farmers too. Rubber farming is an important cash crop all over Thailand and even my family had a small amount of rubber trees when I was a kid - I remember my dad waking me at predawn to go with him sometimes for fun. The rubber is often collected in young coconut halves but nowadays sadly they use plastic cups like in this photo...
This next photo is mangosteen - my favourite fruit. In Thailand we call Durian the king of fruit but the Mangosteen is the queen of fruit! I never even knew that we are growing it right here in the mountains of Phuket, literally 30mins walk from my home.
Bananas were everywhere and I realized that if I wanted to get truly organic fruit straight from the farmer then I need to venture into the hills a little more often. But maybe next time I will come with motorcycle hahaha. The hike was quite steep and the weather very humid.
Look how beautiful the path is - most of it was like this! These paths are very very old. They original Phuket people have been using them for generations long before Phuket ever became a tourist destination.
Lastly here are some pics of me enjoying the hike. It took 3 hours and we crossed all the way over the mountains and down to the beachside neighborhood of Kamala. There we enjoyed a cold beer and called a grab taxi to take us home! I think the take away from this experience is to really appreciate what you have in your own back garden. I experienced a completely new side of Phuket that I never really knew was there. I will do it again for sure!
Wow - great that u found some undiscovered parts of Phuket. I also have spent some time looking around in the hills and it's true - kind of a different world up there!
Yes really! I would like to do another hike like that but the friends that took me up there are not around now. Please feel free to offer recommendations for other nice trails in Phuket.
Hehe - have you tried the trail that starts at the Gibbon Rehabilitation Center In Paklok? That is a beautiful trail through old growth rainforest. And if you go early you will hear the released gibbons that live up there singing!
I have heard of that place. I will need to visit for sure. Thanks for your recommendation.
pretty fantastic pics. You know, i lived in Thailand for over a decade and never saw a magosteen anywhere but in a market. It used to be one of my favorite fruits as well but then one day I was opening them with my teeth and a centipede that was living inside the fruit jumped on my face. I've been a bit traumatized by that.
I think if a bug jumped on my face I would never eat a mangosteen again hahaha. To be honest mangosteen trees are not easily found and I don't really know where they grow as a main source of income. But we saw many on that hike! Thats great that you lived in Thailand so long - where did you like the best?
A few years ago I went on a trip to Phuket for a weekend before all this Covid BS ruined everything. It was so hot and humid there that unless it was to a waterfall that I think I would die on a 3 hour jungle trek. Maybe I was just there during the hot part of the year but just sitting in the shade next to a fan was still very hot for me.
You should really post in the aseanhive community, i see you put a tag but this is a really good post and a lot more people would see it if you posted it there.
Im so silly! I forgot to set the post to go to ASEAN Hive Community. And now it seems there is no way to add it. Im a bit new here and keep making these mistakes but its OK. Yes it was so hot on the trail but luckily we had lots of water! And thats why we decided to get a taxi home instead of hiking back!
That sounds like exactly what I would have done. Actually, I probably wouldn't have even made it all the way in. Years ago I was on a trail to a viewpoint and after something like 2 hours and I was so drenched in sweat I thought that we must be getting to the top soon only to see a sign that said we had approximately 2 hours left to the top. Since I was nearly out of water at that point I decided to turn around instead. I never did get to that top of that mountain :)
Oh nooo. I hope next time you will bring more water...:) Luckily on this trail we were able to receive drinking water and fruit from each of the farms we met along the way - it was not a wilderness trail...:)
oh well that is certainly helpful. That was not an option at all in the area i was in. There was a stream that I nearly decided to drink out of though. That probably would have been a mistake
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