2023-11-21 08:41:01
Phuket: Buddha, Strand und Thaifood
Thailand’s most famous and largest island is a mass destination – but still worth a trip. After all, Phuket is so popular for good reasons. And also offers quieter places away from the hotspots. Especially in the less touristy north, where hikers can explore the Khao Phra Thaeo jungle reserve or the Sirinat National Park with its mangrove and coastal forests.
The stars of the island are undoubtedly the beaches. White sand, green palm trees, turquoise sea – the reality can compete with any photo wallpaper. Patong, Kata and Nai Harn in the south are world famous, life is raging here.
But it turns out that there are also advantages to the fact that the island has been rolling out the red carpet for international holidaymakers for decades. The range of hotels in all price ranges is huge, as well as restaurants, night markets, shops, wellness and leisure options, sailing, surfing, snorkeling and diving stations. There are also boat tours, for example to the so-called “James Bond Island”, the tropical backdrop of the 007 film “The Man with the Golden Gun” (1974).
Source: Infographic WELT
From traditional Thai massage to temples and delicious food, Phuket offers everything vacationers love about Thailand – plus its special features. The culture and cuisine are also shaped by immigrants; the Chinese in particular enriched them with their shrines, festivals and dishes. In the island’s capital Phuket Town, Portuguese-style villas surprise.
45 meters high: Big Buddha on Phuket
Quelle: Getty Images/ kittisun kittayacharoenpong
Big Buddha is spectacular, 45 meters high and one of the world’s largest white Buddha statues. If there are too many tourists there, visit the golden Buddha at Wat Khao Rang or the reclining Buddha at Wat Sri Sunthon. And go to beaches where there is less going on. They even exist in the more bustling south, such as Ao Sane Beach, Ao Yon Beach and, on an offshore island, Koh Bon. Mike Grunwald
Daytime temperature all year round 25-33 degrees, water temperature around 28 degrees; tourismthailand.org/Phuket
Zanzibar: World Heritage and a touch of the Orient
Zanzibar – the name sounds promising, especially for northern Germans. In the 1930s, Sylt naturists named their favorite beach near Rantum after the island in the Indian Ocean, which became the founding myth of “Zanzibar”.
Or one thinks of the Zanzibari princess Sayyida Salme bint Said alias Emily Ruete, as she was called from 1867, after her wedding to a Hamburg merchant. In 2019, Hamburg named a place Emily Ruete. However, the decision has since been reversed – the Zanzibari writer did not distance herself from slavery in her memoirs, is the accusation.
Tropical panorama: Zanzibar offers dream beaches with wonderful hotels
Those: Getty Images/E+/golero
On Zanzibar itself, where the majority of the population descends from once-enslaved continental Africans, the approach to history is more relaxed. There is a Princess Salme Museum, and the architectural legacy of the former upper class of Arabs, Persians and Indians who became rich through human trafficking is also maintained – from the Sultan’s Palace to the city villas in Stone Town.
The old town district has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2000. In the alleys you can smell oriental scents such as cardamom and nutmeg and hear Arabic taarab rhythms and muezzin calls.
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Zanzibar is rich in history and culture, but make no mistake: travelers spend most of their time on the beach. Nungwi Beach in the north is considered the most beautiful and least affected by the tides.
The most unusual beach hotel, however, is on the neighboring island of Pemba: “The Manta Resort”. It is Africa’s first underwater hotel. When it opened in 2013, the resort was a tourist sensation – and it still is today. As simple as the construction of the sea lodge with underwater room anchored on steel cables may seem, there are only a few imitators so far.
Maybe because the sea alone is not enough. It also requires sufficient visibility depths, intact coral banks and underwater trenches in which large species such as manta rays, tuna and Napoleon fish cavort – just like off Pemba’s coast. Bettina Seipp
Daytime temperature from November to April around 31 degrees, water temperature 28 degrees; zanzibartourism.net
Baa Atoll: Dive into the luxury resort in the Maldives
The Maldives has exactly 1,196 islands, spread over 26 atolls. A total of 220 of the islands are inhabited, another 178 are pure hotel islands. The selection is large, but one atoll is particularly recommended: the Baa Atoll, located in the northern third of the island kingdom, around 120 kilometers or 45 seaplane minutes from the capital Male with the international airport.
The 75 islands of this atoll lie in the middle of the Maldives’ only UNESCO-designated biosphere reserve – and that means: the coral reefs here are even more fantastic than those around the other atolls. Divers are almost guaranteed to encounter whale sharks, manta rays and sea turtles in Baa Atoll. The diving schools on the hotel islands also offer beginner courses; You don’t have to have a diving license to go on a trip into the underwater world.
But snorkelers also feel like they are in an aquarium, just a few meters from the shore they are being watched and literally swarmed by yellow boxfish, orange-white anemonefish and black-and-white striped sweetlips.
