Can't believe its been only 90 days, it feels like a lifetime; and to think, I'm not even halfway done!
We started off the day by heading to Kamala beach. With the sun out and us closer to the equater, the days are getting even hotter! We took some time to walk the beach and swim in the Andaman Sea. We spoke with one of the locals at a surf shop and tried to see if the waves would be better in the afternoon to surf; he said it depends, it tends to be more miss than hit on this part of the island.
With a goal set of an afternoon surf, we all rented mopeds and set off to see Pa Tong Beach, a much more touristy area. Once we got there, we found out that today is the last day Biker Week in Phuket, glad we got our mopeds! We parked and walked the long beach. The beach was slammed with tourists, mainly Europeans and Russians. After walking the beach, we headed into town to see what the area had to offer. Personally, I was disgusted with thee town, got to see 4 McDonald's in a 6 block radius; the area is extremely gaudy. Couldn't take more than 10 steps without seeing a massage parlor. Women and ladyboys lined the streets with menus trying to get us to come in. It got to be really annoying; one group even blockaded the road and wouldn't let us pass until we looked at the menu. it was pretty amusing to see all the men wallking in and out of the places; happy endings are expected with each massage. Where there isn't a massage parlor you would find bars, tailors, exotic clubs, and shopping; not what an adventurous backpacker like myself is looking for. This area even has a Hard Rock Cafe...
After we finished up seeing Pa Tong, Robbie and Boyd headed back to Kamala beach to try and get an afternoon surf in. I was not as optimistic as they were and headed further south to explore the island. Each beach town were smaller versions of Pa Tong; however, the further south I got the racier it got. Eventually the bars would just have signs with a picture of partially naked girl and it became normal to see a westerner with an obvious hooker, possibly even a ladyboy: short skirt, high heels, and heavy makeup. I was constantly shaking my head and laughing.
While the towns were kinda disgusting, the roads in between were beutiful. Tropical forests filled with, you guessed it, palm trees. Got to see some elephants in the woods. I dont think they were all wild because close by were the elephant camps were tourists get to see an elephant show similar to that of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus back home. This island caters to every tourist's needs.
With my gas guage broken, I began to run out of gas as I ascended a mountain hill. When I got to the top, my moed cut off. As I costed down the next hill, a gas station was waiting for me around the bend; lifesaver. After an afternoon of crusing, I only made it to the southern most beach; I really thought that I was at the western side of the island. I made my way back home, up the coast, with a beutiful sunset following me the whole way home.
That night we all had homemade pizza for dinner. It sounds weird, but I have not had a pizza in months and have been craving it ever since I left home. Afterwards, Robbie, Boyd, and I headed to the Bangal Thai Boxing Stadium for a real Muay Thai fighting event. For those of you who don't know, Muay Thai is the Thai form of martial arts that incorporates elbows and knees. Arriving a little late, we got there just in time to see the girls fight, a slow introduction to put us in the fighting mood. Afterwards, a Canadian and Astrailian guy fought, another rather slow fight, but it was good to see some westerners in there. Afterwards, we got to see really good fights, and we all began to bet amongst ourselves on who would win the fight. A couple rounds of beer and fighting got us really involved in each fight with us, at times, getting out of our seats to root for our fighter. Once the final fight was over, two small 9 year olds got in the rink and fought. I was suprised to see such young kids fighting, but hey, we are in Thailand. Once all the fights were over, we walked out of the stadium and into the next bar while we waited on out cab home; a night out in this nasty touristy area did not interest any of us. At the bar they had this massive hunk of wood with tons of nails hammered into it. They have this hammer without a flat surface to hammer with; one end was a horizontal corner and the other was a vertical corner. The lady behind the bar introduced us to a new drinking game. Each one of us had our own nail and we got one attempt to hit the nail; if you missed you took a swig of your drink. Needless to say, we finished our beers pretty fast. One of the more challenging things have done in my life, but a very fun game that had each of us rooting for one another to at least hit the nail.
