Life in Patong

So, after being paid we decided that we had been in Phuket long enough now that we couldn't avoid visiting Patong any longer. On Saturday morning off we cycled to the air port, where we caught the airport bus before changing to a locals bus and arrived in Patong around 2 and a half hours after setting off (for

We did get a western breakfast out of it though!

somewhere about 15 miles away, not bad). Before we arrived we asked the teachers what they had thought of Patong and the response we received was "... it's not like Thailand" and after arriving I am beginning to think they had a point. All high rise apartments, bars and kebab shops literally everywhere you walk, it was like someone had removed the strip from somewhere like Ayia Napa and shoved it in southern Asia.

Nevertheless, after we found some decent accommodation (for the equivalent of £5 each for one night complete with air conditioning- gotta love Thailand) we went out to explore what Patong had to offer by day. Although it seemed a lot more expensive than anywhere we had been previously, and absolutely EVERYONE seemed to be out to sell us a taxi (like calm down we literally just arrived in Patong stop trying to get us out of there again!) there were so many glorious food places and small markets which sold pretty much any souvenir you require from Thailand. The beach was also gorgeous- something we weren't expecting after being told the beach was pretty horrendous. I am beginning to think that the

I'm so easily amused..

military clearing all the illegal structures and sun loungers from the beaches is a major benefit to the military currently being in political power in Thailand. The beaches are so much nicer and cleaner for it. Something we weren't used to
is literally every five seconds some Thai person tried to sell us absolutely anything they could think of- you name it, they sell it: henna tattoos, icecreams, tee shirts, nuts (although they seemed to stop pretty quickly after I told one vendor I was allergic and he profusely aplogised to us and made a speedy exit. I'm not allergic to nuts. I am a bad person). It was weird. After spending almost 5 weeks in Nai Yang, the locals are beginning to recognise us and have realised we are not going to buy any of their merchandise/use their taxi so we never really get harassed there anymore. It's a lot more peaceful!

Not always so seedy in Patong!

By night we had every intention of heading down Bangla road, the main strip of Patong. Think cheap shots, Australian bars, and Thai women in hotpants swinging round poles and you get the jist. However being in Thailand for over a month now and living on a teacher wage, we have begun to realise that 300 baht for a bucket (around £6) might not be worth it. Instead we stocked up on Chang beer and Spy wine coolers (some Thai wine alcopops that pinky recommended) from the local supermarket and headed to the beach. For around 60p a bottle we were pretty happy with this arrangement (well, you can take the students out of university...).

Bangla by day

Pretty soon we ended up being joined by two Danish guys who had arrived in Phuket that very day (although some guy did ask Flo if we've been here a day as she's so pale. We've been here over 5 weeks, it's just she's ginger) and were looking for somewhere quieter than the strip to enjoy their first night. It was really interesting as they told us all about their life in Denmark. We became pretty useful as well as we could tell them where in Phuket was worth visiting and what to avoid- never get in a taxi at all costs as they will rip you off! I felt like quite the experienced traveler. It was also SO nice to talk to someone else who understands everything you say and there are no mis-translation issues/broken English so even though it wasn't the wild night spent on Bangla road it turned out to be pretty fun sat on a gorgeous beach in Thailand by night exchanging stories with two Danish travellers. We got up to leave and say our goodbyes and one of them told us "it's nice to be able to hang out with people who don't go "OMG aren't you so-and-so""- it turns out one of the guys (nixen I think his name was) is a famous Danish rapper and he reliably informed us that a lot of people in Denmark would be very
jealous of us. Ok then..

Bangla by night

Heading back up Bangla road it was very different to what it is in the day- so many men trying to sell us a ping pong show. Coupled by the most horrendous noise of what I assume is meant to be the ping pong ball eughhh. However it was a lot of fun and I would definitely recommend a visit to Patong- although staying there for an extended period of time would definitely be a drag. There's only so many times you can see fat men in too-tight speedos prowling the beach there.

Today, after browsing a local shopping mall where there was a schools chess tournament, and being in a lot of photos which the kids took of us (I have no idea why we are so interesting to them- there are a million and one foreigners in Patong) we headed back early. Disaster struck when it turned out the airport bus (despite "early" being an unheard of concept in Thailand) had arrived 15 minutes early and we had missed it and faced a 2 hour wait for the next one. Luckily, 4 chinese tourists asked us to share a tuk tuk with them to the airport which worked out quite well.

Lifesaver Chinese teachers in a tuktuk

It turns out they were pretty good at singing and we were treated to practically a free 30 minute performance from 4 Chinese teachers who were here on holiday- Thailand is becoming full of very fun yet very strange experiences.