Where in the World are Francis & Greg: Phuket/Patong Beach, Thailand

March 9 - 14 Phuket/Patong Beach, Thailand

Hello from a very tropical Patong Beach area. Our flight from Bangkok was uneventful and we arrived on time. So far we have been very lucky that way!

The Patong area is very resort town looking but with a Thai flare. Like in all Thai towns there are shops everywhere selling everything. We checked into our very very nice hotel (for just the first two days). The Patong Paragon Hotel's rooms are about 1/4 of the size of our house, so it was great having such space. We added one picture so you could check it out. The first two days were pretty much relaxing days. We didn't do too much other than enjoy the heat next to the ocean. It was great after all the sightseeing and walking in the heat of the big cities to just stay under an umbrella on the beach. One can only take about 1 hour of the sun around 10:30 before it gets too hot to just lay in it. Mind you we should have added much more sunscreen the first day because we got more sun than we should have. We didn't fry like many Europeans but we did get enough, that the next day we didn't want anymore. We did have a chance to find some of our favourite spots on the beach however. There was this one restaurant/bar that made everyone feel like they were life long customers, plus they had free internet. We had some good laughs there and met some great Australians. (The drinks were cheap too :) )

On the 11th our Thai friend from Fredericton, Joey and her friend (Bobby) from Bangkok arrived. They arrived later in the evening. Their flight was late due to a major rain storm.

The next day it was all of our turns to enjoy the beach again, plus it was Greg's Birthday. We pretty much enjoyed the beach and a bit of walking around the many shops. Later that night Bobby's friend, A, met us at our hotel. (pretty much all Thai people have nick names and yes, this guy's name A.) He works in Patong at a VERY nice hotel. He ended up getting us 50% of the meal and drinks there, so we went for a special Birthday celebration. We also lucked out that they happen to have a nice stage show that evening. It was a wonderful evening having drinks by the pool/ocean and then dinner by the stage. Since he worked there he also made arrangements for them to sing Happy Birthday to Greg and also a few candles on a cake. That was nice of him (Thanks, A)!

After dinner we ended up in the downtown in the "club" areas. We people watched and had a drink before going inside to see a show. It was a late night for us. It was well passed midnight when we got to bed .... LOL

The next morning we had another early start since we were going to one of the most beautiful locations in Thailand, the Phi Phi Island area. The bus picked us up around 7:30 for a 50 minute ride to the boat we would take to Phi Phi Island. We hopped on a speed boat with 25 other people and headed on a high speed scoot across the Andaman Sea for an hour. It is very cool how out in the middle of no-where, you see these mountains sticking out of the water. We visited several locations/islands on this trip. Some places we snorkelled, the fish were amazing, and others we just took in the scenery (along with A LOT of other visitors). The water around these islands is almost crystal clear, so you can imagine what fun I had. I was the first off the boat and the last on. Plus the water is almost like bath water so one doesn't get a shock when one jumps in... mind you it still feels refreshing. You can see by the photos why so many people love to get out to these islands. One of the cool things about one of these islands is the "locals". If you are lucky enough they will come and meet the boat and visit with the tourist. Although you have to be careful because they beg and might steal things from you! Okay, the locals are monkeys. They are so cute.

The last Island on our way back was our chance to just swim, snorkel or relax under an umbrella. Our guide, Kit, had asked me earlier if I wanted to join him for a special snorkel when we arrive on our final island. Of course I said yes. When we arrived and got settled in, Kit asked me and another guy from Germany to join him. We walked away from where all the other folks were swimming and snorkelling and we went into the water. He told us that we would have to be careful since the tide was low and the coral would not be far from our bellies. Some of the way out, we had to crawl with our hands over the top of the coral. Once we got in some deeper water, about one metre, it didn't take long to see what we were there to see. So does anyone know if Blackfin Reef Sharks are dangerous? Well I hope not since we swam with them. Well we swam and they tried to keep as far away from us as they could. The biggest one was about 2 metres. It was pretty amazing to do that, just the 3 of us. The picture is here of the 3 of us. We also saw many other fish including a BIG Moray Eel who loved to show its teeth.

Our trip back in went pretty fast and before we knew it we were back coming into the narrow channel harbour. Now the tide was almost out and the narrow channel was even more narrow. It was SO narrow that our boat got stuck in the mud. For awhile I thought we would have to walk in the mud or wait until the tide came back in. Eventually, out boat driver got us free and we were on our way. All part of the adventure!

After our return to the hotel and the shower, we all met A again (Bobby's friend) and went out to the Hard Rock Cafe (he has connections everywhere). We had a quick meal and headed to watch a very famous show here in Patong, The Simon Cabaret. This show is basically a big drag show but it is truly amazing how well Thai men can dress up like woman. The theatre fits about 700+ and they are close to filling all the seats most nights of the week. They have performed the show every night for many year. It was kind of fun but two air conditioners were out and we sat in the balcony so it felt hot. Afterwards we had to take a picture with one. I ask you, try to tell the difference! After the show it was time to go back to the hotel since the morning was coming fast and we would have to pack and get to the airport for an early afternoon flight. It is now time to move on to our next country, Malaysia.