Driving to the Big Buddha on Phuket

How to get there without missing the turn

The starting point for everyone is the large roundabout in Chalong. From it a highway heads towards Kata, and after a couple of kilometres a road branches off it to the right and upwards. The turn is signed, but the sign is small and stands close to the junction itself, so move into the right hand lane early.

From there the climb is continuous. The road is surfaced and has two lanes, but it is narrow: in places passing a coach happens with nothing to spare, and the corners are blind, so you cannot see what is behind them until the last moment. Hold a speed that lets you stop within the distance you can see, which is noticeably slower than you would like.

Where the parking areas begin

The car parks are spread down the slope in several tiers. The first appears well before the top, others follow, and the highest one sits right by the statue, small and permanently occupied in high season. The logic is simple: take the first free space you see, because there may be nothing higher up and there is nowhere to turn round at the top.

The walk from the lower tiers is short and runs uphill along the road. In the middle of the day that climb in the sun tires you more than looking at the statue does, which is one more argument for setting off early.

What that means for the car

The climb loads a full car seriously. The gearbox holds low gears, the revs are high, the speed is low and there is almost no airflow through the radiator. The air conditioning cools less well during that, which is normal behaviour rather than a fault, and everything returns on level ground.

An economy car climbs without difficulty even fully laden; the only question is the pace. A crossover takes the same hill road more calmly simply because it has torque in reserve, and its higher seating gives a better view through a corner when passing coaches.

The descent is the important part

You go down in a low gear. The engine then holds the car back and the brake is used in short applications, with time to cool between them. Anyone descending in neutral or with the pedal held down arrives at the bottom with a long soft pedal, and that is the moment this whole paragraph exists for.

In rain the hill road is more slippery than usual, particularly in the first minutes of a downpour. On a descent in that weather the speed comes down in advance rather than once the car has already started running wide in a corner.

Where to park at the top

The upper area is small and level, and it is marked out, but in high season the density is such that leaving is harder than arriving. The only way not to lose a quarter of an hour on the way out is to park nose outwards from the start.

There is almost no shade up there, since the ridge is open and the trees are few. An hour of standing heats the car to the point where the wheel cannot be held, so a couple of minutes with the doors open before you set off is part of the route rather than a whim.

What to leave in the car

Plenty of people walk across the upper area, and a rucksack on the back seat is visible to all of them. Move valuables into the boot in advance, down at the bottom: rearranging bags in the car park itself is a demonstration of what you have put where.

Clothing for the upper platform means covered shoulders and knees. Keeping a wrap in the car is simpler than solving the problem at the entrance, and in an air conditioned cabin it is no burden.

When to go

Early morning is the best option on every count at once: the road is empty, the parking free, the sun has not yet turned the open ridge into a frying pan, and the visibility from up there is usually at its best at that hour.

Sunset is the most popular and the least convenient time. Traffic streams upwards, the spaces run out, and afterwards everybody drives down at once in the dark. A hill descent at dusk behind a line of brake lights is not what you came up for.

The rainy months

In the rains the climb and the descent both need more attention, and in exchange there are far fewer people. If you go in that weather, plan a window between squalls and do not linger at the top, because the ridge is exposed and the weather changes there faster than it does below.

What else is nearby

The same road from the Chalong roundabout leads to the main temple of the district, and it makes sense to combine the two into one morning: they are close, both require covered clothing and both ask for an early hour for the same reason.

There are fuel stations at the bottom by the turning onto the hill road, which is the convenient place to top up before the climb. There is nothing on the hill road itself, and starting the ascent with a nearly empty tank is unwise, because working in low gears uses noticeably more.

If a beach on the west coast follows the statue, the highway continues from that turning towards Kata, and carrying on that way is easier than going back to the roundabout. The road there is hilly as well, but considerably simpler than the climb you have just done.

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