After a couple rounds of hammering nails into wood, we headed back to our villa for a couple more poolside night caps.
We started off the day by heading to Kamala beach. With the sun out and us closer to the equater, the days are getting even hotter! We took some time to walk the beach and swim in the Andaman Sea. We spoke with one of the locals at a surf shop and tried to see if the waves would be better in the afternoon to surf; he said it depends, it tends to be more miss than hit on this part of the island.
With a goal set of an afternoon surf, we all rented mopeds and set off to see Pa Tong Beach, a much more touristy area. Once we got there, we found out that today is the last day Biker Week in Phuket, glad we got our mopeds! We parked and walked the long beach. The beach was slammed with tourists, mainly Europeans and Russians. After walking the beach, we headed into town to see what the area had to offer. Personally, I was disgusted with thee town, got to see 4 McDonald's in a 6 block radius; the area is extremely gaudy. Couldn't take more than 10 steps without seeing a massage parlor. Women and ladyboys lined the streets with menus trying to get us to come in. It got to be really annoying; one group even blockaded the road and wouldn't let us pass until we looked at the menu. it was pretty amusing to see all the men wallking in and out of the places; happy endings are expected with each massage. Where there isn't a massage parlor you would find bars, tailors, exotic clubs, and shopping; not what an adventurous backpacker like myself is looking for. This area even has a Hard Rock Cafe...
After we finished up seeing Pa Tong, Robbie and Boyd headed back to Kamala beach to try and get an afternoon surf in. I was not as optimistic as they were and headed further south to explore the island. Each beach town were smaller versions of Pa Tong; however, the further south I got the racier it got. Eventually the bars would just have signs with a picture of partially naked girl and it became normal to see a westerner with an obvious hooker, possibly even a ladyboy: short skirt, high heels, and heavy makeup. I was constantly shaking my head and laughing.
While the towns were kinda disgusting, the roads in between were beutiful. Tropical forests filled with, you guessed it, palm trees. Got to see some elephants in the woods. I dont think they were all wild because close by were the elephant camps were tourists get to see an elephant show similar to that of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus back home. This island caters to every tourist's needs.
With my gas guage broken, I began to run out of gas as I ascended a mountain hill. When I got to the top, my moed cut off. As I costed down the next hill, a gas station was waiting for me around the bend; lifesaver. After an afternoon of crusing, I only made it to the southern most beach; I really thought that I was at the western side of the island. I made my way back home, up the coast, with a beutiful sunset following me the whole way home.
That night we all had homemade pizza for dinner. It sounds weird, but I have not had a pizza in months and have been craving it ever since I left home. Afterwards, Robbie, Boyd, and I headed to the Bangal Thai Boxing Stadium for a real Muay Thai fighting event. For those of you who don't know, Muay Thai is the Thai form of martial arts that incorporates elbows and knees. Arriving a little late, we got there just in time to see the girls fight, a slow introduction to put us in the fighting mood. Afterwards, a Canadian and Astrailian guy fought, another rather slow fight, but it was good to see some westerners in there. Afterwards, we got to see really good fights, and we all began to bet amongst ourselves on who would win the fight. A couple rounds of beer and fighting got us really involved in each fight with us, at times, getting out of our seats to root for our fighter. Once the final fight was over, two small 9 year olds got in the rink and fought. I was suprised to see such young kids fighting, but hey, we are in Thailand. Once all the fights were over, we walked out of the stadium and into the next bar while we waited on out cab home; a night out in this nasty touristy area did not interest any of us. At the bar they had this massive hunk of wood with tons of nails hammered into it. They have this hammer without a flat surface to hammer with; one end was a horizontal corner and the other was a vertical corner. The lady behind the bar introduced us to a new drinking game. Each one of us had our own nail and we got one attempt to hit the nail; if you missed you took a swig of your drink. Needless to say, we finished our beers pretty fast. One of the more challenging things have done in my life, but a very fun game that had each of us rooting for one another to at least hit the nail.
After a couple rounds of hammering nails into wood, we headed back to our villa for a couple more poolside night caps.
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