The best of Phuket is off the beaten track

IF YOUR idea of how to spend your time in Phuket is lazing on Patong Beach, then you’re doing it wrong.

There is more to Phuket than just lazing on the beach.

PHUKET is one of those tropical island getaways where Australians gravitate for some well-deserved rest and relaxation, but getting off the beaten track can really pay off.

Oddly, this hits home while I’m up to my calves in grey mud, trying to guide a plough behind a buffalo.

We are at Vanich Farm just an hour out of Patong Beach. This quirky urban farm, designed to give Thais and tourists a taste of traditional farming, has been open for a year.

As soon as we arrived, our hosts had whisked us into changing rooms to don traditional work clothes ready to learn how to plant and harvest rice, how to know when corn is ripe, how to make traditional Thai prawn soup, and how to ride a buffalo.

All of it was hands-on. I was the first up from my small tour group when we got to the “learning how to plough a rice paddy” lesson.

A farm hand helped me down into the mud, then guided the buffalo while I struggled behind. Getting grubby, doing some hard yakka and learning something like that has a strange kind of thrill you can’t get from sipping a cocktail by the beach.

But it wasn’t all hard work. Lunch at Vanich Farm was the highlight of the day. More than a dozen different traditional dishes were laid out on two bamboo mats for us to share.

There was the boiled corn we had just picked, curries, seafood dishes, vegetable dishes, tofu, beef, chicken, rice and a dessert of sweet corn in milk. We ate in the open-air workspace below the traditional farm house on stilts amid the corn fields, rice paddies and sprawling Thai herb garden. A family of albino buffalo lives on the property, along with a small host of farm animals and a gaggle of ducks who wander freely.

Wyndham Sea Pearl Resort isn’t a bad way to spend your time in Phuket.

THE RESORT

By day’s end I was more than ready for some R&R at Wyndham Sea Pearl Resort overlooking Patong Beach.

The spa at the Wyndham offers several massage experiences and treatments, with private rooms perfect for honeymooners as well as singles. The hot coconut-oil massage turned out to be the just the thing after a day on the farm. I was so blissed out and tired, I almost fell asleep on the table. Twice.

The Sea Pearl is a relaxed and lush resort. Some of the rooms spill out to a shared walk-in pool, which would make for a fun holiday with a couple of families. Others have private spas on their balconies overlooking a long, central lap-pool. It also has honeymoon suites with private infinity pools facing the bay.

The company gave us a sneak peek at its latest resort, Wyndham Grand Phuket Kalim Bay, which, when it opens in January, will be a whole new level of luxury. Most of the suites and villas have their own pool, artsy, modern decor, self-catering facilities and views over the water.

Back at the Sea Pearl, we grabbed a quick dinner at one of the resort’s three restaurants before checking out Patong’s famous Bangla Rd strip.

There is more to night-life in Phuket than ping-pong shows.

NIGHT-LIFE ON THE STRIP

Bangla Rd is the beating heart of Patong night-life, infamous for ping-pong shows and dancing girls. But that’s not all it has to offer.

We tried a bar called New York, which even the locals and expats acknowledge as the best on the strip.

Its live band could cover anything. They belted out old favourites, with Van Morrison and Johnny Cash mixing with bands such as REM and Linkin Park. The cocktails were quite reasonably priced and it was a good spot to watch the passing parade.

Tip: The standard tuktuk rate to Bangla Rd from the Sea Pearl is about 300 baht ($11).

For those wanting to eat out near the strip, No. 6 restaurant is a hole in the wall roadside restaurant. It has a sister restaurant with the same prices and menu a short tuktuk ride away, but instead of a crowded streetside venue it has an open terrace on a hillside overlooking Patong Bay with quirky lighting and decor.

If you manage to snag them at the right time, the restaurant’s truck will take patrons between the two spots for free.

Koh Hong at sunset.

ISLAND HOPPING

Snorkelling, swimming and island-hopping off Phuket is a must-do and there are plenty of tour companies to take you out. Many tourists pick the popular Phi Phi island tour, which cruises past the James Bond island and the bay where they filmed The Beach.

It can get a bit crowded though. We tried an alternative tour, heading up to Yao Noi island with Blu Anda.

Our first stop was Koh Hong, a good spot for snorkelling where you can see some tropical fish, including clown fish for the Nemo lovers. The reef off the tiny island’s main beach wasn’t overly spectacular, but the setting more than made up for it.

Koh Hong is all about the strip of white beach wedged between two cliff faces covered in tropical plants, rising out of the water. Picture the beach where the tourists land in the opening scene of Jurassic Park II and you’re pretty close. We stayed for about an hour to swim and take photos and then it was off to a private beach on Yao Noi for lunch and a kayak.

After lunch we kayaked along the coast to a fishing cave and then had a quick trek into the jungle.

The boat ride home, sitting cross -legged on the deck with the wind rushing through my hair while tropical storm clouds gathered and the sun set, was a perfect ending.

This article originally appeared on escape.com.au

The writer was a guest of Wyndham Sea Pearl Resort