Day 4 - Exploring

Sorry for the delay on these. Was happily without internet for a few days. So I am trying to catch up during my KL layover on the way home. Enjoy!

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Ok a resort morning, overcast, windy but still bloody hot!

So I decided against the bikram yoga and signed up for Thai meditation and Pilates class. It's that hot it might as well be bikram meditation anyway. Turns out I got my own private Personal trainer coz no one else booked in. He leads me to the flash reception hall and we set up 2 yoga mats and a little CD player amongst the stacked up tables and chairs. A dodgy scratched cd jumps and skips through the tracks. As I do my best to lie still, sit still then walk around not spilling a very full glass of water followed by an hour of Pilates. 

Went for second breakfast then had to jump in the pool. It's not a beach day. Very windy, choppy waves and sand blowing everywhere. I'm loving the Asian breakfast on offer. It's actually what I often feed myself at home anyway. Fried rice, congee, dinner leftovers. Food is food right?

I consider lounging around the pool for a day but get my ass into gear and  I jump on a local bus for a mere 30baht ($1 aud) and make my way to old Phuket town. Definate European influence with cafés all over the place.  I choose a little place called kopitiam on Thalang rd, I decided it was a pad thai day and this was the first place I saw that had it on offer once I got off the bus. PadThai and an iced ginger tea soda.

See the condiments - I always get hassled for my love of condiments. Maybe I am part Thai. Or it's an Asian thing, dunno. 

After wondering the streets for a bit and taking lots more photos I try to find my bus back to Patong. In doing so I stumble across the local markets. And not just all the crap souvenirs, I'm talking where locals buy their fruits, veges and meats. Weird dried fish products and lots of spices and interesting looking fruit line the stalls. Amazing. 

My little win for the day was successfully getting the his to town and back and finding the right spot to jump out of the bus. I could go back to the hotel but I wanted to try these feeder fish tank things at the massage parlours. So I get my feet nice and dirty walking along the beach and then plonk myself down for a 10 min session with the fish. Hehe, it tickles! Once I manage to stop flinching every time I got a nibble I managed to get some photos. Something to do, nothing amazing. 

Hotel, swim, clean up and then dinner for 1 at The Beach. I d walked past this place a few times and promised to splash out on some fresh seafood.  There is usually a bit of a lull in activity in the middle of the day due to the heat. But late afternoon everything starts buzzing. Council guys are cleaning up the beach, constructions starts up again and a lot of restaurants truck in masses of ice and fresh seafood that is displayed out front. Along with the pork curry you see below I got a few BBQ king prawns. Yum!!! And all with a view of the ocean.

It seems lone female travelers who stop and talk to restaurant spruikers stand out. A few of the guys remembered me and said, "you told me yesterday that you were coming back". So after meeting up with my traveling buddy for the next few days and strolling through Bang-la rd getting hassled about ping pong shows, ladyboys, cocktails and more we headed down to Solemio (Next to where I had dinner) with really cool couches on a deck facing the ocean. As it turns out the guy who remembered me from the day before was celebrating his birthday, and the staff got a cake and sang happy birthday to him.  In celebration he gave us all a free beer and then came around and did shots and took photos with all the remaining patrons. That was my first real drinking night out in Thailand. I know , sounds surprising to some of you, but I have mellowed with age.