Ten days in Phuket
Tuesday January 2, 2007
Yowhey, I’m back from my Christmas & NewYear vacation (far up north *g*) to Phuket, Thailand. To be more precise, I got to Patong Beach, which turned out to be a… Let’s say: Not perfect decision. Just by hearing “Ah, Patongs rocks!” and so on I decided to go there – But unfortunately, I did not consult background literature… And so I was just trapped in the “Mekka” of the primitive European All-Inclusive-”Party-Palmen-Weiber-Bier“-Hedonists… Actually it was quite funny to watch all these people getting drunk and lurk for Thai girls in order to get you-know-what. I stayed at the Dive Den guesthouse: This place has reasonable prices (around 5€ per night) and is quietly, but centrally located – And: It’s really clean. So maybe when you go Patong, check this place out.
It had been a very relaxing time – Instead of just doing sightseeing or doing party, I just chose to get up to the beach, sit in the shade of a palm-tree and read… This is the next funny point: Almost all tourists there get “Chilli-Crab”-style after the first day on the beach… Yes, in the tropical sun, it is an absolute PERFECT idea to stay in the sun between 11-13h and just use sunblock 8 (Ruhrpott-Lady to other women: “Ja, wir wissen wie stark die Sonne hier ist, gell Helmut, deswegen nehmen wir ja Faktor 8!” – Next day: Completely red…) – I applied 20 as usual and stayed in the shade. Got brown skin, but no sunburn. Harhar!
Of course I also tried out all the famous parts of Thai cuisine such as red, yellow and green curries or (my favourite) Pad Thai. Even in Patong Beach you can get them at a nice price of about 50 Baht (around 1€) when you stay away from the tourist restaurant and get to some places, where locals eat. I found out, that the Patong Wet-Market and the Banzaan Market are a good place to take first steps – After knowing some thai phrases its also easy to get to one of the street restaurants: There I got the best food for the lowest price. Same with fruits: Go to the market! Cheaper and better. But negotiating the price can be fun 
Of course I did no spend the whole time just in Patong: I also did daytrips around the island. First of all, I booked a daytrip to the Group of Phi Phi Islands. With rather beatiful beaches and scenic views, I also got the view of destroyed coral reefs and tour-guides that did not even try to stop people from breaking parts of corals… We visited famous Monkey Bay and Ko Phi Phi Leh, where part of the movie The Beach was shot. After that the speedboat got us to Ko Phi Phi Don, where we had lunch at a beach resort. Unfortunantely some clouds arised when we left the island… So the beach & leisure part was aborted by rain (see pic). But this tiny little island, being just a beach: Beautiful!
My next daytrip took me to Ko Raya Yai… This trip for snorkeling was the best I did in the entire time! Intact coral reefs, beautiful scenic views and lots of tropical fish shining in all colors of the rainbow… I enjoyed a full day of just snorkeling, swimming, feeding the fish and relaxing aboard. The best part: The were no other boats around – Because Raya Yai is not very popular for tourists… Because it is just one Island and no movies have been shot there…
One other interesting thing to mention: In my guesthouse I met another guy from Germany. Peter is also doing his internship in Singapore and now the funny part: He’s also stying at NTU! So we spent some time together – Especially one great day at the beach. We both got to Phuket cause we did not know what to do between Christmas and New Year… Argh… Some coordination would have been nice…
Time was running out fast – And New Year arrived. So I decided to get down to the beach in order to get an impression of the fireworks. And yes: There were fireworks. And firecrackers. Everywere. Just: Boom-Boom-Bang. For hours. It just rocked! Somehow I was not really in the mood of doing party or drinking… Maybe you know why
And faster than I thought it was over… Summary: Patong is not the perfect location for chillout. Too many tourists. Too many primitive people. But: Good weather, nice beaches and after some digging: Nice food. Actually this vacation cost me less than 350€ including the flight – This is I think good value. Now I’m happy to be back in Singapore!