So Back to my story of arriving to Phuket....I flew to Phuket from Chiang Mai, found my way to the tourist bus that goes to Patong Beach where I was meeting up with Herb the next day. The bus wasn't really a bus but more like a big passenger van, and the company doesn't leave the airport until all the seats are sold...so they really pack'm in..it's hot and cramped, about the last place I wanted to be after traveling... Anyways I hop in and I'm sitting next to a young guy which I later find out is Israeli and an older man from Antwerp. So my friendly self starts chatting it up with my neighbors and within the first five minutes the Israeli guy is trying to get me to share a hotel room with him "as we can have separate beds of course"...yeah right. Then the old man tries to get me to stay at his hotel...that was my welcome to Phuket! So I turned them down as nicely as I could and on the first stop at Patong Beach jumped out of the van, grabbed my bags and made a run for it, in search for a hotel since I didn't have one.
Patong Neach is quite the place. The actual beach is beautiful as the sand is white, the water aqua, gorgeous mountains in the background...geographically it couldn't be more perfect. However it's really become Bangkok on the beach...lot's of girlie bars, loud dance clubs, and cheap souvenir shops selling everything from custom suits to fake watches and English Premiere League soccer jerseys. Also it feels like spring break for middle aged white men. Prostitution is readily available and the word has definitely spread to every middle aged guy from Russia to America! These dirty old men are everywhere you look, whether it's alone or in groups all frolicking around with young Thai girls as they pop the viagra like candy...men!! Hopefully the women are at least making a lot of money.
Herb and I stayed on Patong beach for two nights, however out of the craziness of the strip so it turned out to be really nice. From Phuket we jumped on the ferry to go to Ko Phi Phi, which is an island just south of Phuket. Along with Phuket, Phi Phi is absolutely beautiful-the beaches, water, mountains-also the there are no cars on the island so transportation is by foot or long tail boat. We stayed in the the tourist village for the first two nights and then traveled to the very remote northern tip of the island. We stayed in a charming bungalow on the beach complete with a hammock! we had a great time hanging out on the beach, exploring uninhabited islands, reading, drinking, eating and watching the most amazing sunsets! It was the perfect ending to an amazing trip!
