Day 143 - Phuket = Party Town

Where the magic happens in Patong... kinda like Disneyland

Day 143 - 13th November

So we did the customary stop off in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere. My legs were near clotted so I had to shake them out a bit to get the feeling back. The food wasn't up to much - cold rice and vegetables were a mistake. I did recover with a Cornetto so not everything was a disaster.

We re-boarded, me switching places with Dave who took up the brutal stint up front. Within minutes he was turning around with a face much to say, 'stupid idea.'

I managed to get off for a few hours with a number of wake ups before we reached the 'bus station' in Phang Nga province. We had cheap coffee and waited for the mini bus to arrive. Matt said he'd join us to Phuket. 

We boarded another bus with an extra 150 baht to drop us off at the beachfront. A small deliberation found that it was probably our best option. So off we went again, winding up mountainous roads and then down them again to the ocean front.

Patong looked like a haven - for British tourists. Bars offering cheap beer, ping pong showhouses, nightclubs, market stalls and tailors. So many tailors!

Matt and I sought a hotel whilst Kel and Dave waited with the bags. A drunk Belgian guy cornered us on the street and had us buying tickets for The White Room nightclub at 150 baht entry, a further 500 baht when we arrived for unlimited drinks between 10pm and 1am. It sounded like a good hustle so we chose to just go with it.

We found the Capsule Hostel - an underground, Japanese get up with 'capsules' to sleep in. I use the word capsule loosely because it was a mattress inside a cheaply constructed MDF box. But, give it it's due, it was comfortable, spacious and had a blind for privacy whilst you slept.

I dashed out to do my laundry in some peculiar backstreet at looked like something out a Tarantino movie, with men standing in suits and bling watching me suspiciously walk up the street with a Tesco Lotus carrier bag full of dirty pants and shirts.

When I returned, we took the short two minute walk to the beach. The sand was soft like flour, the water tangy with salt and the sun warm like an oven. In short, it wasn't a bad olde spot.

Matt reddened quickly and we retreated to an Aussie bar for hotdogs and burgers (and a cheeky beer of course).  

We booked two separate island tour for the next two days at a supposedly good discounted rate, I was down another 2900 baht thinking Thailand was rinsing my bank balance.

Showered and relaxed later, we headed out for dinner. That never happened. We went to a side street bar and had beer whilst nailing nails into wood for fun with the waitresses. I won my first bout with four consecutive, and accurate I might add, blows. A second attempt went horribly wrong and I lost heavily. 

The waitresses were friendly enough, I suppose buying them 200 baht drinks after games of connect four help too! But all part of the experience I suppose.

We moved over to The White Room and the promises of Swedish women was as false as some of the women in there. It was full of ladyboys and western backpackers. We drowned our sorrows for 500 baht but it was definitely not a place we wanted to return to.

Not a bad start to Phuket. Looking forward to the island tours.