- About weather
- About beaches and hotels
- Shopping
- Restaurants and cuisine
Comparing which is better - Phuket or Cuba, is like comparing a march with a mazurka. Infrastructure possibilities, general mood, services, prices and climatic conditions are too different. But one thing unites: you can go in both directions, everywhere there are pluses and a lot of opportunities for an interesting vacation.
About weather
The rainy season is the first thing that comes to mind of what may unite Cuba and Thailand's Phuket. The island of Cuba is three summer months when it rains, but the rest of the months from September to April are completely dry and hot. The temperature is even and is always almost the same: + 22-28 in Havana and its environs. But in Phuket, it rains for days or a month longer, and the average daily temperature in the hottest months is more than 30 degrees. Not everyone can stand such heat and humidity, so the best time for Europeans to relax is from November to February.
About beaches and hotels
The waters of the Andaman Sea wash the western part of Phuket - the place where the most expensive hotels and the most luxurious beaches are located. Here, near five-star hotels, wealthy citizens of all countries of the world bask in the Thai sun. The hotels in these places have all possible stars, as well as the best spas, pools and a range of services. This place is called the Lagoon, here, among other pleasures, there are chic golf courses nearby.
However, luxurious sand and beautiful views are available not only to them, but also to those who visit simpler beaches, and check into three- and four-star hotels. Phuket has plenty of places for a secluded and relaxed holiday alone with the beautiful Thai nature. So, Kamala Beach is suitable for a quiet holiday, and Patong is for a noisy passing of time on a crowded beach with a variety of guesthouses, restaurants and inexpensive hotels.
Cuba's beaches have been known since Soviet times. Clean, snow-white, sandy and endless. Almost all hotels are located on the first line near the coast. There are many famous brand hotels here. Mostly Spanish. As a rule, the highest grade is 4 stars. However, the service in them, if compared with the Asian one, is lower. But in Cuba, all hotels of the highest level (for example, in Varadero) operate on an all-inclusive basis, and there are no additional payments.
Accommodation prices in hotels in Cuba are quite expensive. Therefore, many people prefer to settle in the private sector. Сasa particular is a set of basic amenities for a relatively comfortable and cheap stay.
Shopping
In Cuba, corals and ornaments from them are considered the main souvenir products. Turtle shells are also prized. Tourists also prefer to take with them Cuban cigars and excellent local rum. In the tropics, it is customary to wear a special guayaberu shirt, which many take as gifts, exotic and original. A good Cuban present is tumbador and bongos, musical percussion instruments for playing African motives. In general, entertaining shopping will end there.
There is a wider choice in Phuket. Here you simply have to take a little of everything that is offered in numerous Thai stores and markets:
- coconut oil - healthy, pleasant, women will appreciate;
- spices and spices - this is what will remind you of unusual Thai dishes for a long time;
- folk remedies - herbal balms, inhalers, ointments and lozenges, natural and effective;
- works of local artists - inexpensive works made with watercolors and pencils will be an original present for friends upon returning from Phuket;
- outlandish jewelry made of shells and other seafood, including sea pearls.
Restaurants and cuisine
Images of pepper on the menu of restaurants in Phuket mean not just a spicy dish, but spicy enough to stop breathing. In fact, all local Thai dishes are actively seasoned with pepper, because their cuisine is always very spicy. But Phuket is also surprising in that, as in everything else, it very quickly adapts to the needs of consumers. Do you need Russian cuisine? Here you have "Pancakes" and "Dumplings". So for children and elderly guests, you can find quite tolerable cuisine of any European country, well, Russian too. In general, a lot of things are mixed in restaurants - both Chinese dishes, and Malaysian, and Thai, of course. And an abundance of wonderful cafes that are in stock in Phuket. It serves great cakes and has free Wi-Fi.
In Cuba, the cuisine has absorbed Creole, Spanish and African traditions, fusing all this into a special Cuban cuisine. Beans, bananas, guavas are all local to Cuba and interesting for us as a basis for dishes. Plus grilled meat, baked pig and much more, for us Russians, it is quite understandable. And, of course, spirits - from coffee to the strongest Havana rum.
Both resorts are interesting and amazing. In each of them you need to find your own flavor. Unique Phuket is a combination of incongruous. Phuket is::
- a respectable secular resort for mothers and children,
- a place with special services, for which it is sometimes called a place of debauchery;
- an excellent resort for athletes and outdoor enthusiasts;
- a paradise for revelers and revelers, as well as a place where everyone can find something special for themselves.
Cuba is discoveries that you never stop making every time you come here:
- an island-legend and an island of freedom, which you still feel, even despite the socialist component of a modern resort;
- incendiary discos under the open Cuban night sky;
- pumped up instructors with wonderful athletic bodies;
- colonial architecture of Havana;
- this is the dream of many, which "clings" once and makes you come back here again and again.
