The final days in Phuket
I was able to console Matt about losing his travel beard (I think a kick in the shin was all he needed to understand that some things are definitely MORE PAINFUL than shaving off a beard) with a trip to Patong to get a Bangkok Burger that Cath and Jono had raved on about. After 2 months of eating weird looking beef and not even wanting to attempt a burger, the thought of a good one was enough to make our mouths water.
*Side Note: if anyone can suggest the best place in London to get a deliciously massive steak and yummy side salad, I would really appreciate it as that’s all I’ve been craving for the past 2 months*
Thank goodness the burgers lived up to the hype.
We couldn’t decide on the type we wanted so we ended up sharing them both. And look! Curly fries! It was all so so tasty (and expensive by Thai standards – worth it though).
After that, we walked down Bangla Rd to get a proper look at it this time. The street is just crazy, eh. The video I took pretty much sums it up – being offered a Ping Pong show (for the love of God, Mom, please don’t google it) and seeing Ladyboys posing with tourists.
We found a bar and sat down to have a drink and ended up meeting this American guy who had been living in China for the last 10 years and chatted with him for a while. Really cool to get his perspective of the country and be able to ask him questions for when we eventually get around to visiting China.
After just a couple drinks (I was kinda bummed cause I lost out on a ‘Burberry’ bag thanks to my poor haggling skills) and a banana pancake (for Matt) we headed back to Kata for the night.
Probably best that we had an early night with few drinks because we had booked another snorkelling trip for the next morning. I, of course, forgot to take my seasickness pills but thought I’d be alright cause the water was really calm for our last trip. I was so so wrong.
I didn’t take any photos of the waves, because I couldn’t, but I was looking pretty green within the first few minutes of being on the boat. Thankfully, the islands we were going to weren’t very far so I managed to make it to shore with no projectile accidents.
The first place we went to was just a nice beach for “relaxing or swimming” so we got some beach chairs. No sooner had I settled in when I felt something on my foot and looked down to see a SNAKE slithering past. It was only a little thing, but STILL. Not something you really want to worry about when relaxing on a beach.
After that, it was back to the boat (my stomach flips just at the thought). A spew and a half later (not me, thank goodness) we stopped at our snorkelling site. I thought the water was clear on our last trip but it was so much better this time! I’m not the best swimmer but snorkelling really made me want to take lessons again.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJmkPWn8gbU]
A few more stops (including a very dodgy lunch which we hardly touched) and a boat ride from hell later, we were finally back on dry land.
Dinner was carb loaded as my tummy still felt off. And we spent the rest of the evening watching Dupree and Me (it was the only movie on TV that wasn’t dubbed over in Thai) and packing for our final destination in South East Asia – Bangkok.
You don’t need swimming lessons, you need a wetsuit to make you floaty.