Accommodation with 360 degree views: bubble tent on Finolhu Island
Those: finolhu.com
The winter half of the year is the best time to travel because there is usually no monsoon between November and April and therefore less rain than in summer. The 17 hotel islands in the Baa Atoll are all luxury oases, and several are recommended: For example, “Finolhu Island”, which is part of the German Seaside Collection and, in addition to butler service, offers the longest sandy beach in the Maldives at two kilometers.
More tips for vacation in the Maldives:
Or the celebrity island “Amilla Fushi” – Kate Moss, the Beckhams and Leonardo DiCaprio have already had a good time here. Or the luxury jungle camp “Soneva Fushi”, which masterfully combines eco and glamor. Or the “Anantara Kihavah” – ideal for everyone who doesn’t want to dive: The “Sea” is the first underwater restaurant in the Baa Atoll, where guests can watch and eat fish at the same time. Sönke Kruger
Daytime temperature all year round 29-32 degrees, water temperature 27-29 degrees; visitmaldives.com
Sri Lanka: tea plantations and dream beaches
Sri Lanka is world-famous for one product: Ceylon tea. But the tropical island has more to offer than the raw material for the hot drink, namely dream beaches and a rich cultural heritage.
First about tea: Sri Lanka’s highlands are a huge tea garden, you can see tea pickers everywhere who harvest tea buds and leaves all year round. The 19th century tea factories are a legacy of the British colonial rulers and are still in operation today, including well-known names such as Lipton. Many factories offer guided tours where you can taste your way through mild green teas and strong black teas, which on the island are preferred to be drunk with a lot of milk and sugar.
Handicraft: Tea pickers in the highlands of Sri Lanka
Quelle: Getty Images/ E+ /hadynyah
The highlands can be easily explored by train; the railway network is also a British legacy. The best place to start is in the city of Kandy (and of course you have previously visited the Buddhist temple district there, a world heritage site since 1988). The railway line from Kandy to Ella winds through picture-perfect tropical landscapes and is one of the most beautiful in the world – the historic Nine Arch Bridge near Ella is one of the island’s most popular photo opportunities.
Also frequently photographed and well visited in the hinterland are the cave temples of Dambulla, peppered with Buddhist wall paintings (World Heritage since 1991) and the monolith of Sigiriya, a 200 meter high boulder with a ruined fortress perched on the “roof”. The climb over 1,200 steps is strenuous, but given the panorama of highlands and rainforest, it is so overwhelming that UNESCO awarded the site World Heritage status in 1982.
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After so much culture, the trip should end with relaxation – ideally on the wide beaches in the south. The coasts in and around Mirissa, Unawatuna and Tangalle offer not only picturesque bays but also first-class hotels. Many have spas that have perfectly adapted the island’s ancient Ayurvedic tradition to the needs of stressed-out Europeans, offering detox, sleep and weight-loss treatments.
If you prefer to drink tea: no problem. The British left behind the culture of afternoon tea in Sri Lanka, which is celebrated extensively in every better hotel. Sönke Kruger
Daytime temperature in the south and west from November to April around 30 degrees, water temperature 25-29 degrees; srilanka.travel
Mauritius: Multicultural hideaway in the Indian Ocean
Mauritius is the southernmost outpost of the luxury hotel industry in the Indian Ocean – and predestined for European winter refugees: With consistently high temperatures, there is no need to look at the weather app and the only question that remains is where on the 330 kilometer long coastline (of which around 160 kilometers sandy beach under palm trees).
Beach in front, mountains in the back: the luxury hotel “Sugar Beach” in Mauritius
Quelle: Getty Images/ Westend61
Nothing disturbs the tranquility of this island, where even the surf is gentle thanks to an outer reef that dims the waves. The coral fringe also keeps sharks away from the beach. Mauritius – uninhabited and free of poisonous animals – was once so peacefully peaceful that birds like the dodo forgot how to fly and grew to the size of a turkey; This meant that they were, so to speak, easy food for the first European settlers around 1640.
Their descendants, along with Africans and Indians who came to the island as slaves or contract workers, now form one of the most stable democratic societies in the region. To tourists, multi-ethnic Mauritius seems like a feel-good community in which everyone does what they do best: the French inspire cuisine and hotel design, the Creoles mix drinks and sing in the bar, the Indians take care of the spa and service .
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And the government? It relies on more luxury tourism, but obliges investors who are planning a new project to support the infrastructure of surrounding villages. Ten new hotels are expected to be built by 2030. There are currently around 120 hotels on the island, most of them in the high-price segment, which differ primarily in the size of the spas and golf courses.
The location, however – otherwise an important luxury criterion – is of secondary importance in Mauritius, because there are beautiful beaches and excursion destinations such as waterfalls and jungle trails, colonial buildings and temples on all sides of the island. Bettina Seipp
Daytime temperature from November to April around 30 degrees, water temperature 26 degrees; mymauritius.travel
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