The hostel I stayed at the first two nights, Patong Backpackers Hostel, was exactly what you'd expect for $10/night. Loud room with 6 lumpy beds, terrible bathroom conditions (shower was just a shower head on the wall in the very dirty bathroom stall) and paper thin walls. Being just off Bangla Road, the noise was crazy, and went on till 6 a.m. But it served it's purpose well, and cheaply.
My second place, Patong Inn Hotel, was, as I said before, in a super convenient spot. Close to Bangla, right across from the beach, walking distance to everything I needed to see. I was on the 3rd floor and above the noise, thank goodness, because Patong is never quiet. I decided to extend my stay here to 9 nights...like I said, it's tough to leave Patong once you get there.
While diving I met a group of very nice Army guys and went out with them a couple of times. I experienced a ping pong show - look it up (but not you, Grandmama.) We joked at one point that we were just going to say yes to the 10th person who asked us something on the street. They're selling everything, from cigarettes to a wooden frog, incredibly inappropriate woven bracelets saying things like "I love rape" (WTF??), weird masks, or one of 1,000 ping pong shows.
The nightlife on Bangla road is like nothing you've ever experienced. Think Khao San road on crack, downtown Athens times a million, where everything can be bought for the right price. Everything. See a pretty bar girl you want to hang out with later? You pay the bar first, for taking her away from her job. Then if you want anything more...well, everything has a price. Three times with the same girl makes you a boyfriend, so if her water buffalo dies, that's on you.
There are some very sweet Thai girls, though. Here are my favorite two bar girls in Patong:
The one on the left with the hat is Meow, I think. Their names are very tough for me to understand. She walks around with a foam tube and hits everyone. She's hilarious; she dragged me into the bar off the street on several occasions. I never got the other girl's name, but she gave us ridiculous amounts of free shots.
There's a huge shopping center right at the end of Bangla called Jung Ceylon. I went to the movies several times; it's just like in America except it's cheaper, way cleaner and you have to stand to pay your respects to the king at the beginning. The shows are 140 baht (about $5) all the time, except on Wednesdays when they're only 80 baht (about $2.50.) They also have sofa seats, which are little love-seats for couples. So cute. Popcorn and a coke are 120 baht (about $4.)
The beach in Patong used to be one on the most beautiful places on the island, I'm sure. It's in a little cove, soft white sand with turquoise water. Now, it's overpopulated and dirty. Beer bottles litter the sand and there's trash in the water. Because of the water sports, parasailing and jet skis mostly, swimming areas are roped off. Here's a couple of pictures - if you don't look too closely, it's actually pretty.
I decided to leave the noise and craziness of Patong behind and head to Rawai. It's at the southern tip of the island of Phuket, and this is where most boats leave for Krabi and Koh Phi Phi. It's also where our boat left from when we went diving. The hotel I'm at now, Monaburi Boutique Resort, is just off of Rawai beach and within walking distance of shops and restaurants. The room is beautiful and clean, all dark wood and glass, cold air conditioning and a mini bar. There's also a really nice salt water pool - I plan to spend my time there for the next couple of days. Rawai is also where my dive instructor is based out of, and I'm hoping to do my advanced class while I'm here. Maybe a night dive? Exciting!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Soi Cokmakham,Mueang Phuket,Thailand aka Rawai Beach
No comments:
Post a Comment